Except for the way Omi caught her breath, Shin would not have been sure she had even heard Theodore's words. She continued to look down and delicately wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. "She will, out of love for her brother and the Combine, accept your condition as long as your ban only goes into effect after one last message."

"Hai,Omiko, hai!"Theodore nodded solemnly. "Go. Let her compose her final message. Sho-saYodama will act as her messenger."

Bowing to her father and grandfather, Omi retreated from the chamber, leaving all three men to consider her courage and sacrifice. Inwardly, Shin was jubilant, for the first time daring to hope that Hohiro might be saved. He knew what Omi had done required courage, both in making the offer, then agreeing to abide by her father's terms. When his sister becomes the Keeper of the Family Honor, Hohiro may wish he had stayed on Teniente.

Theodore looked at his father and saw the smile half-hidden behind the older man's hands. "You have something to say, Father?"

The Coordinator shook his head. "She is very much your daughter, Theodore." His grin broadened, but he respectfully refrained from laughing aloud as he added, "Now you will discover, as I have, that in fighting with your children, you win only the battles, never the war."

13

DropShip Dire Wolf , On-station, Alurial Continent

Hyperion, Wolf Clan Occupation Zone

25 February 3052

Phelan Wolf clasped his hands behind his back as the door to the ilKhan's ready room slid shut behind him. "Reporting as ordered, sir."

The ilKhan looked up from his desk and gave the Mech-Warrior a smile. "Punctual as always." He tapped the screen of the monitor on his desk. "Natasha was rather specific about your timing in her report. She says that if your unit had not moved so quickly, Simmons Dam would have been blown and the resulting flood would have wiped out the Guards."

"I think Natasha overstates matters a bit. Carew and his wingman pretty much had the Rasalhague commandos pinned down. We finished them, then engaged that lost militia lance: Though they might have been able to trigger the explosives already planted, they all live in the area and would have wiped out their own homes. I have spent more time chasing stragglers through the Teeganito Astako breaks."

Smiling only with his eyes, the ilKhan leaned back and watched Phelan. "How apt it is that you are battling for that particular Ward Bloodname. You suit its pedigree quite well."

Phelan frowned. "I do not understand." The fact that Cyrilla had taken her own life to give him a slot in a Blood-name contest still made his heart ache.

Ulric rose from his chair and waved Phelan to a campaign chair in a conversation alcove to the right of his desk. "As well you know, Bloodnames are limited to the surnames of the loyal warriors who fought with Nicholas Kerensky to end the barbarism that tore our people apart. When Nicholas reformed our society into the Clans, he outlawed all surnames with the exception of Bloodnames. He decreed that only twenty-five individuals would be given the honor of possessing any one Bloodname. From the first, the competition for Bloodnames was fierce."

"I have seen that." Phelan shook his head. "Warriors have been killed in this contest already."

"And more will die for the honor." Ulric's face hardened. "Each of the twenty-five Bloodnames for each House has its own pedigree. A particular name is known for the deeds of those who have worn it before. It is not unlike 'Mechs being handed down from father to son within the Successor States."

The ilKhan leaned forward. "Take, for example, the Kerensky name I am honored to wear. Bloodnames have existed among the Clans for just under 300 years, yet only twelve individuals have ever worn this name."

Phelan half-shut his eyes as he mentally did some quick math. "That means each of them averaged twenty-five years with that name, and Cyrilla said you have had it for the last fifteen years."

Ulric nodded. "And you know that Natasha won her Bloodname at age twenty-two—the youngest person ever to win a Bloodname. I won mine at the age of thirty. You see the significance, quiaff?"

"Aff. Within the Clans a warrior is considered old by the age at which you won your Bloodname. Even if I assume you were late in winning your Bloodname and that the others who had this one managed to win it at twenty-five years, the average puts them over fifty years, which is remarkable."

The ilKhan nodded. "In truth—and I mention this not as a boast—I could have participated in Bloodname contests when I was younger, but I declined until this specific name became available. I wanted it because of those who had worn it and the deeds they had performed."

"I don't understand. You turned down the honor of the Bloodname just to wait for a particular one?"

"Of course." Ulric chuckled mildly. "Why would I want a Bloodname that dozens of Warriors had worn? Yes, it is still a Bloodname, but its pedigree is less than desirable."

The younger MechWarrior nodded. "If the best Warriors hold themselves back for the better names, less fit Warriors will battle for the poorer ones. They perpetuate the cycle." He smiled slowly. "I can also see a case where someone with a poor Bloodname might attempt risky things to bring prestige to his Bloodname, but thereby put himself at risk."

"Again, you are well suited to your Bloodname. Like Cyrilla and the others who have borne it, you are capable of insight and remain realistic about your own abilities and accomplishments. This Bloodname for which you battle is one of the most valued within the Clans."

"I imagine the invasion is improving the pedigrees of a number of Bloodnames." Phelan smiled as he tried to imagine what the pedigree of Natasha's Bloodname would be.

The ilKhan shrugged. "It has enhanced some and destroyed others. One of House Malthus' Bloodnames was disgraced on Twycross. The leader of the Falcon Guards led his troops into an ambush and they were destroyed. While we were on Strana Mechty, they conducted a contest for the name, but no MechWarriors would touch it, so it went to an Elemental."

The disgust in Ulric's voice made it clear that he considered the commander's stupidity second only to that of someone actually entering a contest for that Bloodname. "I do not imagine you brought me here to discuss Bloodnames. How may I be of service?"

"I want you to help solve the ComStar enigma."

"ComStar enigma?" Phelan frowned as Ulric rose from his chair and began to pace. "Last I heard, ComStar was negotiating the return of Terra to us. We know it is a delaying tactic, but to what end?"

"Exactly." Ulric stopped and looked out the porthole at the Wolf Clan armada. "We have participated in the negotiations and we have allowed ComStar to continue to administer our worlds to make them believe we are lulled into complacency."

"But ComStar must know you do not fully trust them, quiaff?"

"Aff."

Phelan frowned. "Then is it wise to let them continue administering our captured worlds?"

The ilKhan nodded almost absentmindedly. "Quite. If nothing else, it creates a drain on their resources. Were they to rise up in revolt, what would it get them? We can return to any world they attempt to take, and if they manage to defeat our garrison troops, we put them down again."