Hi JeffEngel,
Very thoughtful analysis, so I have only a quibble or two.
Regarding Sandaria, she's Nynian's XO, so putting her in the cave seems a non-starter, but answering any and all of HER questions about Merlin is almost as important as Nynian's.
She doesn't need to be in the cave, which takes a different mind set and skills, and how will humans running any "operations center" in the cave be better than Nahrmahn and OWL?
Having someone with the same tech access as Nynian could be very crucial in Zion etc, backup never hurts.
Given speedy delivery could also become important, we should see Merlin consider building more recon skimmers as well, which should be within OWL's means.
Passenger seating for the air buses seems only a courtesy given the long flights required, and if Merlin is going to be carrying horses at the same time, building more air buses or air lorries might also be in the pipeline.
If SSK operatives are to visit the cave, being trained on the rifles might be a reason, if the operatives know that much of the SSK's secrets, but I doubt Nynian would let them know so much when they could be captured.
L
JeffEngel wrote:Regarding the conversion of air lorries to buses, I couldn't help thinking that they have just found a new core of people that are fighting the Church and know some version of the truth, and are obviously far behind enemy lines where they are vulnerable to the Inquisition. And then there is this giant cavern in the mountains of light....
Could they be looking as setting up a community in Nimues cave? Move at risk people there, create a war-room and intelligence analysis center, train some of them in using high tech gear, get them ready for whatever might come later - and have a bunch of people completely safe and ready to restart the war effort later if the Rakurai is accidentally triggered.
It may be convenient to have a group of people who can work with Owl and Nahrmahn in full privacy and security. Furthermore, a fast response force - down the road some - in the Temple Lands could make for some fast miracles near Zion if need be.
Sandaria's the second officer of one of Safehold's three long-running clandestine anti-Langhorne organizations. (Nimue, her PICA, the Peis et al are one; St. Zherneau's brethren the other.) She's been very low-profile, but that's been a matter of design within the SSK and plausibly a matter of narrative in the books. If she were a security issue, she'd have long since run to report.
But she may well be a likely candidate for running a hidden operation out of the Cave - like those truly private analysts, a training compound, or a place to stash people who cannot handle the truth but the conspirators would rather not kill to silence. (Cold-blooded pragmatism may demand that, but if there is
any practical, secure alternative, these people will lunge for it.)
She may also be well qualified to manage SNARC-based pickups of intel packets from near Zion and orders back to SSK agents. Operating out of the Cave, with perhaps the second recon skimmer or one of the next stealthiest vehicles, may allow her, or follow-on staff under her, to make personal appearances near Zion at short notice. That would account for the interest in air lorry refurbishing as more than total afterthought, and for a trip to the Cave with her at all. Including Aivah in that case becomes a little trickier to explain, but politically and personally, I'm sure the two of them are likely to feel far, far more at ease about this whole visit to the Archangel's playhouse with one another for company to experience it, and that level of sharing should help cement the SSK conspirators to the EoC ones.
This kind of program may represent doing Aivah's original request for fast trips in and out of Zion one better - preparing to do something like that, as circumstances require, more often and as needed. If Sandaria can serve as her deputy for any of those trips, this would put her closer and allow her to do them while Aivah is still in sight in public. Aivah's visible; Sandaria fades into the background. This'd take advantage of that.
and, Mangy Fur the Smart Alick Spacecat.