The younger man smiled. "I shall pass word of your praise on to the others. Star Colonel Athen Kederk has worked miracles since he came over from the 328th Assault Cluster. I thank you for letting him come. I also thank you for leaving us the Thirteenth Wolf Guards when Natasha took command of Alpha Galaxy. They, as always, know how to confront an opponent with all kinds of unusual tactical challenges."

Ulric laughed lightly. "The other units who trained against the Wolf Spiders tended to phrase their opinions in less flattering ways."

"I can imagine." Phelan sat back in the steel and canvas chair. Looking around the sparsely decorated room, it struck him that Ulric Kerensky had not much changed since the first time he had seen him. On the JumpShip Dire Wolfhe had been invited to Khan Kerensky's quarters, where everything was either utilitarian or aesthetically simple. It occurred to him that many of the furnishings in the room here on Tamar were exactly the same ones that had occupied Ulric's cabin during the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere.

Ulric stroked his white goatee a moment before speaking. "I asked you here because I have some disturbing news."

The tone of the ilKhan's voice surprised Phelan. It carried regret, but also sounded as if Ulric were uncertain how much information he should reveal. "What is it?"

"Two days ago, an assassin killed Archon Melissa Steiner on Tharkad. He did so by exploding a bomb at a banquet she was attending."

"Oh my God!" Phelan's jaw dropped open. "Who did it?"

Ulric shook his head. "I do not know, nor did the ComStar Precentor who communicated the information. He did say, however, that your parents were in attendance at the dinner. Your father introduced Melissa Steiner, and both your parents were seated on the dais." The ilKhan took a deep breath. "Your mother was killed by the blast. Your father was gravely wounded and is undergoing treatment."

The curious tone of Ulric's voice undercut the gravity of his news. Phelan wanted to deny what he had heard, and focused on the fact that because Clan warriors never knew their true parents, Ulric could not know how much the news hurt him. Ulric could not inject the right amount of sorrow and sympathy into his words because he could not understand sentiments he had never felt.

"Oh, God." Phelan slumped in the chair. "My mother . . . dead? It can't be, it can't. I just saw her a month ago." He looked up at Ulric and let a little laugh escape his throat. "With my father retiring, the two of them were traveling to Tharkad to get away from the unit and fighting and death for a while. She cheated death so often on the battlefield . . . how could it get her at a banquet?"

The ilKhan simply shook his head. "I cannot begin to understand what you are feeling, Phelan, yet I dearly wish I could."

"Forgive me, ilKhan, but you do notwant to share these feelings."

"I do, and it comes not from wondering how this will affect your performance in my command. You are a friend and I can see that this hurts you . . . deeply." Ulric looked down at his hands. "I have other unsettling news."

Phelan head bobbed with a snort. "In for a cent, in for a C-bill."

"At roughly the same time the bomb exploded, the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma made a combat drop on Deia. They dropped onto what was left of Zimmer's Zouaves and the Deia Militia. They ripped them apart, but in doing so allowed the bandits to escape. Because Conal bid away his air wing to win this assignment, he had nothing with which to pursue the bandits as they left the world."

"Conal dropped on a unit he was supposed to be helping?" Phelan sat bolt upright in his chair. "What in the name of hell possessed him to do that?"

Ulric exhaled slowly. "Conal claims that he told the mercenary commander to remove his troops from a defensive position that Conal wanted to occupy. That commander refused, and accepted Conal's challenge to fight for the place."

The younger man's nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath. He had no doubt that the actions of Conal—as slimy a weasel and a bastard as ever saw a sunrise—were exactly what any Clansman would have thought appropriate. He was just as certain that Conal had landed hard on the Zouaves for two main reasons. First, they were mercenaries, and the Clans generally considered mercenaries to be lower than the bandits Conal was meant to be chasing.

Second, the Zouaves were connected to the Kell Hounds, and that meant they were connected to him, Phelan. "You know why Conal did that, quiaff?"

"I think there is no question," Ulric said with a nod. "You know, of course, what I must do in return."

"I will have my Command Trinary ready to go in a week. We will take care of the bandits in short order. After I attend my mother's funeral, I will rendezvous with the Silver Keshik in Federated Commonwealth space."

"No."

"No?"

Ulric stood and stroked his goatee as he started to pace.

"I cannot send the Silver Keshik or any other part of your Galaxy. You forget one thing in suggesting that I send them. Not your fault, actually."

"What is it?"

"In the Inner Sphere it is possible, even probable, that an elite unit could be sent out to deal with a bandit problem." Ulric's blue eyes nicked up at Phelan. "As I recall, we captured you while the Kell Hounds were serving in just such a function."

Phelan nodded. "That is true."

"Within the Clans, though, bandit-hunting is not a task for true warriors. It is reserved for units made up of old or disgraced warriors who want to die with honor—"

"Or over-ambitious fools who make bigmistakes."

"Exactly, but to think of Conal as a fool is to sink to his level. He iscunning and doubtless did go after the Zouaves because of their connection to your family unit." Ulric folded his arms across his chest. "Conal also knew it would force both me and the Federated Commonwealth into action."

"The FedCom cannot rely on us to hunt down the bandits. They will have to send someone after them." Phelan focused on the chair where Ulric had been sitting. "Ryan Steiner is already demanding that a Skye or Tamar unit be given the honor. Victor would want the assignment for the Tenth Lyran Guards. The Archon would likely have given the job to Ryan's choice and prayed Conal would deny Ryan the political boost. With the Archon dead, though, Victor now rules. He will not send the Tenth Lyran Guards, but he will not let Ryan fight, either."

Ulric smiled slightly. "I have received a message from this Victor. He said he would not order the destruction of the Thirty-first Wolf Solahma, pending an explanation of their actions. He also said that the Solahma would have to be subordinate to whatever unit he chose to put in charge of hunting the bandits down."

"That is Victor." Phelan frowned. "Conal will never agree to that. He will not follow orders given by someone from the Inner Sphere."

"That is precisely why you will serve as the liaison officer between the Thirty-first Solahma and the Inner Sphere unit." The ilKhan stopped behind his chair and leaned against the back of it. "Victor chose the Kell Hounds to destroy the bandits."

Phelan's surprise melted into a sense of dread. "Conal will not listen to me and he will not like orders coming from a mercenary unit. He especially will not like orders coming from thatmercenary unit." Phelan gave it a moment more of thought, and his feelings shifted to a cold sense of satisfaction. "But then, Conal has to obey me because I am a Khan. And he will have to perform well or else be embarrassed because a mercenary unit did what he could not. This might not be so bad after all."