Shadow's Son by Shirley Meier, S.M. Stirling and Karen Wehrstein ...

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"What else does he do, habitually? Can you think of anything?"
I haven't watched any battles before, how am I supposed to know? Sova racked her brain for
anything else she'd heard, and came up with nothing. "Umm… ahhh…"
Too slow; the knuckles rang her skull. "Don't tell me what you think in your flea-sized brain I want to
hear, Baiwundammit! Tell me thezteafakaz truth!"
"I don't know!" Sova said helplessly, trying to brace herself for another blow without flinching too
obviously. Sometimes Shkai'ra would hit her just for flinching.Think something will happen , she'd say,
and it will ! "I can't think of anything, I haven't heard anything else, not that I can remember!"
"Good!" Sova felt her eyes widen with astonishment. Megan chuckled. "All right—what doesthat mean,
that you ve heard nothing?"
"Uhhh… he keeps his habits secret? I guess he wouldn't want the Arkans—"Whap. My poor head ,
thought Sova.It'll never be the same .
"On the field we're all naked, as from the womb," Shkai'ra snapped. "Words might hide, but actions
always reveal. Anything habitual enough to be called a habit, he can hide from no one."
"His habit is—he doesn'thave any habits!"
"Ex-act-ly. Not that anyone's spotted yet, anyway."
"Oh," said Sova. Everything she'd read in strategy books about how your own habits could be used
against you, and therefore how it was good to have none, came back to mind…now , too late.
"Actually, he does have another habit. He's doing it now." Sova waited for Shkai'ra to ask what,
half-praying she wouldn't, because she couldn't think of the answer. Instead the Kommanza began
muttering, eyes slitted: "Ah. Mm. Ah-hah. Oh." On the field, movement had begun; soon the wind
brought the sounds, of shouted orders, war-cries, clashing of weapons, yells of agony.
The Kommanza dropped her hand and leaned forward. "Look at that," she muttered. To Sova it wasn't
clear at all, making as much logical sense as swirls of powdered chocolate being mixed into white dough.
Shkai'ra pointed. "Look there. That one unit is supporting all the others around it, the Arkan's trying to
get at it, but he should be paying attention to that flank."It's like chess , Sova thought.Not like this
morning at all. That was simple . "Those archers cover there, which means…" The Kommanza's eyes
flicked back and forth across the battlefield. "Nicely done, nicely done, everything fits beautifully… not
that the Arkan is doing too badly, he's no slouch. Apprentice, what would you say about the battle-plan,
so far?"
Sova jerked as if Shkai'ra had rapped her, scrambled for an answer, the first thing that fell into her open
mouth. "It's… ah… it's, ah, complicated?" She winced her eyes shut.
"Ia! Good." Shkai'ra clapped her hands together sharply on the word. "Remember the drawbacks of
complicated, though. It's easy to get confused and make mistakes." Sova drew a deep breath, relieved.
"So why is he able to even try it?" Her relief died.
"Uhhh… because he's smart?"