The Kremlin Games(134)
Chapter 76
Lieutenant Boris Timofeyevich Lebedev, as it happened, was on the city wall inspecting the guard when he saw the dust cloud in the distance. One of the city Streltzi whom he was inspecting told him what it was.
“It’s a dodge,” the man said. Then, seeing Tim’s confusion continued, “The magic vehicles that come from the future and eat burning naptha, they’re called dodges. That must the princess’ dodge. Well, it’s officially owned by the outlander from the future, but he works at the Dacha, so I figure it’s hers anyway.”
Whatever it was and whoever it belonged to, it was raising a lot of dust and coming awfully fast. Besides, they had received no word that Princess Natasha was coming and they should have. “Inform Captain Lebedev that we have a dodge approaching Royal Gate.”
* * *
As fast as it moved, Captain Ivan Borisovich Lebedev reached the gate before the dodge did. But it didn’t give the captain all that much time to consider what to do. In Tim’s experience if the thing approaching was something other than a drink or a young girl, his cousin took considerable time deciding what to do about it. But woe be to the subordinate who acted in advance of those decisions. This time, as it had so many others, the thing approaching passed before the captain made up his mind. It slowed. Two people in the front seats waved at the gate guard and it kept right on going, just as if it had every right to be here, not at the Dacha where it was supposed to be.
The captain, having failed to act in time to stop it, now followed after it, Tim following in his turn. By the time they got down off the walls, it was turning into the Gorchakov palace—again just as if it had every right to. As it happened, the Murom radio was located in the Gorchakov palace. Why not? It was provided by the Dacha and the batteries to run it were in the palace. Until quite recently all the operators of it had been Gorchakov retainers. Where else would it be?
In the city hall seemed a good place to Tim, but moving it there was another thing his cousin Ivan Borisovich hadn’t decided on yet. So it had stayed in the palace. They had put their own radioman in charge of all the other radiomen in the radio room.
Tim wondered if that worthy happened to be on duty at the moment as he followed his cousin toward the palace gates.
* * *
The palace gates that had opened so easily to admit the dodge failed, for the first time, to admit Tim and his cousin. They were informed that the princess was now in residence and they could not be admitted without her consent. That was especially inconvenient since they had been living there since they had arrived in Murom. By tradition, the captain of the Murom Streltzi was a boyar’s son, a retainer of the Gorchakov clan. Being a retainer, he lived in their palace.
When the Boyar Duma had made cousin Ivan Borisovich captain of the Murom city guard, they had not specified quarters. So when Tim and Ivan Borisovich had gotten here, the Gorchakov’s captain, one Vladislav Vasl’yevich, had been unceremoniously ejected from his rooms and sent to stay with the guards. Just one of so many things Tim’s cousin had done to make himself popular with his new subordinates. Tim knew this was an unimportant post. Was supposed to be an unimportant post. But just at the moment, this post was starting to look pretty important.
While Captain Ivan Borisovich Lebedev was still fuming and threatening, word reached the gate that the captain was to be admitted. And was to report to the princess post haste. So off they went, Tim trailing his cousin and both of them surrounded by Murom Streltzi who were not hiding their grins at all well.
* * *
Princess Natalia Gorchakovna looked stone-cold and somewhat miffed. Tim suspected that she was actually in a rage, but she was doing an admirable job of hiding just how much of a rage. Which was quite understandable given the recent events in terms of control of the Gorchakov estates. With Prince Vladimir in Grantville and Princess Natasha sequestered in the Dacha, control of the estates had fallen to estate managers who had proved less strong in their loyalty than might be hoped. Through bribes and coercion, actual control had shifted to the Sheremetev clan.
“Who, precisely, are you people?” the princess demanded.
Ivan Borisovich, as was his nature, began to bluster. And Tim cringed internally. Tim had never had great respect for his older cousin and his time in Cousin Ivan’s command had only made his opinion worse. The man was an embarrassment to the family.
“Captain Lebedev. My executive officer, Lieutenant Lebedev,” Ivan Borisovich said. “We were sent by Director-General Sheremetev and the Boyar Duma to reassert government control over Murom and the Gorchakov estates. How dare you have us held at the gates? We are Great House.”