alled simply Language had little in common with
English. The most obvious difference was its tonality, much to
Tarlac's frustration and Hovan's amusement. While the Ranger enjoyed
and could appreciate music, he'd never done any serious singing; it
took days for him to learn to make his voice do what he wanted it to.

But they didn't spend all their time working. Hovan was proud of his
ship, and spent much of their leisure showing Steve the Hermnaen and
its crew. Even though the flagship was considerably smaller than a
Sovereign-class cruiser, there was a lot to show; it was still a
full-scale battlewagon. Tarlac was particularly interested in the small,
one-man harassment craft it carried, and since Hovan had flown one of
them in combat several times, his interest was just as intense and far
more personal. It took only one close-up look, though, for Tarlac to
understand why such tiny craft were so surprisingly effective.

Barely twelve meters long, the ships humans had labelled "hornets" were
nothing more than a beam weapon and its power pack, with a propulsor
and basic life-support system wrapped around it and given some armor
and ablative shielding. It couldn't stand up to a hit from even a
secondary disruptor, so a single hornet posed only a minimal threat to
any Imperial ship larger than a courier--but they were normally
launched in groups, used to saturate their opponent's defenses, letting
the main battlecraft use its heavier weaponry in an all-out attack.

It was an effective tactic, one which had cost the Empire far too many
lives and ships. The Empire didn't know it also cost Traiti lives.
Imperial experts believed the little harassment craft were
computer-controlled, because of their precise maneuvering and persistent
attacks. It didn't really matter; the results were all that counted.
Unless, of course, the Ranger added grimly to himself, you happened to
be one of the pilots.

Tarlac also found out how the fighters maintained their individual
combat proficency at maximum. There was a constant series of one-on-one
challenge matches that were as much entertainment as training for
the crew. Every fighter on active duty, from Fleet-Captain Arjen to
the lowest-ranking commando, was expected to take part, and did so with
considerable enthusiasm and usually-friendly rivalry. Standings were
hotly contested, and were seldom related to the participant's rank or
clan status--though Hovan was rated third in