Bechimo
Exercise Room
In which Theo exercises her body and her mind.
I’ve had something of a track record on this blog, with the novels where I’m reading for the first time instead of re-reading, of noting something in an entry and then finding the very next chapter either pushing it further than I expected or completely contradicting it. I don’t think this is actually a problem; I think it’s a sign that the authors are pacing the story properly and layering in the foreshadowing well, so that the reader starts thinking about things just as they are about to become important.
In this case, I was speculating last entry about Bechimo crossing paths with Vepal, and here’s Win Ton raising the possibility of seeking him out deliberately. The way Win Ton describes him seems to confirm that he is the only Yxtrang ambassador, which makes sense — I always did wonder what use the Yxtrang would have for ambassadors — but doesn’t quite mesh with Agent of Change, which implies the widely-known existence of multiple Yxtrang ambassadors.
Landsdowne, the potential destination Bechimo disapproves of, is not a place we’ve previously heard of. That could be a sign that it’s being set up as the destination they’ll end up going to anyway, or it could be just a passing bit of detail to add depth to the world and we’ll never hear of it again. Details like that have gone both ways in the past.
It’s very like Bechimo to be worrying about Theo taking injury while taking exercise, but I don’t think it’s his fault. He was taught to take care for his crew’s safety, and as Theo said a while back he wasn’t taught well about how much risk is accepted just in living.
I may be reading too much into it, but I wonder if the feeling Theo has of a slight unevenness in her stride is actually a sensation she’s picking up from Bechimo, indicating some issue in his systems. Probably not; it’s seemed so far that she’s had no trouble telling her sensations from Bechimo’s — but if it does turn out to be something of the sort, I want it to be on the record that I noticed.
I haven’t re-read the relevant passages of Agent of Change, but I don’t think they’re inconsistent with a single almost unknown Yxtrang ambassador. Someone had set up a system of codes for a vehicle to broadcast to describe the occupants. Once they started producing codes for specific ambassadors, rather than just diplomatic staff, they might well have made a complete list. So whether they knew that there was in fact an Yxtrang ambassador, or whether they just included Yxtrang out of completeness its existence on the list seems reasonable enough. Val Con, being a scout commander, would have known, and realised it would be a good code to broadcast. Anyone receiving the code, and having it translated by their system is likely to have reacted like the repair tech, and concluded that this was not a vehicle to stop, whether or not they’ve ever heard about an Yxtrang ambassador previously.
“What made the cops think we were the Yxtrang ambassador?”
“The emitter says we are.”
Another possible interpretation is that the Yxtrang maintain an embassy on several major Terran worlds, but they have only one ambassadorial delegation. Vepal would have had a few decades to set up house (embassies) on various worlds. But I agree that seems unlikely, given the text itself (“the Yxtrang delegation for this sector is presently on Omenski.”). Also, as noted already, the idea of multiple Yxtrang ambassadors speaking peace seems unlikely given the hostilities between Troop and non-troop.
I have often found discrepancies across books, in small details like this. (If indeed this is a discrepancy.)
As for Theo on the exercising machine, I acknowledge your point, that Theo could be picking up something from Bechimo when feeling an unevenness in her stride. That might be the case. And good call if so.
What I took from that exercise scene was slanted towards personality / character development. I saw Bechimo caring about Theo, wanting her healthy and safe, AND YET ALSO learning to stretch a little himself, to risk a little, and to take delight in the endeavor — learning vicariously, through Theo, to value the feeling of successfully pushing the physical boundaries. It felt like the “dragon” in dragon ship was emerging, just a bit more. That is something I have appreciated about the books involving Bechimo — his gradual and credible metamorphosis, from feeling hunted to potentially becoming the hunter.
PA: I may be reading too much into it, but I wonder if the feeling Theo has of a slight unevenness in her stride is actually a sensation she’s picking up from Bechimo, indicating some issue in his systems
I had this thought too, although through the end of Neogenesis we’ve seen no further development of a problem either with Theo or with Bechimo.