“There are two warships insystem, mercenaries.”
Last chapter, the ansibles were blown, cutting off communication. Ky has decided to take precautionary action to undock from the station and run, in case someone is coming to shoot up the station and destroy it. That decision proves effective, as we learn there are warships in the system, which is told to the crew in an in-ship communication that begins with the sentence up at the top. These Mercenaries have rules, and tell civilian ships exactly what to do, so Ky follows to the letter, broadcasting her whereabouts and who they are, hoping that they will be honorable and not raid her helpless trading vessel.
This is a very tense chapter. The situation is unfolding and it’s out of the protagonist’s control. We are waiting, and the conflict is building. This wait and tension will pay off emotionally for us when it hits the high action mark, which I’m guessing will come in the next couple of chapters here. As we get into these more action oriented chapters, there’s less to say, because a lot of the character moments as to how we connect with the character have been defined already. Now it’s just that character acting and reacting while we’re already attached. The pacing has been great in this book so far, holding my attention, and making me really want to turn to the next chapter, good stuff.
One thing I didn’t mention last chapter which bears some analysis is the word ansible. As a big space opera fan, ansibles, or interstellar communication devices that allow real-time communication, are a common trope. Star Trek calls it “subspace communications”, other properties use “tight beams” and make it more limited, but there’s usually some form of this kind of communication present in this style of book. The word ansible itself is an old-timey space opera word, and Moon’s use of it in this book pays homage to those that came before, which I appreciate.
On to chapter 9!
Leave a Reply