Petr almost stumbled with the myriad questions somersaulting through his mind, a terrible riptide threatening his concentration. Only moments remained before he faced Sha, and this was how he would present himself? Incoherent? Frothing at the mouth? Sha would win before he ever set foot on Adhafera soil.

“Your silence is very edifying, oh great and powerful ovKhan. If he did not come running in response to the same source of information as you, then, considering your own personal fascination with the leader of Beta Aimag, perhaps he has a similar fascination?” Petr halted mere steps from the bridge and turned to find Jesup practically on his heels. “And when I say ‘fascination,’ what I mean to say is ‘obsession.’”

Petr hardened his gaze and Jesup immediately brought his hands up in a mock-defensive measure.

“I meant no disrespect, ovKhan, but the mind simply boggles at the possibility that he would come directly to the same backwater world. Yes, the meat garnered here will allow us to make inroads into other worlds, but this deal will hardly be profitable in itself. So the information that sent us skipping across the length of Prefecture VII obviously had little to do with commerce. If Sha doesn’t have that information, then he comes for you.”

Once more Petr ignored his aide’s fishing for information. “Jesup, I do not need your banter at this moment. You know I must confront Sha and open up the official trials between our Aimags. I do not look forward to it.”

“But why? You could confront him, ask about the information that led him here.” The crooked smile only served to further darken Petr’s mood. Asking such a question outright would only prove his own ignorance. Sometimes Petr did not know if Jesup’s sarcasm was real or feigned to cover ignorance. He hoped the former, but thought the latter on numerous occasions.

Turning his back on Jesup, he stepped onto the bridge. Jotok was not there. Surprise actually stopped Petr in his tracks for several long seconds as he looked again. He saw only four crewmen on the bridge, two of whom were in the process of putting the holographic display through its annual servicing.

“Where is Star Captain Jotok?” he asked, raising his voice to be heard above the din. He moved toward the communications bank and its crewman without waiting for an answer.

“Star Commander Alisa on watch, ovKhan. We have called repeatedly for Star Captain Jotok, but he has yet to respond to our hails. He actually took shore leave, sir.”

“Really?” Did wonders never cease?

“Coms, you have the incoming DropShips?”

The technician looked as though he had just graduated from a shiv to active duty; he couldn’t be more than eighteen, possibly nineteen years old. He moved with grace and confidence, however, that spoke well of his bloodline. “Yes, ovKhan. The flotilla of DropShips will interface with the atmosphere in three hours and twenty-two minutes at its current velocity. Their trajectories will place them directly into Halifax.”

No surprise there. Petr shook his head and felt the weight of his hair swing against his shoulders. He could continue to wait, to delay, but to what end? It would reflect poorly on him among his subordinates—and an hour or two longer would not change his discomfort at the conversation.

“Coms, patch me through to the lead DropShip. OvKhan Clarke is aboard that vessel and I wish to speak with him.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy responded, and immediately began transmitting the appropriate codes for opening communication.

A few seconds passed and the front viewscreen materialized into the bridge on the command vessel of the incoming flotilla. A short-haired, scarecrowlike man stared coldly across several thousand kilometers. Those dead eyes almost sent a shiver up Petr’s spine, caused his anger to pile up in a flash.

Sha Clarke.

A thorn in his side for years, and now he intended to be one again. This time, however, it would be different. There would be no going back. No stopping.

“Ah, Petr, I see you have begun to develop what I will take.”

He gritted his teeth. Having a complete unknown like Snow clip his fins and rattle him might be tolerated, but he would not allow Sha the same enjoyment. Too much of that before.

“Is that a challenge?”

“Why, no.” That surprised him. He expected Sha immediately to challenge for a Trial of Possession. “We have more important issues.”

“Fighting a Trial of Possession for the right to negotiate this planet would not stop our traditional trials.”

Even digitally reproduced, the knowing look in Sha’s eyes felt like a slap in the face. Those too-cool eyes in a face that never seemed to show more than a spark of animation. “Oh, I am well aware of that. My news is that Star Captain Tal Sennet has died. As a quorum of those warriors who will be nominated to fight for his name is within our two Aimags, Khan Hawker has given permission for the initiation of a Trial of Bloodright.”

That abruptly stopped the activity on the bridge and even brought Petr’s chin up. A Trial of Bloodright had not been fought within the jurisdiction of his Aimag in more than five years, and the thrill of the honor to come sang in his veins. Even so, a dark note tempered his excitement.

“When shall we initiate the trial?” he said, infusing an enthusiasm and respect into his voice that he never felt in dealing with Sha.

“No time like the present, quiaff?”

“Aff, Sha.”

“I have already transferred the appropriate personnel for the ritual; my Breaker of Waves has adjusted her trajectory to enter a standard orbit; the rest will make planetfall. Gather your personnel and boost to intercept. Out.”

The screen went blank. Petr felt almost let down by the encounter. None of the normal stabs and jabs, beyond the obligatory opening parry. It was as though Sha simply had too much to deal with to indulge in their old rivalry.

Though the Trial of Bloodright would indeed require great resources, it would not completely occupy either of them, and certainly offered no barrier to fighting a Trial of Possession for negotiation rights with the planet’s merchants.

The other DropShips. He became aware of Jesup standing almost at his shoulder, understanding written on his face. He actually might have picked up on it before me.

“Why would he use the distraction of the Trial of Bloodright to allow his merchant castemen to try to gain an edge on our efforts here?” asked Jesup. “Why not simply declare the Trial of Possession and be done with it?”

“I cannot say, Jesup, but it worries me. It worries me a great deal.” He considered the too-knowing look in those blank eyes, the way Sha simply dismissed him. As though he moved in deeper waters, currents Petr simply could not compete in.

A shiver ran down his spine.