"William H. Keith Jr. - Warstrider 03 - Jackers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Keith jr William H)

elevated above the affairs of mortals, as befitted his
station.
And he would be the warning thunder that would bring
the squabbling enemies of the Imperial peace to heel.

The Nihongo word gensui, meaning Fleet Admiral, was
both rank and title. Gensui Yasuhiro Munimori,
commander of the Imperial First Fleet and Chief of the
Emperor's Personal Military Staff, nodded politely, a
restrained formal response to his visitor's bow. Munimori
was a large and imposing man, his torso layered with
slabs of fat and muscle that reminded Chujo Tetsu
Kawashima of the man-mountain bulk of a sumo wrestler.
Approaching the Fleet Admiral, Kawashima thought,
was much like seeking audience with a mountain, and
often as productive. Munimori was a man who set his own
course, who told others what he expected of them, and
who rarely changed his mind simply because others of
lesser rank dared to contradict him. Such contradictions
were increasingly rare these days, for with his accession to
Imperial Chief of Staff, there were few who could
challenge his political position, and fewer still who would.
Vice Admiral Kawashima had been an Imperial Navy
officer for nearly forty years, had reached his current
position of Fleet Squadron Commander after serving four
years as commander of a Fleet Carrier Group. He resented
the rapid rise of younger men like Munimori, who'd been a
junior tai-i, a navy lieutenant, back when Kawashima had
been commanding his first ship, and he mistrusted their
ambition. Still, with Kawashima now commanding the First
Fleet's Ohka, or Cherry Blossom Squadron, Munimori was
Kawashima's direct superior, and duty, honor, and the
ancient demands of bushido all required unquestioning
obedience.
" Konichiwa, Kawashimasan," Munimori said, his voice a
rumble from somewhere deep within his vast belly. A hand
gesture dismissed the genegineered female servant who'd
ushered Kawashima through the door. "Welcome to my
home."
" Konichiwa, Gensuisama. I am most honored."
"Please, come. I have ordered o-cha for us." Kawashima
knew that Munimori had orders for him but had no idea
what they might be. He'd certainly not been expecting an
invitation to the Fleet Admiral's private residence within the
Tenno Kyuden wheel. As he glanced about the anteroom,
he was struck by the modest and restrained taste of his
host, by the decor that a gaijin might call Minimalist. The
Nihongo word for it was shibui, a word that meant the
astringent pucker to the mouth caused by just-ripened
persimmons. Bare walls, patterned after the quiet beauty