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Saltation – Chapter 21

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Howsenda Hugglelans
Conglomeration of Portcalay
Eylot

In which Theo is introduced to the Third Son of House Hugglelans.

The moment in Theo’s encounter with Brine Batzer where she makes the effort to shift her stance to one that’s aware but not aggressive is significant for two reasons. One is that it shows Theo is working on developing an awareness of how her body language will read to others and on adjusting it appropriately (though also that it still needs work). The other is that, as Theo notes, her shift to a less aggressive stance doesn’t get an appropriate reaction from Batzer. This suggests a few things about Batzer, one of which is that despite owning five ships and presumably flying them, Batzer is not a pilot.

(Though it’s not as simple as that; we’ve had other instances of non-pilots being calmed by a pilot’s choice of body language. They weren’t consciously aware it was the body language doing it, was the difference. So perhaps it’s not just that Batzer isn’t a pilot; taking the chapter as a whole, I think it’s safe to say anyhow that Batzer just isn’t very advertant.)

Saltation – Chapter 20

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Piloting Praxis
Anlingdin Piloting Academy

In which Theo is not going home for the holidays.

There is a saying: If you can’t be a good example, perhaps you can be a horrible warning. The price of fame is that Theo’s teachers seem inclined to use her as one or the other.

Being of a mind to look for connections with other stories, I idly wonder if any of the master-adjudicated piloting errors the students are set to study is the one that was at the centre of “Changeling”. The odds are not necessarily good, though, even if the timing does work out right (which at this point I’m not sure it does); in the wide universe, there are surely more than enough piloting errors to choose from.

Saltation – Chapter 19

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Erkes Dormitory, Suite 302
Anlingdin Piloting Academy

In which Win Ton takes Theo to dinner.

Although, as when yos’Senchul and Veradantha included Theo in their dinner plans, it might be that the flight time and experience is as great a gift as the dinner. (Which is not to knock the dinner; one is getting the impression that a dinner at Howsenda Hugglelans is no small thing itself.)

When the kissing gets started, Win Ton kisses Theo’s temple, her neck, and her ear; it’s Theo who kisses Win Ton on the lips, a move he’s not expecting. We’ve seen this before with couples kissing across the Liaden-Terran cultural divide; between Liadens, face-to-face kissing is an especially intimate gesture not usually added to the repertoire until a relationship is considerably further advanced than this.

Saltation – Chapter 16

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Conglomeration of Portcalay
Eylot

In which one may have anything at Hugglelans as long as one eats it under red sauce.

Theo’s advisors probably do want to hear her answers to their questions about her future hopes, but I think she’s right that there are other questions behind the questions, and I think that by asking about her future they’re also hoping to learn more about her past. Especially after the question about whether her father aimed her anywhere in particular, I suspect they’d like to know where he’s coming from. If Wilsmyth has discovered that Jen Sar Kiladi has no current flight time, surely Theo’s advisors have done the same.

Theo’s answer brings to mind the fact that the med tech a few chapters ago was confident that the life of a courier pilot lay in Theo’s future without having to ask, and, it now appears, before Theo knew herself. It might just be that as a med tech in a piloting academy he’s seen enough courier pilots in training to recognise the signs (especially if one of the signs is “shows up in the dispensary after getting in a fight”!) but I’m inclined to take it as more evidence that he’s a soul-weaver.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 26

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In which Aelliana attends her first gather, and sweeps all before her.

The guest list at yo’Lanna’s gather has a nice sense of history, being a mix of new people, people who were at Korval’s gather in chapter 26 of Scout’s Progress, and people who were at Etgora’s gather in “Choice of Weapons”. In the last category is Etgora Himself, the father of the young man whose enthusiasm Daav was obliged to dampen. (There’s also a reference to that event when Daav and the hostess are exchanging greetings.)

Less charmingly, there are also echoes of the other story set around that time: “The Beggar King”, in which pilots were mysteriously going missing, and Daav was not able to find those responsible, only oblige them to suspend their activities for a time. That time, it appears, has now passed, and pilots are going missing again.

The bond between Daav and Aelliana is developing, however slowly; Daav now possesses the ability to know without looking when Aelliana enters the room, the inverse of which Aelliana has had since the beginning of the novel.

Trade Secret – Chapter 26

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Port Chavvy

In which there are many secrets.

This is another chapter that calls for the reminder that I do appreciate the emotional parts of the Liaden stories, but I’m not very good at talking about them.

Some of the things Freza tells Jethri about the intent of Arin’s Envidaria remind me again of the conversation Theo has with the Carresens of her time. (Though that doesn’t help as much as it might, because I don’t quite recall what the Carresens actually said.)

When the dateline said “Port Chavvy”, I said to myself, “That sounds familiar, has someone mentioned it earlier this book?” – and then there was Dulcimer, and Klay Patel Smith sitting by the equipment rack. So apparently I was wrong when I guessed “Out of True” was set earlier than the Jethri books, having underestimated how unfamiliar a sight Liadens are in parts of Terran space. In fact, there are several things about “Out of True” I understand better having read (this much of) Trade Secret, and I think I would recommend to a new reader that they read Trade Secret first and then “Out of True”.

Trade Secret – Chapter 19

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Tradedesk, Gallery 770

In which honor is done to the memory of Emdy Sternako

Plenty happened in this chapter, and it’s entertaining enough, but I’m getting sidetracked by one of the minor details: is this the first time “Trollians” have been mentioned?

Trade Secret – Chapter 12

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Keravath, on Port, Balfour

In which Jethri meets an old friend and a lawyer.

Jethri and ter’Astin have come to Balfour to meet some people. The Scout is to meet with some “specialists” (in which specialism, he does not specify), and Jethri is to meet with a lawyer, a trade law specialist who has had previous business with Elthoria, to explore the question of what can be done about his logbook being stolen.

Jay Rivenkid Dorster, Esquire, professional trade law specialist and free-lance stress-tester of furniture, is a real character. I may have said before that one of the things I like about this series is that many of the characters who only stick around on the page for a chapter or two have enough personality to stick around in the memory for much longer.

This is the first time Jethri’s been among Terrans since he shipped out with Elthoria, and he’s having some difficulty shifting smoothly back into dealing with Terran faces and Terran ways. I hope that doesn’t get him into any trouble.

The old friend he meets is Freza DeNobli, the young woman he might once have had a thing with if the scheduling had worked out. It seems like they’re both hoping the scheduling will work out a bit better this time. For now, though, the schedule only has room for a brief session of essential catching-up talk.

(It appears that there really is some kind of document bearing some resemblance to the thing yos’Belin was talking about last chapter – and to the information-share Paitor was telling Khat about a few chapters before. But I still think that the reason there’s no mention of it in the Commission’s records is that the Commission isn’t interested.)

I am not happy about the pair of workers Jethri sees moving around closer to the ship than they ought to be. That kind of thing too often means trouble one way or another.

Trade Secret – Chapter 11

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Wynhael, Sater System, Orbit

In which Bar Jan chel’Gaibin wishes to take command of his own affairs.

Bar Jan chel’Gaibin is showing as a rather ambitious young man; more ambitious, I think, than is quite wise. I think it may be within his power to gain the Delm’s ring as he plans, but I remain unconvinced he has it in him to hold it and use it well. It’s clear that he, unlike Jethri, has never been taught that an effective trader needs to have some understanding of people and things outside his own particular sphere. (Not that he seems much interested in being an effective trader, either, but it would have been a useful lesson for a Delm-to-be, as well.)

We are introduced to a new member of the conspiracy, Rand yos’Belin, who presents as a courier, but has rather more influence over the making of plans than that might suggest. Bar Jan notices the amount of influence she has with his mother, but seems less aware of her influence on himself; by the end of the chapter, she’s got rather more from him than he apparently has from her.

Courier yos’Belin is a former Scout, flying a top-of-the-line ship such as a Scout Pilot might be expected to fly (but an ex-Scout might, perhaps, not). She speaks of a determination to preserve Liad’s natural supremacy over the Terrans. I find myself wondering if perhaps she’s an agent of that “internal agency” of which we’ve lately heard.

The Terran plan of which she speaks seems likely to be connected with the politics Paitor has been discussing with Khat. The proposition that its progress has been kept off the record by a secret cabal doesn’t ring true to me; I suspect, given what Paitor said, that it just never got off the ground. The question is, does yos’Belin (or whoever’s behind yos’Belin) actually believe in the secret cabal, or is it just a convenient hook to pull in conspirators with?

On a side note, it’s interesting that the former employer of Wynhael‘s captain was Ixin, of all clans, considering how things stand between Ixin and Rinork. Just coincidence, or has Rinork been actively poaching Ixin’s employees when it sees profit in doing so?

And now Bar Jan is looking toward Franticle. Who else do we know who was headed in that direction…?

Trade Secret – Chapter 5

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Clan Ixin’s Tradeship Elthoria, in Jump

In which Jethri’s education proceeds in new directions.

Well. I’m not sure what to say after that.

(Except that I suspect any young person in Jethri’s position might be just as nervous and uncertain of knowing the right thing to do as Jethri was in the moment before Gaenor joined him, even if they had been Liaden all their lives and not only for a year.)