Luckily the door to Kagg's office opened just as von Dantz entered the building. As the general's clerk came out the door they could see Kagg himself, who was walking toward the door, waving his hand for them to come in.
"Captain Pitre, Herr Hatfield, come in. It is good of you to make time to see me."
Kagg's English, though heavily accented, was fluent. Anse was pretty sure that was one of the reasons he'd been sent to Grantville. The Swedish general also seemed to be punctilious about courtesy. Whether that was because of his own personality or blunt orders from Gustavus Adolphus, Anse didn't know. Probably both, he suspected.
The general spotted von Dantz coming through the outer office. "Come in, all of you. Captain von Dantz, you know Captain Pitre and Warrant Officer Hatfield. Captain Pitre, Herr Hatfield, I know you have met Captain von Dantz."
"Ja, I have met Fräulein Pitre and Hatfield, General."
"That is Captain Pitre," Kagg said curtly. "You should remember that you and she are the same rank and use proper military courtesy at all times. And Warrant Officer Hatfield should be addressed as Mister or Herr Hatfield. You should think of him the same as one of our master gunners. You do not address them by their bare last name, I hope."
Von Dantz turned red. "Captain, Herr Hatfield."
Anse thought that was as close to an apology as they were going to get. It was not an invariable rule, by any means, but he'd found that lots of Germans who enjoyed the "von" business seemed to find it well-nigh impossible to be courteous to those they considered their social inferiors.
Once they entered the general's office, Kagg said: "Now everyone sit down, and I can tell you why you are all here."
As the three found seats and the general moved behind his desk, Anse realized there was another man in the room, leaning against a side wall. It was the big Swedish lieutenant whom Anse had seen with Kagg several times. They'd arrived together, Anse thought. He was a bit older than Kagg, but had the same hard-as-nails look of a professional soldier.
If the seventeenth-century Swedish army worked about the same way the uptime American army of Hatfield's experience did—always an uncertain proposition—then this unnamed lieutenant would serve General Kagg as one of his staff officers. It was hard to tell, however, just exactly what authority he possessed. No down-time army that Anse was familiar with used the same tight and clear system of ranks that uptime armies did. Generals and colonels commanded specific units, as a rule. But down-timers used the terms "captain" and "lieutenant" very loosely. It was not uncommon for "lieutenants" to command "captains," for instance, since the term "lieutenant" might really signify direct subordinate to the big cheese, rather than very junior officer. But exactly how and when the authority of a staff officer superseded that of a line commander was something Anse still hadn't been able to figure out.
Once everyone was seated, Kagg spoke. "Captain Pitre, Captain von Dantz, Herr Hatfield, we have a problem. General Jackson has received reports that the gun-makers of Suhl are continuing to sell their products to anyone who will buy them, including the enemies of our king. He arranged for Patrick Johnson to look into it. Just this morning his report arrived and it looks like the earlier reports were true. He tells us that large shipments of weapons are leaving Suhl, going by way of Schleusingen. Toward the south. And I can assure you they are not being sent to General Banér in the Upper Palatinate."
"What do you expect? They are Franconians," Captain von Dantz interrupted. "Catholics. We should send troops to hang the traitors. Suhl is in the territory given to the Americans, and all have sworn allegiance to King Gustavus Adolphus. In Pomerania we know how to deal with people like that."
"Not exactly." Elizabeth Pitre's voice was mild and calm. "True, its citizens have sworn allegiance. But that is because Suhl—the city—like Badenburg, became a state in the N.U.S. by its own free will. That was months before the captain general's agreement with President Stearns concerning Franconia."
She raised one eyebrow. "Not to mention that you, as a Pomeranian, surely misspoke in saying that the town is Catholic when it is in fact Lutheran." Her implication was that if she herself, as a lapsed Catholic, knew this much, surely the other captain should know more.
Von Dantz took the bait. "Suhl's city council became a `state' of your N.U.S. under false pretenses. It is not an imperial city. The council had no legal right to declare itself independent from the Saxon administrators of the Henneberg inheritance." His disapproval of "do-it-yourself" politics was plain.