Six of Us
Jenarian Station
In which vin’Athen knows when to fold ’em.
I’m surprised vin’Athen surrendered so quickly after finding out they had Korval’s backing. Objectively, of course, it’s probably the wisest course, but I would expect that employees of the Department are strongly discouraged from surrendering (a) at all and (b) especially to anyone associated with Korval.
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Port Road
Surebleak
In which Val Con and Miri go house-hunting.
So, Val Con went to tell Pat Rin what was up while Miri Robertson went to tell the portmaster. Makes sense.
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Six of Us
Jenarian Station
In which a ship is in need of repairs.
I remember saying, back at the end of Dragon in Exile, that I expected the adventures of Rys’s team would take up a significant portion of a whole book. It appears I was wrong about that.
It’s not clear just yet quite how much trouble Rys and Claidyne are in. The man with the pellet gun may have got suspicious on his own initiative, but there are other possibilities: for instance, perhaps the recognition code was out of date, and the station let them aboard only in order to find out who they really are.
Surebleak Port
Portmaster’s Office
In which Miri Robertson calls on the Portmaster.
So, what does it portend that Miri visits in the melant’i of plain “Miri Robertson”? Not entirely that she’s calling as an individual, because when it comes down to it she’s still there to speak for Korval, but perhaps that she’s doing so as an ordinary child of Korval and not as a high Korval official. And perhaps also to underline, a little bit, that she’s also a child of Surebleak and wants what’s good for the planet as well as what’s good for her family.
Also, I’m starting to wonder how it came about that some of the devices decided their orders were irregular. It could just be general cussedness, but I wonder if some of them have been talking to Sye Mon.
Jelaza Kazone
In which Chernak and Stost go to rejoin their captain.
That appears to settle, fairly definitely, the question of where Chernak and Stost would serve if they had their preference.
I notice that Val Con refers to Theo as “your captain” near the end, suggesting that Diglon told him what Chernak said, or perhaps Jeeves did. I wonder if anybody plans to tell Theo, or if they’re going to let her figure it out for herself.
Bechimo
In which Theo has an opportunity to put her consensus-building training to work.
Getting a bunch of confused old machines to reach a consensus is likely to take a bunch of time. But, again, taking time is an advantage to Surebleak. Like the saying goes, as long as everybody’s talking, nobody’s shooting.
The Port Road
Yulie Shaper’s Place
In which Yulie has a proposition.
We’ve previously had the names of Yulie’s four helpers as he knows them — Nathan, Mary, Walter, Abigail — and, separately, the names as Kezzi knows them — Udari, Memit, Isart, Syaera. Knowing that Nathan is Udari and Mary is Memit gives us enough of a start to line all four up.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which there is a new mission for the Pathfinders.
If Spiral Dance is being taken up again, one hopes that Nova didn’t re-engage all the safety features, or at least left her delm with instructions on how to disengage them at need.
One also wonders if anybody’s going to be provoked by yet another instance of a ship taking off from Korval’s back yard instead of a proper shipyard.
Bechimo
In which it’s time to call in the professionals.
I’m amused by the bit where Theo compares the current gathering to a faculty meeting.
If Bechimo does decide to pursue, as a long-term project, the question of how many devices from the old universe are still wandering around in the new, that might provide a reason beyond personal preference for the two Pathfinders to rejoin the crew.
Jelaza Kazone
In which the house is quiet.
A little demonstration of melant’i in Val Con’s conversation with the Healers: the person enquiring after the health of Anthora and Ren Zel is Lord yos’Phelium, their thodelm, but the person who would like to hear from Anthora when she has a moment is Val Con, her brother.