Control Deck, Keravath, Outbound from Boltston
In which the junior trader and the senior pilot both have things to learn.
I find Iza’s treatment of Jethri, as revealed in this chapter, quite upsetting. Neglect is one thing – I can kind of see (which is not to say I approve) how an intention to be rid of him might translate into a desire not to invest more than necessary of ship’s resources into his development, when he’d be gone before there was any chance of a return on the investment. But to deliberately hamper his development, to not only deny him the opportunity to develop a potential (and ter’Astin’s right, the tale of his fathers says he’s got the genes for it, at the very least), but to go about actively persuading him that he doesn’t even possess the potential – I just… ugh.
The more we learn about Iza, the less I like her.
The Scout says that he knows of Jethri’s father and Jethri’s uncle, “and more now than when first you and I met”, which apparently extends to knowing something of Jethri’s father’s father as well. That being so, I wonder whether ter’Astin, when he speaks of Jethri’s uncle, means Uncle Paitor, who is the only person Jethri knows to call uncle… or if it’s Arin’s Uncle he has in mind?
PA: or if it’s Arin’s Uncle he has in mind,
This is what I assumed. Also, I suppose we ought to assume that Arin’s father was to Arin, as Arin is to Jethri…the original stock.
[ack! Didn’t pay attention in time!]
[I’ve fixed that formatting glitch for you.]
Thanks for looking out for me!
I thought it was fun to notice that in this age, there is the phrase “to fly like a scout,” echoing the phrase we heard in the former universe “to fly like a Rimmer.”