509. Building Fleets

Talking to Ermine about it was the first thing he did upon arriving at Sky Haven. Remian brought it up before they even left the docking bay.

“It wasn’t me.” Ermine said half-defensively. “It was those scholarship students of yours.”

“Scholarship students?”

“Why, yes, these are the children who studied starship engineering through your scholarship. While it doesn’t actually make any difference, technically they’re now working for you, not me. I set them up with their own shipyard, gave them a whole lot of space and some funding, and let them run their own shipbuilding company. They called it Starbright Shipyards.”

“Their own company?” Remian eyed her sideways.

“I was trying to raise them the way you would. That’s your style, isn’t it? Let them start their own gig and then support them from behind?”

Remian thought about it for a moment. “Okay. But we can’t just leave them to their own devices completely. We need to provide oversight.”

“Oh, I do keep an eye on them. I also offer t