Alisa climbed onto the seat next to her and straightened her jacket. "- Ah, my mother would see me now - she would scold me for bad manners. I'm in such a beautiful place, but dressed like some kind of mercenary. It will be necessary to change into something more appropriate for the lady as we will be in place. Moreover, I heard about the latest fashion on this planet. It seems that the war in no way affected the life of the beau monde and others... Mmm... Estates?"
"During the war, some of the royalists loyal to the king stepped aside the Hebrides when everyone realized that the defeat of the Charles regime was near," - said Francois, starting up the car. - "In principle, Charles was already a sick man, so it’s excusable to the same sick people because of problems with his head. In the end, the best way to interact with psychos is to agree with what they think," - said Francois was done in a serious manner, not in a comic. - "Okay, let's go."
In the next 5 minutes everything was quiet, except that the silence was interrupted by the noise of the car engine and the sound signals of other cars on the road. The whole complex of residential buildings, from which, however, began the capital, was located near the place of work of Alisa. The house they were approaching was a five-story building made in modern architecture, combined with innovative residential technologies aimed at a comfortable life and so on. The apartment, which was rented by OCI agents, was on the fifth floor, and from the inside it was a two-room apartment consisting of: a kitchen, a pantry, a toilet, a bathroom and two bedrooms, respectively. Rising into it, Francois left Alice's things in the hallway. Nearby was another 1 bag - these were the things of Francois, who managed to inspect the apartment two days before Alisa arrived on the planet.
"In general, a typical apartment in Gallia," - said Francois. - "The kitchen is on the right, literally point-blank to the hallway. Toilet straight, to the left - the bathroom. Storage room between the kitchen and your bedroom." - The bedroom was a large bed for two people with a balcony as an extension. Francois went to the entrance to the bedroom and looked at Alisa. - "No, that's not what you thought. My room is there," - he pointed to the opposite door behind. Francois's bedroom was much more modest in size. Apparently, Francois ordered that furniture be provided to this apartment, so there was one table in both Alice’s room and in Francois’s room and several wardrobes.
"- Cozy. And without excessive pathos or luxury. It’s like I didn’t leave Cambridge... You know, on Akabat I had to live in a barracks block. Spartan conditions..."
Going to the bed, Alisa ran her hand along its contour. " - Interestingly, the Palace survived? I heard about his pomp. Like, he was able to devote in his luxury and grandeur even the flying palace of the Kusari Emperor, while such a one existed at all... And Her Highness's palace is not nearly so luxurious.The royal family’s residence in New London is very modest. And because of the war, it completely became gray and joyless."
Alisa sighed and added. " - But New London always was a dull place. Eternal fog, eternal rain... The colonists were "lucky" to occupy the Monsoon World.
"The palace has survived," - Francois said in a loud voice from his room, taking apart his things. - "The Council did not want to arrange a blood bath before the revolution, and we would not have left a stone unturned. Although hell knows," - he said, going into Alisa’s room. - "We are not lovers of waging a war out of nothing, it rather depends on what the enemy loves - if they resisted, we could arrange what their propaganda cried so often about. Okay, now follow the instructions. According to all the documents and official data, you are a scientist from the independent scientific group Zoner located in the Omicron Delta system. By alibi, in the course of the war with Gallia, you find yourself in Bretonia on personal matters, and then you meet me, a soldier of The Council, who has come to the forefront. Love at first sight, and at the end of the war we decided to live the rest of our lives together, and you decided to work for the good of science from your organization in Gallia."- Francois closed his eyes. - "Yes, I invented it myself. This option suits you?"
Alisa shrugged. "- So-so plan. Too banal and smacks of falsehood. Even the gendarme who stopped Amunet on the approach to New Paris suspected something. despite the fact that we sent Zoner transponder code."
"They do this because some of them still have not believed in the revolution," - said Francois. - "Then... We just need to justify why we live together so that the locals do not have questions. Neighbors are civilians. The main problem is what to tell people in person if we suddenly find ourselves together in front of their eyes. We can focus on the fact that I worked with you as an assistant scientist and was invited here."
" - Or..." The girl smirked and switched to exceptionally clean speech, hiding her usual accent. "- I can pretend to be some impoverished noblewoman whom le revolucion deprived of the whole heritage of the family, and only her faithful protector did not leave her in this misfortune, and now helps to stand on her feet in a new, democratic world.
- In the end, I was at the receptions of the royal court of Bretonia and familiar with etiquette. It will not be difficult for me ... Plus, this will explain where I got such an outlandish ship. I know from personal experience how the nobility is furious with fat. Sometimes buying whole battleships in order to turn them into their personal flying residence..."
Then she moved to the suitcase and removed a gorgeous evening dress from it. "- Just... Do you agree to such an undertaking? Given your attitude to the bourgeoisie here. This is not the first time for me to play a role. Especially this one..."
She coughed. "- That is, I wanted to say to the Royalists. Yes..."
"It will not work: firstly, the battleships did not allow themselves to know, except for the King, if my memory serves me," - said Francois. - "As a rule, in Gallia there has always been a clear and rigid division between what the civilian population can and cannot use. Still, there was a militarized country. Secondly, how do you imagine a representative of the nobility who visits objects closed from the eyes every day? It will be easier if both of us are scientists from somewhere in the Omicrons, who decided to share their research experience with the Gauls."