She caught it in midair with her right hand while LaFollet stared at her in disbelief, then smiled at Isenhoffer—who, if possible, looked even more astonished than her armsman.

“Forgive me, Kapitän,” she said. “As you may know, I’ve experienced more than one assassination attempt of my own. When my father helped me design my prosthesis, he suggested a few small… improvements. This,” she handed Isenhoffer the magazine, “was one of them.”

She raised her hand between them and sent its artificial muscles another command. In response, her left index finger snapped abruptly and rigidly straight, and the hand’s other fingers folded under, almost as if they were gripping the butt of a nonexistent pulser.

“I’m afraid I’d have to have the tip of the finger rebuilt if I ever used it,” she told him with a whimsical smile. “But Daddy insisted that it would be worthwhile.”

“I see,” Isenhoffer said a bit blankly. Then he gave himself a shake. “I see,” he repeated in more normal tones. “Your father would appear to be a man of rare foresight, Your Grace.”

“I’ve always thought so,” Honor replied, studiously ignoring the fulminating look Andrew LaFollet was busy sending in her direction.

“Yes. Well, if you’re ready,” the Andermani officer continued, sliding the pulser magazine into a pocket as Honor reclaimed her tunic and slipped back into it, “the Herzog is waiting.”

“Of course,” Honor murmured, and held out her arms to Nimitz. The treecat leapt lightly into them, and she followed Isenhoffer through the hatch into the briefing room. She had no doubt that surveillance systems had been watching her in the passage, and she hoped they would draw the proper conclusion from her surrender of the pulser magazine. She doubted very much that even Imperial Andermani security agents would have been able to spot the weapon built into her arm. She’d certainly paid enough to be certain no one could, at any rate! And she’d had Palace Security test it for her back on Manticore. So she’d just demonstrated that she could have brought a weapon into Rabenstrange’s presence if she’d really wanted to… and that she took her solemn promise not to do any such thing seriously. And that she wanted Rabenstrange to know she’d done both of those things.

It was a small thing, perhaps. But small things were what trust and confidence were built upon, and she badly needed Chien-lu von Rabenstrange to trust her this afternoon as he never had before.

Her armsmen came with her, and she watched the eyes of the two bodyguards standing behind Rabenstrange. The woman she suspected was the senior of the two gave her a very sharp look, and Honor smiled mentally at the proof that she had indeed been under surveillance in the passage. But the woman only looked at her for a moment before her eyes joined her companion’s in carefully examining LaFollet, Hawk, and Mattingly. The three Graysons returned the examination with equal professionalism, and Honor hid a bigger smile as she tasted the wary emotions on either side. But the stillborn smile was fleeting, and she turned her attention to the small man seated at the head of the briefing room table.