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  His delm turned on him suddenly. Brunner recognized the play, and the actor whose stance was but poorly emulated.

  "Tell me why you thought, what gave you the least reason to assume, that you would be permitted to broadcast your name to the world now? You fall yet short of the ten standards we had agreed to retain you in house for your own protection. Have you no sense of propriety? Is it that you specialize in disasters?"

  The delm pounded a key, sweeping the on-hold play from the wall-screen taller than he and replacing it with:

  Scouts Confirm Meteorologic Concerns over Blast Aftermath read the teaseline, above a wonderfully colorful and overwrought full motion graphic representation of the beam blast and the resultant dust plume. Below that was his paper, exactly as he had written to yo'Lazne, detailing his concerns regarding trace timonium and other radioactive by-products, the assumptions of dispersal difficulties, the recommendation that nearby residents be tested for pollutants at least and perhaps treated to a prophylactic stay in an autodoc.

  There was more. He was quoted from his letters of testimony regarding the investigation into the actions of Phaetera Company in the matter of Klamath, his certifications were listed. As he had given his opinions in his melant'i as a professional and an expert, he was signed as I. Brunner, Master Meteorologist, with neither clan nor even city of residence appended.

  His analysis, including jet-stream particulate distribution, fall-out rates, half-lives, everything he'd sent to the Scout, were included by link.

  Brunner sighed and turned to his delm.

  "By warning the people of Liad of the peculiar nature and dangers of the blast plume, and showing potential areas of concern, I have shamed the house?"

  His delm stamped feet, twice. Brunner wasn't certain of the play from which the gesture was borrowed, though the mood he knew far too well. The delm being a forever hopeful playwright, all actions were seen through another author's eyes.

  "Ten Standards. Ten Standards you were to remain silent to the world, and then to remove yourself to a quiet occupation. This morning already I have had three comm calls and a piece of mail inquiring if this is the clan home of I. Brunner.

  "We have an orderly house." The delm sniffed. "And we will have an orderly house. This--" waving energetically at the wall "--is not a quiet occupation, do you understand? I am willing to acknowledge you ten years a gardener, and to divert a portion of the trust to set you in that service."

  Brunner bowed, acknowledging that he'd heard.

  The comm line blinked; the delm ignored it in favor of staring toward the door toward the outer halls, where a rarely heard chime echoed discreetly.

  "This, if this is more of your doing we shall--…"

  The what of the doing was interrupted by yet another comm call; this one at least was known to the house for the comm emitted a quiet chirchirchir, stolen from the sounds of chiretas closing out the last act of A Clan Dissolute, the extended critical version.

  The delm said "Answer" and the comm dutifully did so.

  "Cousin," started the voice, and Brunner winced. "Imagine my surprise--…"

  "Hold Cousin, there's a knock."

  Brunner winced again: Act II, Scene 6 of The Interminable as echoed in Act I, Scene 4, of the current rage False Melant'i.

  Verena stood at the door when the delm opened it. A polite if rapid bow followed, and a sweep of words.

  "There are visitors to see Ichliad. They ask by name and they have--…"

  A stamp of feet.

  "Ichliad does not receive visitors. Not from friends and not from the curious! This house does not permit."

  Brunner still stood, wondering if the child would break and run. He was pleased to see that she did not, nor did she look at him.

  "My delm, please. I have cards." She showed them, two, fanned between small fingers. "Also, the lady sends this--" She raised her other hand, showing a slightly phosphorescent blue key.

  Brunner's stomach went into freefall.

  Lysta snatched the cards, reached for the key, but Verena stepped sideways, extending her hand to Brunner.

  "The lady said that I should place it in Ichliad's hand, for she had promised to bring it back to him, when her mission was done."

  He moved, received the key, and stood for a moment staring at the imprinted Stubbs logo in archaic Terran script.

  "She died," he said, perhaps to Verena, perhaps to his delm. "On Klamath. I--she was not listed among the survivors and--"

  "Korval!" His delm's voice carried shock without artifice. "We cannot receive Korval. They are--"

  "… thrown off planet for being bad boys and girls," an ironic voice concluded in backworld Terran. A redheaded woman in working leathers stepped into the room neatly between Verena and Lysta, followed by a slender, dark haired man wearing a battered pilot's jacket.

  "Hi, Brunner," the woman said to him, gray eyes measuring him, head to toe.

  "Redhead," he whispered. "Is it you?"

  She grinned, and he saw the halfling soldier. "'Fraid so. Amazing what some people'll do to collect a debt, ain't it?"

  She reached behind her, took the man's arm and brought him forward. "Ichliad Brunner, I make you known to my lifemate, Val Con yos'Phelium Clan Korval." Now she spoke Liaden. Her accent was Solcintran, pure and perfectly clear.

  Korval Himself bowed, a bow most exquisite in its exactness and in its brevity: The bow of one owing a debt beyond paying.

  "Ichliad Brunner, I am most glad to meet you," he said softly.

  "And now that you have met him," Lysta said sharply, "I will ask you to remove yourselves from this clanhouse." The cards were thrust out imperiously, exactly the famous gesture performed by Nadelm Casaro in A Clan Redeemed. Brunner closed his eyes.

  Korval turned and bowed again, delm to delm. He seemed unaware of the attempt to return the cards.

  "Lysta, forgive us for coming to you in such a state of disarray," he said smoothly. "There is a long history between my lady and Meteorologist Brunner; many events to be told over, several Balances to be crafted and weighed. You will have heard the news; we do not have much time here."

  Val Con glanced at them, his free hand executing a sign Brunner took to be "Continue."

  "Too long and too short," Redhead murmured from her place next to Brunner. She sent him a quick look from beneath her lashes.

  "You and me got a lot to talk over, like the man says," she continued, as Korval walked Lysta over to the other side of the room, still talking, his posture one of concerned respect. "So, quick question--you looking for work?"

  Brunner blinked. "Work?"

  "Yeah, work. 'Cause, see, where we're going, we're gonna need a weatherman, and I want to hire the best there is. I'll tell you right out, the weather ain't as interesting as Klamath's, but we're figuring to set satellites, warm the place up. Going to need some studies done, and--…"

  Did he want work? he asked himself, and almost laughed. His fingers itched for a portable, so that he could begin making notes. And yet--He lifted his head, watching his delm speaking with Korval.

  "Your choice, Weatherman," she murmured, and he did laugh, then, loudly enough that Lysta turned to stare. "And look, I mean we can get you going today, if you want. But really, just say no if you don't think it'd be a fit. You'll have to work with some pretty strange folks, like us, and some mercs, and some Scouts, too."

  He raised a hand a moment, and held the key she'd brought back to him to eye level.

  "I think, I need to know something first. How is it that your name was never on the station rescue list?"

  "Well," she said in Terran, "I got rid of that gun that was holding us down and then--… I took some damage. When they brought me up, they didn't bring me in station. While the crews were getting Jack and the Scout out of the brig they just took me right to the Scout's doc. I really did mean to bring that thing right back to you!"

  He sighed and it turned into a slow smile and a gentle laugh. "Scouts, mercs, strange people, Redhead
and her partner. And odd weather--…"

  Redhead bit her lip as he paused, vaguely hearing something his delm was saying to Korval about how Solcintra's theater could be improved if new plays were sometimes brought to stage--…

  "Yes," he said, and bowed to her. "Indeed, I would very much like to have work. And very much, I expect it will be a fit."

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are the celebrated co-authors of the best-selling Liaden Universe® series and have been writing together since the first "Kinzel" stories hit Fantasy Book in the early 1980s. They started the first Liaden story in 1984 and have published a dozen novels and several dozen short works in that series alone.

  Along the way they've become fan favorites at SF conventions from California, USA to Fredericton, Canada, with Guest of Honor and Special Guest appearances at PenguiCon, COSine, AlbaCon, Trinoc*con, ConDuit, MarsCon, ShevaCon, BaltiCon, PortConMaine, SiliCon, Second Life Library, and elsewhere. Upcoming Guest of Honor apperances include Oasis 23 in Orlando, Florida in May 2010 and DucKon 19 in Napierville, Illinois in June 2010.

  They count Baen, Del Rey, Meisha Merlin, Ace Books, Phobos, and Buzzy Multimedia among their English language publishers and have several foreign language publishers as well. Their short fiction, written both jointly and singly, has appeared in Absolute Magnitude, Catfantastic, Dreams of Decadence, Fantasy Book, Such a Pretty Face, 3SF, and several incarnations of Amazing.

  Their work has enjoyed a number of award nominations, with Scout's Progress being selected for the Prism Award for Best Futuristic Romance of 2001 and Local Custom finishing second for the same award. Local Custom was published by Buzzy Multimedia as an audio book read by Michael Shanks --Stargate's Daniel. Balance of Trade, appeared in hardcover in February 2004 and hit Amazon.com genre bestseller lists before going on to win the Hal Clement Award as Best YA Science fiction for the year.

  Their most recent Liaden novel is Fledgling, published in September of 2009, with Saltation (sequel to Fledgling) and Mouse and Dragon (sequel to Scout's Progress) due in 2010. Baen will also be reprinting the original ten Liaden novels in four omnibus editions starting in 2010. The authors have several other works in progress.

  Steve was Founding Curator of Science Fiction for the University of Maryland's SF Research Collection as well as Vice Chair of the Baltimore in 80 WorldCon bid, while Sharon has been Executive Director, Vice President, and President of the Science Fiction Writers of America; together they were BPLAN Virtuals, an ebook publisher in the late 1980s. These backgrounds give them a unique perspective on the science fiction field.