Human agents of Merseia foment rebellion on Diomedes. They must pretend to be Avalonians in order to encourage Alatanism, the belief among (winged) Diomedieans that they will receive solidarity and support from (also winged) Ythrians. But the Merseian operatives must also give the impression that they are Dennitzans so that the Gospodar of Dennitza will send his niece, the xenologist, Kossara Vymezal, to investigate. Aycharaych can predict how the Gospodar will respond. On Dennitza, Kossara is contacted by human agents of Merseia posing as spies from Esperance. The fake Esperanicians claim that, having heard from Diomedeans of Dennitzan involvement in the resistance movement, they themselves then posed as Dennitzans. Agents of Merseia who have infiltrated Imperial Intelligence arrest Kossara. Hypnoprobing, combined with Aycharaych's telepathy and hypnosis, suppresses some of Kossara's memories and fakes others so that she believes that she had been involved in the Diomedean resistance. She is sold into slavery on Terra in order to drive a wedge between Dennitza and Terra. Aycharaych regards this kind of operation as a work of art.
Who is the "knight of ghosts and shadows" of the title? Flandry reflects:
"I see in my mirror the specter of [Aycharaych]. Though who of us is flesh and who image?" (pp. 503-504)
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