phillies wrote:runsforcelery wrote:Magilen returned, and Oravil Barregos frowned as a tallish woman followed her into the office. It took a moment, since she was in expensive, well-tailored civilian clothing, but he’d done his homework well, and he felt his eyebrows trying to disappear into his hairline. If she’d been in uniform, that uniform would have been the black and gold of the Star Empire of Manticore, not the white of the SLN. It would also have borne the shoulder flash of the Office of Naval Intelligence and the three broad gold cuff bands of a vice admiral.
“Admiral Givens.” It took every year of his political experience to keep the utter astonishment out of his voice. “This is an . . . unexpected honor.”
“I certainly hope it’s ‘unexpected,’ Governor Barregos,” the Second Space Lord of the Royal Manticoran Navy said dryly. “If it’s not, I’m afraid I’m about to get you into a lot of trouble with Old Chicago.”
Of course, we do not know the date, so perhaps the parts of the SLN has not been blown to smithereens several times by the RMN and friends. However, having your chief of intelligence appear in enemy territory is potentially likely to cause the boys in Chicago to love Barregos after he ships her to Earth as an involuntary guest. One suspects this will not happen, as it will antagonize neighbors of Maya, but there appears to be a bit of a chance being taken.
Warning to roseandheather: Painfull thought ahead...Well of course they're taking a chance. Givens could have been killed at any point in that trip. And she still could be. My question is how did she get there, besides what she's doing there. As in, is she there with escort ships, which could imply that something serious has occurred. It is already implied by Barregos, that Givens' face should be fairly well known in most military circles - even in the SL, since a de facto state of war exists between the two.
Yet my concern is whether RFC's been talking to Murphy about it being high time to kill off a significant character - being Givens. He did demonstrate being in the mood to "kill" with those poor little kids. Priming us readers for the slaughter. And being behind enemy lines makes Givens' future a bit suspect -
for the paranoid in me.Yes, I certainly agree that a serious chance has been taken - especially considering the importance of Givens to RMN intelligence and losing her at the moment wouldn't be a good thing. My hope is as follows...
Givens/RMN has gotten hold of a morsel of crumbs left by the MAlign and the only person qualified to follow the crumb is Givens. And the trail leads back to Barregos somehow as the one who can further elucidate.