“Dear God,” Van Krief replied, thinking about trying to keep up with a legion while pregnant. From her own time with the legions she was aware of the “ahem… support personnel” but she’d never accessed any of them or done much more than nod at the occasional one that she met outside the female latrines.

“It’s not as well organized as it could be,” Tao said, frowning. “Dame Daneh has been bitching about it for the last several months.”

“And when Duke Edmund’s wife is unhappy,” Destrang said, grinning, “everybody’s unhappy. I can see the mass distribution of latex condoms in the near future.”

“We’ve gotten a little afield here,” the female ensign said, unconsciously crossing her legs. “How much do you think we can work together on this?”

“The engineering project we probably can complete as a team project,” Destrang replied. “Herrick’s going to want individual answers. I’ve got mine for Myanmar in mind already. But you guys are going to have to come up with them on your own.”

“Damn,” Tao muttered. “Mind if I look at that book?”

“Not at all,” Destrang said, tossing it through the air. “Catch.”

“I’m wondering if it’s going to matter,” Van Krief said, biting her lip.

“Why?” Destrang asked.

“Why did Duke Edmund send for our instructor?” Van Krief replied.

* * *

“What is that… delightful smell?” Herzer asked as he walked into the duke’s office unannounced.

“Coffee!” Edmund cried, standing up and going over to a samovar. He poured some black liquid out in a cup and handed it to the captain. “Taste!”

“Bleck,” Herzer said. “Tastes like used oil.”

The duke was looking a bit older every year, Herzer thought. He was still moving with fluid grace, but there was getting to be more salt than pepper in his beard and the motions weren’t quite as fluid as when Herzer had first known him. That seemed like a long time but it had been barely four years since Herzer and Edmund’s family had stumbled into Raven’s Mill after the Fall.