Tag Archives: Dining Room Two

Dragon Ship – Chapter 28

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Bechimo

In which Bechimo leaves Codrescu.

There are some intriguing hints in Bechimo’s flashback. Joyita being removed from the project early. The Uncle seeing things differently from the Builders (and perhaps an implication that he too has been removed from the project?). Another mention of that subetheric communication method. And, more prosaically, the origin of Bechimo’s habit of referring to “mere ships”.

This is not an occasion for petty point-scoring, so if anybody noticed it’s wise of them not to say so, but it amuses me that Eylot Control call Theo “First Class Pilot Theo Waitley”, when in less fraught circumstances they would likely have said that they don’t recognise Theo’s qualification.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 6

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Frenzel Port

In which presences make themselves known.

It would appear that Clarence is correct about the mysterious crowd being pitchmen and freeposters coming out from hiding in response to the Arrival Director’s departure, but my first thought was that they’d appeared in response to Theo’s attempt to disappear, like maybe they’d been standing in plain sight the whole time using the same technique, and using the technique herself had made them visible to Theo. Which would have been worrying, because it reminds me of the time back in Carpe Diem when Shadia discovered that there were more people surrounding her ship than there ought to be, and that time it was because she was being hunted by the Department.

I find myself wondering whether Clarence’s insistence on addressing Bechimo as “Chimmy” is part of an attempt to get Bechimo to address him as something other than “Less Pilot”.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 1

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Jump

In which the pilots conduct a ship wipe.

Clarence deciding to address Bechimo as “Chimmy” serves two purposes, one for the readers and one for the characters.

Outside the story, it lets the readers know how “Bechimo” is pronounced. I can think of at least three ways to pronounce the “ch” in “Bechimo” (and I apparently chose the wrong one the first time I read Ghost Ship), but there’s really only one way to pronounce the “ch” in “Chimmy”.

Inside the story, it’s a signal from Clarence about how he intends to interact with Bechimo, a signal which Bechimo seems to be pointedly declining to take note of. (I don’t for a moment believe that he wasn’t capable of figuring out who Clarence was talking to; pretending he didn’t get it was his own signal, and one I expect Clarence cheerfully to ignore in his turn.)

The part of the signal Bechimo’s probably objecting to is the part that says Clarence isn’t going to let him get away with being formal and high-handed. They’ve got to work as a team if it’s going to work at all, and that means every member of the team has to be open to input from the others; especially since it’s been demonstrated that even though Bechimo knows things about the ship and the Builders that the rest of the crew doesn’t, on practical matters there are times he’d do well to pay attention to the experienced pilots.

There’s another part of the signal which Bechimo maybe genuinely isn’t getting or appreciating: Clarence tends to interact with people in a casual, friendly sort of mode, the kind where nicknames are appropriate, so doing it with Bechimo shows he accepts Bechimo as a person.

(I find myself wondering whether there ever was an original Chimmy, or if that’s merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.)