“What…what does un-sorted mean?” I ask, looking first at Luca and then a little frantically around at the rest of the boys, all of whom are equally a bit dour.
“It just means that they’re deciding where Luca fits,” Jesse says, giving a shrug.
“He’s sugar coating it,” Luca corrects, and I turn my head back to him. “It means that they don’t yet see me as…fit for upper service. That I am, essentially, a high-powered grunt for now.”
“Luca,” I say, again raising my hand to his cheek as I frown at him. “Who –“
“Those are his words,” Rafe interrupts, and I turn to look at him. “And he’s being way too hard on himself. Every Cadet that graduates from the Academy is elite – some are sorted into specializations, some are not. Luca, as-yet, was not. And he might later, or he might not, but it’s
