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"I can hear her voice," smiled Elena. "Tell her thank you. Tell her... I will
remember."
"Good." Count Vorkosigan pressed her no further. "Sit, sit," he waved them at
chairs, which he snugged up closed to the comconsole desk, and sat himself.
For an instant, changing gears, his features relaxed, then concentrated with
attention once again. God, he looks tired, Miles realized; for a split second,
almost ghastly. Gregor, you have much to answer for. But Gregor knew that.
"What's the latest word on the cease-fire?" Miles asked.
"Still holding nicely, thank you. The only Cetagandan ships that haven't
jumped back where they came from, had damaged
Necklin rods or control systems or injured pilots. Or all three. We're letting
them repair two of them and jump them out with skeleton crews, the rest are
not salvageable. I estimate controlled commercial travel could resume in six
weeks."
Miles shook his head. "So ends the Five-Day War. I never once saw a Cetagandan
face-to-face. All that effort and bloodshed, just to return to the status quo
ante."
"Not quite for everyone. A number of Cetagandan senior officers have been
recalled to their capital, to explain their
'unauthorized adventure' to their emperor. Their apologies are expected to be
fatal."
Miles snorted. "Expiate their failure, rather. 'Unauthorized adventure.' Does
anyone believe that? Why do they even bother?"
"Finesse, boy. A retreating enemy should be offered all the face he can carry
off. Just don't let him carry off anything else."
"I understand you finessed the Polians. All this time, I expected it would be
Simon Illyan to show up in person to haul us lost boys home."
"He longed to come, but there was no way we could both leave home at the same
time. The wobbly cover we'd put over
Gregor's absence could have collapsed at any moment."
"How did you pull that one off, by the way?"
"Picked out a young officer who looked a lot like Gregor, told him there was
an assassination plot afoot against the Emperor and that he was to be the
bait. Bless him, he volunteered at once. He-and his Security, who had the same
tale told them-spent the next several weeks leading a life of ease down at
Vorkosigan Surleau, eating off the best plates-but with indigestion. We
finally sent him off on a rustic camping trip, as inquiries from the capital
were getting pressing. People will twig soon, I'm sure, if they haven't
already, but now we've got Gregor back we can explain it away any way we like.
Any way he likes." Count Vorkosigan frowned an odd brief frown, odd because
not wholly displeased.
"I was surprised," said Miles, "though very happy, that you got your forces
past Pol so fast. I was afraid they wouldn't let you through till the
Cetagandans were in the Hub. And then it would be too late."
"Yes, well, that's the other reason you got me instead of Simon. As Prime
Minister and former Regent, it was perfectly reasonable for me to make a state
visit to Pol. We came up with a quick list of the top five diplomatic
concessions they've been wanting from us for years, and suggested it for an
agenda.
"It being all formal and official and aboveboard, it was then perfectly
reasonable for us to combine my visit with the Prince
Serg's shakedown cruise. We were in orbit at Pol, shuttling up and down to
official receptions and parties," (his hand unconsciously rubbed his abdomen
in a pain-warding motion) "with me still trying desperately to talk our way
into the Hub without shooting anybody, when word of the Cetagandan surprise
attack on Vervain broke. At that point, getting permission to proceed was
suddenly expedited. And we were only days, not weeks, away from the action.
Getting the Aslunders to lie down with the Polians was a trickier matter.
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Gregor astonished me, handling that. The Vervani were no problem, they were
highly motivated to seek allies by then."
"I hear Gregor is now quite popular on Vervain."
"He's being feted in their capital even as we speak, I believe." Count
Vorkosigan glanced at his chrono. "They've gone wild over him. Letting him
ride shotgun in the Prince Serg's tac room may have been a better idea that I
thought. Purely from a diplomatic standpoint." Count Vorkosigan looked rather
abstracted.
"It... astonished me, that you permitted him to jump with you into the fire
zone. I hadn't expected that."
"Well, when you came down to it, the Prince Serg's fleet tac room had to have
been among the most tightly defended few cubic meters anywhere in Vervain
local space. It was, it was..."
Miles watched with fascination as his father tried to spit out the words
perfectly safe, and gagged on them instead. Light dawned. "It wasn't your
idea, was it? Gregor ordered himself aboard!"
"He had several good arguments to support his position," Court Vorkosigan
said. "The propaganda angle certainly seems to be bearing fruit."
"I thought you'd be too... prudent. To permit him the risk." Count Vorkosigan
studied his own square hands. "I was not in love with the idea, no. But I once
swore an oath to serve an emperor. The most morally dangerous moment for a
guardian is when the temptation to become a puppet-master seems most rational.
I always knew the moment must... no. I knew that if the moment never came, I
should have failed my oath most profoundly." He paused. "It was still a shock
to the system, though. The letting-go."
Gregor faced you down? Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of that chamber.
"Even with you to practice on, all these years,"
Count Vorkosigan added meditatively.
"Ah... how's your ulcers?" Count Vorkosigan grimaced. "Don't ask." He
brightened slightly--"Better, the last three days. I may actually demand food
for lunch, instead of that miserable medical mush."
Miles cleared his throat. "How's Captain Ungari?"
Count Vorkosigan twitched a lip. "He's not overly pleased with you."
"I... cannot apologize. I made a lot of mistakes, but disobeying his order to
wait on Aslund Station wasn't one of them."
"Apparently not." Count Vorkosigan frowned at the far wall. "And yet... I'm
more than ever convinced the regular Service is not the place for you. It's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
Page 147
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"I can hear her voice," smiled Elena. "Tell her thank you. Tell her... I will
remember."
"Good." Count Vorkosigan pressed her no further. "Sit, sit," he waved them at
chairs, which he snugged up closed to the comconsole desk, and sat himself.
For an instant, changing gears, his features relaxed, then concentrated with
attention once again. God, he looks tired, Miles realized; for a split second,
almost ghastly. Gregor, you have much to answer for. But Gregor knew that.
"What's the latest word on the cease-fire?" Miles asked.
"Still holding nicely, thank you. The only Cetagandan ships that haven't
jumped back where they came from, had damaged
Necklin rods or control systems or injured pilots. Or all three. We're letting
them repair two of them and jump them out with skeleton crews, the rest are
not salvageable. I estimate controlled commercial travel could resume in six
weeks."
Miles shook his head. "So ends the Five-Day War. I never once saw a Cetagandan
face-to-face. All that effort and bloodshed, just to return to the status quo
ante."
"Not quite for everyone. A number of Cetagandan senior officers have been
recalled to their capital, to explain their
'unauthorized adventure' to their emperor. Their apologies are expected to be
fatal."
Miles snorted. "Expiate their failure, rather. 'Unauthorized adventure.' Does
anyone believe that? Why do they even bother?"
"Finesse, boy. A retreating enemy should be offered all the face he can carry
off. Just don't let him carry off anything else."
"I understand you finessed the Polians. All this time, I expected it would be
Simon Illyan to show up in person to haul us lost boys home."
"He longed to come, but there was no way we could both leave home at the same
time. The wobbly cover we'd put over
Gregor's absence could have collapsed at any moment."
"How did you pull that one off, by the way?"
"Picked out a young officer who looked a lot like Gregor, told him there was
an assassination plot afoot against the Emperor and that he was to be the
bait. Bless him, he volunteered at once. He-and his Security, who had the same
tale told them-spent the next several weeks leading a life of ease down at
Vorkosigan Surleau, eating off the best plates-but with indigestion. We
finally sent him off on a rustic camping trip, as inquiries from the capital
were getting pressing. People will twig soon, I'm sure, if they haven't
already, but now we've got Gregor back we can explain it away any way we like.
Any way he likes." Count Vorkosigan frowned an odd brief frown, odd because
not wholly displeased.
"I was surprised," said Miles, "though very happy, that you got your forces
past Pol so fast. I was afraid they wouldn't let you through till the
Cetagandans were in the Hub. And then it would be too late."
"Yes, well, that's the other reason you got me instead of Simon. As Prime
Minister and former Regent, it was perfectly reasonable for me to make a state
visit to Pol. We came up with a quick list of the top five diplomatic
concessions they've been wanting from us for years, and suggested it for an
agenda.
"It being all formal and official and aboveboard, it was then perfectly
reasonable for us to combine my visit with the Prince
Serg's shakedown cruise. We were in orbit at Pol, shuttling up and down to
official receptions and parties," (his hand unconsciously rubbed his abdomen
in a pain-warding motion) "with me still trying desperately to talk our way
into the Hub without shooting anybody, when word of the Cetagandan surprise
attack on Vervain broke. At that point, getting permission to proceed was
suddenly expedited. And we were only days, not weeks, away from the action.
Getting the Aslunders to lie down with the Polians was a trickier matter.
Page 148
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Gregor astonished me, handling that. The Vervani were no problem, they were
highly motivated to seek allies by then."
"I hear Gregor is now quite popular on Vervain."
"He's being feted in their capital even as we speak, I believe." Count
Vorkosigan glanced at his chrono. "They've gone wild over him. Letting him
ride shotgun in the Prince Serg's tac room may have been a better idea that I
thought. Purely from a diplomatic standpoint." Count Vorkosigan looked rather
abstracted.
"It... astonished me, that you permitted him to jump with you into the fire
zone. I hadn't expected that."
"Well, when you came down to it, the Prince Serg's fleet tac room had to have
been among the most tightly defended few cubic meters anywhere in Vervain
local space. It was, it was..."
Miles watched with fascination as his father tried to spit out the words
perfectly safe, and gagged on them instead. Light dawned. "It wasn't your
idea, was it? Gregor ordered himself aboard!"
"He had several good arguments to support his position," Court Vorkosigan
said. "The propaganda angle certainly seems to be bearing fruit."
"I thought you'd be too... prudent. To permit him the risk." Count Vorkosigan
studied his own square hands. "I was not in love with the idea, no. But I once
swore an oath to serve an emperor. The most morally dangerous moment for a
guardian is when the temptation to become a puppet-master seems most rational.
I always knew the moment must... no. I knew that if the moment never came, I
should have failed my oath most profoundly." He paused. "It was still a shock
to the system, though. The letting-go."
Gregor faced you down? Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of that chamber.
"Even with you to practice on, all these years,"
Count Vorkosigan added meditatively.
"Ah... how's your ulcers?" Count Vorkosigan grimaced. "Don't ask." He
brightened slightly--"Better, the last three days. I may actually demand food
for lunch, instead of that miserable medical mush."
Miles cleared his throat. "How's Captain Ungari?"
Count Vorkosigan twitched a lip. "He's not overly pleased with you."
"I... cannot apologize. I made a lot of mistakes, but disobeying his order to
wait on Aslund Station wasn't one of them."
"Apparently not." Count Vorkosigan frowned at the far wall. "And yet... I'm
more than ever convinced the regular Service is not the place for you. It's [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]