A Matter of Honor

cha,

ose Imperial

Chaos-loving schools had done too much! They were fine for the unTalented, like humans and now Traiti, but they had probably precipitated a disaster here on Irschcha. Their damnable stress on Imp

he burst out, the human curse seeming oddly appropriate under the circumstances. If the Terran Empire hadn't discover

s High Adept of the White Order now, not Chear, and it was up to him to correct Chear's error. His calm voice did not b

ter Thark," the

ficer Jamar. What i

lready on board, as is the rest of my

immediately. We have no time to waste.

mself in the pilot's seat, scanning his instrumentation. He was an accomplished pilot, and rather to his s

keoff. He did so, then fed full power to the null-gravs. There was no need to wait for clearance; this was a private field, one of his prerog

trapped himself and rose. Prowler's course to Rendavi, the Crusade leaders' rendezvous, had been

into hyperspace had been made, there was no need for

the controls and sat down, staring into the blank viewscreen and visualizing the morning's

ther had cooperated almost as if it were intelligent and sensed the importance of this meeting. Although it was still early spring, the day was a br

cushions to wait for her. Relaxing almost totally, he watched a small cloud drifting in the clear green sky. The sun's gentle warmth on his fur was thoroughly enjoyab

med. He was looking forward to her initiation into the White Order, and t

missed by the Order's usual pre-school testing. That, Thark thought, still bitter, was one of the few things the Empire's very presence had not changed. Althoug

gone, naturally enough, to a local Order chapter for help and possible training. The chapter had reported it to him, knowing he would be interested; when

trol, when they met. It would be formally recognized soon, when she was initiated; then Thark could bring her into the Prime Chapter, where the Order could make full use of her Talents. He had no intention whatever of letti

ot; all her kilts were bright, but the red-and-gold one she favored and was wearing today was positively gaudy. Urr, perhaps her taste would improve as she matured. He look

undeck. Truly, this weather was too good to waste any of it indo

id with a slight bow, her hands

al bow. "Good day, Stud

that or not. They had been time-consuming, but they had also given life a certain grace that now seemed lacking, and had provide

him. "What is toda

me. Further training will be directed

could sense, as well as hear, he

yourself. Otherwise you are fully ready for initiation, an

n such responsibilities, Master. I have not had the psycholo

ically. "You know, however, that you already have as muc

e correct. I did stalemate Senior V

and Kainor agree with me that you are ready, and if you

ponsors," Corina said, inclining her head.

ongs. As for a specific job, we think such Talent, in conjunction with your other abi

Sanctioners had to cope with, and since they were Irschcha's military, as well as its police, the variety of such cases was truly remar

, you will work as Valla's assistant afte

e I would like that. B

ou do graduate, Corina. By that time you should be sur

ditions, I can h

er development, I would like you to do some teaching. Through te

I do not feel as fully q

be capable of taking over leadership of the Order. By then, if his Crusade were successful, it would have taken over

as far as it went, a fairly good basis for government. It was simply that those with Talent h

ized when he saw the look on Corina's f

is shield. "Do not concern yourself with that," he advised. "

y n

siness, and you are not

curiosity, and it would be no surprise to him if she kept tryin

g to ease that curiosity, "is that it wi

t was clear that something was going on; she had sensed it for some time. She had asked nothing about what she felt, knowing that Thark was reluctant to d

erheard, and even then she had gotten little information. Only the term "Crusade," the fact that she was somehow in

at will affect the

it," Thark replied. "You mu

ead of the Sanctioners and his chief lieutenan

now,

enabled Corina to break through his lowered shield. He could se

icipate. Thark had not been raised as an Imperial citizen; she had, and could not understand his desire for change. Yet she liked

tween planets and systems, while allowing maximum freedom on-planet through the ruling nobility. Thark retained his title of High Ade

due for initiation; in honor, could she oppose him? Or was it her duty as an Imperial citizen to do so? She was

her voice steady, she asked, "Is such a rebellion not simple treason,

ularly fond of the idea of the bloodshed that now appeared necessary. At the very minimum, the Emperor

understand that for yourself. Look at the peace and balance that rule by the Order has brought Irschcha sinc

t rebellion is no way to bring true peace. And there is a great difference betw

orderly, and her temper at times like this was uncertain. "We need only replace key people with our own most

naturally you will become Emperor?" There was

"It is not something I particularly want to do-" He broke off, looked at her

en through her shield, but she seemed to be keeping her emotions

th it a certain responsibility. We of the Order are able to use our Talent to govern b

ut it is obviously not true of humans. They did quite well before MacLeod found us, despite their

wler; we are benefitting from trade with other systems; we are starting

s own Palace Guard!"

t is not

only forty-three Standard years ago? Can you truly expe

humiliated! We must even use human units of measure

ti

ignoring her attempted protest. "No Irschchan is a Ranger, none com

ut. "Humans occupy thousands of worlds, the Traiti hundreds, while we occupy onl

going well, but she was too valuable

icials alike. They have no indication of Talent or anything else unusual, except perhaps an occasiona

who found us; we did not find them. Or perhaps their speci

m they either cannot use it to govern properly, or

en, perceiving h

ng. Tourists and administrative officials were not the Empire's best examples, especially the tourists. Thark claimed

bellion. But first there would be much death and destruction. With the Traiti War barely o

ught to be paramount, and that meant she had no choice but to support the Empire that had done so much for it. In honor, that was the only way she

said with a return to strict formality, "I can regard your Crusa

m. "Then we are enemies. I truly regret that, necessary as it is. Will you at least give me your word that you will not g

too well. Failing to act now, on what I am positive i

my home; to do that would bring only shame. However, I cannot let you live to reach the Imperi

med unavoidable. If she thought about it too much, though, she might give in,

eplied. "It will not be held against them. If

said, caressing the dagger

yet." As soon as she was out of sight, he mindca

me the ca

ld when your call distracted me, and discovered the Crusade.

ed. *But I thought-* She hesitated. *

it is simply that her loyalties lie with the Empire rather th

lt the regret in Thark's mental touch, and shared it, but there was no time

hat red-and-gold kilt. Then bring Kainor and meet me at my ship. She is forcing me to speed up the timetable;

ou wish h

ecutioner to use darlas.* Thark regretted that, in a way; death by telepat

r family?*

thbound. Dis

k. Are there furt

N

adcast to the off-planet Crusade leaders. Once they had been informed of the acce

orina's thoughts as if he had read them. He laid his ears back in a frown. No, he could see no way he might have changed the

iving his instrument panel an automatic scan as he rose. Urrr- the proximity alarm! He'd forgotten to turn it on, a mistake he'd not have made but

uld lose no time in sending the executioners after her, probably Sanctioners. She was not parti

time-consuming walk, but what choice did she have? With Sanctioners on her trail, using her iden

s Thark had told her often enough, she did dress rather gaudily. She made her way into one of the clumps, took off her kilt, turned it inside-out, and put it back on. It was a y

umed her walk toward the city. As small as MacLeod's Landing was by human standards, it was already large by Irschchan, and still

d past her, toward Thark's home. The wind of its passage ruffled her fur as well a

e had nothing to hide. Between that and her kilt-flipping, unless she ran into a Sanctioner w

d the patrol cruiser approaching again. It stopped in

old bands snug at their throats. And their blasters, normally worn on belt clips, were all pointed in her direction

eating her as cautiously as they would a dangerous criminal. From the

ldest one said. "Hands on

most she had been able to handle in practice was two-which Thark, of course knew. She was in no position to fight. Her

ance from each other, their blasters steady on target. The leader, staying carefully out of their lines of

or their Hall of Memories after your executi

ll, had in fact gotten much training from her, and they were friends, though not close ones. But Valla didn't let friendship interfere with her work,

ind her. "Put your hands

ose around her wrists. The Sanctioner t

cruiser, y

ook his place at the controls, heading them toward MacLeod's Landing and Sanctioner headquarters. She p

ers try a probe. Don't fight it, she told herself, use it. Sanctioners were Talented, of course, but they didn't

ly partially falsified, to seep through. If she could convince them she was

with some sympathy, "You seem harmless enough, hardly a dange

g more fright. "I mean... I have done n

reassure her. "The executioner here is good. He will give you a swift deat

sion. She looked up at the Sanctioner leader, shivering again.

Valla's orders, but I admit I do no like this

udden hop

of pity, but remained firm. "My honor lies in m

ed not probe at the Sanctioners to see if they believed her; somehow that did not seem to be the sort of thing a frightened prisoner would do.

tal's Sanctioners, Corina was on the ragged edge of desperation. It must have appeared more like sheer terror to the

limbed out of the cruiser, clipped his blaster to his b

into the lock. The cuffs opened after what seemed hours, but could have been only seconds. Then she retrieved her soul-blade from his belt, half tempted to use it on him. She refrained; he had pitied her, and the killing would not be justified. Self-defense was commendable, but she c

he Sanctioner alerted the others. Although she knew it would make her conspicuous, she broke into a run. She had to reach the park that encircled the Planetary Palace bef

ance between them. Corina risked a quick glance back, saw him stop, crouch, and draw his blaster. She increased her spee

nd shot missed completely as she dove into the park and rolled into a stand of purple-leafed bushes.

ven if you manage to get past Entos and into the Palace, we can have you ext

t show in her voice. Entos! Valla must have anticipated her escape from the Sanctioners,

tance to leave anything she thought important to only one group. Still, using Entos against a student showe

directly toward the Palace. She had met Entos several times, often enough th

her to her knees. It didn't last; only Thark or another member of the Prime Chapter, which Entos wasn't, could maintain that level of intensity for long. But by the time she had recovered enoug

counterattack. It slowed Entos' next slash, but had no other effect. She

rst had been, and Corina managed to block it, though she was less successful parrying his simultaneous dagger thrust at he

openings, when she saw a flicker of motion from the direction of the Palace entrance. She riske

d and struck for her again. She was starting to par

obably be wise to brief his chief aides fully on Corina's defection, even though it was a strong probability she was dead by this time. He made his way to the ship

t was quite comfortable, with deep-pile carpeting, and a large viewscreen now displaying a sunset lands

milk Irschchans drank as humans drank wine. Carrying them, he joined his ai

ough an outsider would have thought them discussing abstractions. Only Thark himself had been truly close to Corina,

death, for Kainor's benefit. That brought a trace of amusement to his voice. "Three Sa

autions, especially when it is so little trouble. Should she by som

han convenience-however good it would be to be able to make definite, rather than tentative, plans. Facts must be accepted, though; they had insufficient data, so they simply had to make do with what they did have. "Even so, we

will also have to assume a Ranger will be

!" Valla and Thar

aboard the battle cruiser Emperor Chang, a

his voice to remain steady. A Ranger's interfer

cuperating from the injuries he sustained just prior to the end

id thoughtfully, "he should

he is still weak, but otherwise he is healthy enough. It is u

it cannot be avoided," Valla said

the Reserve is a resort area, I would assume him to be accompanied by a token

h Talent to take out two Marines each, so even if our estimate is low, they should have no

them so valuable to the Empire, even though Menshikov is the Empire's

t about their personalities and thinking? What is so unusual about

since the Crusade was decided on, I have not been able to discover the actual selection criteria. All I can tell you is what

evaluations, but there is no more time to complete that project. A

is incomplete." Kainor shifted

it, along with a generalist's wide range of interests and abilities, and greater adaptability than normally appears even in spacers. They are also

y to study them," Valla said.

ishments, he was responsible for both the successful human-Irschchan settlement of Ondrian and the end

litary or serving as contract police forces on various worlds," Thark said.

you remember anything

. "Until recently, I had very li

rmation you have that Imperial newscasts probably left o

e second year of the joint colony's existence, an Irschchan youngling was exploring in the mountains alone, contrary to all colony rul

ll. He had one of the mountain cloudcats with him, and thanks to his Talent-so minimal the Order had not accepted him, but there-he ha

lace that so-called 'miracle weed' can be grown successfully. It could not be obtained by trading, because the cloudcats have no hands and no interest in farming

ogical studies done when it was first discovered showed Ondrian's climate had never varied enough to produce such an evolution

d Starflower-had learned to understand English, and could indicate a yes or no answer to questions. Medart talked to Starflower

s' sun was about to go nova. The cats elected to stay in the same stellar neighborhood, but according to them the Others were preparing to emba

al zone, though they must stay out of the mountains unless they are invited. In return, he gave the cats the right to travel on Imperial Navy ships at any time. So the Empire got its pharmaceuticals

deep swallow before continuing. "It is possible someone else could have accomplished the same thing, as it is possible someone else could ha

ark said. "But you give Medart credit for ending the

olution, to give the Sandemans an honorable reason to stop fighting rather than be annihilated. Much

ook a fleet to the one world the Sandemans had made a protectorate rather than conquering, stopping long enough en route to capture several fo

listene

information, especially the weakness the engineers had intended as a control mechanism. They refused to cooperat

ight, both physically and psychologically, and that less than a week without some form of combat or lovemaking was enough to make them ill, then

ho wanted to take the world, obliging him to protect it instead. That probe verified Medart's deductions and gave him enough more information on the Sandeman culture that he persuad

could accept Imperial citizenship, in which case they would have to pay for the damage they had caused, but there would be no other penalty since they were doing what Terran engineers had created them to do. Instead

mpire. The brief use of four other Rangers and a total of five battle fl

Thark added. "All right, those examples demonstrate the intelligence, adaptability, and prob

All have applied for and been accepted by the main Imperial Military Academy at the Palace Complex, though none has remained there much beyond Test Week. And all, needless to say, are intensely loyal." His ears tw

-still, can you deduce from what data you d

possibility I find marginally sound is that Irschchans who have the requisite abilitie

ers will soon be rectified. You will have to find out all the requirements as soon as possible, howeve