Confluence

by S. K. Dunstall

If it had been Michelle in the Factor’s place, she would have admitted she’d been part of it and not made Abram—for Ean was sure from the way he moved and spoke that Jakob was more than a simple bodyguard—take the blame.

  The linesman improved enough for Sale to help him sit up. “The confluence. I thought it had gone. It’s . . . amazing.”

  Ean knelt beside the other man. “Linesman?” He made it a question.

  “Glenn. Linesman Glenn. House of Sandhurst. Level seven.” It was an automatic reply, one linesman to another.

  Ean hid the disquiet the information gave him. Linesmen level seven and above remained with the cartel houses. They also wore house colors. The fact that Glenn hadn’t meant what?

  “How do you feel?”

  “I’m fine, I think.” Glenn smiled again. “I was at the confluence, but it was nothing like this.”

  Sometimes, it seemed to Ean that he was the only linesman who’d never visited the Confluence back when no one had known it was a ship trapped in the void. “Good.” He stood up. Based on his experience with linesmen, Glenn would be fine.

  “The linesman stays with the shuttle,” Orsaya said. “The stronger lines on the bridge could kill him. We had an incident yesterday where the lines accidentally killed a linesman.”

  The Factor nodded, as did Governor Jade. News traveled fast.

  “So how dangerous are these ships?”

  “You saw the news the other night, Factor,” Governor Jade said. “Deadly, I’d say.”

  “To their own side, I mean.”

  “Dangerous,” Ean said, because he wanted them to realize that.

  “Dangerous and deadly.” Confluence’s lines sounded smug.

  There might have been a bit of miscommunication there. Not to its own side, surely. “Surely that’s not how you want to be thought of?” But he’d forgotten, this was a warship.

  He’d also forgotten he hadn’t planned on singing in front of the Factor.

  “The singing, Linesman?” the Factor asked. “What does that signify?”

  He’d jumped on a single tune very fast. Almost as if he’d been waiting for a song so he could ask the question. How much did he know?

  “Are you kidding?” Linesman Glenn said. “That’s Crazy Ean Lambert. He always sings.”

  “Sings?” the Factor asked. Did Ean imagine it, or was it taking an effort to keep up the friendly facade?

  “And he’s famous right now,” Glenn said. “Because the New Alliance is so desperate for tens, Lady Lyan paid millions of credits for him. Even though he sings. The linesmen are still talking about it.” He looked at Ean. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”

  But he had, and everyone on ship knew it, including the Confluence, and the ship didn’t like it. Or was reflecting someone else’s dislike of it, rather. Ean guessed it was Sale, and was warmed by her unspoken defense.

  “I’m used to it,” Ean told Sale though Glenn had been the one to speak.

  “We’re not. And we don’t appreciate the insult to our linesman.”

  “Not here. Wrong place. Wrong time.”

  Something must have got through, for Sale straightened and looked at Abram. “Sorry, sir.”

  Yes. The Confluence was listening too much to Sale, and she was listening back.

  “We should move on,” Abram said with a slight smile. “We’ve a trip ahead of us.”

  And Abram would have shut down the conversation long ago if he hadn’t wanted to hear it.

  Sale looked at Bhaksir. “Leave someone to guard Linesman Glenn.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Bhaksir chose Ru Li and Gossamer, and she stayed as well.

  Ean listened to Glenn talk to them as the tour made the long trek up to the bridge.

  “It’s hard, not wearing the uniform when you’re from a cartel house. You feel as if you’ve suddenly become invisible.”

  Ru Li danced around the shuttle bay, seemingly unable to keep still. “I hope they paid you a lot of money to do it, then. I wouldn’t become invisible for anyone.”

  The dance took him around the whole bay. It was a Ru Li-style sentry march.

  “They’re not paying money.” Glenn rubbed his hands together. “I get to take part in an experimental program House of Sandhurst is supplying linesmen for.”

  Captain Jakob let go of the center rail momentarily, grabbed it again as Craik turned into another corridor. Ean leaned over. “Are you all right?”

  Jakob didn’t pay any attention to Ean.

  “I get to work with people like Dr. Quinn, who’s done so much to open line theory recently,” Glenn said.

  “How do you open line theory?” Ru Li asked. “Make it available to the public?”

  Jakob twitched.

  He couldn’t be listening to Glenn. Could he? How?

  “Of course not.” Glenn looked at Ru Li as if wondering if he was a little simple. Which was exactly what Ru Li would have been aiming for, knowing Ru Li. “Information like this is so classified even the linesmen don’t know about it.”

  Ru Li and Gossamer would find out what they could from Glenn. Ean’s job was to stop the snooping. He sang under his breath, searching for unknown line fives on the ship. Yes. There.

  And there. And there.

  Someone was leaving listening devices along the way. He was tempted to send a high-pitched noise through line five, to see what Jakob would do. No, it was better if he didn’t know they had been discovered. Not yet, anyway.

  They stopped and stepped off the cart to look at the immense image on the wall of the crew room. Another listening device joined the others.

  “Impressive, isn’t it,” Governor Jade said. “I predict a new art movement will sweep the galaxy over the next few years.”

  One of the Factor’s bodyguards stepped close. The ship seemed to consider him while he considered the image.

  “No, not that one,” line one said, and the other lines agreed.

  That was strange. The whole ship was a little strange today. Ean would be glad when the Factor and his people were off the ship.

  “Or that one,” as they moved on and another of the party stopped to inspect a door.

  “Not that one, either,” the other lines agreed.

  If Ean had been alone, he would have asked what the ship was doing. But he wasn’t alone, and he didn’t trust the Factor or his so-called bodyguard.

  Back at the shuttle bay, Ru Li was saying, “According to Jordan Rossi, the only good line scientist is a dead one.”

  “You’ve met Jordan Rossi.” The lines were full of Glenn’s awe.

  “A couple of times. Haven’t you?”

  “Not Jordan Rossi. Or Rebekah Grimes, either. What’s she like?” He asked the question as if he thought she was still alive, working for the New Alliance.

  Ru Li looked at Bhaksir and Hana.

  “I don’t think we met her,” Bhaksir said.

  Beside Ean, Jakob relaxed.

  The group moved on, Sale, Abram, and Orsaya answering questions.

  Another five joined the chorus of strange line fives. Should Ean do something about it? Like ask Jakob to empty his pockets? Not yet. Wait until their visitors were gone. Otherwise, they’d plant something else, something harder to detect.

  They reached the bridge. Sale and Abram started explaining the setup to the visitors. Only one person really saw anything. The woman who’d stepped out of the shuttle in front of Glenn. Ean was certain she could hear the panels.

  The Worlds of the Lesser Gods had come well prepared. A multilevel and a single-level linesman.

  Should Ean say anything? Or pretend he hadn’t noticed?

  Orsaya came over to stand beside him. “Is everything all right?”

  Ean looked at the single-level linesman.

  “I hear y
ou.” Then, as the Factor came over to join them, “How are you finding it so far, Factor? Somewhat of a letdown when you cannot even read the boards.”

  “It’s impressive just in the size,” the Factor said. “I have warships whose whole crew would fit onto this bridge. And everyone on board would be deaf and blind to it. As am I. Tell me, Linesman,” to Ean. “What do you see?”

  The correct question was, “What do you hear?” but Ean chose to interpret it literally. He knew what Sale couldn’t see. “Flickering lights. A starfield.”

  “And only linesmen can see this?”

  Most people didn’t yet know about single-level linesmen. “Certified linesmen, and those who failed certification,” and Ean looked deliberately at the single level the Factor had brought with him.

  The Factor followed his gaze. “I see.”

  “We all see,” Orsaya said. “Let’s ensure it doesn’t happen again. You won’t get off so lightly another time.” She smiled, all teeth. “You have used up some goodwill already.”

  Governor Jade was talking to Sale. “I’m not sure,” Sale said. “Ean?”

  He moved across to them.

  Behind him, the Factor turned to Orsaya. “I believe you made a study of linesmen, Admiral.”

  “I have, yes.”

  “Particularly the higher-level linesmen. Did you study Lambert at all?”

  “Of course.”

  “He came out of nowhere to become the leading linesman for the New Alliance.”

  If the Factor had been a linesman—which he wasn’t—he would have felt the chill sweep the ship though Orsaya’s voice retained its normal crusty tone. “Out of nowhere, Factor? He was the only linesman working with high-level lines for six months.”

  Had the Factor timed his question so that only Orsaya and some of the guards were close?

  Abram moved to join Orsaya and the Factor. Jakob intercepted him, asking about something on the wall. Abram stopped to answer him.

  Deliberate? Or coincidental.

  If it was deliberate, then the Factor hadn’t heard Ean could listen through the lines, for otherwise he’d know that no matter how he kept his voice down, or how many people Jakob kept away, Ean would hear him.

  “So Lambert was lucky. In the right place, at the right time. The rumors of his abilities . . .” The Factor let the words trail off.

  Yes, he had been in the right place, and no one could deny that. Ean couldn’t help his smile.

  “It depends what you mean by rumors, Factor. Maybe if you asked straight out what you want to know, I could answer your question.”

  The Factor looked at her as if no one had spoken to him bluntly before. Maybe they hadn’t.

  Orsaya waited for his response.

  “Admiral Orsaya, you have a level ten of your own under contract. Surely it irks you that Lambert was elevated above him merely by a combination of circumstance and birth. Jordan Rossi is a strong ten. Possibly the strongest now that Rebekah Grimes has gone.”

  He knew Grimes was dead even if Glenn didn’t.

  “Yes, Rossi is strong.” Orsaya bared her teeth in another smile. “But Factor, don’t make the mistake of assuming Lambert is weak simply because of his reputation. It takes resilience and determination to get where he is.”

  Was it a warning? Or a threat?

  Abram joined them. The Factor nodded and turned to where Sale was explaining how they had integrated the human equipment alongside the alien boards. The guards were asking plenty of questions. Intelligent questions. Expert questions. Ean was pleased when Sale gave one of them a flat stare.

  “That’s classified.”

  Eventually, Abram glanced at his comms. “I’m afraid that’s all we have time for on this visit.”

  “Surely a few more moments,” the Factor said, although Ean had the feeling he was as impatient as Ean was for this trip to be over.

  Abram sounded regretful. “Apologies, but our time is heavily scheduled. I am sure your time is, as well. Governor Jade is to address the council this afternoon, and Admiral Orsaya and I have a meeting with Admirals MacClennan and Katida.”

  “Of course.” The Factor smiled although his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

  Jakob secreted one final device, and they all stepped back onto the cart.

  Governor Jade gripped tight. “Surely the aliens had a better transport system than this. Or did they run all the way to the bridge?”

  “We don’t know, Governor,” Abram said. “We certainly haven’t found anything we identify as transport yet.”

  The ship was considering the single-level linesman again.

  “Yes?”

  “No,” Ean said. “She’s banned.”

  “But she is promising,” the ship said.

  “No.” He was singing in front of people he didn’t want to sing in front of, but he couldn’t stop there. “She works for bad people.”

  “We like her.”

  Ean sighed. “What’s your name?” he asked the single-level linesman. If Michelle did marry the Factor, then theoretically she could be one of the crew. And why was the ship suddenly considering who was suitable and who wasn’t?

  “You said we could,” the ship reminded him.

  He had?

  The linesman didn’t give her name. Ean didn’t care. He’d get it later. Abram would know.

  “I realize this is a miracle ship,” Governor Jade confessed to Sale, as the cart made its way back the way it had come. “But it still scares me. I’m happy to get back to something human.”

  She didn’t have to say it aloud.

  “We don’t mind,” the ship lines said comfortingly in Ean’s mind. “We don’t want her anyway.”

  Ean didn’t answer that. There was nothing he could say.

  The Confluence responded more to nonlinesman than the Eleven did. Was that because most of the people who came to it were nonlinesmen? Or was it because—being a larger ship—it had housed nonlinesmen in the past?

  * * *

  AFTER the shuttle had left, Ean said, “Jakob is not coming back on this ship.”

  “Give us a reason. We can’t ban someone just because you don’t like them.” Sale paused to think about that. “Or can we?”

  “What about leaving bugs around?”

  Ean sang them through the ship, finding the tiny line fives. As he found each one, he channeled the signal back to the other devices that had been placed. When he was done, the only things these little lines were communicating with were each other. Sale picked them off the wall as he located each one.

  “Normally we’d leave them.” She tossed the last of them into a container. “Doctor them to send back misinformation. Are you sure that’s all, Ean?”

  “I think so.”

  “We’ll take these back as evidence. That woman. She was a linesman?”

  “Did you know?”

  “A blind man could have seen the way she reacted to the boards.”

  Smugness washed through the lines. It came from the ship, not from Sale. You couldn’t fool its people.

  Its people? “These are not your people. They’re Helmo’s.”

  Did he imagine that the ship deliberately ignored that? Could lines indicate deliberate ignoring anyway?

  “This ship,” Ean told Sale, “is acting strangely.”

  “You have to expect that, Ean. It’s just had unpleasant visitors.”

  Sale was as bad as the ship.

  * * *

  WHEN he got back to Confluence Station, Ean called Vega. He made the line secure.

  “No,” Vega said. “I haven’t heard anything. On jobs like this, Lambert, you don’t, and you don’t want to, either.”

  He hadn’t been calling about that, but it was good to have the report.

  “What if she’s in trouble?”

&nb
sp; “We expect her to get out of it herself. The only time she’ll send a message is if she’s in so much trouble she can’t get out of it. It’s called a dead man’s message, for obvious reasons, so you’d better hope we don’t hear from her.”

  Ean fervently hoped they wouldn’t, and equally fervently hoped she’d be back soon. “I need to talk to Linesman Glenn.” Glenn had mentioned an experimental line project, and Ean wanted to know more. He might not tell Ean, but he would tell Jordan Rossi. If Rossi chose to cooperate, and given it was line business, he would.

  “You’re too late.”

  He hoped she meant they’d sent Glenn home, and not the way she’d made it sound.

  “Glenn had a line-induced heart attack on the way back in the shuttle. They couldn’t do anything for him.”

  Ean stared at her image. “Line eleven’s been quiet all afternoon.”

  Lemon-sour Vega washed over him. “So say the linesmen on board this ship. Someone didn’t like his being outed as a linesman.”

  A heart attack. Someone had come well prepared.

  “We’re going over ship records now,” Vega said. “If you can think of anything he said or did that might have triggered an outcome like that, let me know.”

  “Glenn was about to start working on a top secret line project. House of Sandhurst was involved. And someone called Dr. Quinn. It’s probably not important, but Jakob didn’t like his talking about it.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out,” Vega said.

  The first thing Ean did after he clicked off was send a request to all the fleet lines. If Radko called, he wanted to know the instant it happened.

  Vega called back half an hour later. “You have good instincts. We’ll never make a decent soldier of you, but you can be useful on occasion.”

  That was just Vega’s manner. Ean could hear through the lines that she was pleased with what she had discovered. “Your friend Dr. Quinn works for TwoPaths Engineering.”

  TwoPaths Engineering was a Redmond company. They made spaceships based on the plans of the Havortian, the alien spaceship that had been discovered five hundred years earlier. They didn’t realize the New Alliance knew that. Or the fact that TwoPaths’ sister company—FiveTrees Consolidated—was building weapons based on those same plans.