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The Last Ring-bearer
conversation. And, if it s not too much trouble, please convey the following to dearest
Alkabir literally, please, with nothing added I have fully appreciated his decision to
appoint specifically Assistant State Secretary Gagano to conduct talks with me, but I m
afraid that the guys at 12 Shore Street are too simple-minded to appreciate such
subtleties&
Tangorn cut himself off because at the mention of the Gondorian embassy his interlocutor
glanced around furtively (as if expecting to find a couple of His Majesty s Secret Guards in
full parade black uniforms at the nearest table, their torture instruments arranged right there
on the tablecloth) and dashed for the exit, mumbling excuses. A solitary merchant-looking
gentleman thoughtfully consuming sea urchin eggs at a nearby table looked up at the baron,
his face an appropriate mixture of confusion, uncertainty, and fear. Tangorn smiled back,
pointed at the receding State Secretary and quite sincerely shrugged and sadly twirled a
finger next to his temple. Then he pulled the cooling oyster plate close (why waste good
food?), expertly pulled the mollusk from its apparently impregnable fortress, and lost
himself in thought.
The grand building on Shore Street that now housed the Reunited Kingdom s embassy
(although it would have been more appropriate to label it the Umbar branch of the Secret
Guard) deservedly had the most ominous reputation among the citizenry. Minas Tirith
considered the imminent annexation of Umbar a done deal, calling it nothing but a pirate
haven on the ancestral lands of South Gondor. The ambassador was readying himself to
become the governor without much ado, while the people of the spy station already behaved
like they owned the place. They called themselves spies although in reality they were
nothing but a band of thugs; looking at them, Tangorn felt like a noble bandit of the classic
school next to a gang of underage punks. People disappearing and torture-disfigured
corpses surfacing in the canals were now commonplace; until recently the Umbarians could
console themselves that the victims were mostly Mordorian immigrants, but a recent attempt
on the famous Admiral Carnero dispelled those illusions.
In other words, Aragorn s embassy was a formidable institution, no doubt about that, but
that its mere mention would so scare a high-ranking official during performance of his
duties& no, something s off here. Unless& unless this dude works for the Gondorians!
Aha! So he thought that I ve figured him out and would turn him in. Man, that was a
propitious joke, pure fool s luck! But Aragorn s men s nerves are in bad shape for some
reason. I wonder where I could actually turn in a traitor in this city, where the police is
either solidly bought or else scared spitless, while the Gondorian embassy could issue direct
orders to administration officials if it so wished? Of course, there s also the local secret
service and the military, but amazingly those, too, are behaving as if nothing going on has
anything to do with them& Whatever, to hell with this Gagano, I have quite a few of my
own problems now! That my modest person is now of interest to the Gondorian spies is bad
enough.
What the devil! he thought, sipping suddenly tasteless wine. Why do they all think that I m
here with the mandate of an ambassador plenipotentiary of the Princedom of Ithilien sewn
into my pants, and an offer of a defense treaty? All right, suppose that my countrymen are
merely giving me a gentle warning not to contact the Republic s authorities officially. I m
133
The Last Ring-bearer
willing to abide by this warning religiously, seeing as how it doesn t impede my actual
plans. Damn, wouldn t it be lovely to let them all know the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth: guys, I really am not interested in getting involved in the Gondor-
Umbar mess! I have a totally different job: to establish real contact with the Elvish
clandestine structures here in under three weeks, knowing nothing but a single name we got
from Eloar s letter Elandar&
Tangorn finished his wine, tossed his last Umbarian silver coin with Castamir s haughty
profile on the table (Sharya-Rana gave them the locations of several secret money caches,
but he avoided paying with golden dungans of Mordor) and headed for the exit, limping
slightly. The sea urchin connoisseur at the nearby table has also finished his meal and
unhurriedly wiped first his fingers and then his lips (thin and slightly puckered with a
multitude of tiny scars around them) with a handkerchief attention! Three sailors were
concentrating on their clam chowder at the table right next to the door; one of them casually
moved an open bottle of Barangar red to the edge of the table ready! Tangorn would
reach the tavern door in six or seven seconds, which was all the time that lieutenant
Mongoose of the Secret Guard had to decide whether to improvise and capture the baron
right now or stick to the original carefully worked out plan. Who would have thought that
his agent Gagano would blow it so stupidly?
All he had to do was hint to Tangorn in the name of the Foreign Ministry that his official
accreditation would be untimely (the lieutenant had absolutely no desire to abduct a
diplomat of a foreign and nominally allied state); the assistant state secretary managed that
quite well. Unfortunately, he was cowardly (even his recruitment was accomplished with
blackmail over really trivial matters), so Mongoose s demand that he keep this assignment
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Dobre pomysły nie mają przeszłości, mają tylko przyszłość. Robert Mallet
De minimis - o najmniejszych rzeczach.
Dobroć jest ważniejsza niż mądrość, a uznanie tej prawdy to pierwszy krok do mądrości. Theodore Isaac Rubin
Dobro to tylko to, co szlachetne, zło to tylko to, co haniebne.
Dla człowieka nie tylko świat otaczający jest zagadką; jest on nią sam dla siebie. I z obu tajemnic bardziej dręczącą wydaje się ta druga. Antoni Kępiński (1918-1972)
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