David Drake - When the Tide Rises

The Bagarians returned the salute in confusion. Daniel at least had four years of Drill and Ceremony at the Academy. It was staggeringly obvious that none of the ministers had had any military training until the revolution put them in power.

Despite Daniel's horror, the crowd cheered wildly at the spectacle. Maybe they thought an exchange of military courtesies was supposed to involve everybody's right arm going in a different direction.

"Commander Lord Leary!" said DeMarce, her voice booming through the loudspeakers concealed behind the bunting; the platform shook in rhythm with her words. "As the representative of the sacred Bagarian people, I welcome you and the unconquerable Republic of Cinnabar which you represent."

She turned from Daniel to the square below and swept up her arms in command. Obediently the crowd cheered.

DeMarce dropped her hands. Her amplified voice resumed over the trailing remnants of applause, "Commander, with you and the Gods supporting the cause of independence, we are invincible! And now, since the Bagarian people join all the rest of the galaxy in recognizing your unique merits, my colleague Douglas Lampert will make a further presentation in his capacity as Minister of the Navy!"

Her arms shot up again; the crowd resumed its applause. It looked like a stage show, but in fact the enthusiasm seemed real-if choreographed.

Lampert stepped forward, holding a red, black, and white sash with gold fringes along both edges. He was a plump fellow who, judging from the way his uniform bulged, tried to control his midriff with a girdle instead of exercise. Daniel, who'd been laced into his Whites, had only sympathy for him.

"Lord Leary!" he said. The loudspeakers amplified his voice but didn't make it any less squeaky.

The form of address was incorrect, at least by Cinnabar usage. Daniel wasn't the Leary of Leary. He wouldn't be in the future, either, unless Deirdre predeceased him leaving no offspring. Given that she was a banker and he had a reputation for being the most daring officer in the RCN, that was a very low-probability outcome. Hogg, standing on the trailer below, was probably muttering, "What d'ye expect from wogs?"

Daniel grinned at himself. Because he was uncomfortable because he didn't know what was going on, the same uncharitable thought had drifted through his own mind.

"I bear in my hands the insignia of the Admiral in Chief of the Independent Republic of Bagaria," Lampert chirped, holding forward the sash. "As Minister of the Navy and with the full agreement of the head of state and of my colleagues, I present this to you, Lord Daniel Leary. Wear it in honor and with it sweep the enemy from our worlds and the space around them!"

By all the Gods! Whatever Daniel'd been thinking, that wasn't it.

Daniel bent slightly to let Lampert drape the sash over him. The saucer hat gave a little trouble, but Daniel straightened it with a hand when the minister stepped back. Something was written on the sash in gold embroidery, but that wasn't anything to worry about now.

He had a momentary concern that he'd forfeit his RCN rank if he accepted a foreign appointment, but that was silly: it was common for nations to grant naval honors to RCN officers. When Daniel thought about it, he remembered that his own investiture as a Royal Companion of Novy Sverdlovsk made him a Colonel of the Regiment of Guards.

What was different about Bagaria was that they appeared to mean it. It wasn't an honorary rank: they wanted him to lead their navy. That was in keeping with the purposes of the Navy Board in sending Daniel Leary to the cluster, and it was also very much to Daniel's taste.

"Your Excellency," Daniel said. "Honored representatives of the Bagarian Republic."

He made slight bows to Lampert and to the Generalissima, then nodded toward the remaining ministers.

"I accept your offer with humble gratitude," he said, pleased to see the loudspeakers were picking up his words. "With the united will of the Bagarian people behind us, we cannot fail to sweep the minions of the tyrant from your cluster!"

He smiled. Only the son of a great politician would've been able to tell so many lies, with such sincerity, in so few words.

Generalissima DeMarce stepped forward again. "In acknowledgment of this great occasion," she said, "I have decided after consultation with my ministers-"

She glanced over her shoulder.

"-to rename the ship just captured from the enemy. Henceforth theVictoria Luise shall be known as theAdmiral Leary. May you and she go forward in triumph together against our enemies!"

DeMarce raised her arms again. Daniel's mind spun for a moment, then over the applause he thundered, "Your Excellency!"

The Generalissima eyed him narrowly but didn't speak. The cheers abated.

"Your Excellency, humbled though I am by this honor…," Daniel said. There probably wasn't a regulation against it, but he couldn't imagine anything that would wreck his RCN career more thoroughly than what even his friends would consider an act of incredible arrogance.

"I would ask instead that we use this occasion to proclaim the indissoluble bonds between our two great republics. Grant me that theVictoria Luise may revert to her former name in Cinnabar service, becoming henceforth the Independent Bagarian ShipLadouceur!"

Taking a chance, Daniel raised his hands. The crowd responded with the wild cheering that he'd hoped for And even more important, the Generalissima and her ministers did also.

Daniel beamed happily. His first act as commander of the rebel navy had gone well. If he could just be half so lucky with the considerable remainder of the things he had to do.

Adele reached the entrance to the fenced area where the marquee for tonight's fete was set up. The event was a barbeque: whole animals were being roasted over beds of coals in the central park of Morning City. Lanterns of colored paper hung from the branches of trees, while guards in the livery of the Great Houses-as Pelosi defined them-patrolled the fence that kept out the riffraff. The onlookers outside were ragged, but they seemed glad just to watch.

There'd been a party each of the three nights since thePrincess Cecile docked in Morning Lake. Adele had gone to the first as Lady Mundy, but she'd had no intention of attending another any time soon. Tonight, however, she needed to speak with Daniel as quickly as possible. He was young enough to drink and dance all night and still get his work done in the morning.

Adele smiled coldly. So was she, she supposed. At any rate, partying had never prevented her from meeting her own standards the next day. She didn't have a taste for it, however, while Daniel certainly did.

"Who're you?" said the functionary at the entrance. He stepped in front of her and put his knuckles on his hips. There were shiny patches on on the elbows of his velvet coat. Adele didn't know whether the garment was livery or simply ordinary bad taste.

Rather than say any of the first things that came into her mind, Adele reached for the invitation in her breast pocket. Her face was stony, but she wasn't here to discipline somebody else's servants.

"Hey, wog, that's Mistress Mundy!" said Barnes, a husky rigger who'd been with Daniel-and therefore Adele-since Kostroma. Lest his words possibly not be insulting enough, he slapped the local man across the back of the head. "You watch your tongue, will you?"

"Sorry, mistress!" said Dasi, walking up behind Barnes. "It'd gotten pretty quiet and we thought we could catch ourselves a drink."

In silhouette the riggers were almost impossible to tell apart, for all that Dasi was as dark as Barnes was fair. They weren't the smartest members of theSissie 's crew, but they were imperturbable and up for anything.