Chapter 3 Ren PresentRen worked quickly. He had minutes to deploy the devices and ensure they connected to the building’s internal network. He surveyed the well-appointed office and selected his targets: the painting, the plant, the communication hub. The Sangrin Council spared no expense for their comfort. Not that he had a basis for comparison. His home planet had no Council, for a variety of reasons that mostly came down to tradition and stubbornness. Ren unrolled his toolkit and set to work. Fathers were strange. Specifically—because Ren loved specificities—the relationship between a Mahdfel warrior and his son always struck him as strange. What legacy could a father bestow beyond that of an endless battle against the Suhlik? As his father did before him, as his father did and as

