"Steve White - Emperor of Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (White Steve)

than a single planetary system, seldom posed more than a localized threat. And whenever a larger
political unity arose among them, it could be overawed by Imperial prestige, bought off by Imperial
money and, eventually, broken up by Imperial diplomacy.

Only . . . the first, at least, didn't work with the Tarakans. Zhangula must have been more than a mere
military genius. He'd been that far rarer thing, a lawgiverтАФthe creator of a nation. No one knew from
what scraps of human history or legend he had rummaged up his ideology. (Or was it a religion? And did
the distinction mean anything?) The point was that the Tarakans, in their own minds, ruled their clutch of
subject peoples by a right which wasnot conferred by the Solarian Emperor.

Shrewd old Armand Duschane had recognized that his reunified Empire faced something new under the
suns. He'd made it his business to play the two Domains against each other. His instinct hadn't always
been infallible; on at least one memorable occasion he'd outsmarted himself in a fashion that had
necessitated an embarrassingly abrupt change of sides. But, like so many of Armand's initiatives, it had
worked out well enough to leave his successor in an advantageous position.

Too bad that, in this as in so much else, Oleg Duschane had been congenitally unable to leave well
enough alone. . . .

"No doubt the Emperor will set the Cassiopeia/Perseus frontier to rights when he arrives there," Corin
said aloud.

"Of course. The expedition he's leading there has been in preparation for months."Preparations the
Empire could ill afford after last year's expensive failure against the Ch'axanthu, Corin reflected.
But Tanzler-Yataghan was hitting his sycophantic stride. "Still, no amount of tonnage and firepower can
be as impressive as the Imperial presence itselfтАФthe fact that His Imperial Majesty himself is
condescending to take personal command! It will be like his previous visit to those sectors, before . . .
ahem!" The admiral hastily faked a cough to cover his narrow avoidance of a faux pas. Six or seven
years before, Oleg had conducted a kind of Imperial progress through Cassiopeia and Perseus, a
showing of the flag to a neighbor rendered complaisant if not precisely friendly by his father's patient
maneuverings. Now he was coming to shore up a threatened frontier. But one couldn't very well verbalize
that fact without opening the door to unsayable conclusions concerning the reasons for the change.
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"Well, Commander," the admiral hastily changed the subject, "that's enough talk for now. I'm sure you're
tiredтАФalways fatiguing to adjust to a new planet, isn't it? Take the rest of the day to settle into your
quarters. Tomorrow will be soon enough to report to Captain Yuan, my chief of staff."

"Thank you, sir." Corin rose from his chair, came to attention, and turned on his heel to leave. He was
halfway to the door when the admiral stopped him with a throat-clearing noise.

"Ah, Commander Marshak, I believe you weren't the only officer who arrived here aboardCanopus
Argosy. A Marine officer was also en route here."

"Why, yes, Admiral. A Major Dornay."

"Indeed. She's already reported to Brigadier General Toda. But, as per routine procedure, I've seen her