"David Drake - Birds Of Prey" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

thought as he swung himself over the waist-high sill to meet his superior.

The two men clasped and kissed, to the amazement of most of the others in the room. Navigatus was
not, all things considered, a particularly arrogant man, but he had a strong sense of formality. He wore his
toga on all public occasions. His subordinates and those outsiders seeking audiences with him had
learned early that if they wished to be recognized, they too had best don the uncomfortable woolen
garment. Even then the Director tended to keep his distance; though so far as Perennius knew, Marcus
had never gotten to the point of greeting everyone through his usher as if direct verbal contact would
somehow soil him. Seeing Navigatus embracing the agent and his travel stains was more of a surprise
than word of another attempted coup would have been.

Much more of a surprise than that.

Navigatus continued to hold the agent by one hand as he turned to his head usher. "Delius," he said,
"clear this - no, Aulus and I will go out in the garden, that's what we'll do. Close that - " he pointed at the
window opening into the garden - "and see that we're not disturbed."

"Just one moment, your Respectability," begged an intense young man with the broad stripe of Senate
membership along the hem of his tunic. The Senate itself was a debating club rather than the governing
council of the Empire, but those who debated there tended to be rich and powerful men in their own
right. The young Senator

reached out with a scrolled petition in his right hand, while his left hand tried to clutch at the Director's
sleeve.

The usher thrust out his ivory baton. The broad stripe saved the man who wore it from rapped knuckles,
but it did not bring him any nearer to the response he sought. "Later, Felix, later," Navigatus grumbled
over his shoulder. "My goodness, Aulus, you're looking so fit that it makes a used-up old man like me
jealous. And how's that boy of yours, Docleus? Pleased with his appointment, I trust? You know, we
sent him to bring you the recall orders because we weren't sure you'd accept them from anybody else."

Perennius looked sharply at his superior. The guards in the passage were pushing the civilians among
them back into the peristyle court. Navigatus had a bland expression as he stepped out of the drawing
room and led the agent away from the confusion. "Gaius is well, thank you," Perennius said cautiously.
"He does indeed appreciate the favor you've shown him; and of course, I appreciate it as well. His father
was a friend of mine until I enlisted. When he drowned, I sort of - tried to look after the boy, you know."

"Of course I know," agreed Navigatus as he stepped out into the sunbright garden. "No children of your
own - just like me. Though of course I married, at least. Would you like some wine, Aulus? I'll admit we
didn't expect you for another several days at best."

Perennius ran an index finger down the side of a young fig tree. The bark was as gray and dry as the skin
of the lizard that scuttled around the trunk to where it could no longer see him. "Why did you recall me,
Marcus?" the agent asked softly. "I was perfectly placed, perfectly." He looked up at the older man.
 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




"Marcus, I was helping plan the attack. Personal representative of the Emperor Postumus of Gaul - oh,