“He’s very capable,” Stella said. “Maybe he’s hiding out where he can’t get a signal.”
“I hope so.”
“You sound tired—where are you?”
“At the Academy.” The incongruity of the situation hit her suddenly, exhaustion and worry making it suddenly funny. “I’m the—” She couldn’t stop the laughter. “I’m the new—the new Commandant!”
“You’re what? Are you serious?”
The urge to laugh vanished as fast as it had appeared. “Yes. I’m just very, very tired and it’s been a long busy two days. And I’m worried. Stella, I’m sorry I was wrong and you were attacked. And I’m so tired—I really need sleep.”
“Talk to me tomorrow,” Stella said. She sounded calm, reasonable, no undertones of resentment at all.
“I will.”
Ky lay back on the bed and hoped for sleep so deep nothing could wake her. She suspected something would. Sure enough, the moment she had turned out the light, one of the coms beside the bed rang. Yellow again.
“Commandant? This is Major Hemins. We have a situation in the second-years.”
“Define situation.” She fought back a yawn.
“A fight. Three cadets. About… um… you. Your selection. Whether it was legal.”
“What is the protocol for handling fights among cadets these days?” Ky asked. “In my day, cadets fighting would have been confined to quarters overnight and lined up in front of the Commandant’s desk the next day.”
“It’s… well, that’s it, but I thought you should know.”
“Of course I should know, if I’m going to be ripping them a new one tomorrow morning. I want them in my office at 0700. And I want a complete report on the fight on my desk within the hour.”
“Yes, Commandant. By complete you mean—”
“Complete. Start to finish. Witness names, names of staff in that barracks, full dossier on all three cadets. You can cut and paste, for the background, but I want it all.”
“Yes, Commandant. Within the hour.” He sounded tired, as she was, and not completely convinced.
“Major, if you think I’m on the wrong tack, spit it out.”
“Not wrong, Commandant; it’s your choice. But—it’s not characteristic, and all this is sudden—”
As if wars weren’t. Ky swallowed another yawn. “And?”
“This class started with the Old Man—before Kvannis. And then the shuttle crashed and Kvannis took over. Yes, the Old Man had been grooming him for it, but it wasn’t the same, couldn’t be. And now Kvannis is out and you’re the third Commandant they’ve had in a year and a half. And to these cadets it doesn’t matter whether Kvannis ran or was booted, it’s still another sudden switch. They knew Kvannis; he’d been second in command when they arrived; the senior classes all knew him, too. They don’t know you except by reputation.”
Ky said nothing, waiting him out. Somewhere in there was something he thought important.
“That’s no excuse, of course. The fight was wrong; they have to be disciplined…”
“Do you have a suggestion, Major?”
“The whole class is upset and they’ve been talking it over, arguing. Only three of them actually mixed it up before their cadet officer got there, at least that she saw.”
“Um. Do you know why they think my appointment wasn’t legal? Just the change or something specifically about me?”
“That I don’t know. But I know since the Old Man died the tone has changed. You were here; you remember how in the second year a class really begins to come together.”
She did remember, though she’d paid little attention to her memories of her class. “Yes—for some of us it was earlier, but most—second year.”
“Well, it hasn’t happened in this class. There are little groups, but not any real unity.”
“That… puts a slightly different light on it, Major. So you noticed a preexisting disunity, not connected to me because I wasn’t here.”
“Yes, Commandant. And I think whatever you choose to do, it needs to be something that will meld them together, at least get that started.”
“Something that will affect the entire class—ideas?”
“I can’t really think of anything, Commandant.”
“All right. I’ll sleep on it. Tell them they’ll be seeing me in the morning; don’t specify a time. Confine them all to quarters until then, skip breakfast, mention ‘inspection’ and ‘classwork’ and let them sweat some. I’ll contact you in the morning, let you know if I’ve thought of something more than I planned at first.”
“Yes, Commandant. Thank you.”
“I need an idea fairy,” Ky said to the silence in her bedroom. And went to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The great hall was cold in the early-morning light, and the mass of second-year cadets standing in their ranks looked both hungry—they had not had breakfast—and sullen. Ky could feel the mood, as well as see it in their faces. Resentment, not just apprehension. Well… that was unity of a sort, however negative and transitory; all she had to do was make it positive and permanent. Major Hemins, beside her and a step behind, radiated determination, if not confidence in her.
“I was informed late last night that a new disturbance had broken out among the second-year class.” Ky paused to let that sink in. More apprehension, less resentment, for the moment. They didn’t know how much she knew. Good. “I was also informed that this is not the first disturbance among you, not the first sign you have not learned the importance of bonding among military officers. Why this was not handled promptly and effectively before, I neither know nor care. What I will tell you is that on my watch, your lack of ability and willingness to trust your classmates—and to be worthy of their trust—will not be tolerated.”
A vague stir among the cadets.
“By this time in second year, you should have shown more growth in character. No doubt there are individuals among you who have done better than the rest, and no doubt you are proud of yourselves. But excellence in your own accomplishments is not enough for an officer, and your excellence has not transferred to your classmates. You have not brought them up to your standard.
“And that is a vital part of leadership: to inspire, enforce, and enable excellence of character and skills in everyone who serves beside or under you. That is what your Academy training is for, not merely personal advancement.” She paused again, seeing chagrin on some faces, stubborn resentment on others, surprise on a few. What had Kvannis been doing, that these youngsters didn’t already know this?
“Now,” she said, “as far as the cause of various disturbances, it seems that some of you feel qualified to critique the actions of officers who are far senior to you. And you feel it appropriate to incite or take part in arguments and… disturbances… related to your opinions. I remind you of Section Fourteen, paragraph one, in the Joint Services Manual of Courts-Martial, as well as Section Three, paragraph one-f, in the Code of Conduct for this Academy: ‘Cadets are not to engage in discussions of politics outside those classes in which it is relevant.’ Inciting disturbances is an article within the Joint Services Code of Military Justice, an article that, if it appears in someone’s service record, whether a court-martial finds them guilty or not, permanently excludes that individual from having a security clearance above Basic Two. And thus, since officers must all possess a Senior Two or above, it excludes any person awaiting commissioning from being commissioned.”