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ated and afraid of his own mind, and it had taken
the loving support of the entire crew to bring him out of it.
The military engagement on Deneb-6 had also dealt him a mixed
dose of pleasure and sorrow. A soldier to the core, Shardin reveled
in planning battle strategy and leading the ships into skirmishes with
rebel ships. But the flip-side of the 'fun and games' of fighting was
the loss of lives, which left both Shardin and Sha'teem grief-
stricken. That was an inevitable price of war, but Shardin always
took those losses personally and grieved for the dead soldiers as if
they were his own children. Which, in a sense, is what they were;
those crewmembers on his ship were his to command, but they were also
his to protect and care for. And Shardin took that responsibility
very seriously. Sha'teem grieved as well, but was more philosophical
and at peace with himself at the same time.
There was one 'almost-casualty', however, that shook both
Shardin and Sha'teem to the
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