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Lance was draped tastefully over Tiny's shoulder. The Duke walked in from the direction of the living room and nodded to me when saw that his orders had been carried out to the letter.

Sir James stepped up to a disguised terminal and placed his palm on the sensor pad while he spoke into the hush field. He had time to take one long leisurely step back before I felt the familiar sensation of the transporter effect.

I discovered that the entire foyer was the plate of a Port when I suddenly found myself poised high on a platform overlooking an arena. A colossal gas giant hung in the sky dominating the scene. I stared fascinated by the brilliant red, orange, and yellow colors swirling in distinct bands across its surface. The sun was only a fiercely brilliant white speck high in the sky, even though it was far enough away not to show a disk, it was way too bright to look at.

Slowly I noticed that the arena currently was filled by at least a hundred men and women all dressed in black including black hoods which also covered their mouths and noses, only their eyes showed. They all came to attention as we appeared. Although I saw the familiar motion of the stomp of the foot, that gave the impressive sound of a platoon of Marines coming to attention, not a sound was heard from this group. The Duke was well to the front of my group. He saluted them with a peculiar salute, his arm at a forty-five-degree angle straight out in front of his body, his clenched hand slowly opening, as bud opens into a flower, into an open hand. The Platoons in the arena responded in kind—again without a sound.

"Lieutenant T'gerr," the Duke's amplified voice boomed out over the masses gathered below. "Front and Center." I stomped forward my heels clicking to attention in front of the Duke—the sound abnormally loud after the silence of the group in the arena. "Lieutenant T'gerr, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Captain." The Duke stated as he pinned on my Captain's bars. "I present you to your company, the 'Ninjas,'" his voice still booming out over the arena "My Ninjas; it is almost time for you to go into action. I am indeed pleased indeed with your progress. T'gerr is the one who will show you the final way, the way to a new universe." Again, they performed the silent stomp to attention, and again their arms flashed out in that peculiar salute which I now echoed in kind. Then without a sound, at a gesture from the Duke, they vanished—as if blown away on the wind.

"Have him taken down to the infirmary and make sure he is OK—then lock him up, I have plans for him, I think he will make a splendid 'Mook Joong.'" An evil grin flickered across Sir James' face as he spoke, his gesture making clear that he meant Lance. I gestured to Tiny to comply. Sir James then took me by the elbow and started to walk with me. "Well Captain I don't know if there has ever been such a meteoric rise in rank before, but I doubt that it has happened often. I liked the way the ocean just quietly absorbed those two spies, you realize that they were a test?"

"Yes Sir," I replied.

"Good, I allowed them to get as far as they did just to see what you would do." We had walked into the command center, as we talked. "The plans that you will need for the coup will be released to you now." He placed his palm over the sensor and again spoke into the hush field. He stepped back and motioned me to the terminal.

I placed my palm over the sensor and spoke my password into the hush field. The entire base was now under my direct control.

The display lit up with the symbol of the Imperial Marines and the word "Confirmed" flashing across it. "Very good," said the Duke, "I want to brief you on what is going to happen. The details are in the system here in this file." He pointed to an Icon displaying the royal seal of Paldonia. "Your people are to be the heroes of the day and protect the Senators from the horrible assassins. The current Marines on duty as Senatorial Guards are the real assassins although Cynthia thinks that your men are the assassins. When the signal is given, they will kill those Senators who are not on our side.

Your people will kill the Marines who were guarding those Senators. Only if necessary will they take a hand at taking out the Senators. They will stay on duty afterwards as Senatorial Guards. This way at a word from me, if anyone gets cold feet, they can be removed. I already have their replacements picked out; you will find dossiers on each one if you need to know about them. Now the current guards have no knowledge that they have been set up, and they think that your Marines will help them so they will fight for their lives unless your people can attack just as they kill their assigned Senator. Realize that not all the guards will be assassins and you will not have the element of surprise, they are real Marines and don't have the slightest idea of what we have planned. They will have to be killed so that there is no suspicion that only certain Senators were selected. I want it to look as if everyone had been targeted."

"What about the Emperor? I have a private grudge to settle with him."

"You leave him to me. I already have the best Ninja that I have ever seen, Captain Sul, assigned to him. Captain Sul is the only man to have ever bested me in unarmed combat. I also have a backup just in case. You will take out Captain Sul. If you strike just as he kills the Emperor, you can kill him if you miss well I'll avenge you but I think that will be of scant consolation to you.

Also—realize that I am going to throw myself over the Emperors body, to 'protect' it. In reality, I have a special undetectable knife that will finish him for sure. On the twenty-third, at eighteen hundred hours you will have your troops in full dress blacks drawn up in the formation and at attention in the center of the arena. At eighteen hundred exactly you will be posted to the floor of the Twelfth galactic region's Imperial Senate for the annual changing of the guards.

I have to return to the palace to make sure that the plan continues on schedule. The Emperor now only trusts me to handle security at the palace."

He suddenly pulled me uptight against him his voice suddenly thick with buried passion, "Play your cards right Serina and the universe could be yours, as my consort." Then he roughly kissed me.

I kissed him back with every bit of knowledge that I had. When I finally released him, he was weak-kneed. "I'm hard to catch as you found out on Caribbia, but once I'm caught, I stay caught," I said, my mouth still brushing his. "I look forward to the completion of the coup so that we may consummate our union. For now, we have too much to do, and I need to stay in training so this will have to do as a promissory note." I kissed him again, intensely, until his knees again threatened to buckle.

His hand slowly and sensuously caressed my body as he drew himself away. I don't think he would have left if his wristcom had not beeped. He glanced at it and said, "I must leave you, my love. Our future is in your hands. I've supplied you with the best warriors in the universe, and all the knowledge that you will need is here in the Command Center. I'm sorrier than you will ever know, but you are right as usual, we will indeed have our wedding night in the imperial palace, right after we see Lady de Winters drawn-n-quartered for treason. Until we meet again, my love…." He stepped into the Command center's Port, its hush field blocking anything else he might have said—and then, suddenly, he was gone.

The first thing that I had to find out was just what was to take place, so I pulled up a chair to the Com and com and started my studies, . . . four weeks, one lousy month was all I had. Lance would have to wait; he was definitely out of the picture now anyway.

Rubbing my bleary eyes, I called my Command staff to the command center and started the briefing. I handed each one a data pack with their part all spelled out, these men and women were the best that the Marines had to offer. They had been painstakingly selected and trained for this task. I had personally vetted each one. I knew that they would not let me down. When the time came, their men would be trained to a fine pitch.

However, they would have to continue using their wooden dummies to practice on. Because Sir James had made it clear, in my mind at least, that he was the only one who would use Lance as a "Mook Joong." hours turned into days, and I worked with Tiny at a fevers pitch to make sure that everything would turn out right.

Then just a week later the Duke showed up on his reviewing platform high above the arena. I had been given only fifteen minutes notice of his arrival. Even still, my company was assembled, and my staff and I were on the platform waiting to receive him. He looked every inch, an Emperor. The silent salute was again exchanged then he turned to me. "Very good T'gerr, now let's see just how good they are. Bring me Lawrence Young and put him into the arena."