In which Inki and Tocohl take a first look at their destination.
The circumstance of Inki having information locked away inside her head, so that she doesn’t even know she knows it until the time is right, keeps things unpredictable. Where there’s one such packet, there might be another to come forth at any moment and change the state of play for better or worse.
(It reminds me a bit of the Tree’s seed pods, waiting until the time is ripe, although I don’t know if that’s a fair comparison.)
Ahab-Esais
In which Tocohl and Inki discuss the next step.
I am looking forward to seeing Tocohl’s thoughts on recent events.
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Vivulonj Prosperu
In which the Uncle offers a revised schedule.
I continue to be suspicious, at this point in the story, of any chapter in which things appear to be proceeding smoothly.
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Ahab-Esais
In which Inkirani Yo lays out the next move.
If there truly are multiple instances of the Uncle loose in the galaxy, each with their own interests and contacts, how do they decide which is the Uncle? I suppose the obvious answer is that at any given moment there is one who lives in Vivulonj Prosperu and hangs out with Dulsey, and that one gets to decide who his successor is, but it’s fun to speculate about less plausible options.
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Vivulonj Prosperu
In which the Uncle makes an unscheduled detour.
Taggerth’s Trade News, which Daav classifies under “comedy” rather than “news”, has been mentioned a few times before, when Kamele is catching up on news of her daughter in Dragon Ship and again during Shan’s trading mission in Alliance of Equals. Kamele and Shan both share Daav’s low opinion of its value as a news source.
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In which Admiral Bunter and Tolly discuss necessary action and acceptable risk.
A nice piece of narrative judo, here. By having Tolly explain things to Admiral Bunter, the reader is informed of matters that will be relevant to the ongoing adventures of Inkirani and Tocohl, who couldn’t have handled that bit of exposition themselves without it coming down to them telling each other things they already know. As a bonus, there’s the little touch of irony that Tolly and the Admiral consider going to the place where they would have met again with their former companions, and then decide not to.
I also like the bit where Tolly is telling Admiral Bunter about the rumour regarding the Carresens-Denobli long-looper. He says that there is this rumour; he doesn’t say what he knows from his own experience of its accuracy. Of course that’s something he doesn’t need to be telling Admiral Bunter at this point in their relationship; all the Admiral needs to know is that there may be other people like him out there.
In which Tocohl explores the boundaries of her new situation.
An interesting narrative embellishment here: this chapter is set before the previous one, ending around the time it starts. The authors had a choice what order to reveal this information to the audience, and didn’t go for the obvious option. One consequence is that when the audience is reading about Inkirani preparing to tackle Tocohl again, they know that it’s not going to go how she expects but they don’t know any more than she does exactly what she’s going to find waiting for her.
Vivulonj Prosperu
In which Daav and Aelliana explore the boundaries of their new situation.
It is a good question, how the Tree knew they’d need those particular seed pods; we’ve had cause to ask similar questions before, though usually not involving such a complicated and unpredictable chain of events. I don’t find the suggestion that the pods would never have ripened if they hadn’t been needed reassuring, because it suggests that the pods are themselves aware of their surroundings and capable of interpreting events, which is a disconcerting attribute to ascribe to (a) a small lump of vegetable matter with no apparent nervous system, and (b) something one has recently eaten.
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Ahab-Esais
In which Tocohl wakes up briefly.
The good news is, Tocohl didn’t choose to throw in her lot with one of the bad guys. The bad news is, that means she’s been taken captive instead.
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In which Val Con has tea with his brother’s sister.
No more character reintroductions in this section, only consolidating and expanding on the threads from the previous two sections.
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