The MK I bodyguards fell in beside the Daemun priest as he stepped down from the boarding ramp of the Tion shuttlecraft. There were four of them, and their appearances were all the same-- tall, broad shouldered, alert-eyed, and silent.

One of them was plugged into a backpack full of electrical and chemical sensors. It was his job to make sure no bomb, poison, pathogen, radiation, or microdroid harmed him. The MK I's preceded him around corners, through doors, and into closed spaces.

High Regent, Sully Anre, had gotten the chief of security to order the protection and had won a reluctant promise from the priest to accept it.

Alex Cross had learned to pretend they weren't there, even when they shared a liftcar, a transport, or a slidewalk with him. He didn't want to learn their real names or to become friendly with them-- his promise didn't extend that far. He wanted them to be furniture.

The only time he acknowledged their presence was when one of them silently signaled an alarm. Then he would let the others guide him to whatever sheltered spot they chose, and would wait there until the MK I satisfied itself that there was no threat. It happened often enough that it no longer startled him, but infrequently enough that it was only a minor annoyance.

Still, Alex never expected it to happen while he was walking along the royal corridor, just outside the walls of the governor's chamber.

One moment he was striding briskly past a holo statuary, robes flowing, his mind sorting through what he knew about the Tethians. Then, in an eyeblink, one of the MK I's sharply raised its hand and another pushed Alex sideways into one of the niches where the pillar between it and the next offered cover.

Then, just as suddenly, it was over. "Clear," the MK I said in its emotionless voice, moving aside to allow Alex to emerge from the niche. Frowning crossly, the priest hurried after the Daemun super-soldier and demanded to know what had prompted the alarm.

"I detected a new energy field at the entrance to the Governor's Hall," the MK I said, pointing its cybernetic hand. "It became active as we approached."

Still frowning, Cross strode a few dozen steps farther down the corridor, then stopped short when the double doors opened before him.