There's a bitter twist to his mouth - an awful cocktail of jealousy and contempt, at the idea of it being that easy, to just find someone who could try. At the idea of believing there was a good team, somewhere, at all. But he likes the story at the same time, likes all of Holden's rueful microtells. He's intimately familiar with the particular awkwardness of this is going to sound like bragging, given his battle record. He feels an inevitable sense of kinship over it.

He thinks about his own last, quiet thank you, and suddenly he misses Cheris like his chest was blasted open again; they would have been so good together, he thinks, they would have been something, if only he hadn't gambled wrong and tipped their hand. If only they'd had more time.

"Research suggests pairings are more productive than most of his decisions." Tiffany had said it was the one thing she trusted the Admiral to do; and his own grid-diving backed up the idea. Even unsuccessful pairings often seemed to develop rapport and some behavior modification before one member vanished.