1636: The Viennese Waltz

CHAPTER 34

November 1635

Silver Depository, Vienna

Gundaker sat in the small office, going over the books. The sun had set and he was working by one of the up-time-designed down-time-made Coleman lamps. This one was made right here in Vienna by a burgher who had bought the patent. The factory that made them had been redesigned by Peter Barclay, who had wisely accepted payment of an interest in the shop. None of which mattered to Gundaker at all. What mattered to him was that he had excellent light to cook the books, and make it look like Lang had stolen quite a bit more than he had. It wasn’t all that hard. Change a couple of threes to eights, that sort of thing. Then the silver could wait in the vault till he needed it. There would be an audit after the new year, but by then he would have moved the money. Gundaker shivered from the cold and set back to work.

Streets of Vienna

The wagon made its way down the cobbled street, carrying a ton or so of gravel. It was before dawn and aside from supply wagons like this one, the streets were empty. But they were well lit. There was a Coleman lamp on each street corner, with enough fuel that each would last most of the night. Besides, the wagon had one too, with a curved mirror behind to send the light out ahead. The wagoner shivered in the cold, and flicked the reins to encourage the horse to pull a little harder. He wanted to get back to the docks so he could get inside. He turned a corner and headed for the work site for Liechtenstein Tower.

Reaching the tower, he pulled up behind another wagon, which carried a load of sand. He couldn’t see the work under the tent, but he knew that the basement had been finished. They were now working on the ground floor, which was supported by a set of interconnecting arches that were based on the work of some up-timer who used chains to design buildings. It was funny looking but at the same time it had a sort of grace that was almost like a church.

The sand cart moved out and he flicked the reins again to move into its place. The crane, a set of pulleys and a framework, was shifted by a team of workers. The wagoner climbed back into the bed of the wagon and helped. He wanted to get back to the docks and in out of the cold. It took almost an hour to get the wagon unloaded, but the work kept him warm except for his hands and he had good canvas gloves. He would rather have been sleeping, but it was a good job. . and even bad jobs were hard to come by.

Race Track City

Gayleen Sanderlin held Ron the Latest on her lap while the nanny, Lisa, kept a wary eye on three-and-a-half-year-old Carri. They were all in the imperial box, but it was still a cold snowy day. The crowds scared Ronny, but Carri was excited, all bundled up in her little fur coat and constantly trying to get a look at the two-year-old heir to the throne. Not because he was heir to the throne, but because he was a potential playmate.

Meanwhile, the sound system was playing records from the Magdeburg Opera House. The emperor was crazy for music. The stands were packed, even on a cold and blustery day like today, because once the music was over Ferdinand III would read out the agreement that the Austro-Hungarian crown had worked out with the Barbies over the course of the past several weeks. Her Serene Highness Sarah Wendell von Up-time was made the chair of the Imperial Bank and the right to issue money was moved to her and her heirs or appointees. The emperor had insisted on the heirs and Sarah had insisted on adding appointees. At the moment, Moses Abrabanel was the appointed heir to the chair of the imperial bank, which took Karl Eusebius off the hook.

The song ended. Sarah and the emperor went out onto a raised platform at one end of the race track, where Sarah knelt and received her tiara and bank book.

They went back to their seats, and Sarah sat down muttering dire imprecations about Judy and her overblown sense of theater. Personally, Gayleen thought it all looked rather splendid. From the applause, so did the audience.

Millicent then went out on the platform and got her crown and a gavel. She was going to set up the Vienna stock exchange.

Trudi von Bachmerin was next. This was all as new to Trudi as it was to any of them. This ceremony was as much the child of Judy the Baracudy’s imagination as it was a product of the seventeenth century. Trudy got a bank book like Sarah’s, but smaller and trimmed in silver, not gold. Her tiara was silver, with an amber stone in the front.

Gabrielle would have been next but she had declined the honor. Gabrielle wasn’t interested in any title other than “doctor.”

Vicky Emerson was next and she was a little stiff, which was a considerable improvement over her initial response to the idea of swearing an oath to a foreign potentate. Vicky was an American, not of the Club 250 sort. Bill Magen had been a down-timer, after all. But Vicky hadn’t approved of the New U.S. joining the CPE, much less becoming a state in the USE. Marton was working on that and she swore her oath as required. Besides, the news out of the USE was starting to get scary. It looked like a civil war might be coming. Emperor Gustav Adolf’s condition meant that Chancellor Oxenstierna was able to run wild.

Next came Judy, playing it for all it was worth. The tiaras had been made by Morris Roth in Prague and flown in. They had more in common with a beauty queen’s crown than a down-time crown. Judy’s was gold-well, electrum-and had a huge emerald in front. She really did look like a princess. She got a bank book, too.

Susan went up next and got her tiara and bank book. She didn’t carry it off with Judy’s grace, but she wasn’t as stiff as Vicky had been.

Then Emperor Ferdinand called up Ron and her. She gave little Ron to Lisa and took Ron’s hand as they walked out onto the platform. At which point Carri abandoned her examination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne and ran after them on her stubby little legs, only to be caught up short by Lisa. “I wanna go too!”

Little Ron, upset by the sudden movement or his sister’s shout, started crying.

Ron grinned ruefully. “Well, so much for solemn state occasions.”

Gayleen wanted to slug him. They walked on out to the platform and swore their oaths into the microphone and the emperor invested them as imperial counts. On their way back to the imperial box, Ron sneezed.

The Fortneys were counted too, then it was Hayley’s turn. The whole morning standing out in a blizzard had been leading up to this. First, the emperor read out the agreement making Race Track City an imperial principality. Then Hayley read out the constitution, which included a bill of rights right in it, and called on the assembled people to accept or reject it. There was a great shout of acceptance from the audience. After which the emperor went down and got into the 240Z and the newest princess went down and got into the Sonny Steamer. Gayleen, Ron, and the kids got into their truck and the Fortneys into their Range Rover, and all of them, in a parade, drove the bounds of the new principality.

Liechtenstein House, Vienna

Of course, they all caught colds. Emperor and empress, all the way down to scullery maids, everyone caught a cold. The Hofburg Palace and Race Track City were as drippy as leaky faucets, and it spread to just about every noble house in Vienna.

“If you indend that we get married in duh streed, I will no-Aaahhchooo! — be adending,” Sarah told Karl.

Karl, eyes puffy and long nose red as a beet, just looked at her. Anna, outside the room, blew her nose loudly and then brought in a silver service with tea, lemon, and honey.

“Dno.” Judy was, for once looking just as raggedy as any normal human, agreed. “Ub-time we did weddings id church. ‘Id’ being duh impordand poind.”

“Dere are a couple of reasons we can-Aaahhchooo! — cannod do id dat way. De most impordant is that id’s looking like St. Sdephen’s is leaning toward Borja-sniff-and if we give Anton Wolfradt an excuse, he’s likely do make an issue of id.”

“Wad aboud cidy hall?” Sarah sniffed, and it hurt.

“Don god one,” Karl said.

“Din you to can jusd wade dill da dower-Aaahhchooo! — tower is finished.

Karl sneezed again, then held his head like he was trying to keep his brain from falling out. But after a minute, he said, “Wade a minid. We can pud the roov on de first do floors, radder din wade.”

Sarah tried to think through the pain. The first two floors of the Liechtenstein Tower were two stories of shops surrounding a large mezzanine. The third floor was planned to cover over the mezzanine, to act as support for the higher floors. The first floor and about half of the second was done. If they put in the floor of the third floor before extending it, they could have a functional roof over the center area in a month. “Id’s gonna be darg, dark.”

“No. God in the generader. We can have elecdric lighds and steam heed.”

A week later, with Vienna mostly recovered, the new order for construction on Liechtenstein Tower was given. They would focus on getting a temporary roof over the central mezzanine and stringing lights. The next priority was the pipes to take the steam to the first two floors.

The emperor was pleased with the arrangement, and wanted to see the tower in operation, even if only limited. After all, once it was finished, the Liechtenstein Tower was to become the Imperial Tower. Part of the deal that left the honking huge bank accounts in the Barbies’ names in the imperial bank was that Liechtenstein Tower was to be completed by the Barbies and then transferred to the emperor.

Tavern in Vienna

Gundaker and Adorjan Farkas were in the same chairs as before. The Hungarian mercenary wasn’t happy.

“You agreed to pay my people.” His face was flushed, bringing his scar into sharp contrast.

“That was when they were going to be doing the job,” Gundaker hissed. “I don’t pay for what I’m not buying.”

“You’re the one changing plans, not us.”

“Circumstances have changed.”

“What circumstances?”

“None of your business,” Gundaker said. “I’ve paid you and your people for your efforts up to now. I don’t owe you any more money, nor any explanation.”

There was an expression on Farkas’ face and Gundaker waited for the threat. But the threat didn’t come, and after a minute Gundaker nodded sharply. So Farkas knew enough to realize that a man of his station didn’t threaten a man of Gundaker’s, ever, under any circumstances. He gave one more sharp nod, got up and left.

If he had thought it through, he still wouldn’t have realized that Farkas was a man unimpressed with rank and as willing to kill a king as anyone else. Gundaker didn’t think that way. And the Barbies weren’t real nobility, so didn’t count. He didn’t see the expression on Farkas’ face as he left. Besides, Gundaker had his mind on other things. He needed to figure out where to get several hundred pounds of gunpowder, and a good excuse for not attending his nephew’s wedding.

With hatred in his heart, Adorjan Farkas watched the man go. He had been used by nobles to do their dirty work from the time he was a boy. He hated them all with a kind of cold passion that made people like Melissa Mailey seem models of conciliation. But he was a practical man, who believed in very little. Certainly not the twaddle of wild-eyed idiots like the Committees of Correspondence. He drank his beer and tried to figure away to get some of his own back from Gundaker von Liechtenstein. Then he got up and went to give the bad news to the boys. They had been following the Barbies around for weeks now, learning their patterns. Maybe something could be done with that.

“No, Captain. They are too well guarded. And they are armed. All of them. You know the shooting range at Race Track City? I have seen them all shooting. Mostly they are not that good. Not bad, but not really skilled. However, they all carry guns. Every one of them. And all the guns are the up-time style that shoot several shots. I wouldn’t want to try for them without a dozen men. Even then, we would likely just end up with a body, not a hostage.”

It wasn’t news. That was consistent with all the reports. Even the one who wanted to be a doctor carried a gun and trained with it at least once a week. And they were all accompanied by guards everywhere they went. It was hard enough to get close enough just to watch them.

“Fine then. But keep watching them. We may get lucky and I want Fredrich on His Serene Highness Gundaker von Liechtenstein.”

“Good enough, Captain. But remember, we aren’t getting paid. If we don’t get lucky soon, we’re going to run out of money.”

“I know,” Adorjan agreed with his long-time friend. “I know.”

Word rapidly spread through the men of Adorjan’s company, and disappointment bred sloppiness, as it so often does.

Water Park, Race Track City

“I like ice skating,” Her Serene Highness Trudi von Bachmerin said, as she leaned back into Jack Pfeifer’s embrace. Jack liked ice skating too, especially if it caused Trudi to lean into him like this. He just wasn’t sure what to do next. Everything had been going along swimmingly, till the emperor had gone and made Trudi an imperial princess. His parents had approved of the match. She was wealthy, and the daughter of an imperial knight was a step up for the family, but not an unreasonable step. A serene highness was a completely different matter.

“Trudi, ah, Your Ser-”

“I’m still Trudi, Jack. And I’ll always be Trudi. To you, at any rate.”

“But you-”

“Yes, I know. But I spent the last several years in Grantville. The difference in our rank doesn’t really bother me. The bigger issue is the difference in our bank accounts. How are you going to deal with that?”

“What do you mean?”

“I am probably the poorest of the Barbies. I had the least to invest from the beginning, and haven’t been able to afford to get in on all the deals. But BarbieCo was sort of my idea, so I got a bigger share than the money I had would have justified. When the empire bought BarbieCo. . what it amounts to is, I’m now as rich as Judy Wendell was before the BarbieCo deal. How are you going to deal with that?”

Jack just looked blank.

“I mean, how are you going to deal with me being richer than you?”

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“Really? Vienna doesn’t need seven imperial banks. Susan is probably going to be staying in Vienna with Moses. So that means if I’m going to set up a bank, I’m going to have to do it somewhere else. Maybe back in Grantville, maybe Magdeburg, Venice, or Amsterdam I’m not sure where yet, but not Vienna. That would mean you’d have to move. How would you feel following me around?”

That was something Jack hadn’t thought about. He looked around, and as he did he saw a man and something about the man caught his attention. He’d seen him before recently. “I wouldn’t mind. I know a law professor who would be better qualified to manage the legal requirements of SFIC and the new principality than I am. You’d give me a job, wouldn’t you?” He asked trying to sound winsome. “After I finished my law studies?”

They turned and headed for the open-air refreshment area at the side of the skating rink. As they did, Jack saw that same man again. He shifted Trudi in his arms, and the man turned away. When he turned, Jack saw a patch on the back right shoulder of his cloak. That was it. He had seen the man earlier that morning across the street from the Fortney house. For that matter, he had seen him before that, but he wasn’t sure where.

It wasn’t that patched cloaks were unusual. Patches were the rule, not the exception, all over Europe. This one was a faded red, and Jack remembered it. He seated Trudi and kissed her gloved hand. “I’ll be back in a minute, okay?” She nodded and he walked over to Felix, one of the guardsmen, and quietly pointed the man out. “Let me know what you find out, Felix? Something about him bothers me.”

“He’s a mercenary, Herr Pfeifer,” Felix said. “I know the look.”

“But who’s he working for and what’s his interest in Princess Trudi?”

“I’ll find out,” the guardsman told him. Then Jack went back to Trudi.

“What was that about?” Trudi asked.

“Maybe nothing.” Jack said. “I saw a man that I recognized. He’s been hanging around and I don’t know why. Likely he has a perfectly legitimate reason and it’s all just a coincidence.”

Trudi pulled out her compact and examined her makeup while she said, “Where is he?”

Jack told her and she adjusted the mirror so she could see the man. One thing Jack really liked about Her Serene Highness was how quick on the uptake she was.

“Yes. I think I’ve seen him around too. Three days ago when I was at the beauty shop, he was across the street. I remember the patch on his jacket.”

“Well, Felix knows about him now. We should get a report.”

“Good enough. What were we talking about before you went all paranoid?”

“Susan Logsden and Moses Abrabanel.”

“He finally introduced her to his baby daughter and his family, you know.”

“No, I didn’t. How did it go?”

“Quite well. You know that each of us gets to set the rules for how our families handle differences in rank. Not completely. Susan can’t make Moses an imperial prince by marrying him, but any kids they have will be imperial princesses or princes, and if she adopts his little girl, she will become one, too.

“Apparently, when Moses’ mother found that out, she suddenly decided that, gentile or not, it was time for Moses to get married again. The thing is, Susan isn’t used to being on that side of the social equation. She was looked down on in Grantville, even after she got rich, because of her mother.” Trudi giggled. “Having people thinking of her as Her Serene Highness is freaking her out a bit, but I think she likes it. But you know that wasn’t what we were talking about. We were talking about the fact that I will be moving after the wedding. The only question is where will I go.”

“It’s fine, Trudi. I will follow you.” Jack reached over and touched her cheek. “I’ll follow you wherever you go. I doubt you will be setting up your branch of the Imperial Bank of Austria-Hungary in a village that doesn’t have a law school. And with the change in my family fortunes, I will be able to finish my schooling. Besides, I have been involved in the writing of a constitution, so I can probably get a place on the faculty of a law school at this point.”

Trudi covered his hand with her own, pressing his palm against her cheek. “You really will?”

Jack nodded his agreement. “I can be replaced here.”

“That’s right. You said you have a law professor who can take over for you. Why is that?”

“Partly, it’s a good job. But also because, in this principality, there is freedom of faith in the constitution. Doctor of Jurisprudence Aigner is a Catholic only because you have to be Catholic to hold that position in the University of Vienna. I expect that Lutheran and Calvinist groups will be applying to Princess Hayley for permission to set up churches.”

The waitress brought them hot chocolate and strudels, curtsying after she placed it on the table.

“Good,” Trudi said, once the waitress was gone. “The churches, I mean.”

“I’m not so sure. There are a lot of people who are upset about the freedom of faith in the principality constitution. They are going to be even less happy.”

“As it happens, I’m Catholic. But I became one after the Ring of Fire, because of Father Mazzare. My father is Lutheran, and my brothers fought for Gustav. I would be the last person to try to force anyone to change their faith.”

“I don’t object,” Jack said, which was almost true. “I’m the one who put the clause in the constitution, after all. I’m just worried about the political fallout. Hayley and her family were pushing things pretty hard even before the rest of the Barbies got here. And since then-” Jack shook his head at a loss for words. “There’s going to be a reaction. Just like there has been in the USE.”

Trudi shivered and Jack wanted to scoot around the table and hold her protectively, but they were in public and it was still early in their relationship.

Guard Station, Race Track City

“I know him, at least by reputation. He’s one of Adorjan Farkas’ men.”

“What would one of Farkas’ men be doing at the water park?” Captain Erwin von Friesen, the newly made chief constable of the Race Track City principality, scratched his graying hair. “That’s not the sort of entertainment that Farkas’ men usually prefer. Put out a list of all his troop. I want them watched for.”

“Herr Pfeifer asked me to tell him what we learned.” Felix said.

“I’ll have a talk with Jack,” Captain von Friesen said.

Jack Pfeifer’s Office, Race Track City

“Welcome, Captain. Or should I call you Constable?”

“Just don’t call me late for dinner,” Erwin said, and Jack felt himself smile.

“So what brings you here? You need a warrant?”

“I might. I’m still not sure how that part is supposed to work,” Erwin said.

“And even less sure you approve of it, I would imagine,” Jack agreed. “The best I can tell, those laws are designed to make it difficult for the police to do their jobs. But Her Highness insisted.”

“The reason I came by is one of my men recognized the description Felix gave of the man you saw watching Princess Trudi.”

“Who is he?”

“I don’t have his name yet, but he works for a man named Adorjan Farkas. Farkas runs a smallish mercenary company and they take odd jobs between campaigns. His bunch and others like them are why a lot of people find it hard to distinguish between soldiers and criminals. I will say that Farkas has his own sort of honor. He does what he’s paid to do. But if you have the money, he will do just about anything.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Jack said. “What do you think we should do?”

“Not that much we can do with the constitution. A year ago I probably would have dragged the man with the cloak in and beaten him till he told me what he was doing. Now?” He shrugged, indicating that he wasn’t sure.

Jack felt real regret, but he shook his head. “I’ve talked to the Fortneys and the Sanderlins enough to know that Princess Hayley wouldn’t stand for anything like that. Look, get me descriptions of the rest of-what was his name, Farkas?”

Erwin nodded.

“Farkas and his men. I’ll give them to Moses, Amadeus, Marton, and Prince Karl. Perhaps one of them will have a suggestion. And I’ll tell Hertel about them, too. He has a good eye for detail and might have some ideas. Meanwhile, just keep your eyes open for them.”

Marton von Debrecen’s Townhouse, Vienna

Over the next few days, several of Adorjan Farkas’ men were spotted in places where they could observe the Barbies or Sarah. Those sightings led the gentlemen to have chats with the Barbies on the subject of direct action and law.

“No, Marton,” Her Serene Highness Vicky Emerson von Up-time said seriously. “Bill talked about this a lot. Not all the down-time cops liked the up-time laws protecting citizens’ rights, but a lot of them did. Mostly the ones like Bill, who had seen the results of their lack. I don’t care how noble you are, if there aren’t any laws like that on the books, it ends up bad. Mostly, people like you and me are protected by our wealth. And now rank, I guess,” she added with a grimace. “But everyday people? Before you know it, every shop owner is being shaken down.”

Marton listened politely, but he wasn’t convinced. “But I am not a police officer. I have no judicial position at all. If I were to hire some people to go have a chat with this Adorjan Farkas, how would that be a violation of his rights? Twice in the past four days, I have seen members of his troop watching you. I respect your beliefs, but I will not stand idly by while what happened to Polyxena happens to you. I can’t!”

Vicky looked at him and he could see her weighing her words. “Just go ahead and say it,” he told her.

“What happened to Polyxena was perfectly legal and an excellent example of why those protections were instituted in later centuries. Maximilian had a suspicion and he was the duke, so he wasn’t required to prove it-at least not with the rigor that should have been required of him. If Bavaria had had a constitution like Race Track City’s, Polyxena would never have been executed. She would have had a lawyer and there would have been a court and rules of evidence. What you’re proposing is just the strong brutalizing the weak. Your strength, in this case, is hired-but that doesn’t change what it is.”

“What about whoever hired Farkas? Are they to be allowed. .”

Vicky reached out and took his hands. He felt the strength in her hand and wrist that allowed her to use her pistol with such speed and accuracy. She squeezed hard. “Let me tell you something that Bill told me. He got it from Dan Frost. ‘The difference between the good guys and the bad guys isn’t who’s wearing the badge.’”

Apparently she saw his confusion, because she explained. “The difference between the good guys and the bad guys is not who has the title or the legal right. It’s not even entirely what you’re fighting for, because every despot in the history of the world has been convinced that he was on the side of right. The way you tell the good guys from the bad guys is by how well they follow their own rules.”

“If you say so.” Marton was still unconvinced.

“I know that sort of restraint is hard and, truthfully, most of the time I want to just go ahead, kick ass, and sort it out later,” Vicky said. “In fact, Bill and I argued about it all the time. After he got killed I pretty much gave up on the idea of civil rights for assholes. You want to know what changed my mind?”

“What?” Marton asked.

“Your Polyxena. You’re convinced that she was innocent. Amadeus is convinced that she was innocent. And even if she’d been guilty, execution is totally off the wall for helping someone duck out on a wedding. But what happened to her was all perfectly legal, and things like that happen all over the world, all the time. But they don’t happen in Grantville. You don’t need to worry about the cops busting in your door because someone next to the mayor or the president is pissed or wants something you own. What happened to Polyxena and what it did to you is what convinced me that we must be ruled by laws, not the whims of the powerful.”

Marton looked into those eyes glowing with conviction and wanted to believe. He even agreed that that was the sort of world there ought to be. But it wasn’t the world they lived in. So, instead of agreeing or continuing to argue, he simply lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them.