The Dreeson Incident(126)

"Well, I really don't like to ask for special favors."





Magdeburg


Ed Piazza thought it was probably beyond his pay grade, too. He bucked it on to Magdeburg.



Where it ended up in a conference.



"The letter makes it quite clear, I think," Francisco Nasi said. "The duke of Rohan is not interested in corresponding with anyone in an official position in the USE government. Or in the Swedish government. Or in the SoTF government. He merely wishes to pursue an amicable exchange of opinions with a young man in whom he takes a friendly interest."



Hermann of Hesse-Rotenburg nodded. "Plausible deniability." He paused. "Additionally, Rohan may not feel that he can rely on having his letters treated with full confidentiality by the next administration . . . It could be a delicate position for him, if Wettin wins. He is, after all, Duke Bernhard's older brother."



Nasi nodded. "No risk of offending anyone in an official position by breaking off communication at that point."



"If Jenkins thinks Stone can do it . . ." Arnold Bellamy's voice trailed off.



"He wouldn't have forwarded the idea, if he didn't," Frank Jackson said. "Not that the thought of one of Tom Stone's boys conducting delicate diplomatic negotiations with a French ex-rebel doesn't practically make me fall flat on my face."



Bellamy nodded. "Then we'll need a regular liaison. Someone . . . inconspicuous."



Cory Joe Lang made a discreet coughing noise. As usual, the young intelligence officer was sitting somewhat to the rear, making himself inconspicuous.



"Yes?" Hermann cocked his head.



"If I have understood what you and Don Francisco have been saying, our network. is trying to establish an inconspicuous connection, by way of Stone, to the duke of Rohan. And, indirectly, to Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar."



"That does seem to be the point." Don Francisco took off his spectacles and started to clean them. The action served to control any impulse to smile. Also as usual, Cory Joe was proving to be an excellent assistant. For all the world, the young man seemed to be wrestling with a brand new idea—as if he hadn't already, many weeks since, started working on this very problem.



"If the two of you are willing, I could do it. After all, I see Ron every time I'm in Grantville anyway."



Arnold Bellamy leaned back in his chair. "You do? If you don't mind my asking, why?"



"Pam Hardesty, my half-sister, is working at the state library. Through that she's friends with Missy Jenkins, who's about three years younger than her. So through that, I see Ron every time I'm in Grantville."



It was pretty clear that the connection was not computing.



"Missy and Ron are a couple. Not exactly official. Yet. But trust me. They are."



"I remember them," Jackson protested. "They're just kids."



"They're both nineteen, Sir. They had birthdays just before Christmas." Cory Joe grinned. "They have birthdays just before Christmas every year, Sir."



The general glared the ordinary adult level of indignation at kids who managed to grow up, apparently in an instant, while a person's attention had been focused elsewhere.



"It's a natural tie," Don Francisco commented. "Already friends. Already established, so not obvious."



Hesse-Rotenburg nodded. "It would certainly be far less conspicuous than for Stone to be reporting to one of the SoTF administrative offices regularly."



Cory Joe shrugged. "Not really, Sir. Ron is normally in and out of the administration building two or three times a week. After all, he's managing the local end of the Farbenwerke. His normal business tends to take him into the various corners of economic resources quite a bit. Talking to people like Noelle Stull and Eddie Junker."



Again, Don Francisco had to suppress a smile. He had found it convenient to bestow those portions of his Grantville operations that weren't precisely police business in among the accountants and auditors, who always had a legitimate reason to be nosy. "Speaking of Noelle, while she is on my mind, do you know a young woman named Denise Beasley? She wrote me a letter, recently."



Cory Joe nodded. "Buster Beasley's kid. Friend of Ron's brother Gerry. She's a pip, that one. Even if she is just sixteen."



"I am, I suppose, delighted to hear it." Don Francisco loved ties of blood. The interconnections among the Grantvillers had turned out to be so charmingly intricate as he came to be familiar with them. "When," he asked hopefully, "is this coupledom—if there is such a word in English—likely to become official?"



Cory Joe paused for a moment, assessing the problem. Then: "I don't think it's a sometime thing, even though they may not be sure of that themselves yet. They've done Thanksgiving dinner at Missy's grandma's house. They've done Christmas dinner at Missy's house. You already know about New Year's Eve, because Ron and I both reported on LaChapelle from our own perspectives, independently. Ron's come face to face with Vera Hudson and survived the experience. According to my sister Pam, Missy has set up a pretty effective defensive perimeter, so to speak, so things aren't likely to slide for very long."