ou proved able to stop him, I will place a commendation in
your records.*

*Thank you, sir.* Owajima smiled. *It is good to know our protections
are adequate against one of the warrior Nevan's ability; any other,
then, could penetrate them only by chance.*

*True.* Corina projected amusement. *Are you on assignment?*

*No, sir. I have just finished a post-mission leave, and have been
ordered to Terra for a tour with OSI.*

*You won't like it,* Nevan predicted. *Assignments think they're doing
us a favor when they give us a planetside tour--a rest break, I heard
one call it--but those always bored me.*

*If it gets too bad, Major,* the Ranger sent sympathetically, *see me,
and I will have you given a field assignment. It is the least I can do
after setting Nevan on your trail.*

*I will, sir, and thank you.*

*Before I break contact, thakur-na, is there anything further you
need?*

*Not really, Thakur--if you don't have anything else for me, I'll offer
Major Owajima a ride back to Terra.*

*That will be fine. Enjoy the trip--I must endure this reception for
Duke Shirley. Until your return, thakur-na.*

*Until then, Thakur.* The contact ended, and Nevan grinned up at his
captor. "Satisfied, Major?"

"Perfectly, warrior. And I will accept your offer of a ride." Owajima
holstered his gun, then undid Nevan's bonds. "I have wished to meet
you for some time; I regret only the circumstances."

Nevan sat up, rubbing his wrists. "Same here, maybe more so. I was
after you in particular because my bio-father left you his personal
weapons when he died last month."

"Oh? Knowing Sandemans, I assume there was a reason."

"Uh-huh. He was the one you gave need-release to on Piper's World."

"Ah." Owajima smiled. "I should not have broken cover to do so, but I
had seen one warrior die that way when we were prisoners of the Traiti,
and I could not let another go through such agony unaided."

"That's what he told me, not long after I finished my agent's training.
Do you need to get anything before we go?"

"No. Had you been the enemy I originally thought, by now you would
have been dead and your ship confiscated for my trip, to be turned in
to the Navy at the Antarctica base. My things are already aboard."

Nevan chuckled. "Good thinking. Unnecessary, since this baby already
belongs to the Navy, but I like the plan." He led the way to his
ship's control room, got clearance for takeoff, and set