Jason reached out and placed a hand against the glass on one side of Princess's head, then leaned forwards and rested his chin on her opposite shoulder, watching the pair sparring in the gym below.

'Didn't know they had so much energy at their age...'

Princess raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and poked Jason in the ribs. 'He did used to be an active agent, you know.'

'Once upon a time... in a solar system far, far away. Wasn't he the one that got the Rigan's onto our side?'

Princess nodded and took a deep breath in, smelling the mix of the Condor's natural earthly musk and the cigarette. Gods, she could do with one right now, after what she just pulled on Mark - imagine, him actually believing that she'd never kissed a boy - but she was trying to quit, just like she'd promised Tiny she would. That was their deal - she quit smoking, and he didn't reveal their private little secret.

'If not for them, we wouldn't have the firebird technology for the Phoenix... we owe them a lot, Jason. Probably more than we know. Ever noticed that look in his eyes when anybody mentions them, and he thinks nobody's watching him?'

Jason nodded, the faint stubble from a couple days worth of beard growth scratching Princess's shoulder. 'Ever looked in his journal, when we were younger?'

'He had a journal?' Princess turned her head, breath playing across Jason's ear. He felt the hairs on the back of his arms and neck raise slightly, and once again pushed thoughts of her out of his mind... any other man, and he'd consider her fair game. But he'd never undercut his brother like that.

Besides, his girls had a bad habit of ending up dead, or worse.

'Kept it in a secret compartment in his desk, in his office... I only saw it the once, and it was never there again. Figured he knew somebody had read it, but didn't know who, so just hid it better.

"Anyways... seems he met somebody out there. Somebody special, and apparently rather high up in the royal family."

Jason cast a sidelong glace at Princess, whose mouth was a perfect 'O' shape and whose eyes glistened.

'Skipped a few entries there... too mushy for young me to deal with. But, far as I could figure, the rest of the family found out, and was none too happy... some kinda deal was made, whereby he would never set foot on Riga or have contact with them - outside an official capacity - ever again, and they would keep swapping the technical expertise and know-how we needed.'

'Poor Chief.'

'Stupid Chief, more like. I mean, can you imagine, being so hung up on one person that you'd abandon romance for the rest of your life?'

Jason took his head off Princess's shoulder and looked at her intently.

'Then again...'