The twisted irony of the situation made Michi want to laugh, but the pain in his chest turned his amusement to agony. When the spasm subsided, he said, "He refused such a death when I offered it."

"He never responded well to the younger generation," Theodore said ruefully. He returned to Michi's bedside. "I wish to reward you."

A fleeting burst of strength allowed Michi to rock his head back and forth. "It is inappropriate."

"Because you raised your hand against the House of Kurita?"

"Hai."

"And if I, as head of that House, say that you were ever loyal, as a samurai should be?"

Michi met Theodore's gaze. He felt the strength in the Kanrei's spirit, the power to rule. But Michi had his own strength. "It would not change the truth. I have lived my last lie."

Theodore sighed. Bowing his head, he asked, "Will you become a monk?"

"Perhaps, in time."

They spoke no more for some time. Michi thought he must have slept, but when he was aware again, Theodore was still there, his position unchanged. Michi said, "If you have told me the truth, I have one more duty."

"On Awano?"

Michi shook his head. Awano, the ancestral home of his mentor Minobu, was as closed to him as Luthien and the inner circles of Kurita politics. Tetsuhara- senseihad cursed him from the family estate when Michi had brought him the head of Minobu's chief tormentor Samsonov. The old man had refused the validity of Michi's vendetta to restore the honor of his eldest son, Minobu. The old senseihad cursed him, but there had been a package waiting for Michi at the spaceport. A long slender box. That box now lay in a bank vault on the outskirts of Imperial City. The instructions he had left for its disposition no longer applied.

Theodore interrupted his thoughts. "Where will you go, then?"

"To fulfill my last duty," he said, but he would not elaborate despite the Kanrei's probing. This matter had nothing to do with Theodore, and everything to do with who Michi was and what he had become. Until that duty was done, he would not be free to go onward. "When will the doctors release me?"

"When you are able to travel. I will have a ship waiting for you."

"It is unnecessary."

"For you, but not for me. You will accept that at least."

Theodore's voice was firm, full of his conviction. Michi nodded. They understood each other at last.

30

The Wolf stopped short when he saw the man who stood at the window, back to the door. Even I knew enough to see that the tall man was not the stocky Takashi Kurita, with whom we were to meet. As we entered the room, the man turned to greet us and I recognized Theodore Kurita, Gunji-no-Kanrei of the Combine. He looked tired.

"Colonel Wolf, I am glad to see you."

"Good evening, Kanrei," the Colonel responded guardedly.

Theodore frowned, an uncharacteristically revealing expression from one schooled in Kuritan politics. Something was obviously upsetting him. I wondered if he approved of Jaime Wolf's duel with his father.

"Please take a seat," he said, gesturing to a group of intricately carved chairs near the center of the room. We took seats, but he remained standing. "I regret to inform you that your salutation is obsolete. My father passed on this morning. I am no longer Kanrei, but Coordinator."

Colonel Wolf stiffened, but his voice was steady and calm. "I did not know he was ill."

"It was sudden. The physicians say heart failure."

"Your circumspection suggests that you suspect otherwise."

"You are as perceptive as ever, Colonel Wolf. I am not sure whether you will find the news welcome or not, but I can assure you that my father did not die by treachery."

"I never wished him a dishonorable death."

"But you did wish him dead. Why else would you have accepted his challenge?"

"I came to end the feud."

"Ah yes, the feud." Theodore shook his head sadly. "Will my father's death bring an end to the hostilities between House Kurita and your Dragoons?"

"I came for the duel. It would have been a closure."

"There are many ways to reach an end, Colonel. What good is a vendetta prosecuted against innocents?"

The Wolf smiled grimly. "I could ask you the same thing."

"Your words are for my father, not me. We live in this world, Colonel Wolf. The universe is, now and tomorrow, what we make it." Finally, Theodore sat. He leaned forward, his expression earnest. "Will you not let the past go?"

Expressionless, the Colonel replied, "Too many Dragoons have died at Kurita hands."

"More deaths will not bring them back. Many Kuritans have died at the hands of Dragoons, and I do not hold you accountable. I thought you were offering a reconciliation when you invited me to Outreach."

"I called you, not your father. The Clans had to be stopped."

"And then you came and fought for Luthien. You might have stayed away and let the Clans settle your old debts."

"Hanse Davion invoked our contract with the Federated Commonwealth and forced us to come to Luthien, but I assure you it was against my wishes."

"You did not think it wise to defend Luthien against the invaders?"

"You should have met them in space and fallen back with your ground forces. Benjamin was defensible." The Wolf broke off then, dismissing the strategic considerations with a wave of his hand. "Now that Hanse is dead, I won't be forced into aiding Kurita again. My position remains unchanged."

"You will not help us against the Clans?"

"I won't fight your battles and have Dragoons give their lives for Kuritans. But if you offer no battles, I'll start none. We have no need to meet on the battlefield."

"If we did, you would not have the success you did against my father. My army is not so reckless as his."

"Start the fighting and you'll have more dead to bury than you can count."

Theodore sat back and a strange calm descended on him. "You speak much of death, Colonel. Is it death you seek? There are those who would be happy to arrange it."

"Threats aren't your style, Theodore -san."

"Are they yours?"

"I didn't start this feud," the Wolf responded hotly. Ice to the fire, Theodore said, "But you are willing to finish it." The Wolf nodded.

"I will not stand for a shadow war." Theodore leaned forward again, hig face stern. "If you strike at me, you will reap the whirlwind. There will be no piecemeal attacks, no raids, no unorganized assaults for you to destroy at leisure. Your Dragoons have a permanent home now; they are more vulnerable than ever. Living in Davion's shadow, you must be more aware than ever of the Kuritan reputation for atrocities. Outreach is not so far from Kentares," he said ominously.

The threat was barely veiled, for the name Kentares was infamous. It was on that world that one of Theodore's forebears had perpetrated a massacre that amounted to planetary genocide.

The Wolf's expression hardened. "We Dragoons have dealt with threats to our families before, always harshly." He stared at Theodore for a long moment. "Besides, I don't believe you would start a war with the Clans at your back and the Federated Commonwealth on two sides."

"You are not Davion's people, for all you hide in his shadow. Who will cry for mercenaries when so much can be gained by picking their bones?"