Mercantile Building
In which the Boss Vote is concluded.
And that, more or less, is that. There’s still the outcome of the TerraTrade survey to be announced, but that’s looking more predictable now than it did a few chapters ago. And Lady yo’Lanna’s housewarming party. And, maybe, a progress report on Memit’s rabbit hunt.
Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss
In which Miri’s day suddenly gets more interesting.
So, Pat Rin did send the alert to both Val Con and Miri, regardless, which makes perfect sense and is what I would have assumed in the first place if the narrative hadn’t implied otherwise.
It annoys me that this is what I’m thinking about when there’s a dramatic climax going on.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which a professional has been at work.
Of the bosses whose turfs saw action, we have not previously heard of Boss Threadle. Bosses Conrad and Kalhoon are, of course, the leaders of the Council of Bosses, and Boss Vine holds the territory immediately neighbouring the spaceport. Boss Wentworth was mentioned a few times in Necessity’s Child but I don’t recall if we learned anything particular about him.
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Surebleak Port
Office of the Road Boss
In which chaos occurs on a strict schedule.
The obvious assumption is that the Department of the Interior is behind this somehow. But is it intended to achieve something in itself, or is it a distraction from something else?
Surebleak
In which Surebleak has more visitors.
A whole lotta people arriving on Surebleak in one clump, with at least one more bunch expected soon, and all of them having business with Korval. It remains to see how much more complicated things are going to get when they start (as I expect they will, sooner or later) interacting with each other as well.
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In which Admiral Bunter has a personal question.
I like the little bits where Tolly is appreciating Admiral Bunter’s grasp of non-verbal communication, but keeping it to himself so as not to derail the conversation.
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In which the cavalry rides out.
I’m trying to remember if the concept of “composite Jump” has come up before this book. It’s not mentioned in the scene in Alliance of Equals where Hazenthull is composing the message to Miri informing her of her intentions, but then that scene doesn’t include any of the details of Hazenthull’s intentions, just the fact of her composing the message. (Old writer’s trick: “The hero has a plan! … which we will tell you all about next time, when we’ve figured out what it is.”) The bit about Admiral Bunter’s kind of composite Jump coming with the risk of ending up somewhere completely unexpected might just be a detail to add excitement, but it sounds to me like something a story could be hung on — the question is, is it this story?
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In which a ship arrives at Surebleak.
Well, that’s a good start. I was pretty convinced that Surebleak was going to be put aside for another book, and that all the people who have been travelling toward it would continue doing so until it was time for the big finale. Maybe we’re getting out of the setting-up stage, and all the different threads are starting to weave together.
Although it seems there’s still some more setting up to do (well, fair enough, it’s the beginning of the novel), as two characters we don’t recognise arrive in Surebleak orbit.
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Admiral Bunter
Jemiatha’s Jumble Stop
In which there are preparations for arrivals and preparations for departures.
Padi is set for her trade reception, and even gets a bit of flying practice in. (Pilot Embrathiri — who incidentally is another character who’s short on gender-specific pronouns — may well have expressed a desire to sit passenger, but I’m inclined to suspect that the expression may have been preceded by a bit of prompting from Padi’s father.) Over at Jemiatha, everything’s set for Admiral Bunter, Tarigan, and Ahab-Esais to go their various ways. All seems to be proceeding smoothly.
This is probably why I’m expecting something to go horribly wrong within the next chapter or two.
(Is it wrong that I’m kind of hoping something will go horribly wrong in a way that means Haz gets to keep hanging out with Tolly? Like, say, Inki steals Tocohl and Tarigan, and Tolly, Haz, and the Admiral have to go in pursuit. Something like that, maybe.)
Jemiatha’s Jumble Stop
In which the experts confer.
That went smoother than I expected. At least as far as the two-experts situation goes; there’s plenty else to worry me instead.
I’m not keen on Tocohl’s side project. I’m worried it will lead to her being insufficiently attentive, at some key moment, to the job she was sent here to do. I’m also not sure it’s a wise pursuit in itself; I’m less confident than Tocohl is that the ancient logic, if does exist and if it does have allegiance to the Enemy, can be pursuaded that that cause is done with. (Particularly since I’m still inclined to view the return of Spiral Dance as a sign that the Enemy maybe isn’t sealed away as impregnably as all that.)
(I wonder if there’s any way Spiral Dance could be the ancient logic these rumours are about.)
Another thing that has me worried is the interlude with Ren Zel and Anthora. If the authors are taking the time to introduce them now, that suggests there’s going to be a situation later that’s bad enough for them to need to get directly involved.