HFQ Official Snippet #11

N7axw wrote:
Jeff, giving them a quick flight to Zion doesn't mean they have to be shown the cave. That's taking them in a whole lot deeper than they need to know if it's just a transport arrangement. Merlin could have gone, 'Ok Aivah , I have access to a flying machine from the time of the Archangels. As you see, it only seats 2.'

Since they are heading for the Mountains of Light, they are not heading for Zion. Unless the SSK is located there, their destination is Nimue's cave.

runsforcelery wrote:
his expression bleak under the two layers of snow mask — what would have been called balaclavas back on Old Earth — and the ski goggles he and every other man in the column wore.

Finally got something right - knew they would need that stuff too!

Thank for the Snippet RFC!

So far it appears your advocacy for supporting telling Nynian the truth is justified.

I would ask one thing for you to consider. RFC plans one or two more books after HFQ. After that arc is over there will be a skip and then 2-3 more books to finish telling the Great Truth. Just how one sided would the contest be with Nynian's eidetic memory, Merlin's tech, the inner circle's 2 PICAs and Howsmyn's industrial complex face off against the surviving G4 and their inadequate industrial complex? Furthermore, where are the passionate TLs that are just and good men who still believe in the CoGA? Where are the good people who are told to believe the Truth but after honest consideration don't agree with Merlin? The people that given the Truth believe Langhorne (the man) was correct to hide forever from the Gbaba?

The worm will turn somewhere. I suspect Nynian but admit to finding nothing as definitive as Seablanket's interview with Rayno to support my suspicion.

n7axw wrote:I have been one of the most verbal advocates for trusting Nynian. But I confess to wondering just how far it is being taken. How much does she know about the brethren and the inner circle?

I agree that Nimue has to be the pilot for the other shuttle. There is no other candidate since we have no text ev for Cayleb being anything other than a passenger.

As for trusting Sandaria, at this point, I suspect that if one os them can be trusted, both of them can. That seems to be Merlin's bet anyway.

No doubt but what it is going to be fascinating.

Don

Thanks for the latest snippet, RFC - much appreciated as ever.

THe comments up thread prompt me to ask a question that has been bugging me for a few weeks since I finished a complete re-read of all seven Safehold books thus far. Since the books start EVERYONE who has been brought 'inside' has seemingly accepted the full story without any problems, without any reservations, or any 'wow - thanks for telling me' while keeping fingers crossed and workign out how to get a secret message to Zion. Yes we've had a few characters who they have chosen not to bring inside (beyond the 'Merlin is a seijin, and Merlin has visions' first layer of the onion) - but no one who they have had to put into deep freeze, and no-one who has chosen to still support Zion.

How realistic is that? I don't see Ninian and her No 2 as being the weak links - given their multi-year spying against Zion, and their 'execution' of a dozen vicars. But they are going to get it wrong with SOMEONE - so who? and When?

From snippet #9 we discover that all of the old Royal Chisholmian Army was acclimated to winter marches, but only a third was actually trained to fight in those conditions. I am sure my recollection is wrong, but wasn't the RCA about 100,000 men prior to conversion into the ICA? If that is correct then roughly 30,000 men are trained to fight in arctic conditions. BGV took roughly 15,000 of his 45,000 men Army of Midhold west of Allyntyn.

That leaves another 15,000 men trained and equipped to fight in these conditions. Where are they? Thinking back to the end of LaMA, BGV wanted Wyrshym fixated on the ICA forces coming in from the North. Why would he want that flanking force to be an object of concern? Perhaps so he can slip the dagger in from the South. Those other winter trained troops are either at Sylman Gap, Green Cove Trace or with Symkyn outside Aivahnstyn. I doubt those troops are as far south as Aivahnstyn unless they plan to loop north and 15,000 troops seems a tad few for that. So, those troops are either headed to Guarnak from the Gap or the Trace. Considering that BGV wants Wyrshym as deep into the Gap as possible, Green cove Trace appears to be the most likely target for those remaining 15,000 or so artic-combat trained troops.

Once those arctic trained troops have taken the target cities, their reinforcements can march to support. If they succeed in taking Guarnak and are reinforced before winter eases, will Wyrshym survive until Spring? Can he survive a march to Guarnak from Saiknyr, assuming that's where he is currently headquartered?

I hope that we might discover BGV's plan by Christmas. I further hope to get a glimpse into where those other forces are deployed soon.

If I were designing recon skimmers with the tech when they were created, I would certainly set them up so that they do not need human pilots.

How else are they appearing wherever Merlin summons them to? I suspect their autopilots are sophisticated enough to take them anywhere they need to go, but they have a manual mode to allow the person inside to fly based on the whims of the moment.

So we could have 4 people along (Merlin, Aivah, the maid and someone else) or 3 people and the second seat in the second skimmer is empty. And the 'someone else' could be sitting at a station with frozen controls.

NinaKatarina wrote:If I were designing recon skimmers with the tech when they were created, I would certainly set them up so that they do not need human pilots.

How else are they appearing wherever Merlin summons them to? I suspect their autopilots are sophisticated enough to take them anywhere they need to go, but they have a manual mode to allow the person inside to fly based on the whims of the moment.

So we could have 4 people along (Merlin, Aivah, the maid and someone else) or 3 people and the second seat in the second skimmer is empty. And the 'someone else' could be sitting at a station with frozen controls.

Yes, indeed, but Merlin explicitly thinks the 2nd skimmer has allowed him to bring along another pilot. Hence the discussion on possible candidates up thread.

Keith_w wrote:

N7axw wrote:
Jeff, giving them a quick flight to Zion doesn't mean they have to be shown the cave. That's taking them in a whole lot deeper than they need to know if it's just a transport arrangement. Merlin could have gone, 'Ok Aivah , I have access to a flying machine from the time of the Archangels. As you see, it only seats 2.'

Since they are heading for the Mountains of Light, they are not heading for Zion. Unless the SSK is located there, their destination is Nimue's cave.

Yes Keith, but that quote is aimed at an earlier comment of Jeff's. Aivah's declared aim was a quick trip to Zion. My point was precisely that fulfilling that did NOT require the current trip.

JeffEngel wrote:

Randomiser wrote:Jeff, giving them a quick flight to Zion doesn't mean they have to be shown the cave. That's taking them in a whole lot deeper than they need to know if it's just a transport arrangement. Merlin could have gone, 'Ok Aivah , I have access to a flying machine from the time of the Archangels. As you see, it only seats 2.

It looks like it's a transport arrangement that's going to take more than a 1-2 person delivery and extraction though, or that something much larger is going to be needed soon enough, what with air lorries being prepped for personnel transport. I'd surmise Aivah/Ninian has a large evacuation she'll need done, and she's got a genuine need to check out the available gear personally. Or at any rate, familiarizing her with OWL, with VR-projecting contact lenses, and everything she'd need to consider the equipment and capabilities without eyeballing it directly, would take more time and trouble than they can afford before the stealth buses are needed.

I can't imagine what would justify imperilling security to that degree. After all they specifically didn't do a high tech intervention to save Gwyllym Manthyr and his men because it would have meant revealing too much to too many people. (Same thing, implicitly, for the Wylsynn Circle's families.) Having made that tough a decision who could Aivah possibly have to evacuate that they would take the risk for?

I got the impression that the Brotherhood brought "inside" the wrong persons in the past but fortunately the Brotherhood was able to "correct" the mistake before any damage was done.

Still your comment about Merlin and company "bringing the wrong person" is IMO valid.

I think it hasn't happened yet for a couple of "story telling reasons".

First, it would be shocking for the readers to have a character we liked to be deliberately killed by "his own side". We may understand why Merlin and company had to kill him but it would still be shocking. IMO as a writer David Weber isn't "into shocking his readers".

Second, David Weber could create a "generic character" (that we wouldn't care about) to be killed just to show that the Inner Circle could make mistakes and to show how they'd handle such mistakes, but creating "generic characters to be killed off" isn't his style. In addition, one of the reasons I like David Weber is how well he creates even minor characters so such a generic character would seem "off" even before he/she was killed and I suspect most of his readers would think the same.

Oh, above you may have noticed the "yet". That's because David Weber might create a character that would betray the Secret but that would be a major plot element not just to "show how the Inner Circle deals with mistakes".

Bahzellstudent wrote:Thanks for the latest snippet, RFC - much appreciated as ever.

THe comments up thread prompt me to ask a question that has been bugging me for a few weeks since I finished a complete re-read of all seven Safehold books thus far. Since the books start EVERYONE who has been brought 'inside' has seemingly accepted the full story without any problems, without any reservations, or any 'wow - thanks for telling me' while keeping fingers crossed and workign out how to get a secret message to Zion. Yes we've had a few characters who they have chosen not to bring inside (beyond the 'Merlin is a seijin, and Merlin has visions' first layer of the onion) - but no one who they have had to put into deep freeze, and no-one who has chosen to still support Zion.

How realistic is that? I don't see Ninian and her No 2 as being the weak links - given their multi-year spying against Zion, and their 'execution' of a dozen vicars. But they are going to get it wrong with SOMEONE - so who? and When?