Flint, Eric - 1634 - The Galileo Affair PDF
Preview Flint, Eric - 1634 - The Galileo Affair
1634: The Galileo Affair Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. Copyright © 2004 by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form. A Baen Books Original Baen Publishing Enterprises P.O. Box 1403 Riverdale, NY 10471 www.baen.com ISBN: 0-7434-8815-6 Cover art by Tom Kidd First hardcover printing, April 2004 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Flint, Eric. 1634 : the Galileo affair / Eric Flint, Andrew Dennis. p. cm. ISBN 0-7434-8815-6 1. Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642—Fiction. 2. Italy—History— 17th century—Fiction. 3. Americans—Italy—Fiction. 4. Astronomers—Fiction. 5. Time travel—Fiction. I. Dennis, Andrew. II. Title. PS3556.L548A618 2004 813'.54--dc22 2003027413 Distributed by Simon & Schuster 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH Printed in the United States of America To the memory of Johnny Cash, 1932–2003. I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire I Went Down, Down, Down And The Flames Went Higher In this series: 1632 by Eric Flint 1633 by Eric Flint & David Weber Ring of Fire edited by Eric Flint 1634: The Galileo Affair by Eric Flint & Andrew Dennis BAEN BOOKS by Eric Flint Joe's World series: The Philosophical Strangler Forward the Mage (with Richard Roach) Mother of Demons The Shadow of the Lion (with Mercedes Lackey & Dave Freer) This Rough Magic (with Mercedes Lackey & Dave Freer) Rats, Bats & Vats (with Dave Freer) Pyramid Scheme (with Dave Freer) The Course of Empire (with K.D. Wentworth) Crown of Slaves (with David Weber) The Warmasters (with David Weber & David Drake) The Bellisarius series, with David Drake: An Oblique Approach In the Heart of Darkness Destiny's Shield Fortune's Stroke The Tide of Victory The General series, with David Drake: The Tyrant Prologue: Spring, 1633 That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she were alive. I call That piece a wonder, now: Frà Pandolf's hands Worked busily a day, and there she stands. Chapter 1 The palace was overheated, Mazarini thought. That came of Cardinal Richelieu being a man who had more than his share of ailments, despite being only in middle age. Richelieu felt the cold as an old man did. He had his servants build fires if there was even the slightest chill in the air—and early spring in Paris was considerably more than slightly chilly. Fortunately, the cardinal was a polite man. The wait in the anteroom was brief enough that Mazarini was able to fight off drowsiness. Now Mazarini was in the presence of Richelieu himself, trying to achieve—in spite of the heat—that chilly sharpness a diplomat needed. The cardinal's hard face, now that the pleasantries had been dealt with, indicated that the real negotiation was about to begin. After only four weeks in Paris, at that; Richelieu must, Mazarini thought, have something in mind. The protocol of his nunciature had been brief. Mazarini had arrived from Rome with a retinue provided by Cardinal Barberini and augmented it from the permanent nunciature in Paris. His American companion, Harry Lefferts, had tried to pretend that he saw the likes of the procession through Paris every day back in Grantville, but Mazarini could see him frankly staring at everything. Pressed afterward, Harry had admitted that the twentieth century had not wanted for spectacle, but that it never came to country towns like Grantville. As it was, Harry had gotten only these few short weeks of mayhem, debauchery and drunkenness in Paris before a message that had missed him narrowly in Rome had called him home to Grantville; he was due to leave in the morning. As much as he would miss Harry, Mazarini would be relieved to see him go. The flamboyant young American made friends everywhere he went. Unfortunately, the friends were concentrated in two classes of people: Flamboyant Italian and French young men, who found the exciting and exotic American something of a role model—to the perhaps everlasting ruin of proper attire for proper young men. (Their habits had already included brawling and drunkenness, so those sins could hardly be laid at Harry's feet.)
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