stood and stretched, easing muscles cramped from sitting in
one position too long. His next step, he decided with some amusement,
would have to be getting rid of that coffee!

That accomplished, he returned to his work area and switched his
display screen to communications mode. It was 0800 by ship and Palace
time; the Emperor would be in his office by now, so Medart accessed the
Imperial priority band, then the Emperor's private comset.

The response was prompt; Davis' face appeared within five seconds.
"Morning, Jim. What have you found out?"

"She looks promising, sir. Very promising. I talked to her a bit last
night, and I've just finished going over her records. They're damn
good. IQ in the top tenth percent, personality profile stable Class I.
School grades above average but not spectacular--her teachers attribute
it to boredom from lack of challenge, even in the advanced classes--and
she's a generalist. Independent work is widespread and good; she did
one paper on Imperial administration that should be turned into a
handbook. And she's already taken the pre-Academy tests. Top level,
of course; she qualified for the Academy at the Complex. Which is
where she plans to go, now that she's not committed to the White Order
any longer."

"Typical pattern for a Ranger, all right," the Emperor said with a
smile. Then he turned serious. "How many potential Rangers are we
missing? The gods know we need every one we can find! Anything else?"

"She's lacking self-confidence, but that's the only negative thing I
saw. As for missing others, there can't be too many we would miss,
even on Irschcha. Anyone with the right personality pattern is certain
to try for the Academy, and that degree of ability will get them to
Terra--unless they're stopped by something, like the White Order
pre-empting anyone with Talent."

"Mm." The Emperor looked dissatisfied. "Not much we can do about
that, though. You're satisfied that Sir Corina is fully qualified?"

"No question in my mind. Yes, sir, she is--maybe more so than the rest
of us, with her extra Talent abilities. She demonstrated them very
convincingly yesterday afternoon." Medart described the previous day's
exercise in full detail, then shook his head. "It was almost
unbelievable. Five Marines, with one of them a Sandeman warrior."

"And you saw it," Davis said. "If Chang made a tape, I'd like a copy."

"We didn't expect much, so I didn't order one, but