Vicky put down her tea. “Then, they apprenticed me to Admiral Krätz and my real education began. Among other things, he introduced me to Kris Longknife in the flesh. An interesting experiment, that. Kris insisted she hadn’t killed Hank. That Hank was too stupid to live and had a blind spot a mile wide where Dad’s weaknesses were concerned. I figured she was just trying to separate me from Daddy.”
Vicky leaned forward. “Watching Kris for the last few months, I’ve come to suspect that she sees just as many flaws in her own family as she sees in mine. I’ve been giving that a lot of thought.”
“What do you intend to do about that?” the admiral asked.
“I’m not sure,” Vicky admitted. “It’s one thing to see the flaws in a person or civil structure, something else entirely to do something about it. What do you think, Admiral?”
“I think Admiral Krätz was quite right in his last report. You are maturing rapidly.”
“Grow up or die,” Vicky said dryly.
The admiral leaned back and studied her for a long minute. Vicky picked up her tea and took a deep swallow. It tasted good and was at just that right temperature.
“The largest sum of money I received, the amount for your dead body, was from your Empress Annah and her family. Her brother, Edward Bowlingame personally delivered the cash.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Vicky drawled. “How have they been doing since I left?”
“Your stepmother’s pregnancy progresses apace, or so we are all told. Her family is prospering, despite the problems in the Empire. Indeed, unlike your father, they have raised an army.”
Vicky frowned at that. “Does he approve?”
“Since they are not calling it an army, he doesn’t seem to notice. Officially, it’s a security service. People may contract for its services. It’s quite amazing how few businesses that contract with them are burned or trashed during the riots. Those that don’t, well, few refuse their services a second time. Why, there are even several planets that no longer require Navy support. The entire place is protected by the Empress’s family’s on-going security concern.”
“Is that as bad as it sounds?” Vicky asked.
“Your father doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Have they got their fingers in the fleet?” Vicky asked. That was one fear Admiral Krätz shared with his young charge. Fear that the long, ongoing civil unrest would let outsiders into the fleet. That the cancer eating at the civil life of Greenfeld would get into the Navy’s blood.
“Several major supply contracts have gone to the Bowlingames and a few of the shipyards are on planets under security service protections. Strange how the ships from those yards are costing us more, and when delivered, need major refits in Navy yards before we dare take them to space.”
Vicky thought on his words for a long while. How could her dad be so blind to what was going on around him? Then, with his new wife, he’d been too busy to hear anything about what Kris Longknife and her forensic computer accountants had discovered on St. Petersburg. A solid commitment to a truth that was inconvenient was not one of her dad’s strong suits. It had been staring her in the face. She had done her best to ignore it.
Now his foolish bliss was a deadly threat to her.
Time to take the blinders off, as Kris Longknife would say.
“Okay, so you’ve been given money by my loving stepmother to see me dead. Who else gave you money and what do they want for their largess?”
“There is another faction. You will excuse me if I make no effort to name them. Actually, it is hard to name them. Unlike your stepmother and her family, they are more eclectic in their origin. They want me to deliver you to them.”
“And once delivered, they want me to . . .?”
“They didn’t tell me. I believe Admiral Krätz would call this ‘an exercise to be left to the class,’ would he not?”
“No doubt,” Vicky said. “Let’s see. One side wants me dead so they can rob my dad’s Empire blind and put their child on his throne. No doubt sooner, rather than later. The other side would likely want my lovely body to use as a banner holder. To wave a flag of rebellion, or some such thing. Let the loyal patriots of Greenfeld rally around a good Peterwald against the bad Peterwald who has been bespelled by the evil witch. Or bitch, either spelling will suffice.”
The admiral shrugged, whether at the joke or the conclusion, he left Vicky to decide.
“And you haven’t decided whose pay to pocket?”
“Oh, I’ve pocketed both side’s pay. I have it safely deposited in a bank on Bern. Admittedly, depending on what I do, I’ll have to avoid one side or the other. Maybe both. I could end up doing what my orders tell me to. Then won’t I be in a mess,” he said with a hint of a grin.
“Admiral Krätz taught me to ask one question first when I had a hard decision. ‘What was best for the Navy?’ Tell me, Admiral, what is best for the Navy here?”
“That, Lieutenant, is my problem. I can’t decide what’s best for the Navy, or, if I remember Krätz’s full set of questions, what is best for Greenfeld? What do you think, young woman, is best for us all?”
“I don’t think me dying is best for either side, or anyone, except my loving stepmother dearest. And I don’t think you really want what’s best for that bunch of corrupt thieves.”
“That is a problem,” the admiral said, and stood. “Well, enough talk, Lieutenant. You must see to your quarters. I’ve given you the captain’s in-port cabin. Your team also has the cabins on either side of you, though you might want to have some of them sleep in your outer day cabin. I will post Marine guards at your door. I despise the idea of you dying under anyone else’s hand but mine. It’s an ‘Admiral thing,’ you know.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed that you admirals seem very controlling of what goes on in your domain.”
“Did Admiral Krätz really let Kris Longknife send him to war on her plan?” the admiral asked.
“Admiral, you had to be there, watch it develop, to understand how it all came down. I know this sounds unbelievable, but I think the sight of those alien raiders and what they did to the planets they raped really got to the admiral. He truly wanted to run for home. Certainly not get in a fight with them. Then those Hellburners arrived from Wardhaven and suddenly the Longknife Princess had a hammer she could put down hard on the aliens and the other admirals were kind of excited about having one hell of a fight. Admiral Krätz went from ‘let’s go home’ to ‘I’ll lead the charge’ and I don’t think even he knew quite how it happened. That Longknife woman had a plan and next thing we knew, everyone was following it.”
“Damn those Longknifes. Four good battleships. We’ll really miss them if it comes to a fight.”
“Admiral, review the record. But I was there. Our best battleships didn’t survive longer than a drop of water on a hot greased griddle. I heard Kris say we got lucky that day. We’ll need a whole lot more than luck next time.”
The Admiral clearly did not like getting advice from a lieutenant. Certainly not advice that his fleet’s proud battleships were outclassed by a newfound threat.
“You are dismissed,” he growled.
Vicky came to attention, saluted, and left.
Kris Longknife's Assassin Page 17