p, that suit to
remove?"

The squad remained alert, but gave no more hint of threat than before.
Tarlac shrugged mentally. "I'd appreciate it, yes."

Hovan handed his blast-rifle to one of his squad members and approached
Tarlac. He looked as massive as the Ranger expected, and was typically
thickset, but he was even heavier and stronger than he looked. The
strength became evident as Hovan helped Tarlac out of the spacesuit,
for with Traiti assistance, the Ranger discovered, the cumbersome suit
was almost easy to handle.

While he helped the human remove his spacesuit, Hovan did some studying
of his own, wondering what made a Ranger so formidable. This Tarlac
was even less impressive physically than the Terran combat troops he'd
faced. He was no more than shoulder-high to Hovan, and so slender he
seemed almost frail. There was black hair on the man's head, and
obvious facial differences, but the thin light-brown skin and total
lack of claws or effective teeth were not impressive. What made this
human so powerful?

There had to be something, he knew, some reason for the prisoners to
hold Rangers in such high regard. Part of it had to be courage; he'd
been told, while the man was en route, that he had already consented to
the Ordeal, a decision nobody had expected him to make so quickly.
There had even been some betting that he would refuse.

The plain, forest-green uniform revealed when the man's spacesuit was
off was functional, Hovan noticed with approval, its only decoration
the platinum star-in-circle badge on the man's left breast, the symbol
of his rank. Best, though, was the fact that Tarlac was armed, showing
he regarded them as true fighters.

That eased Hovan's mind. Ka'ruchaya Yarra had told him to judge the
Terran he would meet, and if he found the man worthy, to offer adoption
into Ch'kara. It would be an unprecedented honor for Hovan, as well as
the Terran, if that happened; adoption was a Clan Mother's privilege,
delegated sometimes to another female, never in Hovan's knowledge to a
male.

He had told no one about his mission from Yarra. He still had trouble
believing that he might bring a new member into the clan . . .

He'd had no difficulty being assigned as the Ranger's escort and
teacher. Since humans were considered poor fighters, at least
individually--and with a few outstanding exceptions--the job carried no
status, and when he had indicated willingness to do it, the task became