Free Lt. Leary, Commanding by David Drake

appointed in muted good taste. The only apparent exception was the desk, a dense plastic extrusion. In this context it was almost certainly an antique dating from the settlement.
    The door in the opposite wall opened for a plumpish, severely dressed woman of Adele's age. The banker would never pass for beautiful, but if she showed more tendency to smile she might have been pretty. Not that Adele was the one to cast stones in that regard.
    "Please sit down, mistress," the banker said. Instead of stepping behind the desk, she went to one of the pair of chairs in front of it.
    "Thank you, I'll stand," Adele said. She'd never met the woman, but there was a tantalizing familiarity to her nonetheless. "My account is with the People's Trust. Why have you summoned me here?"
    "We bought your account from the People's Trust this morning, Mistress Mundy," the woman said. "The new arrangements are among the things I'd like to discuss with you. I should begin by saying—"
    They bought my account? How do you buy—
    "—that my name is Deirdre Leary. I believe you know my younger brother."
    Oh.
    Adele remained stiffly erect, ignoring the hand Daniel's sister offered her. "Mistress Leary," she said, "I am leaving now . If you wish any further communication with me, it should be through our seconds arranging a meeting."
    " Please Mistress Mundy," Deirdre said. She didn't withdraw the outstretched hand. "Please, this will be to your benefit and that of my brother. On my honor as a Leary!"
    Adele remained frozen, trying to understand the situation. Daniel spoke of his sister with respect if not warmth. Deirdre had followed their father into business and perhaps soon into politics as well. She appeared to be a paragon of moral virtue besides; which Daniel was the first to admit he himself was not.
    Adele didn't have enough information to analyze what was going on. She smiled like a sickle, though the grim humor was directed at herself rather than the woman in front of her. Obviously, she needed to gather more information.
    "I've known your brother long enough to value the honor of a Leary," Adele said. She took Deirdre's hand and shook it; the banker's grip was firm though the flesh of her hand was soft.
    Seating herself on the offered chair she continued, "Now, if you can give me an explanation of why I'm here, Mistress Leary, I'd be pleased to hear it."
    "You're aware that my father and brother parted on very bad terms, I'm sure," Deirdre said, sitting as well. The chairs were side by side instead of facing, so that the two women looked over their shoulders at one another. "They've had no contact since."
    "Daniel's mentioned that, yes," Adele said. It had frequently occurred to her that testosterone was responsible for more than a few of the world's troubles.
    Deirdre's moue suggested her opinion of the matter was much the same as Adele's own. "I informed Father of my intention," she said, "but I wouldn't want you to think that this contact was at his suggestion, let alone behest. On the other hand, he didn't attempt to forbid me either."
    "Perhaps you should tell me precisely what your intentions are," Adele said, keeping her tone emotionless. What it appeared to be was an attempt to get at Daniel through his friend; and if that was the case, Adele was going to be more angry than she'd ever been before in her life.
    "My sole intention, already effected," the banker replied in a voice as dry as a fresh brick, "is to decrease the discount on the sums you draw from twenty percent to seven percent. Seven percent is a better rate than a stranger who walked in off the street might expect, but we at the S&M trust the government to pay its obligations."
    Adele digested the information, what Deirdre implied as well as the explicitly stated. "The discount I've been charged by my parents' bank is excessive, then," she said.
    They must have seen me coming!  
    "I won't speak for the management of another firm," Deirdre said with a cold smile that