"Anderson, Poul - 1974 Flandry 11 - A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows (Knight Fl" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Poul)

dominions. The Taurian Sector lay in that direction, fronting the
Wilderness beyond which dwelt the Merseians.

"You must know something I don't, if you claim the Dennitzans are
brewing trouble," he said. "However, are you sure what you know is
true?"

"What can you tell me about them?" Hazeltine gave back.

"Hm? Why--um, yes, that's sensible, first making clear to you what
information and ideas I have."

"Especially since they must reflect what the higher-ups believe, which
I'm not certain about."

"Neither am I, really. My attention's been directed elsewhere, Tauria
seeming as reliably under control as any division of the Empire."

"After your experience there?"

"Precisely on account of it. Very well. We'll save time if I run
barefoot through the obvious. Then you needn't interrogate me, groping
around for what you may not have suspected hitherto."

Hazeltine nodded. "Besides," he said, "I've never been in those parts
myself."

"Oh? You mentioned assignments which concerned the Merseia-ward frontier
and our large green playmates."

"Tauria isn't the only sector at that end of the Empire," Hazeltine
pointed out.

Too big, this handful of stars we suppose we know ... "Ahem." Flandry
took the crystal decanter. A refill gurgled into his glass. "You've
heard how I happpened to be in the neighborhood when the governor, Duke
Alfred of Varrak, kidnapped Princess Megan while she was touring, as
part of a scheme to detach the Taurian systems from the Empire and bring
them under Merseian protection--which means possession. Chives and I
thwarted him, or is 'foiled' a more dramatic word?

"Well, then the question arose, what to do next? Let me remind you, Hans
had assumed, which means grabbed, the crown less than two years earlier.
Everything was still in upheaval. Three avowed rivals were out to
replace him by force of arms, and nobody could guess how many more would
take an opportunity that came along, whether to try for supreme power or
for piratical autonomy. Alfred wouldn't have made his attempt without
considerable support among his own people. Therefore, not only must the
governorship change, but the sector capital.