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Haven, and no Orleanist officers wanted in the Royal Service, thank you. Honor, of course, and an inadequate pension to the hero of Blanthern Pass whose regiment had defeated the best that Haven could put in the field. Well done, old chap! Of course His Majesty had his own colonels, but we have a pension for you sir. No hard feelings, and of course no retaliation against the Orleanists. Well, not much, anyway, and only against a few of the political officers. You were never in politics, were you, Colonel? No, of course not. Too good a soldier. Yes, you can go now. And Colonel Nathan MacKi
He could have fought, of course. Even after the Committee bowed to the inevitable power of the Imperial Navy, he could have taken MacKi
Across the next table, a couple rose and staggered toward the door, leaving him a clear view of Lieutenant Jefferson. The young naval officer was telling ad admiring peasant about a strange planet, a place where they had no guns, only swords, and they worshiped Christ in a temple which once was an Old-Empire library. Both of us drunks, MacKi
CHAPTER TWO
GENTLEMEN ROBBERS
The evening wore on. The first round of entertainers finished their acts. It was too early for the late performers, and for many of the customers it was several drinks too late for anything else. The room became less noisy as the early festive crowd departed, leaving the Blue Bottle to serious drinkers and tavern girls. Only the voice of Lieutenant Jefferson, punctuated by the giggles of the girls at the Navy table, was heard above the low buzz of conversation. MacKi
He stood in sudden decision, but when he swept his hand behind him for the cloak he had left on a nearby chair he lost his balance and lurched heavily into a small, round-faced man with a tiny mustache. The little man jumped backward with rabbit agility and began to mumble apologies.
“Not at all, sir,” MacKi
“None taken, of course,” the man said. “Would you join me in a drink?” He extended his hand. “Malcolm Dougal,” he said apologetically.
The grip was firmer than MacKi
On closer inspection, though, Dougal wasn’t really so small. He just appeared to be such a rabbit that you took him a for a small man, and of course anyone standing next to Stark would seem tiny. There was something else about Dougal, an air that was faintly threatening when you looked at him closely, but that was ridiculous. MacKi
“Thank you, I’ve had more than enough,” Nathan said. “Nathan MacKi
“And none taken. Perhaps we’ll meet again. Good night.”
“And a good night to you, Citizen Dougal.” MacKi
A light rain began to fall, causing the few citizens out on the street to scurry for cabs. An alcohol steam car whirred quietly by, slowing momentarily as the driver gazed at their faces before deciding they would not be customers. Then a horse-drawn two-wheeler clopped alongside.
The coachman shouted at them. “Good rates, sirs. Anywhere you want to go. Anything you could want to find in Haven, I know where it is. Good rates. You’ll get wet out there, sirs, you will.”
MacKi
MacKi
“Waterfront,” Stark answered. “Imperial Landing Wharf.” He was damned if he’d give this garrulous old coachman the name of the cheap hotel they were forced to live in and let him someday say he’d taken Iron MacKi
The rain came down harder, forcing the old man to raise the dodger on its elaborately carved wooden braces. “Wonder if he gets many customers in this rig?” Stark mused.
The old man leaned down and cackled. “More than you might think, chum. Lots of gentlemen want to visit my ladies. And lots of real ladies still think cabs are better than steam buggies. We aren’t as fast as those things, but plenty of people remember the good old days when there weren’t nothing but us and they don’t forget old Benjamin, no, they don’t.”
MacKi
“I expect so,” MacKi
“Been a big lift for the cabbies, the Imperials,” the coachman said. “Just them being here, that’s better than taking over Orleans, not that the Kingdom’s not going to do right by itself out of the Duchy, no, sir.” The old man whistled to himself and looked to the road again, guiding the team through the twisting, narrow streets of the old waterfront town until they emerged on the broad Dock Street, deserted except for a few drunken sailors reeling perilously close to the water’s edge.