She'd get back at him somehow, but meanwhile this day was too nice to waste worrying about him. She returned to the fountain and stretched out again, relaxing to the sound of the falling water. She thought idly of her mother, who owned a moderately prosperous kilt shop. An indignant Mother: *Trade vegetables for kilts indeed! This is no back-country village--* She sat up again suddenly, and again the voice disappeared as she tensed. This couldn't be one of Lovad's jokes, not with her mother involved. It had to be telepathy . . . and that meant she did have Talent . . . and that meant . . . NEVAN As she explained, Nevan could feel himself beginning to smile. She was offering him a chance at real combat, at what he had trained for since his fifth birthday, and she thought he might refuse? He'd missed the war by less than two weeks, a disappointment made worse by his assignment to SecuDiv rather than the Combat Division. Now he would get to fight! And he would be doing so beside one who had proven herself a warrior's equal, though her combat skills were of a different type. To his surprise, he found himself imagining as a real possibility something he'd thought of before only as a remote theoretical chance. It wasn't because of the demonstration, though the way she had defeated them had a bearing, and it wasn't because she'd become a Ranger. He couldn't pinpoint the reason; there was just something about this beautiful felinoid that convinced him she was worthy of the greatest service and gift a Sandeman warrior could offer. The strength of that conviction would have made it easy for him to kneel to her and offer his personal fealty, but he wasn't sure he was the one who should do it. He was young and inexperienced, barely seven months out of the Academy; her thakur-na should be a veteran, with at least a few missions to his credit. Later, he might be qualified--but by then she might have another thakur-na. He could only wait, work, and hope. [Preparer's note: the RENDAVI material is placed here because it does not seem to be referenced from elsewhere in this file.] RENDAVI Thark landed the Prowler at the rendezvous on Rendavi slightly over eighteen hours after leaving Irschcha. He was well rested and in a cheerful mood as he, Kainor, and Valla left the ship for the improvised conference hall. No other ships were there yet. Unfortunate, Thark thought. That meant the meeting--more accurately, war council--would be delayed, possibly for several hours. Inside the hall, the trio from the Prowler seated themselves on cushions at the head of the low conference table, talking about nothing in particular while they waited for the rest of the Seniors and Crusade leaders to gather.