Tag Archives: Miri Robertson’s sapphire ring

Carpe Diem – Chapter 5

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Orbit
Interdicted World I-2796-893-44

In which Miri and Val Con take a break.

Miri’s store of personal valuables has shrunk a bit since she took stock back on Lufkit. Probably the rest of it is still in her box, safe and sound on Edger’s ship, and this is just the stuff that was so important to her that it was in her belt pouch even for what she expected to be a short expedition. In which case it’s interesting to ponder what’s here (her grandmother’s House Badge, the jewelry Val Con gave her, the harmonica, and a cloudy sapphire whose story we’ve never been told) and what isn’t (several more bits of jewelry of unknown provenance, some papers, and the key whose story we will get later).

This is the first time Val Con’s mentioned Grandmother Cantra, and only the second mention of her in publication order (the first being when Shan told Priscilla about his family in Conflict of Honors).

Agent of Change – Chapter 4

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In which Val Con and Miri make some calls.

Miri and Val Con are clearly starting to relax into each other’s company: they’ve begun bantering.

Val Con speaks more truth than he realises when he promises Liz he will take the best care of Miri he can, for as long as he can.

Here’s an interesting exercise for a writer: the character has a small box containing everything most valuable to her in the world — what, specifically, is in it? To answer the question for a character who’s only been in the story for four chapters would require either a considerable knowledge of parts of her backstory that haven’t made it into the story yet, or a certain talent for improvisation together with a willingness to assume explanations will present themselves as needed. Or both, mixed in some proportion. (Explanations for some of Miri’s keepsakes will subsequently become apparent, but not all. Which is as it should be; a character whose past can be entirely told is likely a character lacking in depth.)

Signs that this novel was written in the 1980s: the primary medium for data storage and retrieval is tape.