He held her tightly, and kissed her neck again, shivering.

"You feel the same. You can't hide it from me."

"I managed to for awhile," he said, then they both laughed.

"It's less than two years," she said. "It'll all be decided then."

"I don't want to think about it. I just want to hold you."

They went no further with their desire for each other, but cuddled together on the couch until Weimeng

knocked on the door to find out what her Mengnu thought about the potential suitors she'd met that night.

Juimoshu met Mengmoshu at the door to the Emperor's chambers. "His strength comes and goes," she said. "One day he's in court, and then three in bed. A simple argument exhausts him and I have no idea why he's called us here."

"How long do you think he has to live?"

"Less than a year, but it's difficult to say. He's still alert and his will is strong. I've made every effort to prolong his life, Mengmoshu. Without the drugs I give him his life could have been finished a year ago, but the ma.s.s is now reaching close to his heart."

"It would be best if he were still alive when First Mother arrives with Her forces. A transition period with Shan-lan on the throne would be quite awkward."

"We might have to deal with that," said Juimoshu. "I don't think he can last so long."

The door was opened by Yang Xifeng, second wife to the Son of Heaven and mother of the heir to his throne. Mengmoshu had rarely seen her, even in court, and remembered her as a lovely, graceful young woman with the neck of a swan. Now she was well into her thirties, and looked much older: ashen face, the wrinkles of worry under her eyes and on her forehead. She gestured for them to enter.

"Please don't allow him to talk for long. He refuses to acknowledge his condition, and pushes himself too hard."

"We understand," said Mengmoshu.

They went through a reception room and sitting room with red walls and black stone floors in near darkness to two doors which spilled forth light when Yang Xifeng opened them. "They are here," she said softly.

"Ah, good," came the Emperor's voice.

They entered, and found themselves in a bedroom with golden walls and ceiling, and a thick, red carpet. Mirrors lined the walls, and one was on the ceiling above a huge bed upon which the Emperor leaned back against several pillows, a small book in his hands. The room was brightly lit by three chandeliers of bra.s.s and crystal, the only other furniture a desk and chair across from the bed.

Yang Xifeng closed the doors behind them. The Emperor smiled, and beckoned them to come closer.

"I've been reading the ancient histories of Shou-tze, particularly during the time of w.a.n.g Chen-Ma, our founder. It was he who repelled the invading h.o.a.rd from Tengri-Nayon, and although I consider the possibility remote, I might be soon called upon to do the same."

"There's been no invasion for two thousand years, My Emperor, but the closest approach of Tengri-Nayon is two years away. Do you think First Mother will attack Shanji? Have you heard something?"Mengmoshu's expression was one of genuine concern and sudden anxiety.The Emperor smiled. "Surely you would hear it first, being as close as you are to First Mother." His eyes fixed on Mengmoshu's face, looking for a reaction, but Mengmoshu only shrugged his shoulders, as if ignorant.

"She would surely warn us, Son of Heaven."The Emperor chuckled, eyes bright in an otherwise haggard face. "If she even existed," he said with disdain. "I don't concern myself with mythology, but the fact is the Tengri-Nayon system is nearing us, and if there is to be an attack it will be in the near future. I intend to be prepared for it, and there is precedent for an attack. Those who are educated will expect me to be ready. They know their history."

"Of course, Son of Heaven. What can we do for you?"

"I need a feeling for our present forces. How much can we provide for our defense?"

"Including the trainees, your army stands at around three thousand cavalry, and twice that in infantry if

we bring in all the troopers from our border outposts."

"What about the Moshuguang you keep hidden in the mountain?" the Emperor said loudly.

"Barely a thousand, but trained to fight on foot or horseback with both lasers and traditional weapons.

The flyers are also equipped with lasers."

"How many?"

"Fifty-perhaps sixty. I'm not sure."

"Hmmm." The Emperor rubbed his chin, then thumped the little book in his hand with a finger. "Shou-

tze says only that the first horde of invaders numbered in the thousands, and their armament was bow and sword. Despite a sneak attack which brought them to the gates of the city, our flyers had no difficulty in dispersing them."

"The mother ship, Son of Heaven, not the flyers. That was two thousand years ago. If they've left the traditional ways to develop a fully technological society, their weapons could now be quite advanced over ours. They might attack from s.p.a.ce and not even land an army. We have no way to meet them there."

"The ship that brought us from Tengri-Nayon is still here."

"It was manned at the time of the invasion, coming so shortly after our landing. Your predecessors ordered it abandoned, and you have kept that tradition. We monitor its instruments from our facilities in the mountain. It can still serve as an early warning system for us. If invading ships arrive in orbit around Shanji, we will see them. But we cannot operate the mother ship's weapons systems from here."

The Emperor shook his head. "We have the smaller ships from our landing. You could fly these to the mother ship and occupy it again."

Mengmoshu automatically masked his mind, keeping even a partial truth from Juimoshu. "The hydrogen fuel for the landing ships has boiled away centuries ago. Even if we had fuel, there are no trained pilots to fly them. s.p.a.ceflight has not been part of our traditions for nearly two thousand years, Son of Heaven. The Moshuguang honors the traditions."

The Emperor scowled. "Then we are limited to a ground defense, with cover by the flyers and an army without battle experience."

"Perhaps we can recruit the Tumatsin to support us?" asked Mengmoshu.

"They have no fighting force. I've forbidden it. The Changelings are not involved with this."

"You've promised to defend them against aggression, My Emperor. They have thousands of men who could be trained quickly."

"I said nothing about defense against foreigners. If the Tumatsin are attacked, they must protect themselves. My only concern is this city."

Mengmoshu wasn't surprised. "As you wish, My Emperor. We must wait, then, and be ready with the forces we have. As you say, there's a good chance no invasion will take place. Is there anything else?"

The Emperor closed his book, and leaned tiredly back against the pillows. "A dream-for Juimoshu."

"What is it, Son of Heaven?" she asked.

w.a.n.g-Shan-shi-jie closed his eyes. "I saw my son in battle. He was on horseback in full armor, and was shouting to someone. His sword was raised, and blood covered his face. I awoke with a terrible foreboding about him and couldn't sleep again. Earlier this evening I had the same dream, only this time his horse was surrounded by soldiers with fierce faces and the teeth of the shizi. I awoke shaking, Juimoshu. I fear for my son. What is the meaning of such a dream?"

"You think about war," said Juimoshu, "and mix those thoughts with your concerns for the future of Shanji. Your son is trained as a soldier, and will be Emperor after you. The blood you saw is a metaphor for the sacrifices he will make to lead the people in the ways of his father. He will be a fine Emperor, Son of Heaven. He will honor you with his life."

The Emperor sighed, eyes still closed. "I'd hoped for such a meaning, but the dream frightened me. Shanlan is so gentle as a human being I've feared for his ability to rule, but he works hard and does all he can to please me. He's brought me pride. I only wish-he could have come-from Weimeng. . . . "

The words faded away, and the Emperor was asleep. Mengmoshu and Juimoshu left the room quietly, and closed the doors behind them.

"Despite the misguided rule of the man, I cannot despise him," said Juimoshu.

"Nor can I," Mengmoshu said.

During the time of anxious waiting, Kati trained with the troopers, and there were two more bronze rings from Master Yung, another two for Shan-lan, now beginning to excel with the sword. She still met him occasionally in Stork Tower, still accepted his poems and paintings of loving friendship. His mind, however, was increasingly occupied with the proceedings at court. He followed his father's views on matters, not asking for her advice, but she'd had opportunity to express her ideas for expansion and economic reform. He listened politely, seemed interested and receptive and genuinely concerned about the physical needs of the people. This saddened her. In time, he might be a fair and just Emperor, but there was no time. He would not be Emperor of Shanji; Mandughai would not allow it. She would place another on the throne, perhaps Kati, perhaps not, in little more than a year. Her star was now dazzlingly bright in the night sky.

Huomeng came to her rooms nearly every day now, and they cuddled on the couch to talk. They talked about Shanji, Huomeng's dreams of flying in s.p.a.ce, Kati's continued work alone in the gong-shi-jie, and their own relationship, the love that had blossomed for a long while without their notice. Huomeng feared for her, feared her decision to fight, but didn't try to dissuade her from it. He yielded to her right of personal choice, even at risk of losing her, and she loved him for it.

Several times, she thought of inviting him to her bed, but always stopped herself. Strong emotion, especially pa.s.sion, brought The Change upon her, and she still remembered the terror on Lui-Pang's face. How could she expect Huomeng to react differently? How could they ever consummate their love in a physical way, when even the touch of his lips aroused her so?

More and more, Kati spent her time alone in the gong-shi-jie and in real s.p.a.ce reaching out to the gaseous giants. Alone, undistracted, she explored her powers, often playing like a child. The transition from real s.p.a.ce to the place of creation remained a flash to her: As much as she calmed herself, she could not slow it down. Time and time again she tried and failed to transfer ma.s.s into the gong-shi-jie. One evening she re-entered real s.p.a.ce at the same point after such a trial, and found the ma.s.s still there, a hot tongue of ionized gas now cooled to a cloud of frozen molecules. She could bring energy with her in either direction, but in the form of light. The ma.s.s would not follow her.

She was limited, then, and must work within those limits. Light had energy without end in the gong-shijie, and was accessible to her for more than just magic tricks to impress people. She had to think on a grander scale. Energy from the gong-shi-jie could push a light-sail craft anywhere in real s.p.a.ce as long as she were there to direct it, a thing she could do without transition. Huomeng could travel anywhere and she could be with him, but the task was delicate. One slip on her part, one lapse of concentration, and the light-sail could be a cinder along with the man she loved.

She practiced with dust, blowing it around with light pressure, then moved to larger pieces of debris left over from planetary formation. The delicacy of her ambitions became apparent when she turned a small asteroid the size of Shanji's mother ship into gla.s.s, and vaporized a two-kilometer wide world of ice and frozen methane. But it was a matter of practice, and her confidence grew.

There were alternatives. Huomeng had talked about ram-jets used by the ancestors, and powered by hydrogen gas sucked in by mammoth electromagnetic scoops. If the gas were plentiful, and extremely hot, little fuel was necessary on board the s.p.a.cecraft itself, and even that fuel could be obtained on the gaseous giants nearby. A similar system had been used to power the mother ship.

During an evening only weeks before Festival, Kati was examining this possibility. She went to Shanji's gaseous neighbor with its tiny, icy moons, and drew out a dense cloud of gas from its atmosphere in several steps, cooling it in transition after transition until she had a ball of frozen gas a kilometer in diameter whirling above the moons of ice. A fueling station. The s.p.a.cecraft could be fueled here, but how to bring it from Shanji, or the fuel to it? That question remained unanswered. If she pushed the ball closer to her planet, the light of Tengri-Khan would work against her, and she would have to continually remove heat from the fuel. Still possible, but much time would be necessary to prod the fuel-ball close to her planet.

Once fueled, there should be little difficulty in getting the ship as far as Tengri-Nayon. Nayon and Khan had been formed together, and much gas had been blown from the younger one. There was a plentiful supply between the two stars, and she could move ahead of Huomeng to heat it for his electromagnetic scoops.

She tried it with the ball of frozen gas she'd formed, opening a concentric sh.e.l.l of s.p.a.ce around it to the gong-shi-jie, flashing it to vapor, then molecules, then ions which quickly ran away from each other. She concluded the s.p.a.cecraft needed to be close when the ions were formed, or she would have to somehow move those ions in a directed way.

Kati was still thinking about the problem when she returned to the gong-shi-jie and the swirling clouds of purple that always brought her a feeling of privacy and tranquillity. The auric signatures of planets and stars stretched in every direction, and the purple exit to herself was nearby. But something now bothered her, a presence, not here, with her, but in her mind, and that was nearly the same thing. Someone was partic.i.p.ating in her experience here.

Mandughai? Are you here?

Silence, and swirling light. She drifted towards the vortex leading to her body. The s.p.a.ce near it shimmered, the pattern of purple light changing there.

Someone is here; I can feel it. Why do you hide from me? If it's you, Mandughai, have you come to warn me of your arrival? I've been expecting it.

The shimmering s.p.a.ce began to take form, the image of a Tumatsin woman in leather pants and white, sleeveless blouse. Her hair was black, a long, hard chiseled face with full lips curled in an arrogant smile around sharp, protruding canines. Her arms were well muscled, and she slouched on a throne of black stone, one leg draped carelessly over an arm rest.

I'm not Mandughai, but I do come to give you a warning.

Kati's recognition came in an instant. You're Her daughter. Where is Mandughai?

She sleeps. I've given Her something to encourage it so we can meet alone here. My dealings are with you, not my mother.

Kati felt dark hostility and aggression coming from the woman. So, we're here, and I see your image.

And I see yours. You show yourself as an Empress, which you're not. I show you a soldier, which I am, so you'll recognize me when we come together.

I'm also a soldier. I look forward to demonstrating that for you. If there was to be posturing, she would partic.i.p.ate in it.

The woman chuckled. That will be soon. We're now in transit to Shanji, and I estimate another eleven months until our arrival. We'll make no effort to hide ourselves, though we're capable of it.

You can't hide from me. I'll see your ships long before they arrive.

I'm aware of your abilities. I come here often to watch your little games. Even mother hasn't been aware of my presence. I am self-taught, you see. I have not enjoyed the favor of my mother's teachings.

So why do you come to me now?

To be honest with you. To let you know the kind of war you're really facing. The woman's eyes were suddenly red, her upper lip curled up in a toothy display.

Mandughai said I should prepare for the worst. I will do that.

The woman tilted her head back, and laughed. You have nothing to prepare with. I dare you to show me one soldier with battle experience on Shanji. All of my people have tasted blood, and number ten times what you can put together. My mother has comforted you with her desire for a limited war, but that is a decision only I can make, with the support of my field commanders. It is a military, not a political issue, and we have plans for Shanji that don't include you.

Then make your decision. We'll be ready for you.

Brave words supporting a false hope. My forces can crush yours in a single day.

And I can destroy yours with a wave of my hand.

The woman's bravado disappeared. She rested her chin on a fist and looked warily at Kati. You? The one with a compa.s.sion for people that has captured my mother's love? Do you really think you can bring yourself to kill a living thing with the energy that surrounds us here?

I'll use all power necessary to defend my people. When the time comes, I'll demonstrate that for you.

Now the woman scowled. Very well, then, let us discuss the terms of battle in light of your abilities. My mother would have a limited campaign with ground forces in the traditional way to honor our ancestors, but there are many of us who would do otherwise. Our weapons could destroy all life on your planet, from s.p.a.ce. It would be my method, but she's my mother, and for the moment I allow her to hold me back.

Wisely so. If you attack my people with weapons from s.p.a.ce, I'll vaporize your ships from the gong-shijie. More posturing, but with effect. Kati now felt the woman's uncertainty.

It's my mother's intent to bring change to Shanji, not destroy it, and a devastated planet is of no use to me. There must be restraint from both sides if any of our missions are to be accomplished. The tone was now more conciliatory.

So what do you propose?

Ground action only, without the use of airpower or weapons from s.p.a.ce, including your use of the gongshi-jie. I can't guarantee that. I have no control over the Emperor of Shanji. He has armed flyers and will use them against you. I can't prevent it.Then we will shoot them down from s.p.a.ce!And I'll retaliate in kind, as I've said! Kati said it with conviction, an anger and determination within her that hadn't been there a moment before.

The woman slouched on her throne, and smiled. Now you show me your true face. We're more alike than I thought. Perhaps we can reach a compromise.How large is your force?I won't tell you that. It's more than sufficient for us to overwhelm you.Then I must use every advantage possible for Shanji. Perhaps I should just move against you by myself.

Kati was thinking fast. How could she compromise her own powers, when she could destroy an invading force before they even landed?

The woman seemed to hear her thought, and was no longer arrogant, or scowling. My mother insists the battle be traditional, hand-to-hand between our people. I'll not tolerate the use of armed flyers, and they will be shot down. I'll agree not to use my weapons in s.p.a.ce on any other targets except the flyers.