“I’ve spoken to Markan,” Vilhjalmsson said. “Your jump is in two hours, with a window of one.”
Abram grimaced. “Just enough time to get back to the Lancastrian Princess. I’ll bet that was deliberate.”
He clicked off and turned back to Orsaya and Katida. “We’ll set up an interim ruling committee for Lancia. Until that’s done, we’ll spend some time there, but come back here for council meetings and other items as required.”
“Markan will know he has you over a barrel,” Katida said. “You can’t do it without jumps.”
“I’ll offer him what I can of Yu’s plans. I will also, as a gesture of goodwill, tell Vilhjalmsson about the Emperor before he leaves the ship. Speaking of which”—Abram glanced at the now-silent screen—“we’d best get to the Lancastrian Princess, given the jump window is so small.”
“And while you’re away?” Katida asked. “What happens here?”
“The Department of Alien Affairs will run well enough without me.”
“And the council?”
Abram smiled faintly and looked across at Ean. “There were only ever three Lancastrians the councilors trusted. Now there’s probably only one. Ean, can you make yourself available for any questions or issues the councilors might have? We’ll be back for the council meetings.”
That meant Ean would stay here, on Confluence Station. If Ean wasn’t going on the Lancastrian Princess, Abram would expect to have Fergus as the seven to delink the ships.
“Abram, you should know Fergus is—” How did he put it? “Sore. He stepped in front of a blaster. Although he was wearing his suit.”
“I’m fine,” Fergus told Abram. “A silly mistake on my behalf. Everyone’s told me how stupid I was.” He shuddered. “And Arun Chaudry explained, in detail, exactly how the heat produces the concussive effect.”
“You were lucky,” Abram said. “I’m sure it’s a lesson well learned. Can you sing?”
Fergus sang to line seven. The sevens answered back.
“You’ll do.” Abram took time to give quick instructions to Sale—who’d arrived back on a separate shuttle—before he left. “Ean will explain further, but he will report to you for the moment. Help Radko protect him. He’ll be spending a lot of time talking with councilors. Orsaya has overall control of the linesmen for the moment.”
Katida joined them at the shuttle bay while they waited for Vilhjalmsson.
“I’d love to stay and hear the full story. But I’ve some fires to fight of my own. I’m looking forward to the announcement.” And she rubbed her hands together. “I’ve lost count of the people who’ve said to me, ‘If only we can be sure Lady Lyan truly was in charge, but we can’t.’”
“And now she is.” How different would Lancia be with Michelle in charge? Maybe, for people like Ean, from the slums, there’d be no change at all, but Lancia had a future now. And a place in the New Alliance.
Provided Ean didn’t say anything too stupid.
“You’ll be fine,” Katida said, though he hadn’t said anything. “Be yourself, Ean. That’s all anyone ever requires of you.”
That’s all he could be, so that’s what people were going to get. “What will happen now, do you think? To the New Alliance.”
“We have a future,” Katida said. “And if Galenos can pull another rabbit out of his hat, we’ll have peace, too.”
What exactly was a rabbit, anyway? And why did you pull one out of a hat?
Katida’s shuttle arrived at the next bay. She turned to go, hesitated. “You realize some members of the council will take the opportunity while you are away to push for their own captain for the Confluence.” A strong sense of Admiral Carrell came through the lines. Chocolate, with a bitter aftertaste and a jagged tone.
“It may be no bad thing,” Abram said. “Let them feel they have some control. You should push for it yourself, Katida. A sideways promotion this time. Someone political, like your own Captain Terrigal.”
A song of affront rolled off Katida, strong enough to make Ean step back. “Are you planning to weaken Balian that much? Terrigal will be admiral when I retire. You know that.”
“I do know that,” Abram agreed. “And I approve.”
“So why condemn him to a ship?”
“Maybe it doesn’t have to be that way, Katida. Ean seems to think it doesn’t.”
Abram had listened. He had understood.
Katida’s glance at Ean was sharp. “I thought Ean was all for this bonding.”
Ean bit his lip. How did he say it? “The Confluence has already chosen its Ship.”
“I’ll make a deal with you, Katida,” Abram said. “I will support your applicant, Terrigal, provided you and Terrigal support my applicant when Terrigal retires. It will work for both of us. Everyone on the council knows Terrigal is ambitious. Your enemies will be happy to have him out of the way.”
Vilhjalmsson and his escort of Orsaya’s guards turned into the corridor leading to the shuttle bays.
Abram lowered his voice so that the approaching prisoner didn’t hear. “And between us, we might be able to hide the fact that we no longer have any say over who controls the ship.”
Katida’s eyes seemed to see forever. “Sale. It can only be Sale.”
Ean breathed deep and didn’t say anything.
“Imagine it, Katida. Terrigal will be the only admiral who’s ever captained a ship,” and Abram raised his voice to normal levels as he turned to greet Vilhjalmsson.
As both admirals turned to their own shuttle bays, the other line eights caught the echo of Katida’s eight, and amplified it throughout the fleet. “Imagine it.”
“Abram understood,” Ean said to Radko, as they turned to go back to their temporary home on Confluence Station. Or maybe not so temporary for a while.
“Of course he did. He’s Abram Galenos.”
Sale met them halfway. “Did Galenos say what I thought he said? Emperor Yu?”
“He did,” Ean said. “But you shouldn’t say it in words, Sale. Not till they make the announcement. There’s a level-one linesman on the Galactic News ship, and he picks up everything.”
“Now he tells us.”
“I’ll let Galenos know about him. After this other business.” Radko glanced at her comms. “Meantime, I need to talk to Han. Vega says his father is here. They have something to say to each other.”
“We put your team in with the linesmen,” Sale said. “We weren’t sure if we should have put them in with our own or not, but they are linesmen.”
Yves Jaxon Han wasn’t.
“Thanks.”
Radko’s three team members came across as soon as Radko arrived.
“I see what you mean about the singing,” Han said. “They’re all singing.”
They weren’t, but enough of them were that Ean was pleased. There was one group of five, but most of those practicing were individuals, sounding out their new talents. One of them was Alex Joy, the Xanto. He was singing to line three on Confluence Station.
Ean went over to him. “There’s another line trying to talk to you as well.” The scout that had claimed the Xantos for its own. “You should listen and reply. It’s only polite.”
Joy looked at him, listened, then extended his song to include the other line.
The line came back with enthusiasm.
Ean returned to Radko and her team of three.
“How’s it going?” Radko asked them.
“Weird,” van Heel said. “I think they’re all crazy.”
“You’ll be one of those crazies very soon, van Heel, so you’re talking about yourself.” She turned to Han. “A private word with you.”