He shrugged, grinning like a little boy. “Until it happens, I won’t be sure,” he said.
Palfrey walked down the quay toward the yacht with fishing rods over one shoulder and a large case of some sort in the opposite hand. “The material you’re taking,” Adele said, nodding toward the sailor. “We’re taking . . . ?”
She let her voice trail off in question.
“As of earlier today,” Daniel said, “Cinnabar is at war with the Commonwealth of Kostroma.” His voice now had no more give in it than a stone block does. “I won’t countenance looting by any person under my command, but I’ll cheerfully seize any material of military value.”
His mouth quirked up at one corner; the expression was nothing at all like Daniel’s normal friendly smile. “And if it’s necessary to destroy civilian property to disrupt the enemy’s military objectives,” he went on, “I’ll do that too. One of their objectives being to neutralize my detachment.”
“Ah,” said Adele. “Yes, I see that.”
She wasn’t used to thinking in military terms. She wasn’t a member of the military herself, of course. She wondered if that meant she’d be hanged as a—what, pirate?—if she was captured.
Daniel cleared his throat. He’d turned his head to examine the automatic impeller mounted at the right rear of the cockpit. With his eyes still on the weapon he said, “You know, if that was really the first time you’d used a pistol, you’re a very fast learner.”
He met her eyes and grinned shyly. “And a good thing for us, too.”
“Yes, I’m sorry about that,” Adele said. She caught herself turning away and overcame that embarrassed reflex by effort of will. Fiercely she continued, “I’d misunderstood your original question and I didn’t correct my statement when I did understand. The Mundys of Chatsworth have always been great duelists. That tradition, at least, was one to which my father subscribed.”
“He taught you well,” Daniel said, nodding approval. “My family wasn’t much for duels. I suppose if I’d lived in town I’d have had some training, but in the country it wasn’t the thing. I’m a good wing-shot for bird hunting, but it’s not the same thing.”
“No,” said Adele, “it’s not. As you say, dueling is a skill of urban life, like eating with ruffed sleeves, that I’d prefer never to need. Never to have needed.”
Hogg trotted down the quay, paused, and jumped the narrow gap to the Ahura’s stern. He stumbled as he landed but two sailors grabbed him before he fell.
“It’s all set, master!” Hogg wheezed. “Transmit on fifteen point five for three seconds, that’s all it takes.”
“Woetjans?” Daniel called.
The busy confusion of moments before on the yacht’s deck was past. Lamsoe took the grip of the automatic impeller and rotated it to point toward the buildings. Dawn was already lighting the roofs of the little community. The tiles were fiery orange, and the topmost windows reflected the sun in opalescent splendor.
“All present and accounted for, sir!” Woetjans said. She stood beside the cockpit, splitting her attention between the vessel and the shore. Sailors held the bow and stern lines, which were looped around posts but no longer tied.
“I have the helm,” Daniel said, gripping the Ahura’s joystick control. He squeezed the thumb button; the two masts squealed as they rotated, aligning the solar sails with the rising sun.
“Twenty percent,” Racine called from the power board readouts on the left side of the cockpit. “Thirty-two percent.”
The sailors had rigged four analog dials in addition to the original light-column display. The Ahura was designed for one-man operation if necessary, but Adele wouldn’t have wanted to be that single man even without the equipment the Cinnabars had added.
“Cast off,” Daniel ordered. Sailors whipped the lines they were holding away from the mooring posts.
Daniel’s index finger touched another button on the joystick; a pump began to whir without load. “Fend us away from the dock.”
Barnes and Dasi leaned into poles—cut-down jackstaffs. The yacht quivered, then inched sideways into the harbor.
Daniel twisted his joystick slightly and squeezed the throttle lever. The pump throbbed as water entered it and spewed out the rear. The Ahura drove forward, her bow swinging to port and Woetjans adding her strength to Dasi’s pole to prevent the stern from rubbing.