Dan laughed lightly. "I think you have Ryan Steiner on the brain, Chris. The local constabulary still has no solid evidence that Ragnarok was or is backed by Ryan."

Chris stood and folded his arms across his chest. "They will find it, Dan, because Ryan is not all that bright. Face it. Ragnarok has his prints all over it. Most of the Rasalhague refugees have fled to worlds well away from the border, into areas like the Donegal March here that were formerly immune to his influences. For a miniscule amount of money he manages to build up a great deal of support.

"When Ragnar showed up with Phelan, Ryan's people must have been overjoyed. I suspect we were being watched in hopes there'd be some incident involving the Clanners that could be used against the Hounds or to embarrass Victor. When I was foolish enough to bring Ragnar into the city, they decided to snatch him."

Dan stared off past Chris, then nodded. "As you said before, Ryan could have traded Ragnar to the Free Rasalhague Republic in exchange for recognition of the right of the Tamar Pact worlds to remain together. Ceding them would cost Prince Haakon nothing because the Jade Falcons have captured almost all the Tamar worlds from both sides anyway."

"And that move would build up all sorts of good will for Ryan. Liberating Ragnar would make the Rasalhagians happy, and it would win him support here from the forces that believe the ceasefire was a bad move." Chris shook his head. "Ryan can muster enough support to force Melissa to use his choice of units to fight the bandits."

Dan smiled broadly and leaned forward. "But can Ryan gainsay Victor a shot at the bandits? If Ryan presses Melissa for action, she can trump him by sending Victor and the Revenants."    ,

"Victor is game and will want to go, but would she be willing to risk him? The Prince is not terribly popular within Ryan's sphere of influence. If Hanse Davion were calling the shots, Victor would be the point man, but Melissa is not that vindictive." Chris smiled. "Best case would be to send Katrina. She would charm the bandits and talk them into becoming a House unit."

He pressed his lips together, then looked up at his commanding officer. "What is your read on the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma?"

Dan shook his head. "Don't really know, Chris. They were unlucky and the bandits escaped. What's the matter?"

"I don't know, really. It's just that I heard they jumped out of Zhongshan without recharging or accepting a charge from the charging station there."

"So?"

"So if they had another charge in their lithium-fusion batteries, why didn't they jump out to the pirate point, then disable the bandit JumpShip and trap the bandits?"

"Good question." Dan watched Chris closely. "Does your suspicion of the Wolves extend beyond this incident, or is it isolated?"

Dan's question made Chris stop. During the whole time Phelan had been on Arc-Royal, Chris had found him cordial but never really open. Chris realized he had never taken Phelan aside to ask if they had a problem, yet he could have cited a dozen little things that suggested that there was. Phelan had not invited Chris to fight with his Star in the game. Choosing Mark hadhelped Mark's attitude toward Phelan and the Clans, but Chris wondered if it was also because Phelan thought him less important than a nephew.

Even as he framed that question in his mind, he was able to come up with a dozen different and valid answers to it. He also remembered the very enjoyable time he had spent in Evantha's company. It occurred to him that he was letting whatever difficulties he had with Phelan bleed over into how he thought about the Clans.

Chris pulled the sleeves on his tunic up to the elbows, revealing a portion of a brilliantly colored tattoo on his left arm. "Perhaps my growing up within the yakuza culture of the Draconis Combine makes me overly suspicious. And it is equally possible that my feelings of discomfort and mistrust of Phelan color the way I see the Clans. Though I do realize the ilKhan has risked much by sending a unit into the Federated Commonwealth to hunt these bandits down, the lack of action by the Wolves still looks pretty curious."

Dan frowned. "You've got no reason to be suspicious about Phelan."

"Don't I? Am I not in his place within the Kell Hound infrastructure?"

"You may see it that way, but I doubt he does," Dan said. "I don't know what or where Phelan would be if he had stayed with the Kell Hounds, but I can bet it wouldn't be as a major leading a battalion. If he wasin that sort of position, he would be the head of an independent action unit, like the Black Widows way back when with Wolf's Dragoons. He's a good warrior, and even has a solid grasp of strategy, but he's a wild card. He's unpredictable, which makes him hell on the other side, but also gets the ulcers burning when you're on hisside."

Chris acknowledged the wisdom of Dan's words with a nod, but still raised a protest. "That could be, Dan, but I've always wondered if he accepted me as a Kell. I know that must sound odd to you, but there is no way to explain it otherwise."

Dan got up and poured each of them another brandy. "Let me tell you a story, Chris. A long time ago—well, about the time you were born, actually—my brother Justin left the service of the Federated Suns. He started working for Maximilian Liao, and I saw him at Hanse Davion's wedding. He introduced me to Candace as 'the son of the man who wasmy father.' That was a shot to the gut if there ever was one. Last I'd known, we were still brothers."

Chris sipped the brandy. "But at that time Justin was a deep agent working for Hanse Davion and your father."

"Right. Two nights later Justin killed an assassin who was gunning for our father."

Chris narrowed his eyes. "I'm missing your point."

"It's an old saw, Chris: actions speak louder than words. Has Phelan ever been anything but friendly to you?"

"I wouldn't call it friendly, but he's been polite."

"Considering the two of you never got to know each other, that's not bad." Dan smiled and sipped some brandy. "You're wondering why he hasn't tried to clear the air between you. Well, how would he act if he didn't feel there was a problem to be cleared up?"

Chris chuckled lightly at himself. "Touché, Colonel. Where I grew up, polite manners hid all sorts of ugly emotions. I suppose I attribute malice where none exists."

"There you go." Dan nodded. "But your original point is well-taken. Believing that nothing is odd with the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma just because we trust Phelan is like assuming that Ryan Steiner is benign just because we trust Victor."

"Hai!"Chris swirled the brandy around in his snifter. "So, given all this discussion of politics, are we still going ahead with our deployment plan? Ryan won't like it at all."

Dan shrugged. "It will give him something else to worry about, which may distract his attention enough to frustrate the rest of his plans. We go ahead. Everyone gets two weeks' R and R here on Arc-Royal, then we head out for Deia and give Zimmer's Zouaves a break."

18

DropShip Tigress D2342.221G

Federated Commonwealth

15 June 3055

Nelson Geist kept his hands on the treadmill's railing despite the desire to tug at the collar surrounding his neck. The heavy goggles he wore made it seem like he was standing in a fully dimensional world, while the earphones brought the sounds of that reality to him. In the artificial world, even the treadmill's handrail appeared as the edge of an old man's walker.