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trying to replicate it as atmospheric shielding on the Confederation’s vacuum-to-atmosphere vehicles.
    The Mictok ambassador dipped her antennae in greeting. “We are very pleased to meet you both. We appreciate so many of you being able to accommodate us on such short notice.”
    Lieutenant Jarret inclined his head. “General Morris’ orders, ma’am.”
    “Yes, of course.” Amused, her outer mandibles clattered softly against the inner. “We forget you had no need to achieve consensus. We sometimes wish we had the same freedom. Allow us to introduce you to our staff; those you will also be guarding.”
    Get it off me! Get it off me! Torin had little success in putting Glicksohn’s words out of her head as the next level of introductions were made. Although the beauty of Mictok art touched almost every known species and their diplomatic skills had been instrumental in creating the Confederation, Humans looked at them and saw giant spiders. Fortunately for Human/ Mictok relations, the latter were almost impossible to insult.
    Ambassador Krik’vir’s staff consisted of only three other Mictok, a surprisingly small number for a communal species, although one more than the minimum. Under the right conditions, three Mictok could begin a new nest, one becoming Queen, one a breeding male, and the third providing for the happy couple until the first eggs could hatch. If necessary, the male also became the incubator. Torin had often wondered how they chose but had never quite had the nerve to ask.
    Introductions to the Dornagain ambassador and his staff followed with much mutual bowing and exchanging of meaningless pleasantries. Dornagain names sounded strange to Human ears since they referred to personality traits or physical descriptions and changed several times over the course of a long life. The ambassador currently bore the apt although unwieldy name of Listens Wisely And Considers All.
    Her rank, or rather lack of rank, exempting her from much of the social ritual, Torin was able to stand back and appreciate the way Lieutenant Jarret handled the situation. His hair had stilled as his apprehension had dissipated and he seemed to be enjoying himself. As a member of an ancient house, his background made him perfectly suited to do the pretty with their civilian charges, and she had to admit that, green though he might be in combat experience, he was the perfect choice to command this mission.
    And he won’t be quite so green by the time someone starts shooting at us. An officer who’d had command experience of any kind before going into combat created a win/win situation as far as Torin was concerned, and it helped her to think more kindly of General Morris—in spite of the stranglehold her dress uniform had achieved.
    Parity with the Mictok necessitated that there be four Dornagain. Well aware that their size made them intimidating to smaller species—which, from their perspective, was just about everyone else in the Confederation—they moved slowly apart when the introductions were over.
    The four Marines in tow, Captain Carveg interrupted an argument on cellular plasticity to make them known to Dr. Planton Leor...
    “...the environmental physician who’ll be ensuring that you’ll all remain healthy during your stay on Silsvah. He’s predominantly a research physician,” she added sotto voce as they moved away. “I’ll be sending a couple of corpsmen down as well, just in case.”
    The rest of the civilian party consisted of the Charge d’Affaires and her two assistants, all three Rakva like the doctor.
    * * *
    “There was a Rakva who had a canteen on station back when I was with the 9th,” Ressk mused. “Great cook.”
    “Why would you care?” Binti wondered, looking up from her slate. “You’ll eat anything you can wrestle down your throat two falls out of three.”
    “There’s a difference between eat and enjoy,” the Krai reminded her. “This guy could make a juklae so light you were