WITH THE LIGHTNINGS(141)

Sand nodded without comment. "Have you seen Lieutenant Leary recently?" she asked.

Adele shook her head. "Not since shortly after the fleet arrived," she said. "I went to the command node to help with integration, and Daniel had his own duties. I believe he's still aboard the ship we captured, but I didn't care to bother him after I left the battleship."

She half-smiled. "I was afraid I might be contagious, you see."

Sand nodded again. She opened her belt purse and took from it a business card.

"I believe that a person with your natural abilities could be of enormous benefit to the Republic," she said. "What some would think of as—please forgive me—your disabilities are in fact extremely good cover for a person of undoubted loyalty to Cinnabar."

Adele's smile was more wry than bitter. "I don't think it would be difficult," she said, "to find those who doubt my loyalty."

Sand stood to place the business card on the desk. "I believe we've already discussed how easy it is to find fools, mistress," she said. "I try very hard not to be one of their number."

The front of the card read simply BERNIS SAND. Adele turned the card over and squeezed the diagonally opposite corners. A twelve-digit number appeared on the blank surface, then vanished when she released the pressure.

"When you're next on Cinnabar you might call there," Sand said. She stood and carefully returned the snuffbox to its pocket.

"Thank you for the suggestion, mistress," Adele said, "but I don't expect to be on Cinnabar in the foreseeable future. To be honest, I don't think I'll return to Cinnabar until I can do so aboard a naval vessel commanded by Mr. Leary."

She cleared her throat. She was profoundly embarrassed at what she was doing. The Mundys of Chatsworth were not a house that interested itself in trade, so it was bad enough to find herself bargaining. Further, she was boasting by putting a high price on herself when she was three florins from starvation; and she didn't know enough about the navy to be sure Sand could pay that price even if she chose to.

Adele smiled. Not for the first time she realized that some people would do more for others than they would do for themselves. That was perhaps as good a definition of friendship as one could find; and a definition of patriotism as well.

Sand laughed. "Goodness, you do have a low opinion of the way the navy's run," she said in a plummy voice. "Well, since you met Elphinstone this afternoon I can see why you would. I assure you that Admiral Ingreit is too sophisticated to be taken in by the rumors about Daniel Leary being on the outs with his father."

Adele blinked. The words were quite clear, not the jargon that had frequently confused her when she was around the sailors. But they made as little sense as, "You can breathe chlorine now."

"Yes, a politician as clever as Corder Leary knows how important the health of the navy is to the Republic," Sand continued. "And what better way to gauge that than through his own son? Especially if the boy sees all parts of the service that would have been hidden from a top-rank noble. The admiral and I were discussing that very subject at dinner tonight."

"Ah," said Adele. "I do see."

She stood and sidled out from behind the desk. "And I see that I owe you an apology, mistress."

She offered her hand. Sand shook it firmly and said, "No apology required, Ms. Mundy. You hadn't known me long enough for accurate analysis. I have studied you, however. I trust communication will be easier in the future."

Sand closed her cloak about her. "Good night, then, mistress," she said.

Adele cleared her throat again. "I think he's the sort of officer the RCN needs," she said. She noted with amusement that she'd used the sailor's term for the organization rather than calling it "the navy" as a civilian would have done. "That the Republic needs."

Sand looked at her. "As do I, Ms. Mundy," she said. "Otherwise our discussion tonight would have turned in different directions."

She closed the door behind her with a slow, firm pressure till it latched. The warped panel would have sprung open if Sand had slammed it.



Adele walked toward the harbor through bright sunlight. When Woetjans and Barnes brought her the invitation to board the Princess Cecile in orbit, they'd expected her to fly to the cutter in their airboat. She let them take most of her limited possessions, but not the personal data unit on her thigh; nor the pistol; nor herself.

Adele didn't bother to analyze why she'd refused. The sailors were surprised but as always respectful, and they were used to her surprising them.

She'd walked all the time she was Electoral Librarian, but not usually in daylight. Kostroma City's street life had returned with all its noisy vibrancy. There was still a tinge of smoke in the air, but the sound of construction work was even more general than it had been when Adele arrived.