"David Weber - Worlds of Honor 4 - Service of the Sword" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

caught his own expression in a polished serving dish and knew the squelched smile looked worse
than any open grin would have done.
He'd longed to talk to Lieutenant Dunsinane, to explain what had happened, but he couldn't
seem to find an opening. Talking to the ATO was much harder than talking to the dean.
Commander Shrake at least seemed to think Michael was a person. Lieutenant Dunsinane
couldn't seem to see past the prince and everything Michael did only made her more formal and
severe.
Michael knew he couldn't ask someone else to talk to her, though he was tempted to ask
Lieutenant Tilson, the communications' chief. Whenever they met, the com officer seemed quite
businesslike, as if he believed Michael was more interested in learning his duties than in
reminding people he was the Queen's little brother.
But though Michael's nascent specialization in communications placed him frequently in
Lieutenant Tilson's sphere, Michael couldn't talk to Tilson about his problems with Lieutenant
Dunsinane. It wouldn't be right. Michael possessed a Winton's fierce loyalty and he wouldn't
undermine the officer responsible for supervising the middy berth, even if Lieutenant Dunsinane
had misjudged him.
Lieutenant Dunsinane wasn't the worst of Michael's problems. He hoped that if he worked
hard enough, he might win her over. What really troubled him were the five middies who, despite
everything Michael did to gently dissuade them, hung around him like a self-appointed honor
guard.
Soon after the middy berth was fully assembled, Michael learned that the leaders of this corps
were also newly reassigned to Intransigent. It didn't take Michael's lifelong immersion in politics
to realize that the pair had gotten posted to Intransigent precisely for the proximity that would
give them to the Crown Prince.
Astrid Heywood was a scion of one of Manticore's more powerful noble houses, the
Honorable Astrid in civilian life. She was a pretty young woman, honey-blond, with enormous
long-lashed blue eyes. Her slightly too regular features suggested that her attractiveness had been
helped along with various cosmetic enhancements, but Michael doubted that most men his age
would look beyond the melting glances Astrid kept casting in his direction to notice.
Astrid's mother, Baroness White Springs, sat in Lords where she was an increasingly vocal
speaker for the Independents. Unlike the Crown Loyalists, each Independent supported Crown
policy more flexibly. Michael didn't know how Baroness White Springs would react if her
daughter was openly rebuked by the Queen's brother, but he didn't think it would be good. The
Heywood family had to have put out a good amount in favors or bribes to get Astrid moved onto
Intransigent at such short notice, and Michael suspected the baroness expected a solid return on
her investment.
That calculating use by mother of daughter might have made Michael pity Astrid, except for
something that had become all too apparent during the days Astrid had been trailing him. Despite
her intelligence and willingness to work hardтАФtraits proven by her completing Saganami
IslandтАФAstrid was one of those impossible members of the Manticoran nobility who really did
believe that an accident of birth made her better than anyone else. Astrid didn't see Michael's
attempts to avoid her as anything other than a fellow dodging the awkward attentions of a pretty
girl, simply because it didn't occur to her that anyone would want to avoid her. Moreover, despite
the logical twisting involved in such thinking, Astrid's already good opinion of herself was
enhanced by the fact that she now shared a berth with the Crown Prince.
Osgood "Ozzie" Russo was a more subtle character, though one would never guess it on
initially meeting this bright-eyed, laughing imp. His family was connected to the incredibly rich
Hauptman cartel, and Michael was certain that Ozzie's transfer had been bought outright.
Whether the purchase price had been in bribes or in concessions for supplies needed by the
rapidly expanding Navy, Michael had no idea, nor did he really careтАФexcept to hope that the