Tag Archives: Solmin

Fledgling – Chapter 38

3 Replies

Melchiza
City of Treasures

In which Kamele and Theo are reunited.

It’s all very well for the Chaperon to say that perhaps Kamele might tour the school next time she visits; even supposing there’s any likelihood of a next time, which I doubt, I somehow suspect that no matter how many visits Kamele might make it will always turn out that the schedule is too tight.

The detail about Jen Sar having installed an Orbital Traffic Scanner in his office to keep him company while Kamele and Theo are away is one of those prequel-type details that doesn’t seem particularly significant to someone following the story in chronological order, but has a special resonance to those of us who first read the series as it was published: it happens that in publication order the first time we met Professor Jen Sar Kiladi he was sitting in his office listening to the Orbital Traffic Scanner at just the right moment to change the course of his life.

Fledgling – Chapter 37

1 Reply

Melchiza
City of Treasures

In which Theo is getting along better than might have been expected.

I have a suspicion that Hafley is telling the truth when she says that she would have had Beltaire come along, given the choice, but not with the motive she suggests. Until the research team produces solid evidence, Beltaire’s observations are the key to their case, and if she were to come along on an interplanetary journey you never know but that something might happen to her — even without the hints we’ve been getting that something is likely to happen to her in any case if she ever returns to Melchiza.

Her accusation that Kamele is too ambitious, on the other hand, is a classic case of accusing one’s opponent of one’s own sins.

I think I see, now, what the point of having Theo assigned to the Parole Class was: So that it could be revealed at an appropriate moment in an attempt to make Kamele abandon her research and rush off to rescue Theo — which would probably, given the security set-up, only be possible if the whole research team agrees to leave the archive with her, thereby bringing the research trip to an end — or else to reduce her usefulness to the research effort by distracting her if she does remain in the archive. (An appropriate moment being one after Hafley’s cover has already been blown to such an extent that it won’t be giving anything away to reveal that she has secret knowledge about what’s been happening to Theo.) I don’t think it’ll work, though, precisely because Hafley’s accusation of ambition isn’t true; Kamele is here in service of a greater cause than her own ambition, and knows that she can’t turn away now even for Theo’s sake. I doubt she’s going to be badly distracted, either; she’s already proven that she’s made of sterner stuff than Hafley thinks, and I suspect Hafley’s just given her more reason to concentrate on getting the job done.

Fledgling – Chapter 36

1 Reply

Melchiza
Transit School

In which Theo and Kamele make progress.

On Melchiza, pilots are recognised as rare and special people, and apparently this means that Melchizan pilot culture is affected by the Melchizan attitude that leaders should stand aloof and not hold themselves back trying to help others less special. Inspector Vidige’s lesson about a pilot bearing sole responsibility for the decisions he must make is not entirely new (I’m particularly reminded of Aelliana in Scout’s Progress, and the lesson that she must learn to back her own judgement if she wishes to be a pilot), but the emphasis is different. At least it’s somewhat softened by Pilot-Instructor Arman’s comment which suggests that Melchizan pilots do form bonds of loyalty with their crew (like the brother’s friends in the folk tale?); self-sufficiency is one thing, but if they’d been taking it to the extent of not even trusting a co-pilot that would have been asking for serious trouble sooner or later.

Fledgling – Chapter 35

2 Replies

Efraim Agricultural Zone

In which Jen Sar, Theo, and Kamele pass beyond the gatekeepers.

It’s good that it’s Appletorn who gets to explain to the Chapelia why their course of action is not as desirable as they might have thought; if too much of the work of saving Delgado fell to Jen Sar the outsider, one might start wondering whether it was worth the effort of saving. Looked at another way, it simply makes sense that it’s Appletorn who produces that explanation; after all, he’s the man whose profession is Advertancy, the practice of knowing what you’re getting yourself into.

Incidentally, it’s looking increasingly likely that my question from way back about whether the Chapelia has any male members can be answered in the negative.

Pilot-Instructor Arman’s test of Theo seems rather unforgiving; if she hadn’t known how to handle a bowli ball properly, she could have been seriously injured. Is it that if she had been laying an unearned claim to the bowli ball, it would have cancelled out the testimony of her dancing and left her, in Arman’s eyes, not enough of a pilot to deserve protection?

I’m getting the distinct impression that Hafley knows about Theo being reassigned to the Parole Class, although since they’re now being held incommunicado she has no way of knowing that Theo hasn’t gone. And that makes me wonder: since they are being held incommunicado, there’s no way of using Theo’s situation to exert pressure on Kamele, which makes it look like nothing more productive than spite at Kamele standing up to her about continuing the research.