Tag Archives: X Strain

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 17

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On port
Barbit

In which Jela and Cantra go for a quiet drink.

This is one of my favourite chapters in the Crystal Duology. Possibly it’s because it’s a very Korval sort of scene in a duology that mostly sets a different tone than the Korval novels. I could see Val Con and Miri, for instance, getting into a situation similar to this one.

Though I realised on this re-read that it’s not just the Korval novels it reminds me of:

As Lobsang followed the ambling Lu-Tze he heard the dojo master, who like all teachers never missed an opportunity to drive home a lesson, say: ‘Dojo! What is Rule One?’
Even the cowering challenger mumbled along to the chorus:
‘Do not act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men!’

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 5

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Trident
Isolation Ward

In which Jela is isolated, and then made an offer he can’t refuse.

Jela gets put in quarantine. The tree gets put in quarantine. Corporal Bicra, who helped carry the tree, gets put in quarantine. Justifications are available, but Jela suspects somebody’s messing about. There is a hint that Corporal Kinto may be involved, though Jela doesn’t know what his motive might be.

And we may never get to find out, since the Commander shows up and offers Jela a job.

During their conversation, we learn that Jela has in the past found himself in command situations, where he has done well by the people below him but not always got along smoothly with the people above. “Alas, some ‘above my head’ have been raised to different rules and understandings of soldiers, duty, and necessity.”

We learn that independent thought and initiative are characteristics of M Strain (not always appreciated by the people above their heads), along with a distaste for idleness. We learn some more about X Strain as well, including the first mention of them by name. We get some details about Jela’s physical appearance (he’s shorter than a lot of people) and the med tech’s physical appearance (brown-skinned). (I’m keeping an eye on this, because I notice that the cover artist has depicted Jela as dark-skinned, and I’m wondering if there’s in-text support for it.) We also have the first appearance of pilots’ hand-talk.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 2

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On the ground, Star 475A
Mission time: 9 planet days and counting

In which Jela conceives an interest in dendrology.

What Jela has discovered is the Trees, or what’s left of them.

While he’s following their trail, hoping to find one that’s still alive, we get some exposition about why he thinks they might be worth finding, along with a hint that although this may be a science fiction universe, it contains things that might well be indistinguishable from magic; and when his mind wanders, some more exposition about his own status as a batch-produced, gene-selected soldier. We also get the first mention of the more recent Strain, of whom we will be hearing more later, whose fashion is to wear their Batch tattoos on their faces instead of on their arms. (The voice of memory says, “On the right – insignia of born-to Troop…”)