On the Road
In which Emissary Twelve appreciates flowers.
Even while Boss Surebleak stirs up trouble, life goes on. Somebody said, earlier in the book: that’s the only way to do it. You have to keeping planning for life After.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which we cannot know whether Cheever would like to be Road Boss until we ask.
All these chapters where the delm and the Road Boss are getting ready to start the day provide some structure and sense of time passing, but it makes it hard to keep coming up with new chapter descriptions.
I was still a bit worried about the scene in Flourpower, because it felt a bit more significant than the scene itself warranted — I don’t know if that makes sense — as if in addition to the actual events it was also setting up for something. But if what it was setting up for was a Turtle visiting Flourpower and meeting the Hooper, I’m less worried.
The Bedel
In which the kompani prepares for departure.
Udari defers to Droi as the luthia, which suggests she’s been accepted as the one who will serve that role for the kompani staying on Surebleak. It doesn’t appear that Udari has been chosen as the headman for the kompani; Droi tells him that a decision is the headman’s, not his. The way she says it suggests that the headman is somebody who has not yet had a chance to think and speak on the issue — which I rather think means that it’s Rys.
Jelaza Kazone
In which Miri has a bad dream.
This is obviously foreshadowing something, but how literally remains to be seen.
For a moment, before the nature of the dream became apparent, I thought we might be about to find out more about what arrangements Val Con has made to keep Miri and Lizzie safe.
I wonder if we’re going to be treated to a proof of Val Con’s statement that Miri holds his soul safe just as Droi holds Rys’s.
Jelaza Kazone
In which Rys is on his way home.
The scare quotes in the sentence about Emissary Twelve and Scout yo’Bingim each taking a packet of cookies to share with their comrades suggests that the narrator expects them to account for their own packet without any assistance. If that’s the case, I assume it was Scout yo’Bingim who came up with the story about comrades; bending the truth in such a way seems more in character for a Scout than for a Clutch Turtle, and she at least can point to comrades on-world, which Emissary Twelve can’t (unless one counts the Bedel, I suppose).
Scout Commander Val Con yos’Phelium thinks that the consequences of the election are likely to be fascinating. And I still recall what Miri said a few chapters ago about what it means when Val Con judges something to be fascinating.
Jelaza Kazone
In which Emissary Twelve has thoughts about change.
There’s a lot of thinking about the future in this chapter: about what they will do if Boss Surebleak wins, and, perhaps more importantly, what kind of future they will shape if Boss Surebleak doesn’t win.
That makes, I believe two appointments the portmaster has tomorrow, beginning two hours apart. I wonder if they will collide in some fashion.
Surebleak Port
Portmaster’s Office
In which Boss Surebleak makes the next move.
I have reservations about this, but Portmaster Liu and Survey Leader Kasveini have already said them for me.
I still want to know, if nobody knows who Boss Surebleak is, how were the requests for comment for the Voting Editions addressed?
FlourPower Bakery
In which the snow removal team has more than snow on their minds.
We haven’t had a scene set in FlourPower since back when it featured in “Skyblaze”.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which Korval catches up on the morning news.
There seems to me to be a lot of book left for where we’re at.
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Bechimo
In which Bechimo is free to fly.
As I said at least once before, way back near the beginning of this project, it’s always something when fictional characters have philosophical discussions about whether their life is proceeding according to some pre-ordained plan.
It wouldn’t be at all true to say that Bechimo‘s visit to Surebleak accomplished nothing, of course, but I notice that they’re leaving with the Pathfinders they were planning to drop off, and the cat they were planning to drop off, and the tree they were planning to drop off, and even the ship they were planning to drop off…