will us on Homeworld meet. Can you
until then your curiosity restrain?"

"If you want me to," Tarlac said. He'd had little experience with
proud parents, but was quite familiar with people wanting to show off;
it was one aspect of a Ranger's job, usually boring, occasionally
pleasant.

"I think you will not disappointed be." Hovan knew he was smiling. It
would be good to introduce Steve to the clan, especially to Sharya and
Casti. He was sure the man would find acceptance and, Lords willing,
the closeness he had sacrificed for his Empire. The man could not
truly miss what he had never known, growing up with only his two
parents, but it was something he should have. Now, though, he had to
explain what Steve was to do at the ceremony.

When they arrived at the exercise hall, half a tenth-day almost to the
second after they'd left the bridge, the hall was crowded with
open-shirted officers and men from the entire combined Fleet, waiting
silent and expectant. Tarlac was aware of what this ceremony meant, and
was determined to carry out the role Hovan had explained to him in a way
that would do credit to his new family.

As soon as they had taken their places in the open area in the center
of the floor, Hovan raised his arms and began a songlike chanting
similar to the previous night's. This time, Tarlac knew that it was a
prayer asking the Lords' blessing on his adoption. Unable to join in,
knowing neither words nor music, the Ranger stood at parade rest, his
head bowed. As a relaxed agnostic, he was quite willing to honor
others' beliefs as far as he could.

The adoption ceremony itself was simple, an exchange of blood and
oaths. When Hovan had explained it, Tarlac had wondered briefly,
surprised that it was so close a parallel to some of Terra's
ceremonies. He'd finally decided it was almost inevitable; an exchange
of vital fluid was an obvious symbol of kinship, and the wrist was an
equally obvious place to draw blood, on a humanoid.

So, when Hovan extended a claw and dug into his left arm, Tarlac used
the dagger he'd borrowed from his sponsor to follow suit. They took
token sips of each other's blood, and then Hovan held the cuts together
while the Ranger gave his oath, including his own modification of it.

"I pledge to Clan Ch'kara that I will bring no dishonor to its name,
and will defend that name and the clan's property and people to the
best of my ability, so long as that involves no harm or d