Lt Leary 08 - What Distant Deeps by Drake David

Author:Drake, David [Drake, David]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Amazon: B00AP93ZA8
Goodreads: 7171970
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2010-09-07T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17: Calvary on Zenobia

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Leary," said Lieutenant Commander von Gleuck at the door to the study of his private quarters in the city. He wore loose trousers and a tunic, both striped in pale blue diagonals on white. It might be a style from Adlersbild; certainly it wasn't Zenobian. "Podnits, you may turn in. Captain Leary and I can pour our own drinks."

The servant who had admitted Daniel was bald, stocky, and dour. He looked doubtful, but he obeyed. Hogg's demeanor had been very similar when Daniel told him to wait in the van.

"I'm sorry about the delay admitting you," von Gleuck said. "I'm afraid Podnits wasn't convinced that it really was an RCN officer in civilian clothes who was banging on my door."

Daniel closed the study door firmly behind him. "I can imagine Hogg having similar doubts," he said. "I was afraid to call ahead, you see, so I drove here straight from the harbor."

He gave von Gleuck a rueful smile. "Trundled from the harbor, I should say. Unfortunately, time is important."

Three of the walls were decorated with Zenobian tapestries in which figures in garish costumes hunted across wooded terrain. The wall facing the door, however, was a hologram of a mountain fastness. The scene moved slowly, as though a person standing on a height was turning to his right to view the entire panorama.

There were four chairs, each with a leather back and cushion on a frame of rhodium-plated steel; the table matched, though the leather top had been treated with a hardener. That wasn't Daniel's idea of comfort, but he could appreciate von Gleuck's determination to recreate the world he'd grown up in.

The computer console in the far right corner faced the door. It appeared to be a Fleet Standard unit, functionally identical to what Daniel would expect to find on the bridge of Z 46. Or, for that matter, on the Princess Cecile.

"All right, Captain," von Gleuck said with a cold smile. "Speak."

Daniel opened his left hand palm up, as though offering something to his host. "Look, von Gleuck," he said, "we're both officers, and we're not going to forget that ever. But just for now, Daniel Leary of Bantry would like to talk off the record with his friend, the Honorable Otto von Gleuck. Can we do that?"

Von Gleuck's smile broadened minusculely. "We are doing that, Daniel," he said. "Part of the delay before I admitted you was to make sure all the recording devices in my quarters were switched off. Apart from anything else, Posey's maid Wood is a member of the 5th Bureau, and it would not surprise me to learn that her duties included reporting on my potentially treasonous contacts."

Daniel laughed. "Neither of us will be committing treason," he said, "but it's certainly possible that our superiors may decide to hang us as a result of this business if it goes wrong."

He smiled again. This would work: von Gleuck was the man he'd seemed to be.

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