Steven's ears fold back sympathetically, knowing how much he'd hate to be in a situation where the had to do a trial or risk punishment. He'd been very relieved to see that he was doing satisfactory, even if a more thorough examination of the board had left him agitated all over again.

"I'm not going to," he says, his tail thrashing a little as he speaks. he doesn't know if that's what Childermass was implying, but he's going to say it anyway. "But... there's gotta be a way we can all help each other, right? Like... what if we took turns trying to get people out of Eta first? If we could do that..."