On the ground
Faldaiza Port
In which Cantra acquires a co-pilot, a mechanic, and a damn’ vegetable.
There are, at various points in the series, mentions of the Tree’s leaves rustling in a way that has nothing to do with any wind that might be blowing. In this chapter, there’s the inverse: at a moment when rustling leaves would be an unhelpful distraction, the Tree’s leaves stay still despite the wind.
What with Cantra complaining about Jela not knowing who’s after him, it occurs to me that I don’t know who’s after him either. What are the options? Agents of the Enemy disguised as humans? Actual humans who have some reason to want Jela’s efforts to fail?
As Dulsey shows hidden depths and a desire to seek an independent destiny, we get some more backstory about the way things are for Batchers. The observation that the only sure way to be rid of Batch tattoos is to amputate and regrow both arms is striking, not only for what it says about Batch tattoos but also for what it says about the present state of medicine.
Agents of the enemy don’t have to be disguised as human. If I remember correctly, [spoiler] the designs for both Jela and Cantra came from the enemy [/spoiler] and they both pass as human.
I can imagine that Jela might have interfered with a criminal scheme some where. If it was a business of some criminal gang, then he could have enemies that are not directly related to the war.
We were told that there are factions among the human defense in this war, and I can imagine that Jela might insult or flout orders that he didn’t agree with sufficient to earn himself some enemies. Further, what if some faction’s plan depends on the failure of something Jela’s involved with?
I thinkit might have been his own army after him on Faldasia, especially the X-Strain — like the ones who will nearly kill Tor An yos’Galan. We do not know how many months or years have passed since Jela first got his new mission, but apparently the status is changing. In this book, in chapter 30, on Port Gimlins, Rool Tiazon warns Jela: “As to your mission, M. Jela, you are aware that the Consolidated Commanders have been effectively defeated…They have been routed and are now hunted with more fervor than the proper enemy.”
Poor Cantra just isn’t getting anything she wants – not the companionable evening she had planned, nor the solitude she currently craves. Not even the answers both she and Jela would like to have about who is responsible for their current predicament. Never sweet-tempered and thwarted at every turn, it’s no wonder Jela thinks she needs some soothing calmness. But here, as in a previous chapter, she notices his projection immediately, finds it annoying and tells him not to go to all that trouble on her account. I’d say Jela’s luck-bending effect is stronger than hers, in effect pushing all of her necessities to the side in order to meet Jela’s needs. Turns out to be lucky for all of them, though – Jela’s superior piloting keeps them from being blown up making their escape. And Dulsey proves to be pretty handy to have around, whatever it is that’s going down.
The fact that it turns out to be lucky for all of them makes it tricky to make any definite statement about whose luck is calling the shots: Cantra not getting her way might mean that her luck isn’t winning out, or it might mean that her luck is giving her what she needs regardless of what she wants.
PA: her luck is giving her what she needs regardless of what she wants
And this is apparently the way “the luck” always seems to work: witness the number of times that some member of clan Korval will cite their luck as “undependable” or “unpredictable.”
RE: comment by Late to the party in 2016: Jela’s superior piloting keeps them from being blown up making their escape.
In fact, I don’t think his piloting is in itself superior to Cantra’s. It is more likely that his training included how to avoid missiles of this type. Perhaps it was even his experience in the war that gave him both the knowledge and “autopilot” reaction times necessary to escape this exact type of attack.
I say this is more likely because by chptr 23, Jela is greatly admiring Cantra’s “honed skill” in piloting, so she is at least his equal, but in different circumstances.
This is also just the character view. Since both, Jela and Cantra are not boastful of their abilities they might see someone with equal ability as admirable. Since both are exceptional Master Pilots they also might not have flown with many pilots of their own rank.
True, but that’s kinda my point, although my emphasis was on whether…or not…Jela was a superior pilot to Cantra. I agree that they may be basically equivalent, with differences in experience.