sfied that he had their
attention, the man stood. The mere suggestion of
height, seated, did not do him justice. He unfolded
like an articulated, mechanical crane. Fully
extended, his towering frame rose more than
two meters from heels to naked, gleaming scalp.

His first words took Hodak's challenge.

"You will know, Hodak." His voice was soft, and
carried the gravity of authority.

His eyes moved from one to the other.

"What I say here applies to all of you," he said.
"I will not answer all of your questions, but you
will be told all you need to know at this time."

He stepped down toward them from the dais,
halting inside the curve of the first row of seats.

"I am Ram Xindral," he said, "your orientation
lecturer, your trainer and, should you need one,
your counselor. I am also your Control. Take
specific note of the term 'control'. It has only
one meaning: you are in a prison, but from here on
take no orders from prison staff. You take your
orders only from me; I am not 'prison' staff."

"What the hell!"

Hodak again, bouncing up, down, up again. Adari,
her mouth open in surprise and alarm, also stood,
paused, and moved to stand beside Hodak. Zolan
remained seated, his hooded eyes on Xindral. Kumiko
shifted position slightly and stared vacantly at
the deck. Myra remained motionless, her face also
closed. Brad, brows drawn into a frown, crossed
his arms, waiting.

"Hah! This sure as hell isn't the standard
orientation lecture for new inmates." Adari's
jeering laugh burst from her in a sardonic cascade.

"No, Adari, it isn't," Ram said with a smile, "but
hear me out."

The hall was suddenly charged with tension and
wariness. Hodak remained on his feet, bent forward,
hands gripping the back of the seat in front of him,
challenge in his eyes.

Xindral clasped his hands behind his back. The
gesture tightened his frame and seemed to increase
his height. He faced away from them, strode back
to stand beside the view tank and turned. Hodak
grunted, sat, muttered under his breath; Adari took
the seat alongside, leaned in toward Hodak, listened
to him mumble, and grinned, nudged and nodded.

"Details later," Xindral continued. "Let's get
this first part over with. I'll talk. Cut in with
questions if you must, and bitch if it helps; we'll
get to know each other better. If you take off
on a tangent, so be it. I'll go along, within limits.
I didn't expect this to be a monologue, by far.
It'll take a