The thought brought a smile to Raima's face. "Aff, maybe I get your meaning, but I am not sure. You have to understand that I grew up with them, so I am blind in that area. It is hard to be sure how I could be different."

Easy, Phelan. This discussion, could get you into lots of trouble.He shrugged, then lifted his right wrist and pulled at the cord binding it. "Except for you and the Khan, everyone else looks no further than this wristlet when they look at me. You see the person I am, for better or worse. Without your help, I might not have survived this long."

A devilish gleam lit her azure eyes. "Oh, I do not think that is true, Phelan Patrick Kell. Perhaps I look beyond your bondcord because you seem different from the other bondsmen."

Phelan raised an eyebrow. "If I may be so bold ... how, why?"

She leaned easily against the hatch's edge. "The Khan's interest in you first opened the door, I believe. At first I resented being assigned to nursemaid you, but now I do not find the duty so odious ..."

"There is a God ..."

"That is one of the things I like about you, Phelan. You have a wit and express it easily. You don't seem to be plotting your escape, but I know you are smart and dangerous enough to have that idea somewhere in your head." She saluted him with a nod. "Most of all, your sense of independence seems to set you apart from the others. You are so much a Mech Warrior that the bondcord will forever chafe your spirit."

He half-closed his eyes, considering her words. She's right. I would love to escape this tin whale, or at least get a message out. Have I given myself away, or is she just very good at sizing up the opposition?

He forced himself to smile easily. "I thank you for your insight."

"And I thank you for yours as well." She returned his smile. "I have to ask you about something you said before. You knew your grandparents, quiaff?"

"Sure. Grandpa Kell's still alive. He's slowed down a bit at age eighty-seven, but he still manages his holding. Grandpa Ward died in the war before I was born, but Grandma Ward is alive and lives on Arc-Royal."

Ranna's eyes narrowed. "Eighty-seven years old? You have to be joking."

Phelan shook his head. "Nope. He'll be eighty-eight this October."

"Amazing." Something squeaked in the room behind her.

Half-turning, Ranna held out her hand and made little cooing sounds. "Nothing to be afraid of, Jehu." A dark creature scuttled its way onto her arm and perched on her shoulder.

Phelan blinked twice and pointed at it with his left hand. "What in hell is that?"

Before Ranna could answer, the creature leaped from her shoulder and spread its bat-like wings. Long tail whipping through the air to steady it in flight, the furry animal flew straight at Phelan. It swooped low, then arced up and landed on his forearm, wrapping its prehensile tail around his wrist. It flapped its wings twice to steady itself as Phelan got used to its weight, then it loosened its tail-grip and walked up to his shoulder.

Its face, hind parts, and tail made it look like a small primate, but the wings marked it as a creature apart from monkeys and apes. It chattered melodically on his shoulder and gently wrapped its tail around Phelan's neck like an old friend draping his arm over the mercenary's shoulders. Red and white stripes of fur on its face made it look comically fierce.

Ranna stared at him. "That is incredible. Jehu never takes to strangers. What did you do?"

Phelan shrugged gently so as not to disturb Jehu. "I don't know. I don't even know what Jehu is, so I can't imagine what I did to inspire his trust."

"Her," Ranna corrected him. "Jehu is a surat. They are native to one of the world's beyond the Periphery. They are intelligent and highly domestic, which puts them two steps above most of the lifeforms in the Periphery."

"Hey, be careful. You pulled meout of the Periphery."

Ranna bowed her white-maned head. "Present company excepted, of course. After all, Jehu likes you, which means your lifeform is clearly superior." She looked at the surat. "Jehu, go to bed. Eat later."

Jehu unfurled her wings and hugged Phelan's head, an experience he found much like being smothered with a musky sweater, then leaped into the air. Ranna turned sideways and slipped out of the doorway as Jehu swept her right wing up and banked through the opening. Ranna smiled at the creature, then guided Phelan out into the corridor. "Keeping Jehu is my one luxury."

Reaching the turbolift, Phelan punched the button on the wall. "Yeah, pets are special."

"Do you have one, quiaff?"

The mercenary shook his head. "Had. He was a dog named Grinner. A mongrel with even some wolf blood in the mix. Called him Grinner 'cause he always had his mouth open in a leer that could turn into a bark or growl or a big, wet slurp with his tongue." Phelan smiled, but sadness crept into his eyes.

Ranna followed him into the lift, then laid a hand on his forearm. "What happened to him?"

"He died." Phelan swallowed, trying to choke back the lump in his throat. "We were on station in the Free Worlds League, very close to the border with the Capellan Confederation. Chancellor Romano Liao had sent a Maskirovka assassin to kill Dan Allard—he was a Major at the time—and his family. Dan is Romano's brother-in-law, and that witch decided to kill his whole family to get at Justin Allard, Dan's brother and husband of her sister Candace. The assassin got the wrong house, and assumed I was one of Dan's kids.

"Grinner came at him like a shadow. He never growled or barked, just leaped and took the man down. I woke up when they crashed into my nightstand and I heard the vibroblade, but it was all over by then. Grinner ripped out the assassin's throat, but the assassin had carved my dog up." Phelan rubbed his hands against the chest of his jumpsuit. "He never even whimpered. Just kept grinning with those bloody teeth until he died."

Ranna took Phelan's left hand in both of hers and gave it a squeeze. "Your grief is mine. I..." She looked up into his green eyes and hesitated, then looked down again. "I am glad you were not hurt."

"Yeah, that was definitely the up-side of the whole experience." The Kell Hound sighed heavily. "I named my 'Mech 'Grinner' after the dog. Always was a good omen until I ran into Vlad."

She squeezed his hand again. The lift door opened, but she kept hold of his hand even after they'd stepped into the corridor. Phelan tried to read her expression as their fingers drifted apart, but her profile revealed nothing. Does she just feel sorry for me, or is there something more there? I'll admit to being confused and not a little gun-shy after Tyra. No, it must be just pity, nothing more. Remember Phelan, you are an outsider and a bondsman, and these people ultimately are your enemies.

22

Jump Ship Dire Wolf, L-5 Orbit

New Bergen, Rasalhague Province, Free Rasalhague Republic

3 May 3050

Instead of taking him to the Khan's personal quarters, Ranna guided Phelan through a deck he had not visited before. Here the shield icons were more fearsome, especially one of a human figure with both arms raised above its head, a lightning bolt in each hand and another showing a single eye hovering above crossed laser rifles. The corridor itself was kept dim, and a line of red lights at the juncture of bulkhead and deck showed them in which direction to travel.