Battle Cruiser Read Free Page B

joining the Guard, we hadn’t spoken in over a year. He was a stern man when things didn’t go his way.
    But that reality had never sunk in with most of the guardsmen I knew. They hated me for being from House Sparhawk. Everything I did was second-guessed and assumed to be motivated by arrogance. If I was promoted, it was because of my family name. If I failed in some task, it was because I was incompetent. It was assumed without question I’d only gotten to my station through cheating and favoritism in the first place.
    There was no winning with those who harbored these attitudes, so I didn’t bother. Fortunately a few men, like Rumbold, judged me as one more man in the Guard, rather than as an heir to a fortune.
    “What’s the occasion, sir?” I asked Singh.
    He made a flippant gesture. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll give you command of my ship. Or maybe it’s a royal wedding of some kind. Or maybe, your father is going to give another of his long speeches on the net tonight and he can’t bear to be apart from you during the ceremony.”
    That last part made me smile. “My father might be giving a speech, it’s true,” I said. “But if he’s requested my presence, it isn’t because he’s dying to see me.”
    Singh leaned forward, peering at me for a moment. “I get it. You disappointed him, didn’t you? You rebelled by joining the Guard, the last ditch holdout for romantics and oldsters who don’t want to quit working.”
    “That’s an unfair assessment of my motivations,” I said, “but it’s a good analysis of my father’s opinion.”
    “He heads the Equality Party,” Singh said, “the short-sighted geniuses who move to slash our budgets every single year. Yes, I can see how joining the Guard offended him. You offend everyone, Sparhawk.”
    “That’s not my goal, Captain.”
    “I’ve got a new goal for you, then,” he said, a sly grin spreading over his face. “I’m sending you down with a full squad as a color guard.”
    “I’m not sure if that’s the best—”
    “I don’t care, Sparhawk. Your old man can reach out and stick a pin in an admiral, forcing him to make a special request regarding you. But he can’t control every detail of your visit, any more than I can control how you run that tiny ship of yours.”
    “But, sir…”
    “Get cleaned up and dock at the station in three hours. Dismissed.”
    The screen faded then flickered as it returned to the normal status display. I glanced over at Rumbold, who was pretending he hadn’t listened in.
    “My father isn’t going to like this. I don’t think he’s ever seen me in my uniform.”
    “We’d better get our dress-blues on then!” he said. “I’ll open the locker.”
    “We?” I asked. “Who said you were going?”
    “Did you hear the captain? He said you’re going down with a full color guard. As your second in command, I must attend.”
    I eyed him doubtfully.
    “I’d love to see a high-society gathering, Skipper,” he said.
    “All right,” I said with a sigh. I flopped back in my creaking command chair the moment he went below decks.
    This was looking worse all the time. I couldn’t imagine a more conspicuous character than Rumbold who might attend one of my father’s gatherings. Loyal he might be—but beautiful and well-mannered he was not.

-3-
     
    The trip down from orbit to Capital City was relatively uneventful. I arrived at the grand ballroom of the Equality Party headquarters with a squadron of guardsmen and left them all outside, except for Rumbold.
    Our presence as guardsmen in formal dress was met with an almost disdainful response from political cronies in the ballroom. I had to remind myself they were annoyed by my uniform, rather than my face.
    Fortunately, few of those present seemed to recognize me. I supposed it was my dress-blues that served to hide my identity. Political people tended to look right through men in uniform as if they weren’t there unless they were of very high