nded. "Thank you . . . uh, what do I call you now?"

"Arlene in private, Ranger Perry in public. And His Majesty is `sir'
to you now, not `sire'." She grinned. "I think civvies would be more
appropriate than probationary-cadet clothing, and I have a sidearm for
you outside the door. His Majesty will give you your badge when we get
to the Palace. Okay?"

"Uh, yes, of course. Isn't there some sort of oath or something?"

"You don't need it. There'll be a confirmation ceremony after your
initial leave, emergencies permitting--but the fealty oath you'll take
there is for the public, not for yourself."

* * * * *

Medart was a little disappointed that Perry's uniform was hidden by a
cloak when he got changed and left his room, and that the trip to the
Palace was in an unmarked car, but she explained that was simply to
give him enough private time to notify his family of his selection
personally before His Majesty made the official announcement. "Take
advantage of privacy whenever you get the chance," she advised. "You
won't get it often, especially at first--and you'll want to make
arrangements for SecuDiv to protect your family from the more
persistent newsies, at least until the novelty of your selection wears
off."

"I hadn't thought about newsies," Medart admitted. "In fact, there's
probably a lot I'm not thinking of right now."

"Very probably--and that's another reason for initial leave. Adaptable
as we have to be, it's quite a shock going from cadet-candidate to
Ranger; it'll take you a couple of days to get back to normal. So the
routine is to meet the Sovereign, then go home until you're satisfied
your family is taken care of and you're ready to face the media. Then
you spend a year or two in OJT with another Ranger--me, in this case--
and then you pick your ship and start your solo missions."

A year or two didn't sound like much, considering the variety of
situations a Ranger got involved in, but Medart nodded. "I understand.
And I'll have to do things like get a comm implant--take care of all
that sort of detail before I go on duty officially."

"That's best," Perry agreed, "though if we were rushed, or you thought
it best to go public right away, those could be handled later. If you
want a comm implant, though, I can arrange for that as soon as your
audience is over."

"I don't exactly want one, but I thought they were required."

Perry chuckled. "His Majesty