The linesmen broke into spontaneous applause.
Fergus came up beside Ean. “I’m not sure it was wise to let him up there to put you down like that. Jordan may have dropped his plans to become Grand Master, but he’s still ambitious. And political.”
No matter how much he denied it, Rossi would never willingly go far from the eleven lines, and as Grand Master, he’d have to travel the galaxy. In a way, Rossi had earned the occasional bagging right. He was stuck here, subordinate to Ean, and he knew he could never leave.
“If it makes Rossi feel he is in control, I don’t care what he says, as long as he does what needs to be done.” At least Fergus was still alive and whole. “How have you been?”
“This suit.” Fergus grimaced. “As for the rest.”
“On this ship,” Rossi’s voice thundered, “you will experience the true strength of the lines.”
“I’ve been doing some listening, Ean. I’m sorry to say, but I think there’s a problem with the linesmen Lancia sent in. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were deliberately stirring up trouble.”
Lancia. Ean wasn’t surprised. “It’s probably part of Yu’s plan to destabilize Abram.” If they had to kick the Lancastrian linesmen out to save Abram, he’d do it.
Almost as if it were a signal, Ean became aware that Emperor Yu and Admiral Carrell had stepped onto Confluence Station. Sattur Dow followed.
“Abram? But why?”
“It’s a long story.” Ean had forgotten Fergus didn’t know the details. But he was a good source of information, and he knew how to keep his mouth shut. “Fergus, what does Lancia do to traitors?”
He shouldn’t have asked it, not when he’d just said what he’d said that about Abram.
“Traitors? What have you done to upset Lancia?”
At least he didn’t realize the question was about Abram. “Nothing.” Yet, but if Yu challenged Abram as a traitor, he’d do something about it. “The Factor implied the New Alliance wouldn’t punish the traitors, not as he believed they should be punished, so we let him take Jakob and the crew of the Iolo home.”
Fergus looked at him. “You can’t be serious.”
Unfortunately, he was. “I was wondering how Lancia punishes someone for treason.” He hoped his voice stayed neutral.
Fergus considered it. Jordan Rossi had once said he had a storage-box mind. Full of facts and figures, all filed neatly away. It wasn’t a function of line seven, so it was something that Fergus, himself, was good at, outside of line ability.
“I think Emperor Yu has them shot. They have a trial, but if the Emperor truly believes someone is a traitor, the trial is a sham.”
That’s what Ean was afraid of.
“Lancia has a bad reputation for its treatment of people who betray them. Don’t forget Rebekah Grimes.”
Abram had executed Rebekah. But she had killed his people.
“Lancia’s way is quick, but I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Emperor Yu. You tend not to see those people again.”
That’s what Michelle was worried about. And Ean was now, too.
On Confluence Station, Admiral Orsaya greeted Yu and Carrell respectfully but without warmth. “Admiral, Your Imperial Majesty. You got here fast. It’s less than an hour since your clearance came through.”
“Times like these,” Carrell said, and looked as if he thought Orsaya would agree with him, “the less advance notice the better.”
“Where is the Lancastrian linesman?” Yu demanded. “I want to talk to him.”
“Linesman Lambert is conducting line training today,” Orsaya said.
“We have come from the Gruen,” Yu said. “There were no trainees.”
Maybe it was a good thing they’d woken Sale and Orsaya earlier. Otherwise, the trainees would have still been leaving when Yu arrived.
Ean dragged himself back to what was happening on the Confluence. “Thanks, Fergus. I’ll let Sale know about the Lancastrian linesmen.”
Rossi had finished his oration. Ean had no idea of the rest of what he’d said, but the trainees were happily agreeable.
Sale stepped up to address the trainees. “One day I might kill you personally,” she said to Rossi, as they passed.
“She doesn’t mean it,” Ean sang hastily as the ship lines stirred, especially line eight. “It’s a human way of saying they’re annoyed with other people.” He waited till the lines subsided. “Don’t say things like that, Sale.”
Rossi laughed aloud. “Lines a little out of control, Linesman?”
Sale looked daggers at Rossi. When she turned to Ean, her gaze wasn’t much less ferocious. “Can I speak now?”
He nodded.
She raised her voice. “As you can see, it’s a big ship.” Unbidden—or at least unbidden by Ean—the ship amplified her words, so everyone heard clearly. “You get a guided tour as part of your training, but it is line training. That is what you’re here for. That’s what you’re expected to do.” She looked directly at Peters. “Any complaints, and you go straight back to the shuttle.”
She looked away, over the crowd, before he could argue. “Access is restricted. Don’t wander. We know where you are at any time. If you wander, you get sent back to the shuttle. Understood?”
She held their gaze until most of them nodded.
“Good. We are on a line ship. An Eleven-class. You all know line eleven can be strong. You know the symptoms. You know what to do. We have paramedics here.” She indicated the paramedics around the room. “Help your teammates. If you see someone in trouble, do what you can and call the nearest paramedic.”
Line eleven had been quiet so far. Or as quiet as it could be. Some of the trainees still had difficulty breathing. The paramedics were already among them.
“Ean.”
Ean stepped up. “You know the routine. We will now greet the lines on this ship.”
He started with line one. The standard introductory training song. The crew of the Eleven called it the Hello Song, and it was as good a name as any.
Here, on the Confluence, the lines were strong. Even Peters’s eyes widened as line one answered.
Maybe it was as simple as that. They should have brought them onto the Confluence first, and all that antagonism would have gone.
Line two.
Sale came over to Ean while he waited for them to sing. “Thanks for the amplification, Ean. It was a good idea.”
“That wasn’t my idea. It was the ship’s.” Yes, and ship was feeling pretty satisfied with the praise. “Have you ever sat in the captain’s chair, Sale?”
“I wouldn’t dream of doing so.”
“But you’ve spent a lot of time on the bridge.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
Ean sang line three and waited for the trainees to sing it, too, and for the reply.
“Ean, you don’t ask questions without a purpose.”
Ean ignored that.
Line four. The trainees were more animated, and so was the ship. Not only that, the ships of the whole fleet were listening in. The council had better come up with that list of ships and worlds, for if the ships started choosing people, Ean didn’t know what he was going to do.
“I think.” What did he think? “I think that you don’t always have to be a linesman for the lines to hear you.”