Shin frowned. "Your meaning escapes me. I am no gossip, but stories about you abound. In our training, I have found you an excellent leader and teacher. Would I be human if I did not take an interest in what shaped my sensei!"

"No, no, your point is well taken." Chris poured the rice wine into the small cups, then raised his. "To success in our endeavors."

Shin matched the gesture, then the two men sipped the raw liquor. Shin felt it burn its way down to his stomach, but relished the sensation. "I commend you, Major. It is the perfect temperature."

"No inborn skill there, just years of learning how many seconds the microwave requires for the result."

Both men laughed and drank again. "I have two reasons for asking you here this evening. The first concerns the training group. I have noticed, over the last five weeks, that the tensions between Victor Davion and Hohiro Kurita have begun to lessen. Both have shown a marked improvement in their development as a result."

"Hai.I believe Kai Allard spoke with Hohiro and that Omi -samahas also encouraged cooperation with Victor."

"I know." Chris smiled and Shin felt himself warming to the man. "I have spoken with Galen Cox about encouraging Victor to work with Hohiro. I would like you to do the same thing. Nothing overt or direct, but subtle and thereby more effective."

"Wakarimas,Chris -san."

"Domo.Their ability to work together is vital to our effort. If they can get along, line troopers will try to do the same. Each can lead by example, and such example will prevent our coalition from collapsing because of infighting."

"I agree. I believe the extended field operation you have scheduled for the end of this month will teach them once and for all the need for cooperation. If you permit, I will speak with Galen Cox personally so we can better coordinate our efforts."

"Excellent." Chris refilled their cups. "The other reason I wished to speak with you is because of the inquiries that your Internal Security Force agents have been making about me."

Shin shook his head. "The ISF has never been discreet."

"No, and I fear some of my comrades within the Dragoons have been spinning great stories out of nothing to feed to your boys. I think I should clear things up."

Shin stiffened. "Major, I can see from your quarters and your manner that you have a great understanding of the Combine way of life. You should know that we respect your privacy and do not require you to make a confession as in some tawdry holodrama. I am honored that you have chosen to speak with me, but I fear I am most inappropriate as a relay to the ISF."

Chris' eyes glittered mischievously. "I do not think so, Shin Yodama of the Kuroi Kiri.I believe I can trust you to counter rumors that are wrong."

As he spoke, Chris unknotted the sash on his kimono and pulled his left arm back through the sleeve. He bared the left side of his torso, revealing a brilliantly colored tattoo that ran from collarbone to navel and down to mid-forearm. Highly stylized, but still recognizable and beautiful, it depicted a black and red wolfhound locked in mortal combat with a blue and green dragon. Each beast had its teeth sunk into the throat of its enemy in a yin/yang design that suggested the equality and necessity of opposites. From their wounds, blood dripped down to fill the outline of a man. Stars surrounded him, and in his hands, he clutched a sword and a pistol.

"I am Christian Kell of the Ryu-no-inu-gumiof Murchi-son. I believe, as one yakuza to another, we can trust each other."

Yakuza? A Kell?Shin caught himself staring at his host and looked down immediately. "Sumimasen,Chris -san.Forgive my staring. I had no idea, having never seen you in a cooling vest."

"No offense taken, Yodama-san. I know it must be something of a shock." Chris smiled broadly. "You looked only slightly less surprised than my uncle Morgan when he first saw the tattoo almost ten years ago."

Shin shook his head to clear it. "So the rumors that you were raised in the Combine are true?"

Chris shrugged and sipped sake."More or less. My father was Patrick Kell and I was born on Murchison about six months before his death. As nearly as I can determine, he never knew I existed. I believe my mother meant to tell him in their last visit together, but she feared he would want to retire and settle down if he knew there was a child. She believed that would have killed him slowly, and would have trapped her, so she never spoke.

"My mother made her living as an artist, but had connections within the yakuza community in Akumashima. When she traveled offworld, I was left in the care of a yakuza family. As I grew older, I accompanied her on her travels, though we did not go far after the 3039 War."

Shin's brown eyes narrowed. "Murchison was taken by the Federated Commonwealth in the war."

"Yes, and the occupation forces shut down all the routes my mother had used to leave and return at will. I have no doubt that the loss of freedom was what ultimately killed her. In fact, it was not long after the occupation began that she became ill. Yet if not for the occupation, I would never have left Murchison.

"You see, mother never told me my father's true identity. She believed that if Patrick had known about me, he would have retired and not have been killed on Styx. When Murchison became part of the Commonwealth, the indoctrination of its people included exposure to countless documentary and holodrama broadcasts glorifying the Steiner-Davion heritage. That and the fact that I came to look more and more like my father as I matured compelled her to send me away. Then she died."

Shin looked down at the floor. "I am saddened by your loss."

"Domo arigato."Chris chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "As much as her death hurt me, I do not hold it against her for making me go. As I cleared out her things, I found her diaries, which was how I came to know my father at long last. I did not have to look very hard. After his death, she addressed every entry as though it were a letter to him.

"I decided to seek out Morgan Kell. The Ryu-no-inu-gumimanaged to smuggle me off-planet. I found my uncle on Arboris, right here in the Sarna March. Among my mother's things was a message concerning my lineage that she had verigraphed to Morgan Kell. Morgan accepted me immediately, took a leave of absence from the Hounds, and brought me here to Outreach for training. That was in 3042."

"Your training must have gone well." Shin returned Chris' smile. "The first I heard of you was after the Ambergrist Crisis in '45. Rumor had it that you were a clone of Patrick Kell whom Hanse Davion had produced in some biomedical lab at the New Avalon Institute of Science. That you handily tied up a Liao battalion with only a company did not go unnoticed."

"And is remembered still, if Lady Romano's cold reaction to me is any indication." Chris refilled their cups. "I think that should supply you with enough information to make your ISF happy and to stop them from further annoying the Dragoons with their questions."

Shin nodded in agreement. "That will leave them the mystery of Kali Liao's supposed death and resurrection during a Thugee cult ceremony."

Chris laughed. "No mystery there. Psychotropic drugs work wonders, especially when the subject has only a nodding acquaintance with reality anyway. A light cut on her flesh and keeping her juiced until it heals into a scar produces a miracle. No, if your ISF boys want a mystery, have them puzzle out a ComStar mystery for us."