"You could refuse," pointed out Nasi. "You even have a good excuse, since you'll be the leader of the opposition."
"It'd be stupid for me to do that. If we were in peacetime, yes. But we're going to be at war again next summer. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Gustav Adolf is coldly furious with Saxony and Brandenburg and come hell or high water he's going to bring them to heel for their treachery in the Baltic War. They'll put up a fight and he'll overrun them."
For the first time, Mike's placid countenance became somber. "Mind you, if I thought I could persuade the emperor to leave it at that, I'd stay a civilian. But I don't. The Poles and the Austrians are bound to come in on the other side. In and of itself, that wouldn't be a problem. But Gustav Adolf thinks-and so do I-that he's going to hammer all of them on the battlefield. And that being so, unfortunately, I'm almost certain he's going to try to conquer Poland itself. Big chunks of it, anyway. And then all hell's going to break loose. A smallish and self-contained war-really, more in the way of suppressing a rebellion-is going to turn into an ongoing nightmare. Gustav Adolf is simply biting off more than he can chew, even if he won't accept the fact."
Jackson looked at Nasi. "You agree with him?"
"Oh, yes. On both counts. First, that the emperor will make the mistake of turning the war into a full-scale war with Poland. Second, that the Polish resistance will be ferocious." He made a face. "Unfortunately, the Poles are so feckless in their politics that people tend to forget what they're like on the battlefield. Especially when they have a Grand Hetman with the military skills of Stanislaw Koniecpolski."
Jackson looked back at Stearns. "All the more reason, that would seem to me, to stay the hell out of it."
Mike spread his hands. "I can't, Frank. Agree with the emperor or disagree with him, it doesn't matter. If I was just a private citizen, it'd be different. But I'm not. I'm trying to lead a revolution-all across Europe, not just here. Under the circumstances, if Gustav Adolf offers me a post as general in the army on the eve of a new major war for the USE and I refuse, I'll just marginalize myself politically. Besides…"
He paused, for a moment. "Being cold-blooded about it, I expect Wilhelm to screw up as the new Prime Minister. Screw up badly, in fact. On his own, he might not. But he's made too many promises and owes too many favors to too many people, many of whom are stone reactionaries and dumber than bricks. So I think there's likely to be some real political explosions after he takes office. Which, being blunt about it, is fine with me-especially if I'm not around where people can try to force me to play fireman."
"Oh." Frank pursed his lips. "To put it another way, you figure the CoCs are going to be running amok sooner or later, and you'd just as soon not be around when they do."
"Not… exactly. I want to be close enough-hopefully-to be able to guide the thing a bit. Turn an explosion into a shaped charge, you might say. But, yes, not so close that Gustav Adolf or anybody else can expect me to squelch anything right away." He leaned back, his complacent expression returning. "I figure a military camp somewhere on the Polish border is about right."
Frank shook his head. "God, you're a scheming bastard."
Mike smiled. "Speaking of which-to get back to the topic-even assuming I leave Magdeburg, I'll still have plenty of protection. And it won't just be 'well-armed soldiers' in the abstract. I'm quite sure I can get Gustav Adolf to let me bring all the Warders into the army with me, as… oh, we'll call them some sort of 'special unit,' just like we do with Harry Lefferts and his wrecking crew. But what they'll actually be is my bodyguards."
He swiveled the chair to face Nasi squarely. "None of which will apply to you, Francisco. Not if you leave Magdeburg, at any rate-which I imagine you'd like to be able to do, at least from time to time."
"Actually, I've been thinking of moving to Prague. Leaving the USE altogether."
"Why?" asked Frank.
"Various reasons. Some of them, purely personal." Francisco hesitated. But… these two men were good friends, in addition to everything else. "If nothing else, I am getting to the age where I need to get married. And where better to look for a wife than Prague? It has the largest Jewish community in Europe-probably the whole world-and, even better for me, its most cosmopolitan and sophisticated. Well, except for, in some ways, the Jewry of Istanbul. But I think the Ottoman Empire is now too dangerous for me."
"Okay, I can see that. You'll need a real bodyguard, then."
Nasi winced. "Please, Frank! The nature of my work-which I will certainly continue, even in Prague, even as a private citizen-does not lend itself well to having great hulking brutes shuffling along after me."
Mike laughed. "God, the Warders would love to hear that description of them!"
"Oh, I admit the Warders are different. But how many bodyguards of that caliber are available?"
"Warders, none," said Frank. "But I have somebody who'd probably suit you even better."
Nasi cocked an eye at him.
"Cory Joe Lang," said Jackson. "Know the fellow?"
"His name, yes. I don't believe I've ever met him, though. He's one of the military intelligence people attached to your… ah.. ."
"Special unit," supplied Frank, smiling. "Which means, among other things, that I can assign him to do pretty much anything, anywhere, for any length of time-and neither General Torstensson nor anyone else is going to ask me any questions or raise any objections."
Francisco thought about it. It was certainly true that having a man familiar with intelligence work as a bodyguard would solve some of the problems involved. On the other hand, "intelligence work" covered a lot of ground. For all practical purposes, most "spies" were really just clerks. In many cases, what the Americans would call "outright geeks." Hardly suitable for the possible ramifications of the job of being a bodyguard.
"Ah… that would leave the issue of this Cory Joe Lang's… ah…"
"Physical qualifications?" said Frank, grinning. "Don't worry about it."
Stearns was back to his very comfortable, slouched-back-in-his-chair, hands-clasped-over-his-belly posture. "Yeah," he said. "Really don't worry about it."
Francisco looked from one to the other. "What are you not telling me?"
"Let's put it this way. Harry Lefferts was known to say that the one man in or around Grantville he'd cross the street to avoid getting into a fight with was Cory Joe Lang. Not-he'd always add this, right off-that he and Cory Joe didn't get along just fine so it was all a moot point anyway."
"Ah." Nasi reviewed what he knew of the record of Harry Lefferts. Which was a great deal.
The very sanguinary record.
"Ah," he repeated. "Yes, that should work quite nicely."
Frank nodded. "I'll give him his new marching orders in a few days, when he comes back to Magdeburg. Right now, he's in Grantville."
The down-time lieutenant in the tavern was petrified. His face, literally, as pale as a sheet.
"Look, Cory Joe, I'm sorry. I didn't know-"
The man sitting across from him at the table in the Thuringen Gardens nodded. "Yeah, I understand. Different last names. My last name 'Lang' comes from my dad. 'Hardesty' is my mother's maiden name, and it's the one she goes by these days."
Lang raised one hand and, with the other, began counting off the fingers. As he did so-as surreptitiously as possible-the other three young officers at the table began sliding their chairs back. If Cory Joe's fury cut loose, they wanted to be as far as possible from the coming victim.
"I'll explain the family relationships involved, just so you're not confused any longer. I'm the oldest of Velma Hardesty's kids. Born on January 14, 1979, up-time calendar." The first finger was counted off.
All the more so because "fury" did not accurately describe the intelligence officer's likely behavior. There would be no insensate and unfocused explosion here. If ever there lived a man who exemplified the old American saw, don't get mad, get even, it was Cory Joe Lang. If he decided-and this seemed to be the direction things were going-to take Lt. Stammler's characterization of Velma Hardesty as a "whore" as a personal insult, then who could say how far he thought the insult extended? Perhaps the idiot Stammler's companions were guilty also.