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Phelan turned toward the door and smiled as Ra

Phelan blushed as both Ra

He felt a slight tremor run through Ra

Evantha heaved herself to her feet. "I remand you to the custody of your most able teacher, Phelan. I expect to see you back here in twenty-two hours for another workout."

Phelan flopped wearily onto his back. "Ja,Star Commander. I will be here, right after Carew paces me through antiaircraft tactics."

Evantha threw Ra

As Evantha vanished through the door, Phelan reached up to give Ra

"So, what shall we do for the rest of the day?"

"We have a problem." Ra

Phelan pulled himself up into a sitting position and rested both hands on hers until her fists loosened. "How much time until you have to go on duty?"

"About an hour and a half." A sound almost like a low growl rumbled from her throat. "I'd managed to get clearance for us to take one of the 'Mechs out onto the ship's hull so you could get a good look at this triple star system, and then I'd pla

Phelan tipped her head up with his left hand. "Hey, an hour and a half is plenty of time for a shower, Quiaff?You would not want to go to your duty station dirty, would you?"

She gave him a wry grin. "No, I suppose that would be disorderly of me, Quiaff?"

"Aff." Phelan stood and pulled Ra

The figure of an older woman appearing in the doorway stopped them from embracing. Slightly shorter than Ra

"Excuse me, children, I do not meant to interrupt."

Phelan turned to face her, slipping one arm around Ra

Natasha Kerensky shrugged eloquently. "No blood, no report. I have two things to tell you. First, after some haggling, Khan Ulric has managed to convince some of the knotheads in the Clan Council that I should be allowed to instruct you in BattleMech tactics." Her eyes became slits. "I don't know if I like him citing my 'advanced age' as the reason I'm suitable for tutor work, but I ain't going to argue with what works."

As Natasha spoke and freely used contractions, he felt Ra

Ra

Phelan saw Natasha's instant of shock despite her quick recovery. She bowed her head briefly. "Touché",Ra

"Blood of thy blood. Could I be any less than my forebears?"

Phelan suddenly felt in over his head in a conversation that was traveling well beyond his ken of Clan matters. "Excuse me, but I am catching very little of what you are saying."

Natasha blinked twice, as though waking from a trance. "Right. This is not the place for this talk, nor do we have time for it right now." She turned her attention from Ra

Phelan let his disappointment ride openly on his face.

"Right now? I have been training for four hours straight, with the last two spent being tossed around by Evantha."

"Builds character." Natasha looked at Ra

Ra

"I don't understand."

Ra

Natasha shook her head but did nothing to wipe the proud smile from her face. "Ungrateful child," she muttered as Ra

* * *

When he emerged from the shower, Phelan found Natasha sitting on the bench next to his locker. He started at the sight of her, but Natasha just chuckled. "Don't mind me. It's nothing I've not seen before. Don't forget that I was there at your birthing."

Phelan, keeping the towel wrapped around him in kilt fashion, smiled sheepishly. "I've grown up a bit since then."

"True enough, but we're not exactly a sibko and you're not exactly my type." She gave him a more appraising glance. "Well-muscled but lean and ruggedly handsome. You're the type they put on the recruiting posters for the army back in the Lyran Commonwealth." As she spoke, Natasha swung her body around on the bench to face partially away from him.

Phelan dropped the towel and pulled on clothes from his locker. "I'm afraid the LCAF wouldn't consider me recruiter material. Remember, I'm the one who got punted from the Nagelring."

Natasha laughed heartily. "And no one was prouder than me when I heard the news." She turned to face him again as he stepped into the legs of his gray jumpsuit. "I was ready to clear you a spot as a lance commander in the Black Widow Cluster, but Jaime pulled the plug on that little idea.