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once everyone knew who I was.”
    “Did your mother help you there as well?”
    Reeda giggled. “Oh, yeah.”
    The peacekeeper offices had frozen as Rrkra made her way to the desk in defense of her daughter. Reeda had had to calm her down, and it was not her easiest day. She did get to ride her mother home though. That had been fun.
    “She sounds very loving.”
    “She is. She negotiated for me to go home every eighteen months. It was quite fun to watch the debate over when and how long I would get to go home.”
    “Wow, I didn’t know that the Citadel would flex the contracts.”
    Reeda smiled. “They had no choice. No one could make my mother part with me, and I would never leave without her blessing.”
    Bilro moved closer to her. “She sounds like a paragon.”
    “She is. What of your family?”
    He sighed. “My father was a Guardian and peacekeeper at home. He came and went at odd hours, but we knew he was saving lives. He has retired now but delighted that I am following in his footsteps. If I am lucky, I will be posted on Ryamash III.”
    “You are Abrukan, are you not?”
    He was surprised. “Yes, how did you know?”
    “I have seen and spoken to many species. I recognised the dark highlighting around your eyes.”
    “I wish I could say the same, but your features are strangely exotic. Is short hair traditional?”
    She snickered. “No. I did that to irritate my mother when I was a teenager and simply stuck with the haircut. It was easier to manage, and she eventually got used to it.”
    “I am curious. Do you have a picture of your mother?”
    Reeda shook her head. “Not with me. I have some back at the Citadel, but they are in my room, and I am not inviting you to come and look.”
    He blinked. “Why not?”
    “I was raised to avoid bringing a male to my bedroom unless I wanted him to end up missing a limb.” A limb would have been conservative.
    He chuckled. “My mother kept an eye on all my interactions with the girls in my classes. Just because I was going to be a Guardian didn’t mean she wanted to become a grandparent.”
    Reeda snorted. “My mother negotiated for possession of any children I have while under contract to the Citadel. If I do suffer from a lapse in judgment, she will take the child so I can continue to work.”
    “That is a very detailed contract.”
    Reeda laughed. “You are telling me. All I did was sit there and let my mother and the recruiter chatter back and forth. On my world, a parent has to agree to a child leaving the surface. More come to us than ever leave.”
    “Where do you call home?”
    “Amdor. A living world that invites any to it as long as they are willing to live by his rules.”
    “I see.”
    She grinned. “It is claimed by both the Alliance and the Imperium, but it likes to think of itself as independent.”
    “I have heard of it. It is a trading hub.”
    “Yup. Every city has a speciality and each administrator answers to the Avatar.”
    He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.
    She watched his deep-green hair tumble across his wrist.
    Reeda smiled. “You might want to join your friends. We seem to have run to an end of this conversational vector.”
    He tilted his head. “Do you think so?”
    “Pretty sure.”
    “May I call on you at the Citadel if I think of another conversational vector?” He quirked his lips.
    “You may, but you will have to check in with the administration and find out where I am. I am trying to get the most out of my education.”
    He grinned. “I will do so, Reeda Rrkra.”
    He bowed gracefully before he turned and left her leaning against the skimmer.
    Smiling to herself, Reeda resumed her reading, occasionally pausing to think about the man who had stopped to talk. She was used to the men she dealt with being aware of her mother and treating her with a dose of fear. To simply have a male come up and talk to her casually was a novelty. Bilro had set himself apart in five minutes from all the other men she had