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desperate I was for female company?" he asked angrily.

"I said nothing to them, I swear I didn't! Look, I didn't have to tell you this," she said defensively. "It was rather obvious that we'd slept with each other when I stayed away all night."

"So now it's my fault for keeping you with me?" He put his cup down with a thump.

"I didn't say that," she said, reaching out to touch his clenched hand. "I stayed with you because I wanted to, because you were so lonely."

"I didn't want your pity then, or now," he growled, snatching his hand away. "And I didn't need to be made a figure of fun among your crew. They must be laughing themselves sick every time they see me!"

"I didn't mean it that way, Jeran, and they're not laughing at you," she said. "You don't understand. Our ships, we're all family, all related. It's me the crew are laughing at, for getting caught by an alien. The captain, my uncle, he's mad at me!"

"Caught? How caught?" That surprised him, diverting his anger.

She shook her head, sending the mane of black hair swaying round her shoulders. "It's not important," she said. "But no one's laughing at you, honestly."

"I want to know. You've discussed personal matters about me with your medic, and your crew's laughing at my expense, too, whether you want to admit it or not. You owe me something in return."

There was a hunted look in her eyes as she obviously searched for some answer to give him. "I'm of an age where I should have chosen a mate, but I haven't," she said finally.

He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. She was being less than honest with him, he knew that. Not lying, but near to it. "I'm the first? Is that it?"

She pushed the chair back, got abruptly to her feet, and headed for the exit. "Forget it, Jeran. It was a mistake meeting with you. I just didn't want you thinking it was you the crew were laughing at."

"Wait!" he said, leaping up to stop her. He caught up with her at the air lock, grasping her by the arm. "You're not leaving without telling me why this is so amusing to your people."

"You're not U'Churian, and not a soldier," she said.

"So what?"

"I told you. I was expected to choose my first partner and didn't. Instead I asked to see the worlds outside our own, then I'd choose. This is my first mission."

She was making no attempt to leave, even though she could probably get free quite easily. Releasing her arm, he reached for her mane of hair, taking hold of a lock that lay on her shoulder. "So why are we here? You didn't get me to come here just to tell me this."

"How would you know?" she countered, then stopped, blue eyes widening. "Unless you're a telepath?"

"No, I'm not." It was a mane, he realized, quite unlike Sholan hair. The night she'd come to him in the warehouse where he was imprisoned on Jalna, they'd talked, then one thing had rapidly led to another. They'd had no expectation of seeing each other again, so hadn't wasted time on irrelevancies. Matters were slightly different now. She obviously wanted to see him again, or she wouldn't have suggested this meeting. He stood aside, gesturing to the table. "Stay for a little while. Tell me more about yourself and your people."

Warily, she returned to the table, waiting till he sat down. "What do you want to know?"

"You say you're all family on this ship. Are you all related, all soldiers?"

She nodded. "Our unit of the family lives on Home, but the largest one is on the Rryuk itself. We learned long ago during our civil wars that having Family in space meant your name would never die, no matter what happened on Home."

He thought about this for a moment. "Who lives on the Rryuk? Just the soldiers?"

"No, everyone. Children, too. How else could we be self-sustaining?"

"Space cities," he murmured, watching her. He'd not realized just how blue her eyes seemed against her dark pelt. They matched her tunic. But then, the only light in the warehouse had come in from the spaceport outside through the small, reinforced window