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.And there was no reason for them to have set up any sort of plan inadvance.So the two events are unrelated, and without SixthFleet to offset Capital Fleet, anything Catrone and his friends could come upwith would be doomed.They have no focal point the heirs are dead, Her Majesty is damned near dead, and will be, just as soon as the new Heiris born.""That's not necessary," New Madrid said peevishly."We've discussed this," Adoula replied in a tight, icy voice."As soon as theHeir is born which will be as soon as possible for guaranteed survival in aneonatal care ward she goes.Period.Now, I'm extremely busy.Do quitbothering me with ghosts.Understand?""Yes," New Madrid grated.He got up and stalked out of the office, his spinerigid.Adoula watched him leave, and then sighed and tapped an icon on hispad.The young man who entered was pleasant faced, well-dressed, and entirelyunnoticeable.His genes could have been assembled from any mixture ofnationalities, and he had slightly tanned skin, brown hair, and brown eyes."Yes, Your Highness?""Ensure that everything is in place to remove the Earl when his utility is atan end.""It will be done, Your Highness."Adoula nodded, the young man withdrew, and the prince returned his attentionto his paperwork.Loose ends everywhere.It was maddening."Hey, Bob," Tomcat said, shaking hands as his guests arrived."Lufrano, how'sthe leg? Marinau, Jo, glad you could make it.Everybody grab a beer, thenlet's head for the rec room and get seriously stinko."He led them into the basement of the house, through a heavy steel door, andPage 111ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmldown a corridor.Getting hold of the amount of land the Farm had needed to do things right hadmeant buying it in CentralAsia, where prices had not yet skyrocketed the way they had in the heartlandof North America.There was, of course, a reason prices were so much lowerhere, but even in Central Asia, there was land, and then there was land.In this case, he'd gotten the chunk he'd bought directly from the office ofthe Interior for a steal, given that it had "facilities" already on it.The house sat on top of a command-and-control bunker for an old anti-ballisticmissile system."Old"in this case meant way before the Empire, but still in nearly mint condition,thanks to the dry desert air.There was a command center, bunk rooms, individual rooms for officers,kitchen, storerooms, and magazines.When he'd gotten the place, those spaces were all sitting empty, except forthe ones which had been half-filled with the fine sand for which the regionwas famous.He'd spent a couple of years, working in the time available, tofix a few of them up.Now the command center was his "rec room," a comfortableroom with some float chairs and, most importantly, a bar.He used one of thebunk rooms as an indoor range.The kitchen had been fitted up to be a kitchenagain, he'd fitted out a couple of bedrooms, and the storerooms lo andbehold held stores.Lots of stores.People joked that he could hold off an army.He knew they were wrong.He'dhave a tough time dealing with more than a platoon or so.And, ritually, once a week, he swept all the rooms for bugs.Just an oldhabit.He'd never found one."Hey, Lufrano," Rosenberg said as the rest filed into the rec room.He had along metal wand, and he ran it over the visitors as he talked."Been a longtime.""Yep," Lufrano Toutain, late Sergeant Major of Steel Battalion, agreed."How'sthe shipping business?""Same old same old," Rosenberg replied.He ran the entire group, then nodded."Clear.""Fatted calf," Toutain, said in an entirely different voice, grabbing a beer."Son-of-a ""Empress," Tomcat finished for him."And a pretty impressive one.Boy's grownboth ears and a tail.""Now that would take some doing," Youngwen Marinau said, catching the brewTomcat tossed him.Marinau had been first sergeant in Bronze Battalion for eighteen miserablemonths.He popped the bulb open and took a long drink, swilling it as if towash the taste of something else out of his mouth."He was a punk when I knewhim.""There's a reason Pahner got Bravo Company," Rosenberg pointed out."Nobodybetter for bringing on a young punk.Where in the hell have they been, though?The ship never made it to Leviathan; no signof them.""Marduk," Catrone answered."I didn't get the whole story, but they were therea long time I can tell that.And Pahner bought it there.I took a look at whatthere is in the database about it." He shook his head [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]