Blair Road
Boss Conrad’s House
In which Mrs kaz’Ineo has an idea.
The mention of the Gilmour Agency’s human resources manual as a recent acquisition places this chapter not long after the opening scene of “Block Party”, in which Luzeal had just made the discovery, although perhaps not after the entire story, which covers a period of several weeks.
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Blair Road
Boss Conrad’s House
In which Boss Conrad has breakfast.
Pat Rin’s conversation with Cheever reminds me of the old days when they were still getting used to each other. Apparently Pat Rin is still capable of surprising him.
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Blair Road
In which the entire Council of Bosses meets to discuss the situation.
Most of the bosses we’ve already met get at least a word in at this meeting. Bosses Marriott, Engles and Torin make their first appearances here, though all have been mentioned before.
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Blair Road
Boss Conrad’s House
In which Boss Conrad receives a letter.
The cinnamon toast is a small detail that shows how things have improved since Boss Conrad got the Council of Bosses set up. I’d bet cinnamon was hard to come by in the old days.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which a professional has been at work.
Of the bosses whose turfs saw action, we have not previously heard of Boss Threadle. Bosses Conrad and Kalhoon are, of course, the leaders of the Council of Bosses, and Boss Vine holds the territory immediately neighbouring the spaceport. Boss Wentworth was mentioned a few times in Necessity’s Child but I don’t recall if we learned anything particular about him.
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Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss
In which chaos occurs on a strict schedule.
The obvious assumption is that the Department of the Interior is behind this somehow. But is it intended to achieve something in itself, or is it a distraction from something else?
Blair Road
Boss Nova’s House
In which Kezzi discusses the news with her brother.
I hadn’t thought about what the coming of the ship might mean for Malda, but it makes sense that pets wouldn’t be allowed. Which raises the question of why Kezzi’s family let her get attached to Malda in the first place. It might just be that, like Droi, they weren’t expecting the ship to come, but the decision would have involved at least Silain who would be required as a matter of policy to consider the consequences if the ship did come. Remembering that Malda was the only close friend Kezzi had before she met Syl Vor, that might have been why: that in the here and now she needed a friend, and the benefits would outweigh whatever problems arose if they faced separation later.
Boss Conrad’s House
Blair Road
In which Penn Kalhoon has something to say.
I was wrong about the meeting Pat Rin sent Quin to, which I might have known if I’d thought; on further consideration, if it had been something other than an ordinary sort of meeting Pat Rin would have said so. This is not the first time I’ve been wrong in this novel about an upcoming meeting going to be the occasion for excitement; my persistent mistake has been to misunderstand what kind of story this is. I kept assuming that if a meeting got mentioned it was probably going to be important to the plot, and that if trouble was brewing it would come to a head quickly, but this is a more slow-burn story than that, and meetings of the Council of Bosses are important to the plot even if nothing dramatic happens at them simply because it matters to the characters that there is a Council of Bosses and that it’s holding regular meetings.
And that brings us around to what Pat Rin tells Penn, which is another thread of the ongoing thing about how the new ways are going to survive: if Pat Rin and Val Con and Miri get killed, that isn’t the end of the new Surebleak. Korval might have shown the way, but they couldn’t have made it happen without Surebleakeans, and now the way has been shown the Surebleakeans can make it happen without Korval if they have to.
I suspect it speaks to how much Surebleak has improved already that Pat Rin is able to compare its port to Solcintra’s Mid Port instead of its Low Port. For that matter, the state Surebleak Port was in when Pat Rin arrived was so run-down and uninhabited it might not even have stood a comparison to the Low Port, which whatever it may not be at least has an active population.
It hadn’t occurred to me how useful a scholar of the history of education might be in a city trying to develop a proper education system. I wonder how long the authors have been planning that one.
Boss Nova’s House
Blair Road
Surebleak
In which Vel Ter jo’Bern appreciates art.
The drunken ne’er-do-well has a good name; an earlier Vel Ter jo’Bern was the head of House Hedrede during the Migration, and one of the negotiators on the Contract.
It’s nice to see the crisis pass with good feeling on all sides, though I do wonder if Vel Ter is able to view the situation with some distance on account of the distance that exists between himself and his clan; I suspect Delm Hedrede will be less appreciative of Luken’s artistry when the news reaches him. But less inclined to do anything about it, so there’s that.
Audrey’s House of Joy
Blair Road
Surebleak
In which Quin and Villy go for a stroll.
Well, that settles the question of where Quin really stands with Villy. I might have guessed it, if I’d thought; given the delicacy of Villy’s situation, that’s not a decision that would have gone by off the page.
The Tansy whom Villy offers to introduce Quin to is presumably not the same Tansy who was one of Syl Vor’s classmates in Necessity’s Child.
My guess about the loud guest at the end of the chapter is that somebody has recognised the new carpet on the staircase.