"Keith Laumer - Retief !" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

had started this job; and that, he told himself, wouldn't do. He was beginning to regret his high-
handedness with the crowd outside the gate. He should save the temper for those responsible, not
the bystanders; and in any event, an agent of the Corps should stay cool at all times. That was
essentially the same criticism that Magnan had handed him along with the assignment, three
months ago.
"The trouble with you, Retief," Magnan had said, "is that you are unwilling to accept the
traditional restraints of the Service; you conduct yourself too haughtily, too much in the manner
of a free agent . . ."
His reaction, he knew, had only proved the accuracy of his superior's complaint. He should
have nodded penitent agreement, indicated that improvement would be striven for earnestly;
instead, he had sat expressionless, in a silence which inevitably appeared antagonistic.
He remembered how Magnan had moved uncomfortably, cleared his throat, and frowned at
the papers before him. "Now, in the matter of your next assignment," he said, "we have a serious
situation to deal with in an area that could be critical."
Retief almost smiled at the recollection. The man had placed himself in an amusing dilemma.
It was necessary to emphasize the great importance of the job at hand, and simultaneously to
avoid letting Retief have the satisfaction of feeling that he was to be entrusted with anything
vital; to express the lack of confidence the Corps felt in him while at the same time invoking his
awareness of the great trust he was receiving. It was strange how Magnan could rationalize his
personal dislike into a righteous concern for the best interests of the Corps.
Magnan had broached the nature of the assignment obliquely, mentioning his visit as a tourist
to Northroyal, a charming, backward little planet settled by Cavaliers, refugees from the breakup
of the Empire of the Lily.
Retief knew the history behind Northroyal's tidy, proud, tradition-bound society. When the
Old Confederation broke up, dozens of smaller governments had grown up among the civilized
worlds. For a time, the Lily Empire had been among the most vigorous of them, comprising
twenty-one worlds, and supporting an excellent military force under the protection of which the
Lilyan merchant fleet had carried trade to a thousand far-flung worlds.
When the Concordiat had come along, organizing the previously sovereign states into a new
Galactic jurisdiction, the Empire of the Lily had resisted, and had for a time held the massive
Concordiat fleets at bay. In the end, of course, the gallant but outnumbered Lilyan forces had
been driven back to the gates of the home world. The planet of Lily had been saved catastrophic
bombardment only by a belated truce which guaranteed self-determination to Lily on the
cessation of hostilities, disbandment of the Lilyan fleet, and the exile of the entire membership of
the Imperial Suite, which, under the Lilyan clan tradition, had numbered over ten thousand
individuals. Every man, woman, and child who could claim even the most distant blood
relationship to the Emperor, together with their servants, dependents, retainers, and prot├йg├йs,
were included. The move took weeks to complete, but at the end of it the Cavaliers, as they were
known, had been transported to an uninhabited, cold sea-world, which they named Northroyal. A
popular bit of lore in connection with the exodus had it that the ship bearing the Emperor himself
had slipped away en route to exile, and that the ruler had sworn that he would not return until the
day he could come with an army of liberation. He had never been heard from again.
***
The land area of the new world, made up of innumerable islands, totaled half a million square
miles. Well stocked with basic supplies and equipment, the Cavaliers had set to work and turned
their rocky fief into a snug, well-integratedтАФif tradition-riddenтАФsociety, and today exported
seafoods, fine machinery, and tourist literature.
It was in the last department that Northroyal was best known. Tales of the pomp and color,
the quaint inns and good food, the beautiful girls, the brave display of royal cavalry, and the
fabulous annual Tournament of the Lily attracted a goodly number of sightseers, and the Cavalier