Dragonsdawn - Chapter Eleven
Apr. 12th, 2023 07:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kalinara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
i_read_whatFucking yeess. Last time, we saw the start of what, I hope, is Avril finally earning her bitch reputation.
It's probably wrong of me that I kind of hope she fucks shit up. But given that the last people we saw her with were Kenjo, Ongola, and Sallah Telgar...I really hope she does. (Well, except Ongola. His only crime is bad judgment.)
Content warning here for some torture.
So we start out with Mairi Hanrahan. She's concerned because Sallah hasn't shown for lunch, nor called to say she'd be delayed. No one notices the absence of Kenjo or Ongola, though, since no one expected them to call in while the shuttle is moving. (Hee, the shuttle is moving!)
Things get exciting when kids run in, screaming about dead men. Oh, oops. Poor kids. I do feel for them, but oo, Ongola's still alive!
KENJO, on the other hand, is DEAD. YESSSSS. You know what, McCaffrey? All is forgiven! Okay, not all. But at least seventy percent is forgiven! WOOO!
Oh, god, this is chickens roosting time too:
Paul tried to dismiss the eager hands. The implications of the two deaths greatly disturbed him. There was no antidote for Kenjo’s loss, though the wretched quikal eased the intense shock that had rocked him. In the back of his mind, as he knocked back the drink, he wondered where Kenjo had cached the rest of the fuel. Why, Paul seethed at himself, had he not asked the man before? He could have done so any time before or after the last few flights Kenjo had taken in the Mariposa. As admiral, he knew exactly how much fuel had been left in the gig on its last drop. Now it was too late! Unless Ongola knew. He had mentioned to Paul that there was not much left at the original site, but that Kenjo had been supplying the Mariposa. The figures Sallah had initially reported to Ongola indicated a lot more fuel than Paul had seen in that cave the other night. Well the misappropriation — yes, that was the right term — had had a final appropriate usage. Maybe Kenjo’s wife knew where he had stored the remainder.
You know what, you fucker? I hope you NEVER find the missing fuel. You had YEARS to confront Kenjo. You KNEW that he took it, but you were too busy going "Oh, I hope my ex-girlfriend never finds it!" You could have avoided ALL of this by just making him give it back.
I feel for the colonists, but I am fucking gleeful right now. I hope Ms. Kenjo tells you JACK SHIT.
Anyway, Ongola's going to live. That makes me happy too. Bitra killed the dude I hate and spared the dude I don't hate. If she can take out Sallah too, she'll be my fucking hero.
Paul now wonders, of course, who is flying the Mariposa. And while that's a fair question, I think it's out of character, because every other chapter in this book, he would have assumed Bitra just to remind us that Bitra is EEEVIL. He's not thinking of her now, because for once, it's the correct answer.
He reports to Emily and Ezra. Ezra notes that the piloting was very smooth. Oh, here we go:
“Then ask Jake if there’s any unmodified sleds on the grid. Find out exactly where Stev Kimmer, Nabol Nahbi, and Bart Lemos are. And — ” Paul held up a warning hand. “ — if anyone’s seen Avril Bitra anywhere.”
“Avril?” Ezra echoed, and then clamped his mouth firmly shut.
Suddenly Paul swore in a torrent of abusive language that made even Ezra regard him with amazement, and slammed out of the room. Emily concentrated on finding the pilots and had completed her check before Paul returned. He leaned back against the closed door, catching his breath.
Of course, they now figure out it's Bitra. She probably won't get far though because Ongola has a part of the guidance system that never got put in place. He had been going to fix it. I was going to poke fun at Emily's "Yes, it has to be Avril" line, but to be fair, Avril is an astronavigator, which may explain why the missing part hasn't been an impediment yet.
Emily asks why she'd want the Yoko.
“First step to leaving the system, Emily. We’ve been stupidly lax. Yes, I know we have this,” he acknowledged when Emily pointed to the chip panel. “But we shouldn’t have allowed her to get that far in the first place. And we all knew what she was like. Sallah warned us, and the years . . .”
“And recent unusual events,” Ezra put in, mildly hinting that Paul need not excoriate himself.
“We should have guarded the Mariposa as long as she’d an ounce of fuel in her.”
“We also ought to have had the sense to ask Kenjo where he was getting all the fuel,” Ezra added.
“We knew that,” Emily said with a wry grin.
“You did?” Ezra was amazed.
1) Is it really such a bad thing that Avril leaves? You disliked her anyway.
2) What recent unusual events? I mean, there's Thread of course, but Bitra's not to blame for that. Has Bitra been up to other mischief? (I wouldn't necessarily put it past McCaffrey, but making Bitra the avatar of the Red Star seems a bit much.)
3) Yes, Ezra. Though amazement should probably be horror and outrage. They DID know Kenjo was stealing fuel.
Of course they realize that Bitra has "a hostage", though they admit that Bitra may not realize it, as Sallah Telgar-Andiyar is missing.
-
So we scene shift to Sallah. She's tied up uncomfortably. No gravity. And Bitra is cursing in the background. She demands to know what "Telgar" did to the guidance systems. She kicks her in the ribs, making her float. Sallah has a bit of nervousness about the air, while Avril threatens to space her and save the air for herself.
Do it. Come on, do it. Be my favorite character ever.
Credit where it's due, I think this is the very first time that McCaffrey's ever written a villain as actually competent. Avril's losing, but not because of her own stupidity. She just had no way to know there was a broken component. If she had only been a bit subtler about Avril prior to this whole set up, this could have been an elegant twist.
Even so, it's pretty satisfying. I enjoy seeing rapists get their dues.
Sallah says she doesn't know anything, she just spotted her stalking the others and followed. Avril is hilariously indignant about being followed and says "How dare you?"
Anyway, Avril knows Sallah's flown the shuttle. She wants to know how to overwrite the pre-flight instructions. Sallah wants to see the console, and Avril pushes her over, but without untying her.
Sallah notes that while Avril piloted shuttles, the Mariposa is more complex and the controls would hopefully be unfamiliar to her. You know what, that's fair. That's a perfectly reasonable weakness for a villain to have. Dare I suggest that McCaffrey's improving?
Sallah explains how to find the flight plan. And it's pulled up. The Mariposa will dock with the Yokohama. Avril's pleased to hear this as this was her intention. She sends Sallah sailing away so she can work. Sallah is miserable and her foot is in pain. Avril is frustrated by the unresponsive controls. She throws something at Sallah, sending her spinning and vomiting.
So she threatens Sallah's life, cuts her free, and orders her to clean up her spew. Avril doesn't let Sallah free though and tethers her by her injured foot. Avril pushes her into the chair and orders her to enter a program that gets her out of the system.
Sallah is surprised to see the fuel amount. Yep, Kenjo's a dick. Who is now dead, tee hee.
Avril wants Sallah to compute a course to a nearby system. I'm wondering why Avril can't, as an astronavigator, but I'll admit, I don't really know what an astronavigator does. Actually, to be fair, Sallah wonders the same thing. She tells us what she's figured out of Avril's plan.
Only because Sallah already knew the coordinates did she recognize the numbers. Avril wished to go to the system nearest them, system that, though uninhabited, was closer to the populated sector of space. The course would stretch the Mariposa to the end of available fuel, even if Avril also drained the Yoko’s tanks. It gave Sallah no consolation to think that the little ship might drift for centuries with Avril safe and composed in deep sleep. Unless, just maybe, Ongola had tampered with the sleep tanks, too. She liked that idea. But she knew Ongola too well to presume that kind of foresight.
Unfortunately, the Avrils of the galaxy could make themselves at home in any time and culture. So if Avril went into deep sleep, eventually someone, or something, would rescue her and the Mariposa. Sallah did not need to see them to know that Avril had several fortunes’ worth of gemstones and precious metals aboard the Mariposa. There had never been any doubt in anyone’s mind why Avril had chosen Big Island as her stake, but no one had cared. But then, no one would have imagined that she would be mad enough to attempt to leave Pern, even with Threadfall threatening the planet.
...see, this gets into my problem with the earlier parts of the book. Until now, Avril hadn't done anything provably wrong. Everyone KNEW (apparently) that she wanted the gems. NOW, of course, Avril deserves all the wrath and distrust she gets. But McCaffrey basically wrote as though every single character had psychic knowledge of Avril's eventual crimes.
Oh well, doesn't matter now. Avril killed a dude I hate, stole a ship, and is tormenting a rapist. I'm good with this now.
Anyway, the issue is that the computer won't allow Avril OR Sallah to enter the coordinates. While Sallah works, Avril hums tunelessly (of course, only evil people are tone-deaf) and "fondles" (funny word choice from a rapist) a homemade capsule. It's a beacon.
Sallah realizes the last part of the plan. Basically, Avril gets as far away from Rukbat as possible, launches the homemade beacon into the commercial lane, and it'll get tracked to its origin. It's the kind of thing released when a ship is destroyed, so someone's going to want to see the salvage.
Avril torments Sallah further by pressing her foot against the module. Sallah nearly passes out but Avril pinches her left breast to keep her awake. Sallah also has to use the bathroom. Good to know.
She also starts cutting Sallah's finger. Because we needed more torture porn, I guess. It's not McCaffrey's usual style. I'm not really a fan. I prefer whump directed toward characters I actually like. I don't give a shit about Sallah as a character, so I'm more filled with vague distaste than worry.
Anyway, Sallah eventually admits that the guidance chip was removed and so Avril can't go anywhere. Avril wants to know if everything was stripped from the Yokohama. Sallah suggests that there would be guidance chips that could be substituted. Sallah asserts herself and goes to the head, to deal with her needs.
We're also told that she's basically lost half of her heel, and there's a puddle of blood. Avril also makes cracks about "maternal changes in a woman's body", Sallah pretends to feel humiliated so that Avril feels more superior.
Back on Pern, folks have figured out that two bodies have left the gig and passed the censors. Tarvi lets out a ragged sob. I'd like to think it's relief, but it's probably a trauma bond with his rapist.
Apparently they've now put together what's happened. Someone saw Sallah leave. Others found Avril's sled. Stev identified it, and while he kept personal comments to himself, the others figure he'd been betrayed. He answers their questions.
They discuss the guidance system and Tarvi asks, reflecting Sallah's suggestion, if she could replace it with similar chips from the Yokohama. (His "liquid eyes tormented". Poor guy.)
But now we see why Sallah suggested it: not the right size. She'll probably be able to set course, it will appear to accept, but just fly straight ahead.
Tarvi, anguished, wants to know what will happen to his wife. I know what I hope, dude. It's okay, you'll recover in time.
So back to the Yokohama. Sallah's there, apparently. Avril's left with the Mariposa. She'd damaged the bridge controls, but forgot the admiral's override. Sallah calls down. She claims she doesn't have visuals, because she doesn't want them to see her condition. She wants to do what she can with the probes.
Oh hey:
“Hellfire, girl, don’t talk about probes now! How’re we going to get you down?”
“I don’t think you are, sir,” she said cheerfully. “Tarvi?”
“Sal-lah!” The two syllables were said in a tone that brought her heart to her mouth and tears to her eyes. Why had he never spoke her name that way before? Did it mean the long-awaited avowal of his love? The anguish in his voice evoked a spirit tortured and distress
“Tarvi, my love.” She kept her voice level though her throat kept closing. “Tarvi, who’s with you there?”
“Paul, Emily, Ezra,” he replied in broken tones. “Sallah! You must return!”
On the wings of a prayer? No. Go to Cara! Get out of the room. I’ve got some business to do, Pern business. Paul, make him leave. I can’t think if I know he’s listening.”
Like Alix before him, Tarvi's rapist abuser decides to take his autonomy away rather than give him a chance to say goodbye. At least she didn't magically knock him out but getting other people to force him out is still pretty awful. Fuck off, Tallah.
So Ezra tells her where to send the probes. He's upset and meandering which makes Sallah affectionate. Someone is crying. She sends the probes away. She also sees Pern on the big screen, from space, something she'd never thought she'd see again.
She asks after Kenjo and Ongola. We also learn exactly how dire the situation is. She's got the oxygen in her tanks, but Avril had turned off the bridge's independent life support system. She's sending some info for Ongola, but possibly won't have enough time to read them.
We're told that her left glove is full of blood, and in her big boot, blood has reached her calf. I feel like if she were going to bleed out from either wound, she'd have done it already? But I'm no expert. We'll go with this.
They do send Tarvi in for a last goodbye, and of course, it's entirely an ego-stroke for Sallah, absolving her of rape and everything:
“Sallah!” Tarvi had managed to get his voice under control. “Get out of here, all of you! She’s mine now. Sallah, jewel in my night, my golden girl, my emerald-eyed ranee, why did I never tell you before how much you mean to me? I was too proud. I was too vain. But you taught me to love, taught me by your sacrifice when I was too engrossed in my other love — my work love — to see the inestimable gift of your affection and kindness. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have failed to see that you were more than just a body to receive my seed, more than an ear to hear my ambitions, more than hands to — Sallah? Sallah? Answer me, Sallah!”
“You — loved — me?”
“I do love you, Sallah. I do! Sallah? Sallah! Salllllaaaaah!”
Bleh. But you know, I basically have the same reaction to this as to the Reylo kiss in Rise of Skywalker. We don't see Tarvi's thoughts, so we don't see his motivation behind it. We don't know if he means it, or it's a gratitude/mercy gesture to someone dying. Could be either. But in the end, even if he has convinced himself that he loves his rapist, he's still going to get to be free of her. He's going to get to survive and live his own life, whatever that may be.
I'm good with that.
So the others look at the figures. The Yokohama has a lot of fuel, enough for centuries of minor orbital corrections. There's also the numbers for Kenjo's missing fuel. They also know where Bitra is going to go: straight into the Red Star.
Benden opens the comms to talk to his ex.
“Benden! What the hell did that bitch of yours do?” How did she do it? The override is locked. I can’t even maneuver. I knew I should have sawn her foot off.”
Ezra blanched and Dieter looked ill, but Paul’s smile was vindictive. So Avril had underestimated Sallah. He took a deep breath of pride in the valiant woman.
“You’re going to explore the plutonic planet, Avril darling. Why can’t you be a decent thing and give us a running account?”
“Shove it, Benden. You know where! You’ll get nothing out of me. Oh, shit! Oh, shit! it’s not the — oh, shiiiitt.”
Fuck Sallah.
Anyway, here exits Bitra, probably the best and most competent of McCaffrey's villains. She was brought down by matters entirely out of her control and reasonably beyond her expertise. Also she killed characters I hated, and for that, I'm very happy.
Farewell, Bitra. I hope you spend the next few thousand years sneering at these idiots from the afterlife.
Benden of course wants to know what "it's not the..." means. But it's too late for that, dear boy. I'm actually curious too, though. I know enough about the universe in general, but not what that means.
After, there's a message from Kenjo's wife. She'd prefer to stay on Honshu with the kids. She's apparently very traditional, and won't show grief and belittle the dead. Kenjo apparently married her because she wouldn't question what he did. Fuck Kenjo.
Anyway, she knows about two caves cut. One housed the plane. She doesn't know about the other. HAH. Fuck you guys. You fucked around and now NO ONE gets the fuel.
We end the chapter with a grief-stricken Tarvi making a dramatic declaration. Basically, he and the kids are taking the name Telgar, so it'll be known forever.
And we know it will. But I also know that Tarvi will get to go to sleep tonight without being raped by his wife. So we can all be content with this outcome.
It's probably wrong of me that I kind of hope she fucks shit up. But given that the last people we saw her with were Kenjo, Ongola, and Sallah Telgar...I really hope she does. (Well, except Ongola. His only crime is bad judgment.)
Content warning here for some torture.
So we start out with Mairi Hanrahan. She's concerned because Sallah hasn't shown for lunch, nor called to say she'd be delayed. No one notices the absence of Kenjo or Ongola, though, since no one expected them to call in while the shuttle is moving. (Hee, the shuttle is moving!)
Things get exciting when kids run in, screaming about dead men. Oh, oops. Poor kids. I do feel for them, but oo, Ongola's still alive!
KENJO, on the other hand, is DEAD. YESSSSS. You know what, McCaffrey? All is forgiven! Okay, not all. But at least seventy percent is forgiven! WOOO!
Oh, god, this is chickens roosting time too:
Paul tried to dismiss the eager hands. The implications of the two deaths greatly disturbed him. There was no antidote for Kenjo’s loss, though the wretched quikal eased the intense shock that had rocked him. In the back of his mind, as he knocked back the drink, he wondered where Kenjo had cached the rest of the fuel. Why, Paul seethed at himself, had he not asked the man before? He could have done so any time before or after the last few flights Kenjo had taken in the Mariposa. As admiral, he knew exactly how much fuel had been left in the gig on its last drop. Now it was too late! Unless Ongola knew. He had mentioned to Paul that there was not much left at the original site, but that Kenjo had been supplying the Mariposa. The figures Sallah had initially reported to Ongola indicated a lot more fuel than Paul had seen in that cave the other night. Well the misappropriation — yes, that was the right term — had had a final appropriate usage. Maybe Kenjo’s wife knew where he had stored the remainder.
You know what, you fucker? I hope you NEVER find the missing fuel. You had YEARS to confront Kenjo. You KNEW that he took it, but you were too busy going "Oh, I hope my ex-girlfriend never finds it!" You could have avoided ALL of this by just making him give it back.
I feel for the colonists, but I am fucking gleeful right now. I hope Ms. Kenjo tells you JACK SHIT.
Anyway, Ongola's going to live. That makes me happy too. Bitra killed the dude I hate and spared the dude I don't hate. If she can take out Sallah too, she'll be my fucking hero.
Paul now wonders, of course, who is flying the Mariposa. And while that's a fair question, I think it's out of character, because every other chapter in this book, he would have assumed Bitra just to remind us that Bitra is EEEVIL. He's not thinking of her now, because for once, it's the correct answer.
He reports to Emily and Ezra. Ezra notes that the piloting was very smooth. Oh, here we go:
“Then ask Jake if there’s any unmodified sleds on the grid. Find out exactly where Stev Kimmer, Nabol Nahbi, and Bart Lemos are. And — ” Paul held up a warning hand. “ — if anyone’s seen Avril Bitra anywhere.”
“Avril?” Ezra echoed, and then clamped his mouth firmly shut.
Suddenly Paul swore in a torrent of abusive language that made even Ezra regard him with amazement, and slammed out of the room. Emily concentrated on finding the pilots and had completed her check before Paul returned. He leaned back against the closed door, catching his breath.
Of course, they now figure out it's Bitra. She probably won't get far though because Ongola has a part of the guidance system that never got put in place. He had been going to fix it. I was going to poke fun at Emily's "Yes, it has to be Avril" line, but to be fair, Avril is an astronavigator, which may explain why the missing part hasn't been an impediment yet.
Emily asks why she'd want the Yoko.
“First step to leaving the system, Emily. We’ve been stupidly lax. Yes, I know we have this,” he acknowledged when Emily pointed to the chip panel. “But we shouldn’t have allowed her to get that far in the first place. And we all knew what she was like. Sallah warned us, and the years . . .”
“And recent unusual events,” Ezra put in, mildly hinting that Paul need not excoriate himself.
“We should have guarded the Mariposa as long as she’d an ounce of fuel in her.”
“We also ought to have had the sense to ask Kenjo where he was getting all the fuel,” Ezra added.
“We knew that,” Emily said with a wry grin.
“You did?” Ezra was amazed.
1) Is it really such a bad thing that Avril leaves? You disliked her anyway.
2) What recent unusual events? I mean, there's Thread of course, but Bitra's not to blame for that. Has Bitra been up to other mischief? (I wouldn't necessarily put it past McCaffrey, but making Bitra the avatar of the Red Star seems a bit much.)
3) Yes, Ezra. Though amazement should probably be horror and outrage. They DID know Kenjo was stealing fuel.
Of course they realize that Bitra has "a hostage", though they admit that Bitra may not realize it, as Sallah Telgar-Andiyar is missing.
-
So we scene shift to Sallah. She's tied up uncomfortably. No gravity. And Bitra is cursing in the background. She demands to know what "Telgar" did to the guidance systems. She kicks her in the ribs, making her float. Sallah has a bit of nervousness about the air, while Avril threatens to space her and save the air for herself.
Do it. Come on, do it. Be my favorite character ever.
Credit where it's due, I think this is the very first time that McCaffrey's ever written a villain as actually competent. Avril's losing, but not because of her own stupidity. She just had no way to know there was a broken component. If she had only been a bit subtler about Avril prior to this whole set up, this could have been an elegant twist.
Even so, it's pretty satisfying. I enjoy seeing rapists get their dues.
Sallah says she doesn't know anything, she just spotted her stalking the others and followed. Avril is hilariously indignant about being followed and says "How dare you?"
Anyway, Avril knows Sallah's flown the shuttle. She wants to know how to overwrite the pre-flight instructions. Sallah wants to see the console, and Avril pushes her over, but without untying her.
Sallah notes that while Avril piloted shuttles, the Mariposa is more complex and the controls would hopefully be unfamiliar to her. You know what, that's fair. That's a perfectly reasonable weakness for a villain to have. Dare I suggest that McCaffrey's improving?
Sallah explains how to find the flight plan. And it's pulled up. The Mariposa will dock with the Yokohama. Avril's pleased to hear this as this was her intention. She sends Sallah sailing away so she can work. Sallah is miserable and her foot is in pain. Avril is frustrated by the unresponsive controls. She throws something at Sallah, sending her spinning and vomiting.
So she threatens Sallah's life, cuts her free, and orders her to clean up her spew. Avril doesn't let Sallah free though and tethers her by her injured foot. Avril pushes her into the chair and orders her to enter a program that gets her out of the system.
Sallah is surprised to see the fuel amount. Yep, Kenjo's a dick. Who is now dead, tee hee.
Avril wants Sallah to compute a course to a nearby system. I'm wondering why Avril can't, as an astronavigator, but I'll admit, I don't really know what an astronavigator does. Actually, to be fair, Sallah wonders the same thing. She tells us what she's figured out of Avril's plan.
Only because Sallah already knew the coordinates did she recognize the numbers. Avril wished to go to the system nearest them, system that, though uninhabited, was closer to the populated sector of space. The course would stretch the Mariposa to the end of available fuel, even if Avril also drained the Yoko’s tanks. It gave Sallah no consolation to think that the little ship might drift for centuries with Avril safe and composed in deep sleep. Unless, just maybe, Ongola had tampered with the sleep tanks, too. She liked that idea. But she knew Ongola too well to presume that kind of foresight.
Unfortunately, the Avrils of the galaxy could make themselves at home in any time and culture. So if Avril went into deep sleep, eventually someone, or something, would rescue her and the Mariposa. Sallah did not need to see them to know that Avril had several fortunes’ worth of gemstones and precious metals aboard the Mariposa. There had never been any doubt in anyone’s mind why Avril had chosen Big Island as her stake, but no one had cared. But then, no one would have imagined that she would be mad enough to attempt to leave Pern, even with Threadfall threatening the planet.
...see, this gets into my problem with the earlier parts of the book. Until now, Avril hadn't done anything provably wrong. Everyone KNEW (apparently) that she wanted the gems. NOW, of course, Avril deserves all the wrath and distrust she gets. But McCaffrey basically wrote as though every single character had psychic knowledge of Avril's eventual crimes.
Oh well, doesn't matter now. Avril killed a dude I hate, stole a ship, and is tormenting a rapist. I'm good with this now.
Anyway, the issue is that the computer won't allow Avril OR Sallah to enter the coordinates. While Sallah works, Avril hums tunelessly (of course, only evil people are tone-deaf) and "fondles" (funny word choice from a rapist) a homemade capsule. It's a beacon.
Sallah realizes the last part of the plan. Basically, Avril gets as far away from Rukbat as possible, launches the homemade beacon into the commercial lane, and it'll get tracked to its origin. It's the kind of thing released when a ship is destroyed, so someone's going to want to see the salvage.
Avril torments Sallah further by pressing her foot against the module. Sallah nearly passes out but Avril pinches her left breast to keep her awake. Sallah also has to use the bathroom. Good to know.
She also starts cutting Sallah's finger. Because we needed more torture porn, I guess. It's not McCaffrey's usual style. I'm not really a fan. I prefer whump directed toward characters I actually like. I don't give a shit about Sallah as a character, so I'm more filled with vague distaste than worry.
Anyway, Sallah eventually admits that the guidance chip was removed and so Avril can't go anywhere. Avril wants to know if everything was stripped from the Yokohama. Sallah suggests that there would be guidance chips that could be substituted. Sallah asserts herself and goes to the head, to deal with her needs.
We're also told that she's basically lost half of her heel, and there's a puddle of blood. Avril also makes cracks about "maternal changes in a woman's body", Sallah pretends to feel humiliated so that Avril feels more superior.
Back on Pern, folks have figured out that two bodies have left the gig and passed the censors. Tarvi lets out a ragged sob. I'd like to think it's relief, but it's probably a trauma bond with his rapist.
Apparently they've now put together what's happened. Someone saw Sallah leave. Others found Avril's sled. Stev identified it, and while he kept personal comments to himself, the others figure he'd been betrayed. He answers their questions.
They discuss the guidance system and Tarvi asks, reflecting Sallah's suggestion, if she could replace it with similar chips from the Yokohama. (His "liquid eyes tormented". Poor guy.)
But now we see why Sallah suggested it: not the right size. She'll probably be able to set course, it will appear to accept, but just fly straight ahead.
Tarvi, anguished, wants to know what will happen to his wife. I know what I hope, dude. It's okay, you'll recover in time.
So back to the Yokohama. Sallah's there, apparently. Avril's left with the Mariposa. She'd damaged the bridge controls, but forgot the admiral's override. Sallah calls down. She claims she doesn't have visuals, because she doesn't want them to see her condition. She wants to do what she can with the probes.
Oh hey:
“Hellfire, girl, don’t talk about probes now! How’re we going to get you down?”
“I don’t think you are, sir,” she said cheerfully. “Tarvi?”
“Sal-lah!” The two syllables were said in a tone that brought her heart to her mouth and tears to her eyes. Why had he never spoke her name that way before? Did it mean the long-awaited avowal of his love? The anguish in his voice evoked a spirit tortured and distress
“Tarvi, my love.” She kept her voice level though her throat kept closing. “Tarvi, who’s with you there?”
“Paul, Emily, Ezra,” he replied in broken tones. “Sallah! You must return!”
On the wings of a prayer? No. Go to Cara! Get out of the room. I’ve got some business to do, Pern business. Paul, make him leave. I can’t think if I know he’s listening.”
Like Alix before him, Tarvi's rapist abuser decides to take his autonomy away rather than give him a chance to say goodbye. At least she didn't magically knock him out but getting other people to force him out is still pretty awful. Fuck off, Tallah.
So Ezra tells her where to send the probes. He's upset and meandering which makes Sallah affectionate. Someone is crying. She sends the probes away. She also sees Pern on the big screen, from space, something she'd never thought she'd see again.
She asks after Kenjo and Ongola. We also learn exactly how dire the situation is. She's got the oxygen in her tanks, but Avril had turned off the bridge's independent life support system. She's sending some info for Ongola, but possibly won't have enough time to read them.
We're told that her left glove is full of blood, and in her big boot, blood has reached her calf. I feel like if she were going to bleed out from either wound, she'd have done it already? But I'm no expert. We'll go with this.
They do send Tarvi in for a last goodbye, and of course, it's entirely an ego-stroke for Sallah, absolving her of rape and everything:
“Sallah!” Tarvi had managed to get his voice under control. “Get out of here, all of you! She’s mine now. Sallah, jewel in my night, my golden girl, my emerald-eyed ranee, why did I never tell you before how much you mean to me? I was too proud. I was too vain. But you taught me to love, taught me by your sacrifice when I was too engrossed in my other love — my work love — to see the inestimable gift of your affection and kindness. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have failed to see that you were more than just a body to receive my seed, more than an ear to hear my ambitions, more than hands to — Sallah? Sallah? Answer me, Sallah!”
“You — loved — me?”
“I do love you, Sallah. I do! Sallah? Sallah! Salllllaaaaah!”
Bleh. But you know, I basically have the same reaction to this as to the Reylo kiss in Rise of Skywalker. We don't see Tarvi's thoughts, so we don't see his motivation behind it. We don't know if he means it, or it's a gratitude/mercy gesture to someone dying. Could be either. But in the end, even if he has convinced himself that he loves his rapist, he's still going to get to be free of her. He's going to get to survive and live his own life, whatever that may be.
I'm good with that.
So the others look at the figures. The Yokohama has a lot of fuel, enough for centuries of minor orbital corrections. There's also the numbers for Kenjo's missing fuel. They also know where Bitra is going to go: straight into the Red Star.
Benden opens the comms to talk to his ex.
“Benden! What the hell did that bitch of yours do?” How did she do it? The override is locked. I can’t even maneuver. I knew I should have sawn her foot off.”
Ezra blanched and Dieter looked ill, but Paul’s smile was vindictive. So Avril had underestimated Sallah. He took a deep breath of pride in the valiant woman.
“You’re going to explore the plutonic planet, Avril darling. Why can’t you be a decent thing and give us a running account?”
“Shove it, Benden. You know where! You’ll get nothing out of me. Oh, shit! Oh, shit! it’s not the — oh, shiiiitt.”
Fuck Sallah.
Anyway, here exits Bitra, probably the best and most competent of McCaffrey's villains. She was brought down by matters entirely out of her control and reasonably beyond her expertise. Also she killed characters I hated, and for that, I'm very happy.
Farewell, Bitra. I hope you spend the next few thousand years sneering at these idiots from the afterlife.
Benden of course wants to know what "it's not the..." means. But it's too late for that, dear boy. I'm actually curious too, though. I know enough about the universe in general, but not what that means.
After, there's a message from Kenjo's wife. She'd prefer to stay on Honshu with the kids. She's apparently very traditional, and won't show grief and belittle the dead. Kenjo apparently married her because she wouldn't question what he did. Fuck Kenjo.
Anyway, she knows about two caves cut. One housed the plane. She doesn't know about the other. HAH. Fuck you guys. You fucked around and now NO ONE gets the fuel.
We end the chapter with a grief-stricken Tarvi making a dramatic declaration. Basically, he and the kids are taking the name Telgar, so it'll be known forever.
And we know it will. But I also know that Tarvi will get to go to sleep tonight without being raped by his wife. So we can all be content with this outcome.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 01:31 am (UTC)Um... actually, there's still shit with the missing fuel but that comes out in the short story "Rescue Run" which is set after the transfer to the northern continent and is in the First Fall collection book.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-13 02:50 am (UTC)In All the Weyrs of Pern, the AVIAS never actually tells the Ninth Pass Pernese where Thread comes from instead it tells them that if they work with the AVIAS they can stop Threadfall altogether. It then arranges for the explosions of the colony ship's engines on the Red Star in order to force the eccentric planet's orbit to shift so that the ovoids carrying the Thread can't reach Pern any longer while also having the Healing Hall create what is essentially a virus to infect the Oort Cloud on the edge of the planetary system. The actual details and explanation of what Thread is and how the orbits of Pern and the Red Star intersect to cause the fifty years of Threadfall are detailed in the original edition of the supplementary book, A Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, which was written before All the Weyrs of Pern and massively Jossed by that book. I much preferred Pern before All the Weyrs and the jump in technology that came with it. I didn't mind the refinding of old crafts, like the symbiotic relationship with the Dolphins, but electricity, plastics manufacture, heating & cooling, printing presses, and paper making just ruined the "way" of Pern to me. I know why she did it, but it just didn't work for me so after the original three novels, the Harper Hall books, and some of the "history" novels, I just stopped revisiting them as the later books - especially those written with Todd or written solely by him - didn't feel like the Pern I originally enjoyed any longer.
And there's the long ramble on the "truth" of the Thread. :) Sorry for the long comment.
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Date: 2023-04-13 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 01:52 am (UTC)Also, I agree with Belle_Meri: After "The Skies of Pern", the series wasn't the same. And Todd and Gigi don't have their mother's touch. Todd's works broke canon badly without very good explanations to why, and a member of the A Meeting of Minds fan forum admitted she got so unnerved by an underage sex scene that she bought a censor-stamp to blot that entire part out. (But female blueriders are cool. The truly epic fanfiction "Dragonchoice 3: Weyrleader of Pern" by Faye Upton presented it in a way that made me think "Oh! Okay, that actually makes sense. Now I get it.")
As for Gigi, I did try to read her first Pern novel, "Dragon's Code", but it just read like fanfiction to me. It didn't break much new ground and just rehashed a lot of what'd already been done. (But Piemur was done well, I'll say that.)
Still, I did eventually whittle my Pern collection down to "Dragonsdawn", "The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall", "Dragonseye/Red Star Rising", "Moreta, Dragonlady of Pern", "Nerilka's Story", "Dragonflight", "Dragonquest", and "The Girl Who Heard Dragons", since they felt the most like Pern to me and I enjoyed 'em the most. I probably should've kept some others, since I did enjoy seeing the dolphins come back to prominence, at least.
You'd probably like the "Dragonchoice" trilogy, Kalinara. Perhaps even more than canon!Pern.
= Multi-Facets.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-14 01:58 am (UTC)