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nice horse. Now someone needs to check its teeth, and that’s why you’ve come to me.”
    â€œI was rather hoping that you’d say that.” Harker smiled. “The Navy is reluctant to send a cruiser on a first-contact mission to a race as touchy as the danui . It might be seen as a hostile action, and they don’t sound like a race we want to risk offending. On the other hand, you’re a merchantman captain who also happens to have previous experience with survey missions. Your ship is designed for this kind of assignment, and you still have people in your crew who’ve done this sort of thing before.”
    â€œSo have you, Ted.”
    â€œI’m too old for this sort of thing...”
    Andromeda laughed out loud. “And I’m not?”
    â€œA gentleman never inquires about a lady’s age.” Harker gave her a sly wink. “Besides, everyone knows you’re barely eighteen.”
    â€œIs that in Earth or Coyote years?” She couldn’t stand flattery, particularly when it came to her age. And since a year on Coyote was three times longer than one on Earth, the second guess was a lot closer to the mark than the first.
    â€œPoint taken.” Harker shrugged. “Truth is, after the time I took a ship closer to Kasimasta than anyone thinking straight had a right to do and still live, I swore an oath to Emily that I’d never undertake a hazardous mission like that again. That’s why I’m handling a milk run to Rho Coronae Borealis when I’m not flying a desk.” A pause. “Besides, aren’t you the one who just told me that she’s bored?”
    â€œI’m afraid I did.” Andromeda slowly let out her breath. “All right, I’m in. When do you want me to leave?”
    â€œSoon as you’re ready, I suppose.” Standing up from his chair, Harker leaned down to switch off his pad. “No need to rush. Take your time getting your crew together again. We’re still putting together our own team.”
    â€œYou’re sending someone with us?”
    â€œOf course... From the Corps of Exploration.” As he slipped his datapad into his pocket, he seemed to notice the expression on her face. “Why, do you have a problem with that?”
    â€œOh, no,” she lied. “None at all.”

CHAPTER THREE
    I T TOOK NEARLY NINE HOURS FOR THE CORPS OF EXPLORATION gyro to travel from Hammerhead to Albion; the flight included a brief refueling stop in Midland, the only time the passengers had a chance to get out and stretch their legs. Like the other four members of Special Survey Team Three, Sean Carson spent most of the time either sleeping or reading. A long mission was ahead of them, and no one wanted to get on anyone else’s nerves with unnecessary chatter. Once the gyro was halfway across the Great Equatorial River, and the pilot announced that they would be landing in twenty minutes, the others began to stir, looking at one another as if it were the first time since they’d left Fort Lopez that they’d become aware of the fact that they were sharing an aircraft.
    No. That wasn’t entirely true. Sean was acutely conscious of the young woman seated beside him. The two of them said little to each other, but there was a reason for that; a few days earlier, he and Kyra had agreed that it was probably best that they put their romance on hold until the mission was over. It wouldn’t be easy, particularly since they’d lately discovered that there was nothing they enjoyed more than each other’s body. But the Corps frowned on sexual affairs among its members, and while most of their teammates politely looked the other way when Corporals Carson and Wright took off on their own, there was no sense in aggravating Lieutenant Cayce.
    There was nothing wrong with talking, though, so as the gyro began to lose altitude, he felt Kyra’s elbow nudge his own. “Colonial for your