"Serrano Legacy - 03 - Winning Colors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

"Then wear the ring," Pedar said. "It will save you a lot of trouble."
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Restlessness, too much energyа.а.а. was it all because she hadn't had the chance to confront Lorenza directly? She had confronted Berenice directly enough, and that hadn't satisfied her.
Something bothered her about Pedar's advice, about Pedar's complacency. She had deliberately refused to think about the implications of rejuvenation. It complicated things; she wanted to go on with her life and not worry about it. But his attitude suggested that this wouldn't work, that others would always be assessing her, looking for correspondence or conflict between her visible age and her real self.
Exactly why she hadn't wanted to do it. Better than being blind or having to use optical implants, certainly. She wanted to be healthy, whole, able to do what she wanted to do. But she didn't want to waste her time wondering if she was confusing people or what they thought.
And he implied a whole subculture of rejuvenated oldsters, a subculture she hadn't even noticed. How many serial Rejuvenants were there? She began to wonder, began to think of looking for the telltale rings.
They weren't always in ears, but once she looked, they were on more people than she had expected. Discreet blue-and-silver enamel rings on fingers, in ears, in noses, occasionally in jewelry but most often attached to the body. She began to suspect that where they were worn signaled something else Pedar hadn't told her. Certainly when she saw couples wearing them, they were usually in the same site. She wondered if anyone outside the Rejuvenant subculture had caught on, if some of the rings were faked. She had had no idea so many people had been rejuvenated at all, let alone more than once.
Cecelia pulled out her medical file from the Guerni Republic, something she'd stashed in the yacht's safe without another glance. Sure enough, a little blue-and-silver ring slid out of the packet, and the attached card explained that it contained the medical coding necessary for a rejuvenation technician to correct any imbalance. Odd. Why not just implant a record strip, as was done all the time for people with investigational diseases?
She sat frowning, rolling the ring from one hand to another. Did she want to identify herself to others as one of the subculture? She wished she knew more about it. She disliked even that much concernа.а.а. and yetа.а.а. she couldn't deny that Pedar was right about the callowness of the young.
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Chapter Five
Heris left Cecelia onplanet and went back up to the yacht where, she hoped, she could have ten consecutive minutes in which no one mentioned horses or anything connected with them. She found Sirkin making the same complaint to the rest of the crew about Brun. She herself had had to remind Brun firmly that she was a crewmember, not a rich girl on vacation, and order her back to the ship.
"All she talks about is horses. And she knows a lot of other things, but from the minute she unpacked Lady Cecelia's saddle, everything else went out of her mind."
"Everything?" Meharry asked.
Sirkin reddened. "Wellа.а.а. you know what I mean."
Heris cleared her throat and they all straightened. "Any messages?" she asked.
"Yes, Captain." Meharry could be formal when she chose. "All disclaimed urgency when we offered to transfer them down to your hotel, but you do have a stack."
"I'll get back to work then. I have no idea how long Lady Cecelia will stayЧthe Trials are over, but she's meeting old friends. However, we should be prepared to depart in a day or so." She glanced around. "Where is Brun?"
"Probably watching Trials cubes," Sirkin said. "Again." Everyone laughed, including Heris.
"How's the installation coming?" She had finally decided to let Koutsoudas install his pet equipment on their own scans, with Oblo to ensure that nothing went wrong.
"It's done, Captain." Koutsoudas looked at Oblo, and Oblo looked back; Heris recognized the expression from years in the Fleet.
"And just what have you gentlemen been up to with it? Looking into the yachts of the rich and famous?"
"Something like that," Oblo said, scratching his head. "But nothing tooа.а.а. damaging. They all seem to be down on the planet playing with horses."
In her office, she found most of the messages to be routine queries, including some from travel agents who wondered when she would be free for bookings. She hadn't thought of having any client but Lady CeceliaЧbut if Cecelia stayed here too long, she'd have to find another charter. And that meant hiring service staff as wellа.а.а. she felt her shoulders tensing. She hated the thought of dealing with service staff; she was a commander, not aа.а.а. whatever you called it.
She had gone through the messages in order of time, the usual way, so the one headed "Serrano Family: request meeting" came last. It had arrived days ago, but she saw by the comments that whoever it was had refused several offers to forward the message. She stared at it, breathing carefully: in, out. Which of her many relatives could it be? And why? Only one way to find out; she posted a message to the station address and waited for the response. It came almost at once: request for meeting, and a suggested location, the dock outside the yacht's access tube.
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The dark compact form in uniform looked vaguely familiar. Heris paused, suddenly wary. Upright, as only the military youth were, and ensign's insignia. Who? Then the young man turned and met her eyes; she felt that look as a blow to the gut. "Barin!"
"Captain Serrano." His formality steadied her. Her own distant cousin, and he gave her her title.
"What is it?" she asked then. "Would you prefer to talk in my quarters?"
"IfЧif you don't mind." He waited for her answer in that contained, measured posture she knew so well. He would wait for a day if she chose to make him.
"Come along, then." She led the way; her neck itched with his gaze on it. She felt vulnerable, as she had not for a long time. He could kill her easily, be gone before anyone knewа.а.а. no, that was ridiculous. Why would he?
They passed no one, and neither of them spoke. When they reached her quarters, she preceded him through the door, and went around behind her desk. "Have a seat," she offered, but he stood before her desk like any junior officer called before her. His eyes, after one quick flicker around the room, settled on her face. She waited, wondering if she must prompt him with a question, but he spoke before her patience ran out.
"I came to offer you formal apologies on behalf of the family," he said, stopping there as if he had run into a wall.
"You?" Her mind raced. Formal apology? If they had wanted to apologize, if this were genuine, they'd have sent someone more senior. Not one of the admirals Serrano, of course, but someone her former rank or above.
Barin flushed at her tone. "Captain Serrano, I admit IЧperhaps I overstated my authority." That had the phrasing learned in the classroom.
"Go on," she said. In her voice she heard authority and wariness mingled.
He did not answer at once, and she let her gaze sharpen. What had he done, gone AWOL? But his answer, when it came, seemed just possible. "My grandmotherЧyour aunt, Admiral Vida SerranoЧasked me to find you. With apologies: no one more senior could be spared, under the circumstances."
"The circumstances being?" All her old instincts had come alert.
"The unsettled state of things in the Familias, that is. All leaves canceled, all active-duty personnel called inЧ"
"I know what all leaves canceled means," Heris said, dryly. "But I also know they released all the Royal junior officers and dispersed the onplanet regiment on RockhouseЧ"
"Things haveа.а.а. changed," Barin said. "Glenis and I were the only ones old enough, that didn't have other assignments. She went up-axis and I went downЧthey weren't sure where and when we'd catch up with you, you see."
"But the point isа.а.а. apology? And for what?" As if she didn't know; as if her heart didn't burn with it.
"For not backing you when you were under investigation," Barin said. In his young voice, it sounded innocent enough; she wondered if he understood what had happened, if his elders had explained it to him. "I was told to say that your aunt the Admiral Serrano was not informed until too late of the situation you were in, and would certainly have given you assistance had she known."
Her aunt the admiral. It was just possible that she had not known, until after Heris's resignation, if no one had thought to inform her. But she should have been told. She was then the most distant high-ranking family member, but not the only one. Other admirals Serrano had been closer, must have known about it. Why hadn't one of them done something?
Barin went on then, as if he had been reading her thoughts. "IЧI didn't know any of this before, sir. Ma'am."
That bobble made Heris grin before she thought. "I wouldn't expect you would have," she said.
"I mean, the admiral said there was some kind of trouble in the family, something she hadn't anticipated. Not whatever it was with you, butЧ"
Heris felt her brows rising. "You mean you don't know what happened to me? Whatever's happened to the grapevine? It's been long enough I'd expect it to be all over every prep school with a single Fleet brat in it."
He flushed. "There've been rumorsЧ"
"I would hope so. What's a lifetime of experience for, if not to make rumors fly? Let me straighten out a few things for you, young man." She paused, thinking how best to put it. Honesty first, and tact second, but without bitterness if she could manage it. "What happened was that I accomplished my assigned mission, but not in the way I'd been told to do it. My way saved lives, but it made an admiral look stupidЧLepescu, if you ever heard of him."