Six of Us
Daiellen System
In which Sye Mon and Bon Vit are brought up to speed.
The Daiellen Sector is Surebleak’s neighbourhood, so these two haven’t travelled all that far — or else they headed back once they discovered where the war machines had been sent. Either way, it means it wouldn’t take too long for them to join in with the convocation at Benoo Three if for some reason their presence was required in person.
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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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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.
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 Miri gives thought to the future.
It is a failure of imagination on my part that it hadn’t occurred to me to wonder what might happen to the Tree if Boss Surebleak succeeded in getting the mobile members of Clan Korval thrown off the planet. Or perhaps it’s just a sign of how confident I am that that’s an outcome so unlikely as to not be worth spending imagination on.
Miri might be onto something with the idea that the Department of the Interior is planning on taking Surebleak for itself. (Indeed, we’ve already seen hints in that direction, such as the plot in “Shout of Honor”.) Which would make Boss Surebleak accusing Korval of a hostile takeover another example of someone accusing another of the thing they’d do themselves given half a chance.
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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Surebleak Orbital Influence Zone
Northern L5 Limits
In which Bechimo makes an unusual discovery.
Libration points, or Lagrangian points, are points in a system involving two large orbiting objects, such as a planet and its sun, where the balance of forces means a smaller orbiting object may maintain its position relative to the two larger objects. There are five such points in any given system; the first three tend to be unstable, meaning an object in one of those orbits will drift out of it over time, but the last two are stable when the mass ratio between the two larger objects is greater than a particular size, and it’s not uncommon to find smaller objects orbiting in a planet’s L4 and L5 points. For instance, the regions surrounding Jupiter’s L4 and L5 points are both home to sizeable clusters of asteroids orbiting in sync with the planet.
I don’t believe we’ve encountered Remco before, but we have of course heard the name of Carresens in several different contexts. One of which is that the Carresens family operates a shipyard at Margate, which among other things produced the Free Ship Disian.
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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