Bechimo
Bridge
In which Win Ton discusses his student’s future.
It probably says something about my priorities as a reader that my reaction to the end of this chapter was something along the lines of, “All this getting-to-know-each-other is fine, but at last! more plot!”
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Velaskiz Rotundo
In which Bechimo‘s crew increases.
The revelation at the end of the chapter is ambiguous, since there have been two Joyitas in this book, but it makes sense that it’s B. Joyita, because that’s the one Theo would definitely recognise and more importantly if the norbears don’t know about Bechimo’s copy they’ve got no reason to wonder whether Theo knows the original. So the implication I take from this is that Hevelin managed to notice and get an impression of Bechimo and Joyita despite them keeping quiet while there were passengers on board – and that the norbears, in an echo of Theo’s thought earlier in the chapter, consider B. Joyita to be a person.
That said, it would be interesting if Sinaya actually did know Jermone Joyita, either personally (how old do norbears live to? I’d say not that long based on how aged Hevelin is, but we don’t actually know how old he already was when we first encountered him) or through some version of a memory passed from norbear to norbear. (It would also be another point in favour of Bechimo‘s creation being during-after Jethri’s lifetime, since “Out of True” suggests that it was in Jethri’s lifetime that shipboard norbears became a thing.)
Speaking of Joyita, this chapter has another mention of the number of rings on his hand, currently still holding steady at three.
Meanwhile, in the far reaches of the plot, the Uncle is off to check on a mysterious project of which we have not previously heard, and he’s taking Daav along for want of a safe place to leave him. Which offers the tantalising possibility that Daav will resurface in good time to learn something about this mysterious project himself.
Jump
In which Theo seeks a relief of tension.
This is one of those chapters where I’d probably have something to say if I were reading it for the first time, but because I’m re-reading I’m just nodding along going “Yes, I remember that bit” and nothing’s jumping out at me as remarkable.
I do kind of wonder if Hevelin’s intense interest in Theo’s mental picture of Daav was all on Daav’s account, or if some of it was due to her including the Tree in the picture.
Bechimo
In which Bechimo leaves Codrescu.
There are some intriguing hints in Bechimo’s flashback. Joyita being removed from the project early. The Uncle seeing things differently from the Builders (and perhaps an implication that he too has been removed from the project?). Another mention of that subetheric communication method. And, more prosaically, the origin of Bechimo’s habit of referring to “mere ships”.
This is not an occasion for petty point-scoring, so if anybody noticed it’s wise of them not to say so, but it amuses me that Eylot Control call Theo “First Class Pilot Theo Waitley”, when in less fraught circumstances they would likely have said that they don’t recognise Theo’s qualification.
Bechimo
In which Theo introduces Kara to her ship and crew.
I’ve been passing up several opportunities to comment on earlier, more subtle hints, but it’s pretty obvious now that there’s something going on between Theo and Kara. Good for them, though it’s not entirely consistent with the way their friendship was depicted in Saltation.
Perfection, the ship Asu is serving on, is now revealed to have the full name Asu Perfection. Or is “revealed” the wrong word? The obvious assumption is that its crew habitually shorten the name, in the manner of Shan and the crew of the Passage, but another possibility is that the ship was actually renamed to recognise a member of the Diamon family taking charge.
Codrescu
In which Theo is reunited with with two old comrades.
The fact that cadets from Anlingdin are actively involved in the action against Codrescu brings back the worry of Theo having to be in direct conflict with somebody she knew personally. Although, after two years during which most of Theo’s age-mates would presumably have graduated, if the authorities didn’t get them out of the Academy some other way, I’m not sure how many friends she’s likely to still have in the current student body.
There’s a moment, when Theo is suggesting to Hevelin that he stay put and out of the way, when her speech pattern sounds like Rig Tranza’s. Which makes sense, and probably indicates that on some level she’s drawing on a memory of him as a model of politely but firmly suggesting a course of action.
Codrescu Station
In which Theo consults with the Guild Master.
It occurs to me that the publication dates of Dragon Ship and “Skyblaze” are close enough together that the authors were probably working on them around the same time. The reason it occurs to me now is that the reaction of the pilots at Tradedesk brings to mind the discussion in “Skyblaze” about the phrase “somebody ought to do something”, and the idea that some people feel that their responsibility ends once they’ve uttered the phrase, while others feel that uttering the phrase gives them a responsibility to be the somebody.
Tradedesk
In which Laughing Cat confers with Carresens.
There are a lot of names in this chapter familiar from the Jethri books, although a large part of that is retroactive, since the Carresens family (and the Denobli family, who were a separate group back then) only appear in Trade Secret, which was written after this.
One name that isn’t retroactively familiar – though I didn’t recognise it myself the first time I read this novel, because I’m terrible with names when I’m not taking careful notes – is that of the thinker Arin, mentioned by Pilot Denobli, who was Jethri’s father Arin Gobelyn. And as such it’s probably not entirely a coincidence that the ship Theo flew for the Uncle bears his name, since the Uncle was Arin’s … let’s say “brother”, with the understanding that the Uncle’s family tree is kind of complicated.
(And the bit about Bechimo being well-suited to enact Arin’s ideas brings us back around to the idea of Bechimo having been created in Jethri’s time, only to founder once again on the fact that the numbers simply don’t add up.)
Pilot Denobli’s hair reminds me of two things. The hair itself brings to mind the elaborate spacer hairstyles mentioned in Trade Secret, which makes sense considering that Pilot Denobli is descended from the same spacer culture. The way he’s always fiddling with it makes me wonder about Theo’s first meeting with the Uncle, when he kept fiddling with his hair.
While we’re elaborating tenuous links between the Carresens and the Uncle, I’ve noticed something about their ship named OchoBalrog. The “Balrog” half has an obvious connection to the ship of that name owned by the Denobli family in Trade Secret, but we’ve seen the name Ocho once before in an entirely different context: it was the name of one of Dulsey’s siblings, way back in Crystal Soldier.
Jump
In which the pilots conduct a ship wipe.
Clarence deciding to address Bechimo as “Chimmy” serves two purposes, one for the readers and one for the characters.
Outside the story, it lets the readers know how “Bechimo” is pronounced. I can think of at least three ways to pronounce the “ch” in “Bechimo” (and I apparently chose the wrong one the first time I read Ghost Ship), but there’s really only one way to pronounce the “ch” in “Chimmy”.
Inside the story, it’s a signal from Clarence about how he intends to interact with Bechimo, a signal which Bechimo seems to be pointedly declining to take note of. (I don’t for a moment believe that he wasn’t capable of figuring out who Clarence was talking to; pretending he didn’t get it was his own signal, and one I expect Clarence cheerfully to ignore in his turn.)
The part of the signal Bechimo’s probably objecting to is the part that says Clarence isn’t going to let him get away with being formal and high-handed. They’ve got to work as a team if it’s going to work at all, and that means every member of the team has to be open to input from the others; especially since it’s been demonstrated that even though Bechimo knows things about the ship and the Builders that the rest of the crew doesn’t, on practical matters there are times he’d do well to pay attention to the experienced pilots.
There’s another part of the signal which Bechimo maybe genuinely isn’t getting or appreciating: Clarence tends to interact with people in a casual, friendly sort of mode, the kind where nicknames are appropriate, so doing it with Bechimo shows he accepts Bechimo as a person.
(I find myself wondering whether there ever was an original Chimmy, or if that’s merely corroborative detail, intended to give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative.)
Spaceport Gondola
Gondola
In which old machines make their presence felt.
That’s the trouble with signing on with the Uncle. On the up side, he has an interest in old things that’s useful for dealing with the Bechimo situation. On the down side, that same interest means that associating with him is not exactly keeping a low profile when it comes to certain other people who have an interest in old things like Bechimo.
When Priscilla was trying to find out about Tactical Defense Pod 77, Pod 78 was the only other one of the series listed as still active, with a cryptic notation she didn’t have time to follow up at the time.