Accepting the Lance – Prologue

Runcible System
Daglyte Seam

In which the Commander of Agents decides to stay on target.

That’s an interesting moment there, where the Commander starts to consider giving the whole thing up and disbanding the Department, and then is suddenly confident success is within grasp if they hold the course. Given what we already know about how the Department messes about with the insides of its assets’ heads, I suspect the Commander has something within hers devoted to heading off that train of thought. Something to keep an eye on, going forward.

Another thing to keep an eye on is the situation with the Old Tech having gone missing, including “the eldest and most destructive of the Department’s accumulated machines”. Not enough information yet to say who might be behind that, or with what purpose.

On the other hand, I suspect that I know who is behind the affliction of the Department’s dramliz: that would most likely be the lady from Alliance of Equals who set out to achieve her own Balance against the Department.

The Commander considers that it would be a crushing defeat for Korval if the clan were forced to disband and be absorbed by the Terran hordes; I suspect Korval would be less bothered by it, except if it meant they couldn’t protect the people they owed duty to. Even having the Luck diffused might not be something they mourned too much — and frankly, I’m not as confident as the Commander that it would be diffused in such a case. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that just meant it got spread around more, without losing any of its potency.

4 thoughts on “Accepting the Lance – Prologue

  1. Ed8r

    Ahh-h-h-h . . . so glad to see you back. Really looking forward to these posts!

    The fact that the Commander gives a moment of consideration to disbanding the department indicates that there is still a human in there, trying to function. But, yes, her “programming” took over. btw, didn’t we see a female officer of the DOI choose to take on the mantle of being the next Commander, back in an earlier book? I have just the littlest voice in my head saying that—at the end of I Dare maybe—there was someone.

    Paul: that would most likely be the lady from Alliance of Equals who set out to achieve her own Balance against the Department.

    Well, you’re doing better than I was the first time through (full disclosure: I’ve already read the eARC several times): I did not remember her at all!

    I had quite a bit of difficulty following all the plot threads in this book, and remembering what they all refer to…and the information about the Old Tech not the least of it. So I’m looking forward to your posts so I can ask you questions when we get there!

  2. Paul A. Post author

    The accession of the current Commander of Agents, and the activation of the DOI’s secondary headquarters, happens in chapter 4 of Ghost Ship.

  3. Othin

    Another reread. Paul, you got clearly out of this more than I did on my first time.

    The hint of the healers places time for the Prologue shortly after Alliance of Equals.

    The way the Commander thinks about Korval being absorbed by Terrans tells us much about her preconceptions – and ironically she seems wrong on all accounts.

    Korval won’t be just absorbed by any Terran hordes but will choose carefully which “hordes” to take in. Some of that Terran hordes have names as well as special interests tied to those names, which a Liaden might describe as melant’i. And wealth – Korval is already on the lookout for this.

    And finally Korvals blood – Korval never really was Solcintran, so the breading with Liadens is as much pollution as breeding with Terrans. And there is no reason why Korval breeding protocols with allies carrying some Korval blood are about to change. Or their habit of breeding with pilots or relatives of pilots.

    As for the Korval Luck – I believe the Commander has even less understanding of it than anybody else who has said anything about this topic so far.

  4. Skip

    Question on excerpt from prologue: “the arrival of Scouts, bearing warrants of extradition and a long list of crimes for which the captured pair were wanted, on Liad…

    Is this the Liaden scouts or the Surebleak scouts? both?

    Also, if these goons are wanted for arrest on Liad, does that mean the idiotic council has realized there really is a DOI and Korval didn’t lie about the kin-stealing, etc?

    We know it was surebleak scouts who went out to Daglyte Seam — they left from Surebleak — Clonak’s older friend was the scout strategist in charge of shutting it down

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