"An in-depth review of the history of the Komarran legislative system," he says without a second thought. "I did a more broad scope of it as my dissertation topic and thought I'd do a series of articles to be published in an anthology together."

Which he has no doubt Ivan has little to no interest in. The man's not Komarran by any stretch of the imagination, but the topic is something familiar. David can sink his teeth in it and almost forget why he's here. Almost.