Heirs of Empire

but he’d achieved total penetration of Bia’s datanets, and he was a devastatingly thorough and acute analyst. He and Ninhursag had started with a top-down threat analysis of every officer outside Colin’s inner circle, then used Dahak’s access to every database in Bia to test their analyses. Where necessary, ONI agents had added on-the- ground investigation to Dahak’s efforts, usually without even realizing what they were doing or why. By now, the computer could tell Admiral MacMahan where every Fleet and Marine officer in the Bia System had been at any given minute in the last fifteen years. Of course, he didn’t have anything like that degree of penetration in the Sol System. Not even the hypercom was capable of real-timing data at that range, and Earth’s datanets were still far more decentralized than Birhat’s. But even with those limitations, his access to the military’s every order and report had allowed him to clear most of Sol’s senior officers, as well.

“Apparently Mister X takes the adage about dead men telling no tales to heart,” Ninhursag observed now.

“True. Yet eliminating his agents, however much it may contribute to his security, also deprives him of their future services. That would seem somewhat premature of him—unless he has acquired all the access his plans, whatever they may be, require.”

“Yeah.” Ninhursag frowned at that unpalatable thought. “Of course, he may have been a bit too smart for his own good. We know about him now, and knowing he doesn’t have a military conduit frees us up a lot.”

“Yet by the same token, it deprives us of potential access into his own network. We have exhausted all leads available to us, Ninhursag.”

“Yeah,” she sighed again. “Damn. How I wish I knew what he was after! Just sitting here waiting for him to take another shot doesn’t appeal to me at all. He’s got too good a track record.”

“Agreed.” Dahak paused, then spoke rather carefully, even for him. “It has occurred to me, however, that our concentration on the military, while logical, may have had the unfortunate consequence of narrowing our vision.”

“How so?”

“We have proceeded on the assumption that he himself was of or closely connected to the military, or that the military was in some wise essential to his objectives. If such is not, indeed, the case, may we not have devoted insufficient attention to other areas of vulnerability?”

“That’s an endemic security concern, Dahak. We have to start someplace where we can establish a ‘clear zone,’ and we’ve got one now—physically, as well as in an investigative sense. We can be fairly confident the entire Bia System is clear, now, so we can assume Colin and ’Tanni are safe from direct physical attack, and knowing the military is clear—now—gives us the resources to mount a counteroffensive of our own. But if Mister X is a civilian—even one in government service somewhere—our chance of finding him’s a lot lower.”

Dahak made a soft electronic sound of agreement. Entry level positions for civilian politicians and bureaucrats were subject to less intensive background scrutinies, and civilian careers seldom included the periodic security checks military men and women took for granted. When it came to civilians, he and Ninhursag lacked anything remotely approaching Battle Fleet’s central databases, and their ability to vet suspects was enormously reduced.

“Even worse,” the admiral said after a moment, “Mister X knows what he’s after, and that gives him the initiative. Until we figure out what he wants, we can’t even predict what he’s likely to do. Every security chief in history’s worried about what he may have overlooked.”

“Granted. I only raise the point because I feel it is important that we maintain our guard against all contingencies to the best of our ability.”

“Point taken. And that’s precisely why I see more reason than ever to keep this on a need-to-know basis. Especially since we don’t know who in the civil service might have been suborned. Or who’s vulnerable in the same way Vincente Cruz was.”

“A wise precaution. But may this not create problems when your ONI agents begin operations on Earth? They will inevitably be seen as interlopers, and the decision not to inform even the highest levels of the civilian security forces as to why their presence is necessary will exacerbate that perception. Indeed, it may even lead to a certain degree of institutional obstructionism in what humans call ‘turf wars.’ ”

“If there are any turf wars, I guarantee they’ll be short. Ultimate responsibility for the Imperium’s security rests right here, in my office. ONI’s the senior service, and if anybody thinks different, I’ll just have to show him the error of his ways, won’t I?”

Admiral MacMahan’s smile was cold. Which suited Dahak very well indeed.

* * *

Lawrence Jefferson’s pleasant expression masked a most unpleasant mood as he and Horus walked together to the Shepard Center mat-trans. Alert bodyguards watched over the Governor, and knowing his own actions had made them inevitable was irritating. Yet he’d had no choice. He’d known having Gus van Gelder killed would almost have to shake the Imperium’s leadership into a fundamental reassessment of its security needs, but it had been essential to unmask Gus’ mole. And, having done so, the only man who knew he’d had access to those briefing notes had to be removed, as well.

He rather regretted the deaths of Erika, Hans, and Jochaim van Gelder. Gus, of course, would have had to go eventually, but it had offended Jefferson’s innate tidiness to eliminate him so messily. On the other hand, his early removal had worked out far better than Jefferson had dared plan for. A successful conspirator didn’t base long-term strategy on a gift from the gods which made him the person charged with catching himself, but that didn’t make him ungrateful when it was given. And if Horus’ security was better now, it still wasn’t impenetrable … particularly against his own security chief.

No, Jefferson’s true unhappiness had less to do with defenses which couldn’t, in the end, really matter than with the news from Birhat. The last thing he needed was for the imperial family to produce another heir! He’d already been forced to dispose of one pair, and now he might have to do the whole job over again—especially since Jiltanith had already announced her intention to visit her father on Earth for the birth. Which, he thought disgustedly, was precisely the sort of thing she would do just when he needed her and Colin in the same, neat crosshairs on Birhat.

Of course, he reminded himself as he and Horus stepped up onto the mat-trans platform, pregnancy wasn’t something whose timing even Imperial bioscience could predict with absolute accuracy. But if the doctors were right, Jiltanith would not give birth, after all, for she—and her unborn children—would die two weeks before she did.

* * *

The Planetary Duke of Terra grinned as he and his lieutenant governor entered the conference room. Hector MacMahan—still grim, but no longer an ice-encased stranger—had brought Tinker Bell, and Brashieel had brought his own Narkhana, one of her genetically altered pups.

Horus watched Narkhana collapse as Tinker Bell leapt upon him and wrestled him to the floor. He rolled on the rug, thrusting back at her with all four feet while their happy growls mingled. For a dog well into her third decade, Tinker Bell was remarkably spry, thanks to her own limited biotechnics, yet she had no conception of the tremendous strength Narkhana was reining in to let her win, nor of just how far her son’s intellect surpassed her own. Even if she’d been able to conceptualize such things, she would never have known, for her children would never tell her, and there was something both hilarious and poignant in watching them revert to utter doggishness in her presence.

Hector looked up and saw the late arrivals, and a whistle brought Tinker Bell instantly to his side. She flopped down at his feet, panting cheerfully as she prepared to put up with another of the incomprehensible human things her person did. Horus raised a sardonic eyebrow at his grandson, and Hector looked back with a bland innocence he’d forgotten how to assume for far too many months. For all her boisterousness, Tinker Bell was well behaved when Hector chose to remind her to be.

“Horus, Lawrence. Glad you could make it,” Colin said, standing to shake hands. Horus squeezed back, then