Assumption of risk

  It's impossible. How can they be here? Deirdre started to tremble. I must be dead and this must be my personal hell!

  The claw beckoned her forward. "I do not know if you remember me, Doctor, but we have met before. I am Taman Malthus and these are my men. Kai Allard-Liao asked us to escort you home."

  36

  DropShip Zarevo, Inbound

  Shiloh Free Worlds League

  27 April 3056

  "Dare, Peter, dare?" Kai shouted at Peter. The fury in his own voice surprised him and he fought to control the emotions raging through his body. "I have no choice but to stop you."

  "Words, Allard, words." Peter smiled cruelly. "Actions speak louder than words."

  For a second Peter dropped his fists and Kai knew he could take the man down with a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. Muscles tensed, nerves fired, but Kai withheld the kick. It's not enough for him to be defeated. He has to understand why he cannot be allowed to win. 'Then look to your actions and tell me what they say."

  "They say I am Hanse Davion's true heir. They acknowledge the destiny of a Steiner-Davion to once again forge a Star League and unite all the Houses under one ruler." Peter's bright eyes burned with a fanatical light. "Victor will destroy it all, he will let the Federated Commonwealth fall apart, nibbled away by threats like the Harloc Raiders, and his confederates will aid and abet him in this treason."

  Peter closed and hooked a right at Kai's head. Kai ducked low and to the left, slipping the blow. By reflex his right hand shot up straight between Peter's hands. Though Kai pulled the blow at the last second, the heel of his hand still mashed Peter's lips against his teeth.

  "I'm sorry, Peter." Kai bounced back out of Peter's reach, and Larry Acuff pulled a chair out from Kai's line of retreat.

  Peter looked stunned. He probed his split lip with a finger that came away bloody. "More treason. Has Victor sent you here to kill me?"

  "No, dammit, Victor does not know I'm here!"

  "Lies!" Pain filled Peter's voice and everything came together for Kai as Peter rushed at him, fists flying. The flurry of punches pummeled Kai, coming too fast and too chaotically to be blocked effectively. Flailing away, Peter's forearms hit as often as his balled fists, but the sheer manic fury of the assault battered Kai and forced him to retreat.

  Peter must have sensed he was overwhelming Kai because the rhythm of his flurry broke as he focused on winning and took conscious control of his body. This gave Kai just the opening he needed. As the punches slowed, he ducked his right shoulder and hammered Peter with one sharp blow that caught him just beneath the breastbone. Air left Peter's lungs in one explosive oof!, then Peter collapsed to the deck, his face turning red.

  Kai shivered, partly from anger, but more from fear. He reached down and grabbed the belt on Peter's jumpsuit and pulled up, forcing the downed man to arch his back and pull air into his lungs. That stopped Peter's immediate distress, but having the wind knocked out of him also took the fight out of him.

  "Listen to me, Peter, I understand what you're thinking. I know the pressures you feel. You have the Free Skye Militia out for your blood, just as I've been hunted by the Capellan Confederation and the Clans. You are heir to great responsibilities and traditions, as am I. We want to do many things, accomplish many great goals, but we are hamstrung. Your brother sent you to Solaris and my uncle"—Kai swallowed against a lump rising in his throat—"holds my son hostage or else I wouldn't be here trying to stop you from starting a war."

  Something in Peter's eyes cleared and his body relaxed. Horror flashed across his face, then he closed his eyes and slowly shook his head.

  Kai released Peter's belt, then slowly straightened up. "Colonel Khorsakov, my family has ever appreciated your dedication and loyalty to the true Liao bloodline." Kai chose his words carefully. He wanted to salve the old mercenary's ego, yet could see no reason to spare the man any of the anger still boiling around inside him. "Your service has been invaluable, and no other unit could have come this far or come as close to fulfilling its mission here."

  "You are most kind, my lord."

  "Indeed, and perhaps you would wish me to remain so kind in the future." Kai paused for a moment, letting the sting of that remark settle in before he continued. "It is time for you to leave, Colonel. Send the Zarevo back to the Remagen and return to Solaris."

  "You must understand, my lord, that I am not in your employ."

  The look of insolent defiance on the old man's face made Kai want to drop him with a punch, but he opted for a less physical means of cutting him down. "My Uncle Tormano engaged you under false pretenses. He is insolvent, but to avoid the embarrassment of a scandal I will indemnify you and fulfill the monetary requirements of your contract." Kai folded his arms slowly. "That is, I will do so if you leave now."

  "But we have a mission to fulfill."

  "Colonel, there is no mission, you have no sponsor and no sanction for this action. You can choose between a glass that is full or one that is empty, and you don't know how empty it is. One word from me and the Federated Commonwealth will never engage your services again. The same goes for the St. Ives Compact. And were I to speak with Lady Omi Kurita, who is a guest in my home at this time, well, the Cossacks would be low on the list if the Combine should ever decide to use mercenaries again. You would never work for Sun-Tzu and, unless you missed it, you have invaded the Free Worlds League." Kai shook his head ruefully. "I suppose you could find employment in the Periphery."

  "My lord!"

  "Consider yourself lucky, Colonel, because you have avoided triggering a war that would have anointed you with the blood of millions. Save your hatred for my cousin's soldiers. You will quench your thirst for their blood another day. Am I understood?"

  "Yes, my lord." The reply came tight and full of wounded pride, but Kai expected that and was suddenly pleased to have so easily manipulated Nikolai Khorsakov. "About Duke Peter, my lord."

  "He is coming with me to the Taizai. You can return his kit to him on Solaris. Farewell, Colonel. Enjoy your retirement." Kai grabbed one of Peter's shoulders as Larry Acuff came around to help him. "I've got him, Larry. Go to the shuttle and tell Wilson to do his preflight. We're going home."

  "Roger, boss."

  Alone, in the companionway, Kai let Peter rest against a bulkhead and get his legs back under him. "I couldn't let you start a war, Peter."

  "But your son, I never knew you had a son—and to risk him." Peter's chin sank to his chest as words failed him.

  Kai took firm hold of Peter's jaw and lifted the man's head back up. "Acting against your own best interests, acting in the way you must instead of the way you want to, that is what leaders like your brother must do. Setting aside ambition and personal satisfaction for the benefit of what is right and good, not expedient, isn't easy. It must be done, though, or else others will use you to advance their goals."

  "As I was." Horror and anguish bled through Peter's voice. "You're right, I was a pawn. Pawns get used and swept from the board."

  Peter tried to pull away from Kai, but the smaller man refused to let him go. "Don't give up, Peter, don't surrender to despair. Pawns that win through battles, that survive to the final rank on the board become very powerful. You want everything now, and that comes from youth and inexperience. You have time, and impatience is merely energy you should direct into pursuits that will make you a better man in the future."

  Kai let him go and started walking him toward the shuttle bay. "Your hopes and dreams have made you define yourself against your brother. Peter Steiner-Davion has to be his own person, not the anti-Victor. You also don't have to be Hanse Davion reborn. You can be you."

  "This insight from the man who traced his father's footsteps and attained the same honors his father did?" The weak riposte came tinged with humor, so Kai ignored the barbs in it. "Have you found out who Kai Allard-Liao is?"

  "Self-discovery is a journey, Peter, not a goal. The minute you think you've discovered who you are, you're wr
ong because that discovery changes you. All you can do is follow the path that lets you be true to yourself."

  Peter nodded, then frowned. "Wise words from a man whose sole ambition is to be Champion on Solaris. Your coming here, your stopping me, this points to other abilities and greater destinies. Are you certain that path is letting you be true to yourself? You're right, I can't be my brother's antithesis, nor the reincarnation of my father. How about you?"

  Kai felt a chill cutting at his spine. "That's a question I've never even dared ask myself. In Cenotaph I honor him, but only by emulating a very small part of his life."

  "Meaning?"

  "I don't know what it means," Kai laughed, his tension evaporating, "but I think I see little glimmers of an answer in studying the question. If you are willing, Peter Davion, perhaps we can continue this conversation on the Taizai and set our feet on the right paths by the time we return to Solaris."

  37

  Solaris City, Solaris VII

  Tamarind March, Federated Commonwealth

  29 April 3056

  Tormano made no attempt to conceal his surprise when Kai entered his office. "I had expected you sooner, nephew. The Taizai landed four hours ago."

  "There were many things to take care of upon landing, uncle." Kai's face became a mask Tormano could not read, and this disturbed him. His father used to wear that same expression. "There are going to be changes, Tormano."

  "Indeed? Will they include replacing the staff your thugs killed at my estate?" He waited to see what sort of effect that would have, but Kai gave no sign of having heard him. "I must admit I erred in keeping Dr. Lear and her son there after I gave you the holograph. I will do better next time."

  "No, Uncle, there will be no next time." Kai moved deeper into the room, surveying it as if seeing it for the first time. "And, yes, you will have more staff at your estate. Fuh Teng has grandnephews and cousins who will oversee the security arrangements. They will take pains to assure that you are quite happy there."

  Tormano blinked in surprise. "You are exiling me to my estate on Equatus? Ho, this is a bold Kai Allard-Liao I have before me. What makes you think I will give all this up?"

  Kai's face took on a hint of a smile. "You will, for you would not want to face the shame of being evicted. You see, I own the estate now."

  "You what?"

  "You heard me. Even before the Taizai landed I had Keith Smith put together a complete analysis of your financial situation." Kai clasped his hands behind his back. "When your finances ran short because of Prince Victor's cutbacks, you used your estate and your home in Solaris City to secure a number of short-term loans against your hopes that the next Estates General will approve a bill for new funding. I bought the paper from the bank."

  "Those loans can't be called for another three months. I can arrange funding to pay them off in that time."

  "Wrong, uncle. The loans cannot be called until the Estates General has refused funding. I sent a message to and have received a reply from Victor Davion. You will get no funding. All this is mine."

  Tormano felt his heart pounding in his chest. "You can't... You can't have told Victor Davion about his brother because that means you'd have had to tell him about the Harloc Raiders being on Shiloh. So that means you're withholding information from him. I can send him a message that will win his gratitude."

  Kai slowly shook his head. "He won't believe you. In my message I told him that you and I had spoken. I had determined that the stress of leading Free Capella was too much for you. I dropped some hints to let him assume that you've had a breakdown like your father and are now a shell of a man, a doddering imbecile likely to fall prey to all manner of delusions."

  "I don't believe this, none of it." Tormano's mouth remained open as alternating waves of horror and awe washed over him. That his nephew could depose him so simply in the course of four hours horrified him, yet it also excited him. In doing so Kai had exhibited all the skills that Tormano himself had hoped to instill in him. Kai had usurped what Tormano would have offered willingly. 'This is incredible."

  "No, it is quite credible." Kai's gray eyes glittered like ice chips in the room's dim light. "You have made it readily apparent to me that you are too dangerous to be left to your own devices. Your bitterness has made you reckless. You almost started a war that would have caused untold destruction on hundreds of worlds. Never again will you have that opportunity."

  "There is only one way you can guarantee that, Kai." Tormano opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a pistol.

  "You won't kill me, Uncle."

  "You're quite right, I won't." Tormano laid the gun down and turned it so the butt pointed in Kai's direction. "You now lead Free Capella. You have become what I wanted you to become. Doing this, deposing me, cutting me off, this was all very good. You display the abilities you will need to destroy Sun-Tzu. But if you expect your victory to be complete, your mastery absolute, you must be ruthless. Pick up the gun and kill me."

  "No."

  "No? If you do not, Kai, you will not be rid of me." Tormano jerked a thumb toward the window looking out over Cathay. "I have loyalists, Kai, I have allies about whom you know nothing. You will never keep me on that estate. I will get away, I will get funding, I will get support and I will be outside your control."

  "I will not kill you."

  Tormano laughed in his face. "You must, Kai. It is the final act. You have to learn how to deal with rivals. Victor knows! If you think he didn't have Ryan Steiner exterminated, you're a fool. If you think he didn't send Peter here to die, you are an even greater fool. I will die happy if I know you are ruthless enough to kill me. That means, when the time comes, you'll not spare your rat-faced little cousin Sun-Tzu. You will do what must be done."

  "I've already done that. I've arranged for you a gilded cage. I will not kill you."

  "Blake's blood, Kai! I held your child hostage! I threatened him with death!" Tormano nudged the gun toward his nephew. "Do it, kill me. Prove yourself."

  "To whom? You?" Kai shook his head implacably. "No, Uncle, I don't need to prove myself to you, not here, not now. You'll have many days—many years—at your estate to decide if I am sufficient to inherit your mantle. You see, I don't have to become you or Victor to do things the right way. I am Kai Allard-Liao and that, I think, is more than enough."

  * * *

  Peter Steiner-Davion felt slightly uncomfortable sitting back on his heels, but he endured the pain in his knees as Omi Kurita poured him a small cup of tea. Showered and shaved, wearing a black and gold jumpsuit on loan from Cenotaph Stables, he felt truly human for the first time since leaving the Zarevo. His discussions with Kai on the return trip had helped him focus on the turmoil boiling deep inside, but they had not fully resolved the problems.

  Upon his return to Solaris four hours before, Peter had sent a note to Omi requesting a chance to speak with her in Kai's home. Larry Acuff arrived to say that Omi had agreed to the meeting, then he drove Peter to Kai's house. The servant answering the door had ushered him into a side room where Omi was waiting with tea.

  She offered him the cup and he accepted it with a half-bow. The steaming liquid made the porcelain hot enough to cause discomfort, but he did not set it down. Penance comes in many forms. He waited for her to pour another cup, then he drank with her. Following her lead, he set the cup on the low table between them.

  "Thank you for meeting with me, Lady Omi."

  "It is my pleasure, Duke Peter. I am very happy to welcome you back to the Federated Commonwealth." She smiled at him and he read intelligence in her blue eyes. "Losing you would have hurt your brother. He would have greatly mourned your passing."

  Peter looked down at the lacquered table and the brilliantly colored dragon coiled across it. "I very nearly got a lot of people killed. Had I used a gun and tried to shoot one single person, I would be on trial for attempted murder. I threatened millions, but because of my station and the intervention of good people like Kai and you, I go unpunishe
d."

  Omi's face remained impassive, but her voice was not unsympathetic. "Is not punishment the solution to which we resort when rehabilitation is impossible?"

  "Yes, yes, I suppose it is." Peter sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I am not certain rehabilitation is possible for a crime the magnitude of mine."

  "I believe your analogy has contributed to a misunderstanding. In the Combine, attempted murder is a charge leveled when the perpetrator intended to cause death but failed in the attempt." Omi turned her cup around and drank again. "In your case, because your intent was not murder and because you did no one any harm in your attempt, your crime is not attempted murder. It is, perhaps, reckless disregard for life or negligence, but not attempted murder."

  The recollection that those were the charges leveled against his lance for his actions on Lyons made Peter blush. "Even in assigning guilt I arrogate myself." He used a swallow of tea to make his stomach feel as warm as his face. "Lady Omi, I already owe you a debt I can never repay because of your loaning the Taizai to Kai."

  Omi allowed a look of puzzlement to cross her face. "Whatever do you mean, Duke Peter? The Taizai is here to serve as my transportation. It has gone nowhere."

  Yes, and Kai says his computer man will erase all traces of ships going in and out from the planetary computers. "Then the debt comes from my forcing you to keep a secret from my brother. I owe you and Kai both for that one."

  Omi shook her head serenely. "Your brother needs know only the important details of your life. Those things without consequence are, by their very nature, beneath mention."

  "How can you do that? How can you say that?" Peter looked up at her, confusion twisting around his heart. "You and Kai both care for my brother a great deal—more than I have in the past, apparently—yet you dismiss mentioning all this to Victor as if it were nothing."