“No.” If Chen thought Radko had easy access to the Crown Princess, it was time to disabuse her. “I’m part of a team. We have other duties as well.” She could get to Michelle more easily than most of her team could, through Ean, but that was none of Chen’s business.
“Like guarding the linesmen on the alien ships,” Saylor said.
That wasn’t general knowledge. “Occasionally,” Radko said. “Her Royal Highness has a linesman on her staff.” That was known.
It was night on Confluence Station. Ean would be in bed.
“And we’ll have access to that linesman.” Saylor rubbed his hands together. “Imagine. We’ll own the universe.”
Lancia was never going to get free access to Ean. Not without Michelle as intermediary. Nor without Radko at Ean’s back to protect him. Yet most Lancastrians assumed that because Ean was Lancastrian, they had an advantage over the other worlds. Radko wouldn’t have thought anything more about his comment except that Chen jabbed her fan into Saylor’s leg as he opened his mouth to speak again.
It was supposed to be unobtrusive, but any trained observer would have picked it up.
Why did Chen want Saylor to shut up?
“Have you ever been on one of the alien ships?” Chen asked, in what Radko thought was a deliberate attempt to change the conversation.
“Captain Helmo arranged for the crew of the Lancastrian Princess to see the Eleven.” She’d been plenty of times before that visit, of course, and afterward, but she knew how to deflect this conversation. “We wore suits and UV goggles. You couldn’t see much.”
“Suits?” Chen asked. “So the air isn’t breathable?”
Radko shrugged, like a junior guard who didn’t know much about the atmosphere on the spaceship and didn’t much care. “Orders,” she said.
The Eleven was fully oxygenated now, not a trace of alien atmosphere left. The Confluence only had oxygen to the small area between the regular shuttle bay they used and the bridge, plus a few other areas they had explored thoroughly.
“What was it like?” Chen asked. “The ship, I mean.”
Everyone was interested in the ship. “Big,” Radko said. “You walk a long way to get anywhere. There wasn’t much to see, really.”
“And the equipment?”
Radko shrugged. “It was alien.”
“But linesmen can read the boards?”
Chen seemed to know a lot about the alien ships. The question made Radko uneasy.
“That’s the theory.” It was common knowledge that linesmen were required for the alien ships.
Hua Radko said, “We’ve a Lancastrian in charge of the project, but what have we seen? No alien technology. Not using the ships to attack Gate Union. When does Lancia get some benefit from this?”
Civilians always expected things to happen immediately. And to happen solely for their own world’s benefit. “One ship has been crewed.” Or partly crewed, anyway. “These things take time.”
“We’ve been at war months. We should have blasted Gate Union out of space by now. We’ve seen what the ships can do.”
“Maybe the New Alliance is preventing Lancia from acting.” Chen watched Radko carefully, as she added, “After all, Galenos has only recently been promoted to admiral. Maybe he finds himself outclassed.”
No one had ever accused Abram Galenos of being outclassed before. He’d worked with the admirals on Lancia as an equal, even when he’d only been a commodore.
It was time Radko started shutting Chen down. She laughed. “I doubt it. I’ve seen some of the trials. The ship is dangerous. The New Alliance doesn’t want civilian casualties. They’ll bring the ship out when they need it.”
They landed then, to her relief, for she didn’t want to spend hours talking about the alien ships. Not with these people.
They waited in a private room off the public concourse of the palace. Radko saw four cameras. The people who were watching them would be part of her own unit. The Royal Guard.
The Royal Guard was split into three branches. The largest was the division that dealt with the security for the Emperor himself and was headed by Commodore Sergey Bach. As a child, Radko had been scared of him. Thinking about it now, she realized it was her mother’s fear, for her mother had impressed on her early that Bach had the power to kill them if they so much as looked at Yu the wrong way.
Her mother must be terrified of Emperor Yu.
The Crown Princess’s division was headed by the recently appointed Jiang Vega.
The third division, the group that looked after other members of the royal family, was run by Captain Ah Ning, who answered to Commodore Bach.
Finally, it was time.
Emperor Yu was a striking man, genetically tweaked to be handsome and powerful. He was approaching sixty years of age but looked half that. Two Royal Guards stood inside the door, on either side, another two on either side of the throne, and two more partway between, close to where the visitors would stand when they had their audience.
Aside from the throne, there was only one other seat in the room, a long chair placed at right angles to the throne. The seat was already occupied by Sattur Dow, a close friend of Emperor Yu’s.
Sattur Dow’s presence was worrying.
Radko bowed low and held the bow for as long as protocol demanded, and a bit longer. After all, she didn’t plan on disgracing her family.
She kept her face expressionless. “Your Imperial Majesty.”
He said nothing.
The Emperor was famous for keeping his visitors waiting. Sometimes, he’d make the visitor wait ten or fifteen minutes before he spoke.
Radko knew how to deal with that. She stood at ease, hands behind her back, and stared ahead as if she were at parade assembly. She could stand that way for hours. Although she would have preferred better shoes to do it in.
Maybe it worked, for the Emperor broke the silence in less than two minutes. “Cousin.” Or maybe the short time was for Sattur Dow’s benefit.
“Cousin.” Radko bowed again.
Emperor Yu steepled his hands. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “I trust you are well.”
“Thank you, I am. And yourself, likewise?” Dow hadn’t been introduced yet, so she didn’t inquire after his health.
“Of course,” the Emperor said, as if there was never any doubt. “I hear you are protecting my daughter.”
“It is an honor to serve as one of Her Royal Highness’s guards.”
“Yet you are not guarding my daughter at all.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You are bodyguard to Linesman Lambert.”
“Who is a member of Her Royal Highness’s staff, and Her Royal Highness herself has requested that protection.” Was this what he had called her home for? To reprimand her?
“You spend a lot of time on the alien ships.”
He’d better not ask her to spy for him because this conversation was going straight back to Vega and Galenos. “I have spent some time on the alien ships, yes.”
The Emperor smiled. “You see,” he said to Sattur Dow. “I promise, and I deliver.”
Saylor and Chen’s belief that they would soon get access to a linesman suddenly made sense. Especially given Tse’s earlier comment about their mentor being Sattur Dow.
That was going straight back to Vega and Galenos as well.
“But I have been remiss, cousin,” Emperor Yu said. “I summoned you here for a reason. Please allow me to introduce your future husband, Sattur Dow.”
It wasn’t a surprise. The Emperor didn’t invite relatives like her to the Imperial Palace for any other reason. Most of the family members Radko had grown up with had already received their summonses. Radko fully expected that when the time came, she would do her duty as well.