'I see,' Layson repeated, then let his chair come upright. 'Unfortunately, Lieutenant, I've already heard another account of the discussion which doesn't exactly tally with yours.'
'Sir?' Santino drew himself up and squared his shoulders. 'Sir, if Harrington has been trying to -- '
'I didn't say I'd heard it from Midshipwoman Harrington,' Layson said frostily, and Santino shut his mouth with a click. 'Nor did I say I'd heard it from only one person,' the Exec went on with cold dispassion. 'In fact, I have six eyewitnesses, and none of them -- not one, Lieutenant Santino -- describes events as you just did. Would you perhaps care to comment on this minor discrepancy?'
Santino licked his lips and felt sweat prickle under the band of his beret as the ice in the Exec's voice registered.
'Sir, I can only report my own impressions,' he said. 'And with all due respect, Sir, I've had ample opportunity to watch Harrington's behavior and attitude over the last eight weeks. Perhaps that gives me, as her training officer, somewhat more insight into her character than a petty officer and working party who haven't had the advantage of that perspective.'
'The senior chief petty officer in question,' Layson said quietly, 'has been in the King's Navy for seven years longer than you've been alive, Lieutenant Santino. In that time, he's had the opportunity to see more midshipmen and midshipwomen than you've seen dinners. I am not prepared to entertain any suggestion that he is too inexperienced to form a reasonable and reliable opinion of Ms. Harrington's character. Do I make myself clear?'
'Yes, Sir!'
Santino was perspiring freely now, and Layson stood behind his desk.
'As a matter of fact, Mr. Santino, I asked Senior Chief Shelton to share the insight of his many years of experience with me some days ago when I began to hear a few disturbing reports about our officer candidates. As such, he was acting under my direct instructions when he gave me his version of your ... discussion with Ms. Harrington. Frankly, I'm happy he was there, because this episode simply confirms something I'd already come to suspect. Which is, Mr. Santino, that you are clearly too stupid to pour piss out of a boot without printed instructions!'
The Exec's voice cracked like a whip on the last sentence, and Santino flinched. Then his face darkened and his lips thinned.
'Sir, I resent your implications and strongly protest your language! Nothing in the Articles of War requires me to submit to personal insults and abuse!'
'But the Articles do require Ms. Harrington and her fellow middies to submit to your personal insults and abuse?' Layson's voice was suddenly like silk wrapped around a dagger's blade. 'Is that what you're saying, Mr. Santino?'
'I -- ' Santino began, then cut himself off and licked his lips again as he realized the Exec had set him up.
'Sir, the situations aren't parallel,' he said finally. 'Harrington and the other snotties are fresh out of the Academy. They're still learning that the world isn't going to stand around and wipe their noses for them. If I seemed -- or if Senior Chief Shelton thought I seemed -- abusive, I was simply trying to help toughen them up and turn them into proper King's officers!'
He met Layson's cold eyes defiantly, and the Exec's lip curled.
'Somehow I knew you were going to say that, Lieutenant,' he observed. 'And, of course, no one can prove you're lying. If I could prove it, I would have you up on charges so fast your head would spin. Since I can't, I will explain this to you once. I will explain it only once, however, and you had better by God be listening.'
The Exec didn't raise his voice, but Santino swallowed hard as Layson walked around the desk, hitched a hip up to rest on it, folded his arms across his chest, and looked him straight in the eye.
'For your information, Mr. Santino, those young men and women are already King's officers. They are also in their final form at the Academy, true, and they're here for evaluation as well as training. But while they are here aboard this ship, they are just as much members of her company and King's officers as you are. This means they are to be treated with respect, especially by their seniors. A midshipman cruise is supposed to be stressful. It is supposed to put sufficient pressure on a midshipman -- or woman -- to allow us to evaluate his ability to function under it and to teach him that he can hack tough assignments. It is not supposed to expose any of them to abuse, to bullying, or to the unearned contempt of a superior officer too stupid to know what his own duties and responsibilities are.'
'Sir, I have never abused or bullied -- '
'Lieutenant, you've never stopped bullying them!' Layson snapped. 'As just one example, the term 'snotty,' while universally accepted as a slang label for a midshipman on his training cruise, is not an epithet to be hurled contemptuously at them by their own training officer! You have hectored and hounded them from the outset, and I strongly suspect that it's because you are a coward as well as stupid. After all, who expects a mere midshipwoman to stand up to a superior officer? Especially when she knows that superior officer can flush her career right out the air lock with a bad efficiency report?'
Santino stood rigid, his jaws locked, and Layson regarded him with cold contempt.
'You are relieved as officer candidate training officer for cause, effective immediately, Lieutenant Santino. I will report that fact to the Captain, and he will undoubtedly select another officer to fill that slot. In the meantime, you will prepare all records on the midshipmen formerly under your supervision for immediate transfer to that officer. Further, you will take no action against Midshipwoman Harrington, any other midshipman aboard this ship, Senior Chief Shelton, or any member of Ms. Harrington's work party which I or the Captain could conceivably construe as retaliation. Should you choose to do so, I assure you, you will regret it. Is that clearly understood?'
Santino nodded convulsively, and Layson gave him a thin smile.
'I'm afraid I didn't hear you, Mr. Santino. I asked if that was clearly understood.'
'Yes, Sir.' It came out strangled, and Layson smiled again.
'Very good, Lieutenant,' he said softly. 'Dismissed.'
Honor never knew exactly what Commander Layson had to say to Santino that afternoon, but the vicious hatred which looked at her out of Santino's eyes told her that it had not been pleasant. She and her fellow middies did their best -- by and large successfully -- to restrain their rejoicing when Commander Layson announced that Lieutenant Saunders would replace him, but it was impossible to fool anyone in a world as small as a single starship.
Conditions on Snotty Row improved both drastically and immediately. There was a tough, professional-minded officer behind Saunders' cheerful face, but Santino's mocking contempt was utterly foreign to the assistant astrogator. No one but a fool -- which none of War Maiden's middies were -- would write Saunders off as an easy touch, but he obviously felt no temptation to hammer the midshipmen in his care simply because he could, and that was more than enough to endear him to them.
Unfortunately, it was impossible for the middies to completely avoid Santino even after Saunders replaced him. Tactics were one of the areas in which their training was most intense, which was why the assistant head of that department was traditionally the OCTO aboard any ship. The fact that Santino had been relieved of those duties -- obviously for cause -- was going to be a serious black mark on his record, which no doubt helped explain some of the hatred which so plainly burned within him. But it also made the change in assignments awkward for everyone involved. He might have been relieved as their training officer, but whatever the Exec and the Captain might have had to say to him in private, he had not been relieved of any other duties. Honor quickly noticed that Lieutenant Commander Hirake seemed to hand out a much higher percentage of their training assignments than had previously been the case, but it was impossible for any of them to report to Hirake without at least entering Santino's proximity. At least half the time, Santino was still the tac officer who actually oversaw their training sims, and none of them enjoyed it a bit when that happened. Nor did he, for that matter. He was careful to restrict himself to formalities, but the glitter in his eyes was ample proof of how difficult he found that. In some ways, it was almost hard not to sympathize with him. Given the circumstances of his relief, his contact with them as simply one more assistant department head was guaranteed to grind his nose into his disgrace. But however well Honor understood what he must be feeling, she, for one, was never tempted to feel sorry for him in the least. Besides, being Elvis Santino, it never occurred to him to blame anyone but Honor Harrington for what had happened to him, and despite anything the Exec had said to him, he was constitutionally incapable of hiding his hatred for her. Since he was going to feel that way whatever she did, she refused to strain herself trying to feel sympathy for someone who so amply merited his disgrace.
