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smile he had instantly tried to suppress lest he be seen as irreverent at this
most solemn occasion. Unhappily, he'd 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, Lady 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 the 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
hard -- traits proven by her completing Saganami Island -- Astrid was one of
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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
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