it, and reward ones that
help." She held out her hands to the old man. "Will you help me
again, Donal, you and your family? Join me in mourning a dear friend
before I have to officially take up a job no sane person would want?
And keep calling me Sue, or lass, please? At least until Robert makes
the announcement?"

Donal saw the entreaty in her eyes, and nodded. Empress or no, she was
a woman, a crashed pilot, who had just lost a friend. "As you wish,
lass. We've enough good whiskey for a proper wake, and a hangover cure
for the morrow."

Susan smiled in real gratitude. "Thank you, Donal. Now I think we'd
best rejoin the others."

"Aye, lass."

When they went back to the party and Donal explained that their guest
had just been told about the death of a close friend, Susan was
surrounded by suddenly-commiserating people, one of whom pressed a
drink into her hand. She took a swallow, appreciating the gesture and
unquestioning sympathy, so unlike the official condolences she'd be
receiving soon.

A gentle, grandmotherly woman urged her to a seat. "Tell us about your
friend, lass. What kind of man was he?"

Susan gave that a moment's thought, then smiled. She couldn't reveal
his identity without ruining the party, which she didn't want to do,
but that shouldn't be necessary. "He was a good man, Miz. One of the
most intelligent, caring people I've ever had the privilege of
knowing--and I liked him, even if he did make those of us who worked most
closely with him knock ourselves out trying to keep up."

She chuckled. "I think one of the reasons we did work so hard for him
was that he demanded even more of himself than he asked of us. I can't
imagine taking on some of the assignments I did for anyone else."

"He sounds like a leader anyone could respect," Angus said. "But have
you nothing more . . . ah . . . human to share?"

"Well, yes," Susan said, and knew her voice showed amusement. "He had
a weakness for twentieth-century space opera. It showed up in some
places you wouldn't expect unless you shared his fondness for it, and
for awhile we made a game out of tracing down anything that seemed to
have any sort of connection."

She glanced at Angus, saw his matching amusement, and was certain he'd
made at least some of the same connections. There was no denying that
His Majesty had had excellent reasons for his actions, from
establishing the Empire on; even the Solar Federation Congress had been