Jelaza Kazone
In which the Elders are taking an interest.
Seeing that working Turtles have names like “Edger” and “Sheather”, I wonder what the emissary is going to make of a human named “Shaper”.
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Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss
In which Delm Korval has visitors.
Well, there’s an answer to my question about how things would have gone if Emissary Twelve had done this on Liad, anyway.
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Surebleak Orbital Influence Zone
In which Bechimo’s crew prepare to report.
The Theo/Bechimo part of the series isn’t as close to my heart as the Miri/Val Con part, and part of why is scenes like this, where the characters are talking over technical problems that mean something to them but don’t mean much to me. Miri and Val Con spend a fair amount of talking about problems that need solving, too, but their problems are usually about people, which I find inherently more interesting.
Jelaza Kazone
In which Delm Korval meets Emissary Twelve.
Way back when Edger was first introduced, there was a brief mention of the Ambassadorial Clans of the Clutch, whose members are shorter and svelter and speedier than the working clans such as Edger belongs to. It would appear that Emissary Twelve is an example.
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Surebleak Orbital Influence Zone
In which Bechimo discovers a new taste sensation.
Because of the name, and the fact that they’re first introduced as a breakfast food, I’d been picturing maize buttons as a kind of breakfast cereal, small and eaten in clusters. It appears from the description here that they’re more in the line of a pastry, large enough to be enjoyed individually (but small enough to be snatched up in a handful).
Surebleak Port
Portmaster’s Office
In which the Clutch are a law unto themselves.
Now I’m trying to picture how things would have gone down if Korval had still been living on Liad when Emissary Twelve came to visit. Liad has a busier airspace than Surebleak — and an active planetary defence system — so Liaden traffic control might have been moved to express its displeasure more forcefully. I don’t know if it would have made much difference to the emissary, though; Turtles build their ships pretty tough.
Jelaza Kazone
In which Korval is keeping its head down.
And now we’ve caught up with the final chapter of Neogenesis.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which Val Con receives a letter from an old family friend.
Timeline sorting: The last two Surebleak chapters of Neogenesis each focus, as this chapter does, on half the delm starting the morning’s work. This one appears to fit between those two; it’s the morning after the first of them, in which Val Con receives the news from Tinsori Light. The second, in which Miri receives an unexpected visitor, appears to yet be in the future.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which Bechimo’s crew prepare for action.
Stost is missing the crew and seems like he’d welcome a chance to serve on Bechimo again, but hasn’t yet reached the point of coming right out and saying so except possibly to Chernak. Chernak might feel the same, but seems to be trying to talk herself out of it. Both of them are probably used to thinking that it’s not up to them where they get assigned, which would have been the case in the life they’ve left behind, but here and now I reckon if they expressed a preference it would have more effect than they’re used to.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which Theo has breakfast.
I wonder if we can read anything into the order that names come to Theo’s mind when she’s thinking of who she’d miss if she severed ties with Korval. Probably not much that we didn’t already know. Her father was obviously always going to be first, and she spent a lot of time hanging out with Luken last time she stayed at Jelaza Kazone, so it’s not surprising that he’s second.