“I take full responsibility,” Sale said. “I was aware of the tension. I should have acted earlier.”
No way would Ean let Sale take the blame for something he’d done. “It wasn’t Sale. She offered to help, but I wanted to sort it out myself.”
“What actually happened?” Katida asked. Her lines were muted, as if she was deliberately trying to hide them. Ean didn’t pry. He opened his mouth to answer, but Sale spoke first.
“Lambert had—has—a reputation among other linesman. Many of the multilevel linesmen in this group were aware of that reputation.”
“I didn’t control—”
“Let Group Leader Sale complete her explanation,” Orsaya said.
Ean closed his mouth.
“The problem was compounded by the fact that Linesman Rossi, a known level-ten linesman, attended the training but did not run it.”
More nods.
“One linesman in particular, Arnold Peters, has been spreading resentment. In the classes themselves, and outside of them. He is, by all accounts, convincing, and was at House of Rigel while Ean was there. He’s telling them horror stories.
“We knew there was a problem. It was manageable until yesterday, when Captain Jakob and Redmond tried to steal the scout.” Sale glanced over at Ean and Rossi. “Lambert took corrective action by moving the ship closer to the Eleven fleet.”
He was Lambert now. No one in Sale’s team ever called him Lambert.
“The bastard jumped the ship cold,” Rossi said. “He has no consideration for the welfare of anyone else on the ships.”
He wasn’t going to let Redmond—or the Worlds of the Lesser Gods—steal a ship.
“Linesman Rossi reacted by trying to prevent Lambert from moving the ship,” Sale said. “He grabbed a weapon and attempted to shoot him. Lambert’s bodyguards protected him and disarmed Rossi. Except the trainees saw a top-level linesman attacked for no obvious reason. They came in to defend him.”
Sale looked at each admiral in turn. “The problem was quickly resolved with the assistance of all crew on board the Gruen. However, Captain Gruen demanded a lockdown, as people were still angry. And her ship was damaged.”
Katida’s lines leaked amusement. “And we couldn’t have that, of course.”
“No, ma’am,” Sale said, then back to all four admirals. “That’s all, sirs.”
They turned their attention to Ean. Four intense gazes were unnerving.
“Do you have anything to add to the facts?” Katida asked.
He heard the slight emphasis on “facts,” both through her voice and through the lines.
“No, ma’am.” It felt strange calling Katida ma’am. “Except the fault is all mine. I was in charge.” Sale shouldn’t blame herself. He’d been running the training. “But I disagree with the implication that I have no concern for other people and their welfare. The jump was perfectly safe. If I only cared for the ships, I would have allowed the ship to be taken. It wanted crew. All the alien ships do.” He pressed his lips together before he said anything further.
Katida turned back to Sale. “Do we have a plan for dealing with future problems?”
“We were hoping that as the linesmen learned more about the lines, they would come around.”
“If we get rid of Peters?”
“I’m not sure that will solve the problem,” Sale said. “Although we have discussed that.”
They’d mentioned it. Was that the full amount of their discussion, or had they talked about it elsewhere?
“Peters makes a lot of noise,” Sale said. “But they’re linesmen. The singles should be realizing the benefits by now and shutting him down, even if the multilevels aren’t. But the singles are almost worse than the multilevels. He shouldn’t have that much influence. Not on his own.”
“So there may be a second troublemaker,” Katida said. “Any idea who?” Her lines didn’t sound surprised. None of the others looked surprised either. It was almost as if they expected it.
“No, ma’am. We haven’t ascertained that yet.”
“The question,” Admiral MacClennan said, “is whether the trouble is deliberate, or whether they’re just linesmen aggrieved about the training?”
Ean hoped they weren’t trying to find excuses to absolve him. “How could it be deliberate?”
“Ean,” Katida said, “you truly do need to spend some time in my military. Build up some paranoia.”
“Put Burns in,” Orsaya suggested. “He’s a single. Many people still believe he’s Rossi’s assistant. There might be some sympathy there.”
“What if they think he’s a spy?” Fergus worked with Ean. If the trainees turned on him, he’d have no chance.
“I’ll put him in a protective suit,” Abram said. Ean had a suit of his own back on the Lancastrian Princess. He’d never worn it, other than to try it on. “Although we won’t be close enough if anything goes wrong. Ean?”
“The lines will look after him.” They considered Fergus part of the Eleven fleet, and the Gruen was an Eleven ship.
“You’d better make sure he’s safe, bastard.”
“I will, but why don’t you do something about it as well?”
Rossi crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t answer.
Orsaya said, “We’ll all be watching to see what we can find. Burns will be the most protected man in the whole of the New Alliance.”
Did the trainees realize they’d now be watched by four fleets?
Abram called Fergus up immediately. “Burns, we’re placing you on the Gruen. Group Leader Sale and Linesman Lambert will explain what you need to do.” Then he called Gruen. “We’re sending Linesman Burns to the Gruen temporarily. Please look after him.”
She nodded. “I’ve sent through a list of damages.”
“We’ll have it attended to,” Abram promised, and clicked off.
What did Gruen do after a battle, when her ship was badly damaged? Hound the admiralty until it was fixed?
After that, they walked down to the shuttle bay together.
“Abram.” Ean dropped back.
Abram matched his pace to Ean’s. This close there were more lines around his eyes than there had been, and he looked tired.
“Did the council say anything? About getting crew for the fleet ships.”
Abram smiled. “You certainly stirred them up. Made them a lot happier, actually. They’re scared of Lancia and worried they’ll lose their ships to us. Your message this morning gave them a way to be sure they don’t, without actually admitting Lancia is a problem. You’ll have your ships allocated soon.”
“Good. Because the ships are already choosing their own linesmen. The Confluence is vetting each linesman who comes on board.” And not only the linesmen. Should he tell Abram about Sale?
“Although”—and the corners of Abram’s mouth quirked—“your announcement that you’ve already given one ship away was unexpected.” He breathed out, a soft sigh Ean heard through the lines rather than actually heard. “I wish that yours were the only type of problems we had to deal with.”
Did that mean he minded what Ean had done? Or that he didn’t? Whether he did or didn’t, the ships would choose. “Put sentient ships around sentience for too long, and you won’t have any choice who goes where.”
“So, is it humans who are giving the lines sentience, then? Or is it that the lines, so long being used to a different sentience, are adapting to humans?”