"I'd say a death blow," Rose sighed. "If not, then the meeting afterward was the killer."

"You had another meeting? I wondered where you went." McCloud snuggled closer to him as they walked, making the footing dangerous. Despite the warm air, she was not used to the cool breeze—or draft, as she insisted on calling it—blowing down from the mountains. She was a born spacer.

"Damn, I forgot my two cases." Rose glanced at his chronometer and slammed his fist into his open hand. "The Fort is closed by now."

"Don't worry. We can get them in the morning. It's not like they're going anywhere." Rose looked back along the route they'd just taken, considering the option of returning.

"You were saying?"

Rose shook his head and continued walking.

"Two boys stopped me on the way out," he told her. "Dear old dad called a family meeting on the spot to hear my proposal and was telling anybody who'd listen not to follow me."

"He sounds thorough."

"Vindictive is more like it. I was still reeling from the Assembly of Warriors when I was escorted to an adjacent room and propped up between my two keepers.

"The room was full of family I hadn't seen since leaving Northwind, but did I get the chance to speak to them or greet them? Hell, no. Dad announced me to the family and then proceeded to tell them what a rat I was. He explained my proposal to them as I listened, then called the vote. It was all over in less than ten minutes." Rose kicked a stray rock into the street and watched it skip to a stop in the middle of the lane.

"Could you have stopped him?"

"Yes, but not really. As a tech, he doesn't really have any clout in the Assembly of Warriors, but as the oldest male in the Rose family he's got a hell of a strong pull. I could have stopped him in front of the Assembly or the family session, but in either case it would have been considered very rude. Not even the prodigal son can go against his father—especially when he's the patriarch— and get away with it. Speaking at all would have been proof of my father's claims.

"Seventeen family members present and all seventeen rejected my offer."

McCloud let Rose walk on in silence. Despite the short time she'd known him, she knew he had not really given up on his dream, despite his current mood. He'd figure something out if he took the time. She began to shiver as the temperature continued to drop.

She looked up at Rose, trying to come to terms with how strongly she felt about him. She'd always prided herself on being independent. Being a DropShip captain was hard work, and McCloud considered herself as good as any in the business. Then along came this Mech Warrior who made her question her lonely way of life. Not that it was anything he ever said. His company was enough.

"So what now?" McCloud spoke the words more to keep her lips moving than because she expected an answer. She shivered again, thinking that one day scientists would look back and declare climate control as the invention that separated men from monkeys.

"Now I try to see my sister, Rianna, and take it from there. She wasn't at the Assembly today, so she missed the vote."

"I thought she was a warrior."

"She is, but so far she's unproven. The public records indicate that she's a good 'Mech pilot and an excellent planner, but she's still a year away from her first contract. She could have come to the Assembly as a member of the gallery, but that's about as exciting as watching 'Mechs rust, especially without the frame of reference you get in combat. I doubt anybody thought the meeting would be as explosive as it turned out to be."

The pair continued in silence until McCloud remembered.

"Hey, you said the meeting with your family took only ten minutes. Where have you been for the last two hours?"

"Talking with Colonel Stirling."

"Cat Stirling?"

"One and the same. How do you know the colonel?" Rose looked over at McCloud, who only shrugged.

"Just one of the people you hear about in my line of work. I believe the term is 'larger than life.' "

"That sure sounds like her. There were times in the conversation when I swore I could hear her purr." Rose laughed at the thought and McCloud relaxed a little. Rose was already putting the past behind him and concentrating on the future.

"Did you talk about anything important?" McCloud tried to taint the question with a hint of jealousy, but Rose either missed the inference or else chose to ignore it. The idea was silly anyway.

"She more or less agreed with my father."

"Really?"

"Well, not really, but she told me she'd predicted the results of the vote yesterday after learning that my father was going to speak."

"Did you find out anything interesting?"

Rose nodded. "She was the commander of Danny's battalion when he died on—"

"Your brother is dead?"

Rose nodded. He'd forgotten that McCloud didn't know. Though he'd only learned it himself a few hours ago, Rose was surprisingly at ease with the news. He and his brother had never been really close. The death of lancemates had hit him harder. McCloud, however, seemed to take the news as a great shock. He was greatly surprised when she stopped to give him a hug.

"Jeremiah, I'm so sorry." He struggled with what to say, afraid of diminishing her compassion and suddenly ashamed of his own lack of feelings. After a moment's hesitation, he hugged her in return.

"You're shaking." Rose loosened his grip and pulled back enough to see her face.

"It's freezing out here," she said. Rose squeezed her close and she returned the grip with fervor. Looking over the top of her head for suitable refuge, he noted a small restaurant across the street.

He pulled free and pointed across the street. "How about some food, on me?"

"Anyplace warm is fine with me."

Rose gripped her hand and led her across the street and into the restaurant, where they were greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread and by a rotund woman in green tartan. Behind the woman, in the restaurant's even smaller bar, men and woman mingled with loud humor.

"Two for dinner, please."

"Am I blind? Of course two for dinner." The woman slapped Rose good-naturedly on the arm with a pair of menus. "You wait a second in there while I get the table ready." Rose knew there were plenty of tables available, but the bar was where the restaurant made its highest profits and nobody was going to eat without first relaxing. Rose raised an eyebrow toward McCloud. He'd known her for two months, but this was their first social situation outside her DropShip. Did she even like bars?

McCloud looked into the small room and nodded quickly. Rose smiled back at their disappearing hostess and followed McCloud into the noisy room. The single waitress was already leaving the table McCloud had acquired by the time Rose maneuvered his way through the press of occupants.

"Loud bunch." Rose leaned closer as if to whisper, but in the noise he was almost shouting. Still, McCloud barely heard. She nodded in agreement. The pair waited for several minutes, but their drinks still did not arrive. Rose looked over to the bar for the waitress, but she was nowhere in sight.

"What are you lookin' at?" It was one of the Highlanders propped up at the end of the bar. Rose hadn't even noticed the man until he spoke. As he turned away, the man pushed away from the bar and headed toward

Rose's table. "Hey, aren't you the guy from the Assembly this afternoon?"