The Shadow of Saganami

front door.'

'That's been our experience,' Jezic agreed. 'I hate these bastards, you understand, but they usually plan pretty well. At first, a lot of it was obviously the work of amateurs, but even then, they usually managed to cover all the bases. Since then, they've gotten less elaborate and more practical. In fact, I hate to admit it, but they've demonstrated a pretty steep learning curve.'

'Nobody ever promised the bad guys'll be stupid and incompetent just because they're bad guys,' Kaczmarczyk said philosophically.

'No, but somebody should have!' Jezic shot back, and all of the Marines standing around him chuckled.

'I do have one question, Captain,' Kaczmarczyk said after a moment, his expression much more serious. 'The one thing I know I don't have a good feel for is exactly how fanatical these people are. Or maybe what I mean is how suicidal they might be.'

'That's a hard one, Captain. We know they're fanatical enough to blow up department stores full of civilians. And which,' Jezic added grimly, 'they knew contained two child day-care centers. But, to be perfectly honest, we haven't managed to corner enough of them to know how likely they are to blow themselves up for the glory of the Movement.' His mouth twisted bitterly. 'If this place is as important as its isolation and concealment indicate, I'd think that they'd be more likely to do something like that here than if we'd only cornered a strike team out in the open somewhere. I'd have to say the possibility exists, but I can't begin to tell you how likely it actually is.'

'I was afraid that was what you're going to say,' Kaczmarczyk said unhappily. 'That's one reason I'm really hoping we can get the Suppressant Three in there before they shut down their air system. Not even battle armor will protect someone from a big enough explosion.'

'I don't imagine it will,' Jezic said. 'On the other hand, they obviously are depending on concealment, and this isn't something they put in yesterday, or even last week. I know our recon satellites didn't pick any of this up, and they're not as good as yours are, by a long chalk. But this-' he indicated the holo map '-was a major project. I'm willing to bet Nordbrandt's people built this damned thing even before the annexation plebiscite came up. I can't prove that-yet-but I did have Colonel Basaricek pull the file recon footage for this area. The stuff we've gotten since we reinforced and redeployed our recon assets after the Nemanja bombing. None of it shows what your drones managed to pick up, but it doesn't show any evidence of construction, either. So this has been in and underground, with time for the vegetation and foliage around it to recover, for at least that long.'

Kaczmarczyk nodded, though, from his expression, he wasn't too sure where Jezic was headed, and the Kornatian smiled.

'Setting up an effective self-destruct you can be sure will work in an emergency but won't go off unless you tell it to isn't as easy as entertainment writers would like us to think it is, Captain. Especially the second bit.'

He smiled again, more nastily, and this time Kaczmarczyk smiled back.

'True,' the Manticoran agreed. 'Accidents can be so... permanent if something like that screws up.'

'Exactly. My point, though, is that while they've almost certainly had the time to put something like that in, I'm not at all certain they've felt any urgency to do so. After all, we've never given any sign that we suspected something like this might be up there, and they're probably feeling about as confident about their security as any terrorist bunch is likely to let itself feel. That being the case, I doubt they'll be able to improvise an effective self- destruct system in the time available to them if we get in hard and fast enough.'

'I'd say there's a good chance you're right,' Kaczmarczyk agreed. 'On the other hand, I've never been real enthusiastic about including 'there's a good chance' in my mission planning.'

'Neither am I. But when it's all you have, it's all you have.'

Jezic paused, hesitating for a moment as he recalled another part of his truncated briefing from Colonel Basaricek, then shrugged and plunged on in.

'There is one other point, Captain,' he said, his tone more formal than it had been, and Kaczmarczyk gave him a sharp glance.

'Yes, Captain?' His tone was also more formal, Jezic noted.

'We don't know anyone in this installation is violating the law,' the police officer said. 'I realize the circumstances are extraordinary. And as Colonel Basaricek pointed out to me, martial law's been declared and Parliament's voted to authorize the use of the regular military-which would also cover your people, in this case-for duties which would otherwise fall squarely to the National Police. However, that doesn't absolve the government, or the police, from our responsibilities under the Constitution.'

He paused again, and Kaczmarczyk nodded.

'You're a Marine, Captain Kaczmarczyk. So are all your personnel, and military training's necessarily different from police training. You said you intend to 'neutralize' the tower, or bunker, or whatever it is, as quickly as possible. I have to ask you if that means you plan to employ deadly force without first calling upon any suspects to surrender without resistance?'

He thought he saw a flicker of respect in those amber-green eyes. He knew he saw a grimace of what was probably irritation on Lieutenant Hedges' face, and Lieutenant Kelso gave him a tight, teeth-baring smile that was totally devoid of humor.

'Let me put it to you this way, Captain Jezic,' Kaczmarczyk said, after a moment. 'The question you've just raised was addressed by Captain Terekhov when he alerted me for this mission. He emphasized to me that the observance of Kornatian law was of paramount importance. However, although I realize this is essentially a police operation, the nature of this particular installation makes it effectively a military operation. I've attempted to strike the best compromise I can between those two differing sets of requirements and priorities.

'The instant the first of my Marines hits the objective, he'll deploy remote speaker systems which will begin broadcasting a demand for the occupants of the installation to surrender and come out of their hidey holes without weapons, and warning that we're prepared to employ deadly force if they don't immediately comply. If that demand's obeyed, we won't fire a shot. If, however, it is not obeyed, or the instant a shot is fired at one of my people or we discover we're looking at heavy weapons sited for immediate use, it will cease to be a police operation and become a military strike. Under those conditions, my people will be instructed to accept surrenders so long as it doesn't endanger them or any other of my personnel .'

His strange eyes met Jezic's levelly, unflinchingly, and the police captain understood he was hearing a nonnegotiable position. Still-

'And the neutralization of the tower, Captain?'

'Anybody in it will've heard the surrender demand, Captain. Sergeant Cassidy's team will be under orders to take out any heavy weapons without inflicting casualties, if possible. I will not, however, expose my people to fire from that position. If it's impossible to neutralize its weapons without destroying it outright, then I will order it destroyed unless anyone inside it comes out and surrenders instantly. I hope it'll be possible to shut it down without killing anyone. But if it contains heavy weapons, I'm going to accept that as proof the people in this installation are engaged in illegal activities, and as criminals, the preservation of their lives takes second place to the preservation of the lives of my personnel.'

Jezic hovered on the brink of protesting, but he didn't. He didn't because he recognized the logic of the Manticoran's position. And because it was vital for his star nation to retain not simply the cooperation of the Manticorans, but their active cooperation. And he didn't because he was a SWAT officer- because all too often in his career, he'd been called into situations where the parameters and options were very much like the ones Kaczmarczyk faced here.

'All right, Captain Kaczmarczyk,' he said finally. 'I understand your position, and I respect it. I suppose we'll all just have to hope for the best, won't we?

* * *

Ragnhild Pavletic sat in her flight couch, on Hawk-Papa-Two's flight deck tonight, with her right hand lightly on her stick, and watched the clean, crisp twinkle of the stars. Major Kaczmarczyk had specifically requested her for this mission, and she felt flattered. She also felt nervous.

People were going to be killed tonight. Whatever the Major wanted, however much everyone would prefer to take them all prisoner, it wasn't going to happen-she knew that with absolute assurance. And if anyone tried to