Dragonsdawn - Chapter Twelve
Apr. 22nd, 2023 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, Bitra FINALLY earned her villain descriptions and killed two characters I hated, which made me very happy. Thus I am inclined to go into this chapter with more optimism than usual.
Because I don't have it in me to not be a little critical, I do think maybe the Bitra plot would have worked better before Thread. While I appreciate that, once it came down to it, Bitra got to be a competent and effective villain, Thread is always going to be a much bigger threat. It was odd how isolated Bitra was from that plot. Did she even know that much about Thread when she enacted her plot? And the pre-emptive "look how evil she is" segments might not have seemed quite so over the top if we didn't have to wait eight years for the culmination.
I mean, we'd have needed a different reason for the return to space, but otherwise, I think Bitra should have been an act one villain rather than an act two villain.
The chapter starts off by telling us that Sallah Telgar's death was a shock that "reverberated across the continent." That seems a bit much to me, even if, as the paragraph says, she was known as both a shuttle pilot during the debarkation and an able camp manager. She wasn't the ONLY shuttle pilot, after all. And we're talking one camp. If anything, I'd have assumed Kenjo's death would have been the bigger deal.
Anyway, we're told that her courage actually boosted morale. People were inspired by the fact that she'd been willing to devote her last moments of life to the colony, but, well, we have another designated villain to get to...
“Look, Paul,” Joel Lilienkamp began even before he had closed the door behind him. “Everyone’s got a right to access Stores. But that Ted Tubberman’s been taking out some unusual stuff for a botanist.”
“Not Tubberman again,” Paul said, leaning back in his chair with a deep sigh of disgust. Tarv — Telgar, Paul corrected himself, had phoned the previous day, asking if Tubberman had been authorized to scrounge in the shuttle they were dismantling.
...why did he correct Tarvi's name? Tarvi changed his LAST name, not his first.
But also, dude, you could be a little kinder. Ted lost his daughter, who did you lose?
Anyway, apparently Ted's been making trouble off screen. Wind Blossom has requested that he be banned from the biology labs, because he was throwing around his weight. Bey doesn't like him either. Of course not, he's a designated villain with no likable traits. We've danced this dance before.
Apparently, Joel wants permission to ban him from his shit too. Ted's been hanging around technically sensitive stuff with Bart Lemos. Apparently Ted is hanging out with Avril's old cronies, and thus everyone is eeevil.
I mean, it's McCaffrey, so of course they are. But still. Paul had apparently spied on Stev after Avril's "departure" - he'd gone on a three day bender, woke up in the dismantled shuttle, then gone back to work. He's not well liked though because he's "surly".
For fuck's sake, McCaffrey, can we please just go back to Thread and Dragons? And the characters I actually give two fucks about?
Oh, but this shit is kind of funny:
“A load of crap,” the little storesman said, folding his fingers across his chest. “I don’t think anyone with any sense buys the notion that Avril and Kenjo were in league. Or that Ongola killed Kenjo to keep them from taking the Mariposa to go for help. But I’ll warn you, Paul, if Kitti’s bioengineering program doesn’t show positive results, we could be down the tubes. I’ll lay odds you and Emily are going to be asked to reconsider sending off that homing capsule.”
Apparently they'd discussed sending out a homing capsule, and...wow...look at this
The previous evening, Paul had discussed that expedient with Emily, Ezra, and Jim. Keroon had been the fiercest opponent of a homing-capsule Mayday, which he termed an exercise in futility. As Paul remarked, such technological help was, at the earliest, ten years away. And the chance that the FSP would move with any speed to assist them was depressingly slim. To send for help seemed not only a rejection of Sallah’s sacrifice but a cowardly admission of failure when they had not exhausted the ingenuity and resourcefulness of their community.
...so you're just going to keep letting people die? What's wrong with sending the capsule WHILE you explore other options. If FSP shows up and you've got the Thread handled, then wave them off again!
Also, Sallah still ruining shit from beyond the grave. Hah.
So Ted's been requisitioning weird shit, which he explains "a bit arrogant, he was" that he's developing more effective defense against Thread until help comes. Paul doesn't like this "until help comes".
...I thought your issue was that help wouldn't come in time? Wouldn't it be good to...never mind. We've already established that I agree with Ted Tubberman about getting the fuck off of Pern. Which means, unless he does something really evil, I'm probably going to be on his side here. I mean, hell, I'm still pretty pro-Bitra, and she WAS admittedly evil.
I do love the conspiracy theory that Bitra and Kenjo were collaborators though. Fuck Kenjo.
Anyway, it's decided that Joel gets to kick Ted out. He's overspent his allotment anyway. Joel wants him restricted to his stake. Um. Isn't that dangerous, with Thread? Also, the dude's an arrogant douche, but he hasn't actually done anything to warrant being imprisoned!
To be fair, Paul just says his mandate doesn't let him do that.
Now we get some foreshadowing here:
Neither Paul nor Emily recognized the significance of three separate reports: one from the veterinary lab, saying that their supply rooms had been rifled overnight; another from Pol Nietro, reporting that Ted Tubberman had been seen in bioengineering; and the third from Fulmar, saying that someone had made off with one of the exhaust cylinders from the dismantled shuttle.
Oh, NOW stolen supplies matter. Not when Kenjo was doing it though...
Sorry.
OH. THIS... HAH...
“May his orifices congeal and his extremities fall off,” Joel cried at the top of his voice. “He’s got the homing capsule!”
Shock jolted Paul out of his chair, while Emily and Ezra regarded him in astonishment. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, Paul. I hid the carton in among stove Pipes and heating units. It hasn’t been misplaced, but who the hell could know that carton #45/879 was a homing capsule?”
“Tubberman took it?”
“I’ll bet my last bottle of brandy he did.” Joel spoke so fast that his words slurred. “The fucker! The crap-eater, the slime-producing maggot!”
HAHAHAHAHA. Fucking GO! Because, you know what, it is NOT fair that these elitist isolationist assholes get to decide that everyone's trapped on a death world because they don't want to wait ten years, and because it'd damage a rapist's memory. And if you were dumb enough to hide the capsule somewhere he could get to it, instead of any of the places he was banned from, than that's fucking on YOU.
So WHAT if Ted launches the homing capsule anyway? When they were deciding not to use it, there wasn't ANY worry that the FSP would come and take over, or force them all to leave.
Ezra's dismissive of Tubberman's ability, but remember, he inherited Avril's evil henchmen, so of course he could send it. And indeed. Something very small just blasted off at Oslo Landing!
So, of course everyone is furious, even though again, there's ten years before they have to worry about a result. And if Benden's right about Pern's resourcefulness, then problem fucking solved. (I mean obviously, something will get in the way of the rescue, since Pern and Thread will be around in a few thousand years.)
Fuck all these people, I'm #TeamTedTubberman! He accomplished what he wanted! He didn't even hurt anyone in the process! And he's STILL RIGHT about this FUCKING DEATH WORLD.
I mean, look at this:
Tubberman was just stupid enough to be obvious, but somehow Paul did not think that such stupidity was a trait of Stev Kimmer or whomever else Ted had talked into such an arrant abrogation of the democratic decision of the colony.
Tubberman was alone in the sled when Fulmar forced him to land in the riverside desolation of the ill-fated Bavaria Stake. He was unrepentant as he faced them, folding his arms across his chest and jutting his chin out defiantly.
“I’ve done what should have been done,” he stated in pompus righteousness. “The first step in saving this colony from annihilation.”
Paul clenched his fists tightly to his sides. Beside him, Emily was vibrating with a fury as intense as his own.
“I want the names of your accomplices, Tubberman,” Paul said through his teeth, “and I want them now!”
Tubberman inhaled, bracing himself. “Do your worst, Admiral. I am man enough to take it.”
The mock heroic attitude was so absurd to his auditors that one of the men behind Paul let out a short bark of incredulous laughter, which he quickly cut off. But the one burst of derision altered Paul’s mood.
McCaffrey wants to make him look clownish and stupid here, but from another point of view, he's a man who (correctly!) realizes that this world is a death trap. He defied the authorities to send for help. He succeeded. He stayed to face the consequences to his actions, and he's refusing to give up his collaborators.
And really, what crime HAS he committed? I mean, sure, he stole a homing beacon. One that wasn't being used and had no purpose except for what it was created for. Kenjo siphoned fuel away from the whole colony. They STILL haven't found it. Kenjo's okay though because they liked Kenjo.
But let's see the altered mood:
“Tubberman, I wouldn’t let anyone touch a hair of your head,” Paul said, grinning in a release of tension. “There are quite suitable ways to deal with you, plainly set out in the charter — nothing quite as crude or barbaric as physical abuse.” Then he turned. “You men take him back to Landing in his sled. Put him in my office and call Joel Lilienkamp. He’ll take charge of the prisoner.” Paul had the satisfaction of seeing the martyred look fade from Tubberman’s eyes, to be replaced by a mixture of anxiety and surprise. Turning on his heel, Paul gestured Emily, Fulmar, and the others back into their sled.
Again, what crime is he going to be charged with?
Fuck it, I'm standing with my decision here: Paul Benden is a fucking hypocrite, and Ted Tubberman is a goddamn hero.
So Paul wants to know where Lemos, Kimmer, and Nabhi Nabol are. The last dude wasn't even seen hanging around with Ted, but he's evil henchman number 3, so there you go. But now let's see what happens to Ted.
Emily poured herself a fresh cup of klah and took a sip before she answered. “He will be shunned.”
“Who will be shunned?” Cherry Duff demanded in her hoarse voice, entering the room at that instant. Cabot Carter was right behind her, having escorted the magistrate from her office in reply to the summons.
“Shunned?” Carter’s handsome face was enlivened by a smile that grew broader as he looked expectantly from Paul to Emily, then faded slightly as he saw the dour storesman.
Paul grinned back. “Shunned!”
Shunned. For trying to save the goddamn planet from a threat that you people still don't have a way to stop. A threat that's still going to exist in thousands of years.
And look at this:
Cherry flicked her hand at him. “You do it, Cabot. I’m sure you learned all the right phrases. But do explain exactly what shunning entails. Not that most of us aren’t so fed up with the man’s ranting and rumors that they won’t be delighted to have an official excuse to . . . ah . . . shun him! Shun him!” She tipped back her head and gave a hoot of outrageous laughter. “By all that’s holy — and legal — I like that, Emily. I like that a lot! “ In an abrupt switch of mood with no leavening of humor, she added, “It’ll cool a lot of hotheads.” She swept Paul and Emily with a shrewd look. “Tubberman didn’t do it by himself. Who helped?”
This isn't justice. It's just being petty. It's an excuse to get rid of someone they don't like. And I'll bring him up forever, but Kenjo caused actual harm to the colony. They're short fuel that they may never get back, because he wanted it for himself. Now no one can find it or use it. But Kenjo was liked, and thus, the folks who KNEW, did nothing.
I'll give McCaffrey some credit though. Tubberman isn't Bitra. I'm clearly not supposed to agree with Ted. I'm clearly supposed to find satisfaction in this that I don't. But while she went out of her way to show us Ted being an asshole and a joke, she avoided turning him into a cartoon villain. Ted didn't hurt anyone. Ted's crime is no worse than Kenjo's, and done for genuinely altruistic motives. Even if you don't agree with sending the beacon, the intention was to save their lives. He wasn't Bitra, trying to escape alone.
McCaffrey's finally giving us an actually complex adversary. She just doesn't seem to realize that.
And there's something else. I don't know when it gets established, but a long long time ago, when reading Dragonquest, I actually became interested in the grubs enough to look at the Pern wikipedia. Do you know who the Pern wikipedia credits the grubs to?
The genetic engineering of Ted Tubberman.
I don't know if we'll get to that in this book. I did a quick search on grubs, but it didn't come up that I saw. I wasn't looking closely. But I assume at SOME point this will be established.
And that means, arguably, that Ted Tubberman has had the single most effective and long-lasting contribution against Thread over anyone except Kitti Ping. Ted. Fucking. Tubberman.
But just in case I was inclined to give these people some benefit of the doubt:
We’ve no proof,” Paul began in the same minute that Joel said, “Stev Kimmer, Bart Lemos, and maybe Nabhi Nabol.”
“Let’s shun them, too,” Cherry cried, banging the arm of her chair with her thin old hands. “Damn it, we don’t need dissension. We need support, cooperation, hard work. Or we won’t survive. Oh, flaming hells!” She raised both hands up high. “What’ll we do if that capsule brings those blood-sucking FSP salvagers down on us?”
Go fuck yourself, Cherry.
TO BE FAIR, someone named Cabot, who probably was mentioned a lot, but I never remember, so he'll always be "someone named Cabot" to me, points out that the charter says a person is judged innocent until proven guilty. Which means, per Paul, they'll watch them. Because innocent means subject to surveillance forever I guess.
Fuck these people.
--
As though McCaffrey is realizing how much patience I am losing with the Pern leadership, she finally switches over to something I can be enthusiastic about:
It's the lab. There are incubators and embryos. Little proto-dragons getting grown up as we speak. This part does make me happy. Of course, Bay and Wind Blossom are thrilled that he's exiled. This is Bay's position:
“How extraordinary,” Bay said when she had finished reading it aloud to Blossom. “Really, Ted has been quite a nuisance lately. Did you hear those rumors he was spreading, Blossom? As if that wretched Bitra had anything but her own plans in mind when she stole the Mariposa. Going for help, indeed!” She squinted loyally into the incubator at its forty-two hopes for their future. “But to send off a homing capsule when we most specifically voted against such an action.”
I'm pro-democracy in general, but well, we've seen sometimes the downsides of democracy when it comes to oppressing people who are not the majority. I still don't agree that these colonists have the right to trap their fellows here if their fellows want to leave or get help. EVERYONE is dying here.
But then Bay is actually a terrible person:
“Yes, he was beginning to upset you,” Bay remarked kindly. She tried to tell herself that the woman was still grieving for her grandmother. There were moments recently, though, when Bay wanted to remind Blossom that it was not just the Yung family who had suffered a grievous loss. She had not, because Blossom had been rather volatile lately and might interpret such a comment as an aspersion on her ability to proceed with her grandmother’s brilliant genetic-engineering program. As her mother’s primary assistant, she was technically in charge of the program on file in the biology Mark 42 computer. Bay, too, had scanned it to familiarize herself with the procedure. Kitti Ping had left copious notes on how to proceed, anticipating those possible minor alignments, balancing, or other compensations that might be needed. She had apparently anticipated everything but her own death.
Fuck you lady. How dare this young woman under a great deal of pressure to SAVE THE FUCKING COLONY mourn her grandmother! "It wasn't just the Yung family who suffered a grievous loss" - it's her fucking grandmother! FAMILY!
Oh, but this is interesting:
“You misunderstand me,” Blossom replied, inclining her head in a gesture reminiscent of her grandmother correcting an erring apprentice. “I am relieved that the homing capsule has been sent. Now there is no blame to us.”
Bay was not certain that she had heard correctly. “What under the suns do you mean, Blossom?”
Blossom gave Bay a long look, smiling faintly. “All our eggs are in one basket,” she said with an inscrutable smile and moved the inspection lens to a new position.
THANK YOU.
I am glad that someone appreciates that this is not a terrible thing. Having MULTIPLE ways to try to save the people of the planet is actually rather good!
Oh, hey, more reason to dislike Bay!
“You got a copy, I see,” Pol said, indicating the shunning notice.
“Extraordinary that.”
“More than time,” Phas said, glancing up from Blossom’s notations. “Let’s hope he wasn’t as incompetent a launcher as he was a botanist.”
Bay stared in astonishment at the xenobiologist and Phas had the grace to look embarrassed.
“No one approves of Tubberman’s actions, my dear,” Pol assured her.
“Yes, but if they come . . .” Bay’s gesture took in the incubator and the laboratory, and all that the colonists had managed to do with their new world.
If they come...maybe the people who want to leave can leave, rather than be condemned to a society that's going to be feudal, sexist, oppressive, and literally live in caves for thousands of years?
But that's not what I mean. Look at how Bay reacts to the idea that someone might actually want the beacon. God forbid someone have a different point of view! Go fuck yourself, Bay.
We do hear that Mary and Ted's young children will get the choice to go with their father or stay. Apparently "Ned Tubberman" isn't that close to Ted, and he might be a promising mechanic.
Everything's interrupted by an earthquake. And while I have enough future knowledge to know it'll be fine, a part of me would laugh my ass off if the whole dragon endeavor collapsed here. Eggs in one basket, indeed.
We go back to the colony leadership. Everyone misses Ongola. Apparently, he's not doing to well and thinks he'll never use his arm again. The doctors say he will, but maybe not full mobility. Poor Ongola. I hate him least of the leadership.
They end up discussing the rumors that Kimmer was involved with Ted. Oh and hey:
Jim leaned forward, his expression eager. “Any truth to the one that he skitted out with one of the big pressurized sleds which has been seen near the Great Western Barrier where Kenjo staked his claim? Kimmer’s a lot more dangerous than Ted Tubberman ever was.”
Hey, henchman #1 is looking for that missing fuel. It'd be hilarious if he found it and caused more damage. Kenjo's fault in the end. Haha.
I'm also pleased to hear that between the low morale from the murders (despite Sallah's heroism, I guess) and the fact that they have to explain how Ted got his hands on the homing capsule, the administration's image is suffering. Hah, FUCK the administration.
The chapter ends with folks going back to their tasks in preparation for Thread.
So, I don't know if we'll see Ted again, but I'm going to stick with my flag waving. #TedTubbermanWasRightandDeservedBetter.
I do think, now that our two designated villains are dealt with, I'll probably have a better time with the rest of the book. Or I'll bitch about it. Either way.
Because I don't have it in me to not be a little critical, I do think maybe the Bitra plot would have worked better before Thread. While I appreciate that, once it came down to it, Bitra got to be a competent and effective villain, Thread is always going to be a much bigger threat. It was odd how isolated Bitra was from that plot. Did she even know that much about Thread when she enacted her plot? And the pre-emptive "look how evil she is" segments might not have seemed quite so over the top if we didn't have to wait eight years for the culmination.
I mean, we'd have needed a different reason for the return to space, but otherwise, I think Bitra should have been an act one villain rather than an act two villain.
The chapter starts off by telling us that Sallah Telgar's death was a shock that "reverberated across the continent." That seems a bit much to me, even if, as the paragraph says, she was known as both a shuttle pilot during the debarkation and an able camp manager. She wasn't the ONLY shuttle pilot, after all. And we're talking one camp. If anything, I'd have assumed Kenjo's death would have been the bigger deal.
Anyway, we're told that her courage actually boosted morale. People were inspired by the fact that she'd been willing to devote her last moments of life to the colony, but, well, we have another designated villain to get to...
“Look, Paul,” Joel Lilienkamp began even before he had closed the door behind him. “Everyone’s got a right to access Stores. But that Ted Tubberman’s been taking out some unusual stuff for a botanist.”
“Not Tubberman again,” Paul said, leaning back in his chair with a deep sigh of disgust. Tarv — Telgar, Paul corrected himself, had phoned the previous day, asking if Tubberman had been authorized to scrounge in the shuttle they were dismantling.
...why did he correct Tarvi's name? Tarvi changed his LAST name, not his first.
But also, dude, you could be a little kinder. Ted lost his daughter, who did you lose?
Anyway, apparently Ted's been making trouble off screen. Wind Blossom has requested that he be banned from the biology labs, because he was throwing around his weight. Bey doesn't like him either. Of course not, he's a designated villain with no likable traits. We've danced this dance before.
Apparently, Joel wants permission to ban him from his shit too. Ted's been hanging around technically sensitive stuff with Bart Lemos. Apparently Ted is hanging out with Avril's old cronies, and thus everyone is eeevil.
I mean, it's McCaffrey, so of course they are. But still. Paul had apparently spied on Stev after Avril's "departure" - he'd gone on a three day bender, woke up in the dismantled shuttle, then gone back to work. He's not well liked though because he's "surly".
For fuck's sake, McCaffrey, can we please just go back to Thread and Dragons? And the characters I actually give two fucks about?
Oh, but this shit is kind of funny:
“A load of crap,” the little storesman said, folding his fingers across his chest. “I don’t think anyone with any sense buys the notion that Avril and Kenjo were in league. Or that Ongola killed Kenjo to keep them from taking the Mariposa to go for help. But I’ll warn you, Paul, if Kitti’s bioengineering program doesn’t show positive results, we could be down the tubes. I’ll lay odds you and Emily are going to be asked to reconsider sending off that homing capsule.”
Apparently they'd discussed sending out a homing capsule, and...wow...look at this
The previous evening, Paul had discussed that expedient with Emily, Ezra, and Jim. Keroon had been the fiercest opponent of a homing-capsule Mayday, which he termed an exercise in futility. As Paul remarked, such technological help was, at the earliest, ten years away. And the chance that the FSP would move with any speed to assist them was depressingly slim. To send for help seemed not only a rejection of Sallah’s sacrifice but a cowardly admission of failure when they had not exhausted the ingenuity and resourcefulness of their community.
...so you're just going to keep letting people die? What's wrong with sending the capsule WHILE you explore other options. If FSP shows up and you've got the Thread handled, then wave them off again!
Also, Sallah still ruining shit from beyond the grave. Hah.
So Ted's been requisitioning weird shit, which he explains "a bit arrogant, he was" that he's developing more effective defense against Thread until help comes. Paul doesn't like this "until help comes".
...I thought your issue was that help wouldn't come in time? Wouldn't it be good to...never mind. We've already established that I agree with Ted Tubberman about getting the fuck off of Pern. Which means, unless he does something really evil, I'm probably going to be on his side here. I mean, hell, I'm still pretty pro-Bitra, and she WAS admittedly evil.
I do love the conspiracy theory that Bitra and Kenjo were collaborators though. Fuck Kenjo.
Anyway, it's decided that Joel gets to kick Ted out. He's overspent his allotment anyway. Joel wants him restricted to his stake. Um. Isn't that dangerous, with Thread? Also, the dude's an arrogant douche, but he hasn't actually done anything to warrant being imprisoned!
To be fair, Paul just says his mandate doesn't let him do that.
Now we get some foreshadowing here:
Neither Paul nor Emily recognized the significance of three separate reports: one from the veterinary lab, saying that their supply rooms had been rifled overnight; another from Pol Nietro, reporting that Ted Tubberman had been seen in bioengineering; and the third from Fulmar, saying that someone had made off with one of the exhaust cylinders from the dismantled shuttle.
Oh, NOW stolen supplies matter. Not when Kenjo was doing it though...
Sorry.
OH. THIS... HAH...
“May his orifices congeal and his extremities fall off,” Joel cried at the top of his voice. “He’s got the homing capsule!”
Shock jolted Paul out of his chair, while Emily and Ezra regarded him in astonishment. “Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, Paul. I hid the carton in among stove Pipes and heating units. It hasn’t been misplaced, but who the hell could know that carton #45/879 was a homing capsule?”
“Tubberman took it?”
“I’ll bet my last bottle of brandy he did.” Joel spoke so fast that his words slurred. “The fucker! The crap-eater, the slime-producing maggot!”
HAHAHAHAHA. Fucking GO! Because, you know what, it is NOT fair that these elitist isolationist assholes get to decide that everyone's trapped on a death world because they don't want to wait ten years, and because it'd damage a rapist's memory. And if you were dumb enough to hide the capsule somewhere he could get to it, instead of any of the places he was banned from, than that's fucking on YOU.
So WHAT if Ted launches the homing capsule anyway? When they were deciding not to use it, there wasn't ANY worry that the FSP would come and take over, or force them all to leave.
Ezra's dismissive of Tubberman's ability, but remember, he inherited Avril's evil henchmen, so of course he could send it. And indeed. Something very small just blasted off at Oslo Landing!
So, of course everyone is furious, even though again, there's ten years before they have to worry about a result. And if Benden's right about Pern's resourcefulness, then problem fucking solved. (I mean obviously, something will get in the way of the rescue, since Pern and Thread will be around in a few thousand years.)
Fuck all these people, I'm #TeamTedTubberman! He accomplished what he wanted! He didn't even hurt anyone in the process! And he's STILL RIGHT about this FUCKING DEATH WORLD.
I mean, look at this:
Tubberman was just stupid enough to be obvious, but somehow Paul did not think that such stupidity was a trait of Stev Kimmer or whomever else Ted had talked into such an arrant abrogation of the democratic decision of the colony.
Tubberman was alone in the sled when Fulmar forced him to land in the riverside desolation of the ill-fated Bavaria Stake. He was unrepentant as he faced them, folding his arms across his chest and jutting his chin out defiantly.
“I’ve done what should have been done,” he stated in pompus righteousness. “The first step in saving this colony from annihilation.”
Paul clenched his fists tightly to his sides. Beside him, Emily was vibrating with a fury as intense as his own.
“I want the names of your accomplices, Tubberman,” Paul said through his teeth, “and I want them now!”
Tubberman inhaled, bracing himself. “Do your worst, Admiral. I am man enough to take it.”
The mock heroic attitude was so absurd to his auditors that one of the men behind Paul let out a short bark of incredulous laughter, which he quickly cut off. But the one burst of derision altered Paul’s mood.
McCaffrey wants to make him look clownish and stupid here, but from another point of view, he's a man who (correctly!) realizes that this world is a death trap. He defied the authorities to send for help. He succeeded. He stayed to face the consequences to his actions, and he's refusing to give up his collaborators.
And really, what crime HAS he committed? I mean, sure, he stole a homing beacon. One that wasn't being used and had no purpose except for what it was created for. Kenjo siphoned fuel away from the whole colony. They STILL haven't found it. Kenjo's okay though because they liked Kenjo.
But let's see the altered mood:
“Tubberman, I wouldn’t let anyone touch a hair of your head,” Paul said, grinning in a release of tension. “There are quite suitable ways to deal with you, plainly set out in the charter — nothing quite as crude or barbaric as physical abuse.” Then he turned. “You men take him back to Landing in his sled. Put him in my office and call Joel Lilienkamp. He’ll take charge of the prisoner.” Paul had the satisfaction of seeing the martyred look fade from Tubberman’s eyes, to be replaced by a mixture of anxiety and surprise. Turning on his heel, Paul gestured Emily, Fulmar, and the others back into their sled.
Again, what crime is he going to be charged with?
Fuck it, I'm standing with my decision here: Paul Benden is a fucking hypocrite, and Ted Tubberman is a goddamn hero.
So Paul wants to know where Lemos, Kimmer, and Nabhi Nabol are. The last dude wasn't even seen hanging around with Ted, but he's evil henchman number 3, so there you go. But now let's see what happens to Ted.
Emily poured herself a fresh cup of klah and took a sip before she answered. “He will be shunned.”
“Who will be shunned?” Cherry Duff demanded in her hoarse voice, entering the room at that instant. Cabot Carter was right behind her, having escorted the magistrate from her office in reply to the summons.
“Shunned?” Carter’s handsome face was enlivened by a smile that grew broader as he looked expectantly from Paul to Emily, then faded slightly as he saw the dour storesman.
Paul grinned back. “Shunned!”
Shunned. For trying to save the goddamn planet from a threat that you people still don't have a way to stop. A threat that's still going to exist in thousands of years.
And look at this:
Cherry flicked her hand at him. “You do it, Cabot. I’m sure you learned all the right phrases. But do explain exactly what shunning entails. Not that most of us aren’t so fed up with the man’s ranting and rumors that they won’t be delighted to have an official excuse to . . . ah . . . shun him! Shun him!” She tipped back her head and gave a hoot of outrageous laughter. “By all that’s holy — and legal — I like that, Emily. I like that a lot! “ In an abrupt switch of mood with no leavening of humor, she added, “It’ll cool a lot of hotheads.” She swept Paul and Emily with a shrewd look. “Tubberman didn’t do it by himself. Who helped?”
This isn't justice. It's just being petty. It's an excuse to get rid of someone they don't like. And I'll bring him up forever, but Kenjo caused actual harm to the colony. They're short fuel that they may never get back, because he wanted it for himself. Now no one can find it or use it. But Kenjo was liked, and thus, the folks who KNEW, did nothing.
I'll give McCaffrey some credit though. Tubberman isn't Bitra. I'm clearly not supposed to agree with Ted. I'm clearly supposed to find satisfaction in this that I don't. But while she went out of her way to show us Ted being an asshole and a joke, she avoided turning him into a cartoon villain. Ted didn't hurt anyone. Ted's crime is no worse than Kenjo's, and done for genuinely altruistic motives. Even if you don't agree with sending the beacon, the intention was to save their lives. He wasn't Bitra, trying to escape alone.
McCaffrey's finally giving us an actually complex adversary. She just doesn't seem to realize that.
And there's something else. I don't know when it gets established, but a long long time ago, when reading Dragonquest, I actually became interested in the grubs enough to look at the Pern wikipedia. Do you know who the Pern wikipedia credits the grubs to?
The genetic engineering of Ted Tubberman.
I don't know if we'll get to that in this book. I did a quick search on grubs, but it didn't come up that I saw. I wasn't looking closely. But I assume at SOME point this will be established.
And that means, arguably, that Ted Tubberman has had the single most effective and long-lasting contribution against Thread over anyone except Kitti Ping. Ted. Fucking. Tubberman.
But just in case I was inclined to give these people some benefit of the doubt:
We’ve no proof,” Paul began in the same minute that Joel said, “Stev Kimmer, Bart Lemos, and maybe Nabhi Nabol.”
“Let’s shun them, too,” Cherry cried, banging the arm of her chair with her thin old hands. “Damn it, we don’t need dissension. We need support, cooperation, hard work. Or we won’t survive. Oh, flaming hells!” She raised both hands up high. “What’ll we do if that capsule brings those blood-sucking FSP salvagers down on us?”
Go fuck yourself, Cherry.
TO BE FAIR, someone named Cabot, who probably was mentioned a lot, but I never remember, so he'll always be "someone named Cabot" to me, points out that the charter says a person is judged innocent until proven guilty. Which means, per Paul, they'll watch them. Because innocent means subject to surveillance forever I guess.
Fuck these people.
--
As though McCaffrey is realizing how much patience I am losing with the Pern leadership, she finally switches over to something I can be enthusiastic about:
It's the lab. There are incubators and embryos. Little proto-dragons getting grown up as we speak. This part does make me happy. Of course, Bay and Wind Blossom are thrilled that he's exiled. This is Bay's position:
“How extraordinary,” Bay said when she had finished reading it aloud to Blossom. “Really, Ted has been quite a nuisance lately. Did you hear those rumors he was spreading, Blossom? As if that wretched Bitra had anything but her own plans in mind when she stole the Mariposa. Going for help, indeed!” She squinted loyally into the incubator at its forty-two hopes for their future. “But to send off a homing capsule when we most specifically voted against such an action.”
I'm pro-democracy in general, but well, we've seen sometimes the downsides of democracy when it comes to oppressing people who are not the majority. I still don't agree that these colonists have the right to trap their fellows here if their fellows want to leave or get help. EVERYONE is dying here.
But then Bay is actually a terrible person:
“Yes, he was beginning to upset you,” Bay remarked kindly. She tried to tell herself that the woman was still grieving for her grandmother. There were moments recently, though, when Bay wanted to remind Blossom that it was not just the Yung family who had suffered a grievous loss. She had not, because Blossom had been rather volatile lately and might interpret such a comment as an aspersion on her ability to proceed with her grandmother’s brilliant genetic-engineering program. As her mother’s primary assistant, she was technically in charge of the program on file in the biology Mark 42 computer. Bay, too, had scanned it to familiarize herself with the procedure. Kitti Ping had left copious notes on how to proceed, anticipating those possible minor alignments, balancing, or other compensations that might be needed. She had apparently anticipated everything but her own death.
Fuck you lady. How dare this young woman under a great deal of pressure to SAVE THE FUCKING COLONY mourn her grandmother! "It wasn't just the Yung family who suffered a grievous loss" - it's her fucking grandmother! FAMILY!
Oh, but this is interesting:
“You misunderstand me,” Blossom replied, inclining her head in a gesture reminiscent of her grandmother correcting an erring apprentice. “I am relieved that the homing capsule has been sent. Now there is no blame to us.”
Bay was not certain that she had heard correctly. “What under the suns do you mean, Blossom?”
Blossom gave Bay a long look, smiling faintly. “All our eggs are in one basket,” she said with an inscrutable smile and moved the inspection lens to a new position.
THANK YOU.
I am glad that someone appreciates that this is not a terrible thing. Having MULTIPLE ways to try to save the people of the planet is actually rather good!
Oh, hey, more reason to dislike Bay!
“You got a copy, I see,” Pol said, indicating the shunning notice.
“Extraordinary that.”
“More than time,” Phas said, glancing up from Blossom’s notations. “Let’s hope he wasn’t as incompetent a launcher as he was a botanist.”
Bay stared in astonishment at the xenobiologist and Phas had the grace to look embarrassed.
“No one approves of Tubberman’s actions, my dear,” Pol assured her.
“Yes, but if they come . . .” Bay’s gesture took in the incubator and the laboratory, and all that the colonists had managed to do with their new world.
If they come...maybe the people who want to leave can leave, rather than be condemned to a society that's going to be feudal, sexist, oppressive, and literally live in caves for thousands of years?
But that's not what I mean. Look at how Bay reacts to the idea that someone might actually want the beacon. God forbid someone have a different point of view! Go fuck yourself, Bay.
We do hear that Mary and Ted's young children will get the choice to go with their father or stay. Apparently "Ned Tubberman" isn't that close to Ted, and he might be a promising mechanic.
Everything's interrupted by an earthquake. And while I have enough future knowledge to know it'll be fine, a part of me would laugh my ass off if the whole dragon endeavor collapsed here. Eggs in one basket, indeed.
We go back to the colony leadership. Everyone misses Ongola. Apparently, he's not doing to well and thinks he'll never use his arm again. The doctors say he will, but maybe not full mobility. Poor Ongola. I hate him least of the leadership.
They end up discussing the rumors that Kimmer was involved with Ted. Oh and hey:
Jim leaned forward, his expression eager. “Any truth to the one that he skitted out with one of the big pressurized sleds which has been seen near the Great Western Barrier where Kenjo staked his claim? Kimmer’s a lot more dangerous than Ted Tubberman ever was.”
Hey, henchman #1 is looking for that missing fuel. It'd be hilarious if he found it and caused more damage. Kenjo's fault in the end. Haha.
I'm also pleased to hear that between the low morale from the murders (despite Sallah's heroism, I guess) and the fact that they have to explain how Ted got his hands on the homing capsule, the administration's image is suffering. Hah, FUCK the administration.
The chapter ends with folks going back to their tasks in preparation for Thread.
So, I don't know if we'll see Ted again, but I'm going to stick with my flag waving. #TedTubbermanWasRightandDeservedBetter.
I do think, now that our two designated villains are dealt with, I'll probably have a better time with the rest of the book. Or I'll bitch about it. Either way.