David Drake - Lt Leary Commanding.pdf - po ang - Januszek66

Lt. Leary, Commanding

by David Drake

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are

fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

in any form.

A Baen Books Original

Baen Publishing Enterprises

P.O. Box 1403

Riverdale, NY 10471

www.baen.com

ISBN: 0-671-31992-2

Cover art by Stephen Hickman

First paperback printing, June 2001

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Number: 00-031050

Distributed by Simon & Schuster

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH

Printed in the United States of America

WHAT'S UP, DOCK?

"Tanais control to RCN vessel," an agitated voice said after more than the normal lag for

communications over a 70,000 mile separation. "We have no information regarding your arrival

here. You are not approved for landing. I repeat, you are not approved for landing! You must

land on Strymon and get authorization from the Fleet Office before you can land here. Tanais

control over."

Daniel Leary frowned, the expression of an RCN officer and Cinnabar nobleman who'd just

been told what to do by wogs. "Tanais control, this is RCN, I repeat, RCN , vessel Princess

Cecile ," Leary said. "Your response is not satisfactory. Be advised that I intend to dock my vessel

at Tanais Base in accordance with Strymon's treaty obligations to the Republic of Cinnabar.

Over!"

His hand reached for a red button set into the material of the console. Before he touched it,

General Quarters chimed through the corvette; Lt. Mon in the Battle Direction had been a hair

quicker than his captain.

" RCN vessel, wait please ," said the controller. He sounded as though he was on the verge of a

coronary or a nervous breakdown. " Please wait. Tanais out . . . ah, over ."

Daniel switched his display to a real-time image of Tanais. His ship's course had already

brought her within the forts' interlocking orbits. Tanais Base was a scrawl within the moon's ice

sheet, visible from diffracted light.

"RCS Princess Cecile, this is Tanais control," said a new voice: male, forceful, very

determined. "Return to the challenge point immediately and stay there until you have

authorization to close. You are in a restricted area at a time of national emergency. Return to the

challenge point or we will fire! Tanais over!"

Good God, there was a heavy battle squadron down there! Not in the base proper but on the

ice on the side of Tanais which eternally faced Getica.

"Tanais Base, we're withdrawing immediately!" Leary said as his fingers typed preset

emergency codes. "I repeat, RCS Princess Cecile is withdrawing immedia—"

" Daniel ," said Adele's voice over the intercom. She didn't sound nervous but her tone was as

joyless as a slaughterhouse. "Base Command has just ordered the forts to open fire on us."

BAEN BOOKS by DAVID DRAKE

The RCN Series

With the Lightnings

Lt. Leary, Commanding

Hammer's Slammers

The Tank Lords

Caught in the Crossfire

The Butcher's Bill

The Sharp End

Independent Novels and Collections

The Dragon Lord

Birds of Prey

Northworld Trilogy

Redliners

Starline

All the Way to the Gallows

The Belisarius series:

(with Eric Flint)

An Oblique Approach

In the Heart of Darkness

Destiny's Shield

Fortune's Stroke

The Tide of Victory (forthcoming)

The General series:

(With S.M. Stirling)

The Forge

The Chosen

The Reformer

The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny

(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light

(with L. Sprague de Camp)

Armageddon

(edited with Billie Sue Mosiman)

Foreign Legions (created by David Drake)

DEDICATION

To my webmaster, cybrarian Karen Zimmerman,

who wasn't the model for Adele Mundy,

but might have been if I'd met her sooner.

(Of course, we'd have to work on her pistol shooting.)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I guess one could say "the usual suspects" by this point.

Mark L. Van Name and Allyn Vogel took care of the series of computer events. (Did you

know that files can become cross-linked on your hard drive? Well, at any rate, they could on

mine.)

Dan Breen continues in curmudgeonly excellence as my first reader. There could be no better

person for insights and scholarship.

When I'm working, I take up a lot of room and am frequently less than cheerful. I'm working

most of the time. My wife, Jo, sticks with me; I really appreciate the fact.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm using English and Metric weights and measures throughout Lt. Leary, Commanding , as I

did in With the Lightnings . I wouldn't bother mentioning this, but the decision seems to concern

some people. I'm doing it for the same reason that I'm writing the novel in English instead of

inventing a language for the characters of future millennia to speak.

I'd like to note for those who're interested that the orders in Chapter Nine are a close

paraphrase of those which sent the frigate USS Congress to Hawaii in 1845. Here as elsewhere, I

prefer to borrow from reality rather than invent it.

David Drake

david-drake.com

When the skies are black above them,

and the decks ablaze beneath,

And the top-men clear the raffle with

their clasp-knives in their teeth.

David Drake - Lt Leary Commanding.pdf

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