Free Ascendant Sun: A New Novel in the Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro Page A

road, man, I thought they looked like marriage guards. They're old enough. How many thousands of years did it take us to get rid of the laws that let women make us property? Don't you know the origin of Trader slave restraints? They're a variation of the Ruby Empire marriage guards. Except Traders put them on both men and women. Why? Because they show ownership. How can you wear that kind of symbol?"

Of all the comments Kelric had expected, that wasn't one of them. How to answer? Even on Coba, only Akasi princes wore the marriage guards. As the husband of a Manager, he had been such an Akasi. In the star-spanning culture of Imperial Skolia, the custom had mostly vanished. Even the Imperial noble houses dispensed with it more often now than not.

The houses were still the most conservative facet of Skolian culture, though. Kelric's first marriage had been arranged long before he ended up on Coba. His wife, Admiral Corey Majda, had been matriarch of the oldest house. Her assassination left him a widower at twenty-four. They hadn't had children, so her title and lands went to her sister, Naaj Majda. Kelric had received a widower's mansion and stipend. He had been too blind with grief to care about the inheritance, besides which, his Ruby Dynasty titles and wealth outranked even the House of Majda. But with that history, Coba hadn't surprised him.

None of that mattered. He didn't care what symbolism Maccar thought the guards embodied. They were all he had left of Ixpar. She had never considered him a possession— and she had literally gone to war to uphold that principle.

All he said was, "They don't mean to me what they do to you."

Maccar studied him. "You're a hard one to fathom."

Uncomfortable, Kelric rolled the psiphon prong in his hand.

After considering a moment longer, Maccar summoned a bosun. A man in a gray jumpsuit soon appeared, carrying a tool kit. He anchored himself at the station by attaching his safety tether to a ring on the console. He fastened down his tool kit, then unclipped a problade, a programmable blade made from thorium phosphide, a substance harder than diamond.

Kelric extended his arm. The guard glinted in the cold light. The bosun measured the thickness of the gold with calipers, then programmed the blade so it extended just enough to cut through the metal. As he set the blade against the guard, Kelric had to hold himself back from yanking away his arm. This was the final symbol of his losing Ixpar and his children.

Maccar watched intently, his focus more on Kelric than the work. As the bosun put his thumb against the problade's switch, Maccar said, "Wait."

The bosun paused. "Sir?"

Maccar indicated the prong on Kelric's exoskeleton. "Can you drill a hole through the guard so the prong will fit in his socket?"

The man lifted Kelric's arm, slid his guard around a few times, and rubbed his thumb over the engravings. "It should be possible."

"Go ahead then," Maccar said. "No need to remove them."

Kelric swallowed. He nodded to Maccar, unable to voice his gratitude. Maccar probably didn't want to hear it anyway. The captain had been testing him.

The bosun drilled the holes so they were almost invisible in the engravings. He did both Kelric's wrist and ankle guards, making sure the prongs fit through the gold and snapped into place. When Kelric was fully installed at the console, Maccar dismissed the bosun from the bridge.

Kelric settled into the command seat. Attend, he thought.
    Corona attending. The ship's response rumbled in his mind with more force and clarity than he had expected. Your system needs an upgrade. Shall I provide?

Kelric almost grinned. He had hoped the Corona 's EI could upgrade him. Otherwise his lack of knowledge about modern systems would probably keep him from passing this interview. What can you do?

I can replace 68 percent of your software with current versions, it answered. I can also provide assistance as you incorporate the new code. The rest of your systems