Bechimo
In which there is a free and frank exchange of views.
In all the excitement, I don’t think anyone got around to reading the emergency pinbeam message. It should be okay, though; most likely it was just a heads-up about the thing that happens at the end of the chapter, which went okay anyhow.
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In which Val Con and Miri have a busy morning.
I like “a salute so smart it could have driven itself into town”. And Val Con’s interactions with the cat.
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Bechimo
In which Bechimo delivers its cargo and passenger.
So, after all the griping about how long it seemed to be taking to get to the climax of the novel, was I satisfied with it when it arrived?
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Bechimo
Dockside
In which it is demonstrated that it is right to disarm norbears.
I wonder if there’s something particular Rig Tranza finds remarkable on his first sight of the new Theo, or if it’s just a general reaction to how much she’s changed. The air of command is pretty much new since he last saw her, for one thing.
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Bechimo
Dockside
In which there are many meetings.
Any one of these problems would be relatively easy to deal with by itself; it’s the way they’re all happening at once that makes things difficult.
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Bechimo
Bridge
In which there are some potential security issues.
We end this chapter with two meetings about to take place, and I’m not sure what to expect of either of them.
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Minot Station
Transient Crew Cabins
In which Clarence pays the bills.
It occurs to me that Veep Semimodo has not actually met Ambassador Hevelin yet. If he had, he might, rightly or wrongly, react differently to the prospect of incurring the Ambassador’s displeasure.
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Minot Station
In which Theo does not steal a spaceship.
Everything seems to be going well, but somehow I’m still on edge.
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Bechimo
Minot Station
In which Theo has a plan.
If this were a movie, the latter part of this chapter would be the lock-and-load montage showing each member of the team preparing for the big action. And if this were a movie, I suspect it wouldn’t include Theo’s conversation with Bechimo; it’s good writing to show that the bonding takes time and effort and doesn’t just automatically go well, just as it’s good writing to show that gaining the trust of the pathfinders takes time and effort and doesn’t just automatically go well, but unlike the pathfinders it lacks the spice of imminent danger if it goes wrong.
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Minot Station
Transient Crew Cabins
In which Rig Tranza receives a letter from Theo.
That’s a nicely worded description from Win Ton of how he ended up on the crew. I particularly like “the universe placed me on the deck of the ship she commands now”, which sounds unexceptional if you don’t know the backstory.
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