Code of Conduct

by Kristine Smith

  Yes, Steven had proved most seemly. So open to new thoughts. Almost as though Hansen had fathered him, and not Angevin….

  “I will not ask.” Tsecha contemplated a carved bloom that rested in a wall niche opposite his desk. Humanish were sensitive to questions of parentage, and he did not wish to test his Steven’s loyalty so soon. Not to mention his Angevin’s temper. Best some things be left between the lines, for now.

  This I know as fact, from experience. As always, I only write that which is already known, simply unacknowledged.

  Instruction, at times, proved challenging. “Steven accepts as Hansen did, while Angevin fights…” Tsecha bared his teeth. “She fights as my Captain does.” His Captain, who could read his writings as well as her born tongue, and who understood their meanings all too well. Where was she now? Lucien offered his guesses, of course. Such was his way, to never admit to not knowing. But he had misplaced her at the shuttleport, and his weeks of futile searching had left him morose and prone to sarcasm.

  “My Captain is quite skilled at being misplaced, and truly.” First by John Shroud, then by Anais Ulanova, and now by the odd lieutenant. How wondrous to be so unknown to so many. To be able to evade so well.

  She can never be captured. She will live on, and lead on, into a time so different than this. This, too, is known but unacknowledged, for fear of the future prevents its recognition. This, of all manners, is the one of humanish adopted by idomeni. This is foolish, as I have written before. As I will write again. Until it, as my dead Hansen used to say, “sinks in.”

  Tsecha continued to trace stylus over parchment. In another room, much as this one, he had written such essays for two other humanish, instructing them how the universe would change. So it began then. So would it continue now. Until all would be revealed. One page at a time.

  Acknowledgments

  A first book is usually the most difficult to write, firstly, because you’re still trying to find your sea legs, and secondly, because you’ve no assurance whatsoever that what you’ve spent years producing will go anywhere other than a box in the cellar.

  I’ve been lucky enough to have had help from many people in assisting me through the difficulties. In particular, I’d like to thank Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, who helped keep me on track, and my parents, Gordon and Charlotte Smith, whose love and support helped keep me going.

  About the Author

  Kristine Smith works as a process development scientist for a large pharmaceutical manufacturer. She lives in northern Illinois.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Books by

  Kristine Smith

  CODE OF CONDUCT

  RULES OF CONFLICT

  LAW OF SURVIVAL

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  CODE OF CONDUCT. Copyright © 1999 by Kristine C. Smith. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub © Edition NOVEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780061979385

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