spiral. Everywhere Vicky looked, traffic was thick on the streets, and people were walking with purpose. Several new buildings were going up.
Their ride ended at an older building, built of marble in the classic style. They drove past the columned entrance and disappeared into underground parking. From there, it was a short elevator ride to the fourth floor. They walked down a thickly carpeted, marble hallway to a pair of tall wooden doors that guards swung wide for them.
Inside, a huge room had walls covered in tall windows or equally tall mirrors veined in gold. The sun through the windows was reflected back, leaving the many crystal chandeliers with little need to shed their light. In the middle of the room was one long, thick, wooden table with several dozen people gathered around it. Many looked all too familiar to Vicky. They stared at her and Mannie in heavy silence.
Again, chairs at the head . . . or maybe foot . . . had been left for her and Mannie. She didn’t need any suggestion but made for the empty seats.
The meeting started before she was halfway there.
“You told us nothing would happen, that this would be a secret rebellion to start with,” came from somewhere in the middle of the table. It was supported by “Yeah,” “Yes,” “I told you we couldn’t trust a Peterwald,” and worse.
Vicky schooled her face to neutral and continued her walk. When she got to the chair at the end of the table, head or bottom, she sat down and surveyed the people around the table.
Some had fallen silent, but others kept on with their own comments on recent events. She did not interrupt them.
She sat there, stiff and attentive, keeping her silence until a question rose above the babble. “Aren’t you going to answer us? Or are you going to pull that Peterwald thing? You know, ‘You peasants, me Emperor, so shut up and do what I want.’”
Vicky stood up on that note, and the room slowly bubbled down to silence. Then she sat down again.
She took a deep breath of the silence, and said, “I told you when we last met that I wanted to take it slow. I wanted to feel my way into whatever it was that we were doing. I also made it clear that my stepmom had her own agenda, and it would unfold on her timetable.”
Vicky let that circulate around the room. She was still facing some very hard looks, but other heads began to nod. “She did tell us that,” was whispered by several people. Vicky found it interesting that all three of the women at the table were in that group.
“I don’t know if you realize it, but St. Petersburg was invaded a few days ago. Did you notice three regiments of the Empress’s best, or should I say worst, security specialists strutting around your streets?”
Several heads shook slowly. Someone finally said, “That was an invasion?”
“Yep,” Vicky said. “Three heavy cruisers and three regiments of security thugs. If the negotiations on Metzburg had dragged out, and my battleship had been in orbit there rather than here, there would have been nothing between you and them.”
The room was deadly silent as the obvious became blatantly clear to even the densest heads.
“As it is, Mannie here drove M’Lord, the Lord High Commissioner for Safety on St. Petersburg into a heart attack rather than a planetary attack.”
“I knew Mannie was good for something,” came from the mayor of Kiev.
“I had a little help from our Grand Duchess,” Mannie said, wryly.
“But I’m gracious,” Vicky said, innocently batting her eyes.
“In a pig’s eye,” Mannie said, under his breath for all to hear.
The tension in the room broke up in a good laugh.
Vicky let them enjoy their release for a long moment, then leaned forward as the silence returned.
“The blackhearted Empress tried to take your planet. As luck, and only luck would have it, I and my battleship were between trade missions, and we put a stop to that. It could have ended very differently.”
Vicky saw her words hit
Their ride ended at an older building, built of marble in the classic style. They drove past the columned entrance and disappeared into underground parking. From there, it was a short elevator ride to the fourth floor. They walked down a thickly carpeted, marble hallway to a pair of tall wooden doors that guards swung wide for them.
Inside, a huge room had walls covered in tall windows or equally tall mirrors veined in gold. The sun through the windows was reflected back, leaving the many crystal chandeliers with little need to shed their light. In the middle of the room was one long, thick, wooden table with several dozen people gathered around it. Many looked all too familiar to Vicky. They stared at her and Mannie in heavy silence.
Again, chairs at the head . . . or maybe foot . . . had been left for her and Mannie. She didn’t need any suggestion but made for the empty seats.
The meeting started before she was halfway there.
“You told us nothing would happen, that this would be a secret rebellion to start with,” came from somewhere in the middle of the table. It was supported by “Yeah,” “Yes,” “I told you we couldn’t trust a Peterwald,” and worse.
Vicky schooled her face to neutral and continued her walk. When she got to the chair at the end of the table, head or bottom, she sat down and surveyed the people around the table.
Some had fallen silent, but others kept on with their own comments on recent events. She did not interrupt them.
She sat there, stiff and attentive, keeping her silence until a question rose above the babble. “Aren’t you going to answer us? Or are you going to pull that Peterwald thing? You know, ‘You peasants, me Emperor, so shut up and do what I want.’”
Vicky stood up on that note, and the room slowly bubbled down to silence. Then she sat down again.
She took a deep breath of the silence, and said, “I told you when we last met that I wanted to take it slow. I wanted to feel my way into whatever it was that we were doing. I also made it clear that my stepmom had her own agenda, and it would unfold on her timetable.”
Vicky let that circulate around the room. She was still facing some very hard looks, but other heads began to nod. “She did tell us that,” was whispered by several people. Vicky found it interesting that all three of the women at the table were in that group.
“I don’t know if you realize it, but St. Petersburg was invaded a few days ago. Did you notice three regiments of the Empress’s best, or should I say worst, security specialists strutting around your streets?”
Several heads shook slowly. Someone finally said, “That was an invasion?”
“Yep,” Vicky said. “Three heavy cruisers and three regiments of security thugs. If the negotiations on Metzburg had dragged out, and my battleship had been in orbit there rather than here, there would have been nothing between you and them.”
The room was deadly silent as the obvious became blatantly clear to even the densest heads.
“As it is, Mannie here drove M’Lord, the Lord High Commissioner for Safety on St. Petersburg into a heart attack rather than a planetary attack.”
“I knew Mannie was good for something,” came from the mayor of Kiev.
“I had a little help from our Grand Duchess,” Mannie said, wryly.
“But I’m gracious,” Vicky said, innocently batting her eyes.
“In a pig’s eye,” Mannie said, under his breath for all to hear.
The tension in the room broke up in a good laugh.
Vicky let them enjoy their release for a long moment, then leaned forward as the silence returned.
“The blackhearted Empress tried to take your planet. As luck, and only luck would have it, I and my battleship were between trade missions, and we put a stop to that. It could have ended very differently.”
Vicky saw her words hit
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