“I’m delighted to meet you,” Ean said. “I look forward to seeing you all at line training.”
Kentish’s stare back at him was more of a glare. Ean and Fergus had planned on splitting the linesmen into smaller groups for future training. They’d already worked out the groups, and they’d put Kentish under Hernandez. Maybe they should rethink that. Two strong personalities might clash.
Who would have thought, twelve months ago, that juggling people based on how well they got on with other people would be part of Ean’s job description?
He said, half to Trask, half to the trainees, “We’re putting the initial batch of trainees on the Gruen.” It had worked last time, and it would get them used to being on line ships while he, Ean, still had control of the ship.
“So I hear.” Trask looked at the soldiers. “Dismissed.”
They marched out. Ean was glad to see Sale, and Captain Auburn—from Orsaya’s staff—intercept them at the door and lead them down to a smaller room, where they could wait for their admiral in comfort.
“Can I offer you a drink? Tea?” Ean asked.
“A whiskey would be nice.”
What did he do about that? He looked at Bhaksir, standing on guard with Hana, Gossamer, and Ru Li. Bhaksir tapped something into her comms.
“Please, won’t you sit down,” Ean said, before the wait got too long.
Trask sat. “So what level do you think the two singles are?”
The admiral hadn’t given them a chance to speak. “I won’t know until I hear them sing.”
Trask nodded. “They have a choir on the Elysium. They put on two concerts a year for the crew. Team Leader Kentish was in that choir and most upset that we pulled her off two weeks before the show. Her captain wasn’t happy either. Tried to get us to wait two weeks.”
“It must be a good concert.”
“Their captain thinks so. Thinks it is good for the ship. Morale is high for weeks afterward.”
“Interesting.”
“I thought so, too,” Trask said. “Thank you,” to Bhaksir, as she came across with the whiskey.
Bhaksir brought one for Ean as well. He didn’t know what to do with it.
“Kentish was the lead female voice in that choir. Her opposite, the male, is left-handed as well, although he didn’t do any line training. He should have been invalided out of the fleet years ago. A nerve in the left hand was severed, and the regen didn’t take. Not a problem if he were right-handed, but a big issue when it’s his primary hand. The captain downplayed the damage because apparently the ship is calmer when he’s there.”
What role did a captain have in retaining linesmen on his ship? If a ship liked a soldier because he or she was a linesman, was the captain more likely to keep them on? If so, maybe they should look at the more stable ships.
Trask gave a grim smile. “We’d never have known if we hadn’t been looking for linesmen. Handedness is faster to search for than who did line training. It’s in the crew medical records.”
If Trask asked what level Ean thought the other man was, Ean would evade the question by saying he’d need to test the linesman, but he already knew he’d be a one. The ones monitored line and crew health. Combine that with a man who had a natural affinity for working with people, and no wonder the captain wanted to keep him there.
“You should have brought him in with the other line trainees.”
Trask scowled into his whiskey. “I should discipline the captain.”
How did you discipline a good captain without their ship taking umbrage? “How do his crew feel about him?”
“It’s my most stable ship.” He tossed the whiskey back in one swallow. “I wouldn’t mind a little more stability in the New Alliance council right now.”
Neither would Ean.
“Bringing in the Worlds of the Lesser Gods is a clever idea. With Redmond trapped between us and them like that, we might get rid of Redmond once and for all. But it was poorly done.”
Orsaya must have known this was coming. She could have warned him. He might have known what to say. Ean swirled the drink he didn’t want, then cupped it in his hands.
“Personally, I hadn’t realized the split between them and Redmond was quite that bad, but sometimes the luck runs our way. Even so, we—as a council—could have offered the Factor enough if he had shown any interest in joining the New Alliance.” Trask put his glass down carefully and stood up. “Unfortunately, the way it was done makes it look like a power grab by Lancia.”
Ean stood up, too. What did Trask want him to say? “I’ll mention your concerns to Abram and Michelle.”
“I’d appreciate it if you did. Maybe not mention any names. Only that some people are concerned.”
Ean nodded.
“I’d best get these linesmen across to the Gruen.” And Trask and the new trainees were escorted down to the shuttle by two members of Craik’s team and two of Orsaya’s.
Ean looked at the whiskey in his hand, looked at Bhaksir.
“Don’t give it to me,” she said. “I’m on duty.”
Ean went to find Orsaya.
“Did you know he was going to say that?”
“People are concerned. I’m concerned. It was badly done, and exceedingly poor timing, with Lancia just managing the numbers.”
“It wasn’t Mi—” He stopped. Orsaya wasn’t his friend, and he had to remember that.
The lines around Orsaya’s mouth tightened. “That’s what we’re afraid of.”
Trask wasn’t the last. A steady stream of admirals brought their linesmen along to meet him, and, “By the way, while I’m here, I’m a little concerned with Lancia’s handling of the Worlds of the Lesser Gods. We’re happy the Worlds of the Lesser Gods are considering joining the New Alliance, but the way it was done, allying Lancia with the Worlds… You might mention that it looks like a grab for power on Lancia’s part.”
Not mentioning any names, of course.
Sale took her concerns to Vega. Ean heard it through the lines.
“I don’t know why we bothered taking Ean off the Lancastrian Princess if Orsaya lets in all and sundry.”
“Believe me, I don’t like it any better than you.”
“Then I can stop it?”
“Admiral Galenos thinks it is beneficial.”
“Damage control,” the lines sang underneath Vega’s words.
Sale might have talked to Abram as well, for she disappeared for hours one day, and when she came back, she stopped complaining about the visits.
Damage control.
The one person he could talk it over with was on a special mission. And Vega still hadn’t told him where she’d gone.
Radko could look after herself. But still… “If Radko calls Vega—or anyone on the ship—I want to know about it. If anyone mentions Radko, I want to know about it.”
The fleet ships hummed in assent.
So far, all his snooping had done was pick up Hana saying to Ru Li, “If Radko were here, you wouldn’t dare say that.”
Ean had no idea what Ru Li had said.
Ean was pleased when Admiral Katida joined them for dinner.
“It’s like a flipping public house,” Ean heard Sale mutter to Craik, out in the main watch room. “He’d be safer on the Lancastrian Princess. We should open a bar and charge for the drinks.” She came over to the arch between the mess hall and the watch room proper. “Everyone who comes here hands over all weapons, Admiral Katida. Even you.”