The jitney stopped. A middle-sized man opened the compartment door. Kryshevski fumbled for the latches of his briefcase, cursing himself for not carrying the pistol in a more accessible location. He relaxed slightly when he realized the man wore a Cinnabar naval uniform.
“This taxi’s taken!” Kryshevski said.
“It’s not exactly a taxi, Captain,” the man said, “but I’d be more than happy to carry you to your destination.”
The driver leaned over so that Kryshevski could see him through the open door. “I knew you’d want me to help the captain, Master Daniel,” he said in what Kryshevski now recognized as a Cinnabar accent.
“You were quite right, Hogg,” said the man. He stepped up into the compartment.
Kryshevski began to laugh. “Caught!” he said. “Caught for fair, by God! You’re Lieutenant Leary and I’ve been dodging you all week!”
Daniel closed the door. Hogg drove off again, though very slowly. “If you have, sir,” Daniel said, “I’m sure it’s because you didn’t know what I wanted to see you about.”
Hogg had taught him early that the successful hunter didn’t tramp through the forest looking for prey: he found a game trail and waited for his victim to walk down it for the last time.
Hogg had also taught him that a wire-loop snare was just as effective as a bullet and the hunter could sleep longer besides. Garroting the squadron’s personnel officer wouldn’t advance Daniel’s case, but a time or two during the past frustrating week he’d imagined Captain Kryshevski with a black face and protruding tongue.
“Well, I’d like for that to be true, boy,” Kryshevski said. He was handling the business like a gentleman of breeding rather than snarling in fury at the way he’d been trapped. “I guess I know now how you were able to give the Alliance such fits.”
He chuckled again, shaking his head. His face sobered and he went on, “The Princess Cecile’ll put a small fortune in your prize account when the Navy Board buys her into service, as I’m sure they will; but you won’t be breveted `commanding’ to take her back to Cinnabar. That’ll go to a more senior lieutenant. And let’s face it, boy, to a lieutenant who’s got more interest than you do.”
“Yes, sir,” Daniel said. “I know that, and I wouldn’t waste your time discussing the matter.”
Interest was a reality of all walks of life, not just the RCN. You helped those who could help you. To object would be as silly as objecting to sex or to the necessity of breathing.
That didn’t mean that senior officers found promotion opportunities for incompetents: no sane admiral wanted to be saddled with a band of protégés who were unable to carry out his orders effectively. It did mean that of two qualified persons, the one whose connections could most benefit the officer making the decision would get the promotion.
Daniel couldn’t imagine living under a system in which the person making the decision didn’t feel personally responsible for his choice. He wouldn’t want to live in a world without interest. Unfortunately, until Daniel got enough reputation that some senior officer took him under a wing despite the possibility of Speaker Leary’s wrath, he was very much without interest himself.
“I just wanted to see that the paperwork for my crew was processed correctly for distribution of the prize money,” he said. “In particular I’d like to check on my first officer, Ms. Mundy, whom I breveted lieutenant from her former rank.”
“You what?” said Kryshevski, dumbfounded.
“It’s unusual for a junior lieutenant to grant brevet rank, I know,” Daniel said calmly. “But as you’re aware the Kostroma mission was an admiral’s slot, and I was the senior officer surviving at the time I granted the commission. That Lieutenant Mundy was critical to the success of the operation is of course obvious after the fact.”
“But good God, boy!” the captain said. “You can’t brevet a civilian.”
“Ms. Mundy had the rank of sergeant in the Officer Training Corps of her school,” Daniel said. He had no idea of whether or not that was true, but it was likely enough for a Mundy of Chatsworth. “I think under the circumstances that should cover the legalities.”