“Sorry, Princess!” Tim blushed. “They may be able to get them back before we get to Nizhny Novgorod, but it’s not that likely. So it’s probably going to be about half the garrison at Nizhny Novgorod—that’s maybe a hundred people and we have almost that many with us. Nizhny’s Streltzi are pretty well-armed. I think they have the AK4’s, that is the cap locks, but not the 4.7’s which have the new chamber clips. So we will have a better rate of fire. That’s brand new. Only the Gun Shop, the Dacha and your Streltzi at Murom are equipped with the 4.7’s.”
“And a few hundred rich nobles who have to have the newest gun no matter how much it costs,” Anya added.
Tim—who was wearing the brand new six-shot revolver—was spending quite a bit of time pink, to the amusement of the ladies.
“Anyway, we should have a better rate of fire for the first few minutes of battle if it comes to that,” Bernie said. “Got it.”
“Yes, but I don’t think it will come to that unless we actually stop in Nizhny. I think they will look at the boats and the guns and the fact that the czar is aboard and not shoot if we don’t. Maybe.”
“What about Bor?”
“The same. If we don’t bother them, they won’t bother us.”
“But we are going to bother them. We are going to go in there and take my dirigible,” Czarina Evdokia said. Since it was named after her, she took a proprietary interest in the giant airship. “It’s completed most of its trials and we are going to need it.”
Tim nodded respectfully. He agreed with her because it was the solution to one of the biggest problems facing them. The czar, or at least the czar’s family, must be protected, out of reach of the Boyar Duma. But at the same time, they needed a place where people could come join them until enough had joined them to take the fight to the boyars. The dirigible would let the czar reach the hoped-for followers without falling into the hands of the Boyar Duma. They had the place to meet, but it was too easy for the Boyar Duma’s troops to reach by riverboat. The dirigible, which the czarina wanted for emotional and prestige reasons, Tim wanted for tactical reasons. Which meant they had to get it.
“Captain Ruslan Andreyivich Shuvalov is a skilled commander, if not overly imaginative. He knows that the dirigible is of considerable military value. He discussed it with me and Ivan on the boat that took me to Murom. He understands its scouting value but doubts its value as a cargo or passenger craft. He’ll be preparing to use it to track us for the Boyar Duma but he won’t think of us wanting it. At least, I don’t think he will. Ivan, though. Ivan might consider things like the prestige having it will give us and he will certainly see the strategic value of being able to get effectively out of the boyars’ range while still able to come in to strike them or recruit more forces. If I thought of it, Ivan has.”
Tim had a tremendous advantage in that he knew the players. He knew Captain Ruslan Andreyivich Shuvalov and he knew Ivan. They had the same advantage when it came to him, except they probably thought he was still in Murom with his cousin. So how would they figure Bernie would look at things and how about the czar? Ruslan Andreyivich would probably not consider Princess Natasha or the czarina. He had a bit of a blind spot where women were concerned. Ivan might, but . . .
“I don’t think Ruslan Andreyivich will be listening to Ivan that much,” Tim said out loud.
“What are you talking about, Tim?” Anya asked, and Tim realized that Ruslan Andreyivich Shuvalov certainly wouldn’t be considering Anya’s input.
“Ruslan Andreyivich Shuvalov is smart and capable and pretty open-minded,” Tim said. “But he doesn’t think of women as thinking creatures and he doesn’t really think of the lower class as thinking people, either. So he’s not going to consider what you, the princess or the czarina contribute to our plans. He will think about Bernie and the czar; he’ll probably think about the captain of the princess’ guard, not knowing about Captain Vladislav Vasl’yevich’s death. So he’ll figure our actions based on that. He knows that Bernie is . . .” Tim ran out of words. He wasn’t at all sure of how to put what was probably going through Ruslan Andreyivich’s mind.
The up-timer laughed. Well, snorted humorously. “He’ll figure I’m not an absolute coward but not someone that goes looking for trouble either. And sort of the same about Czar Mikhail.” The up-timer looked at the czar of Russia like a friend, not a monarch, and continued. “Sorry, Boss, but he’ll think it even less likely that you will attack.”