Sailing to Laska, where she lives and where Orion is based, Ronica tells the prisoners what Orion is, then Terai dives overboard, a serious security breach. I would have advised Ronica to tell Terai and the others nothing until they were inside the project where its nature could no longer be concealed but, by the same token, escape opportunities would have been significantly reduced.
I had not remembered which of the Maurai it was that absconded and would have though that Wairoa, with his heightened sensitivities, was a better bet but I imagine that the Maurai know what they are doing.
I also thought that this security breach on the part of the Norrmen was a serious matter, warranting a post unto itself. I do not remember the outcome - except that the Maurai do not manage to prevent the rise of Orion. The world will change. Gods are doomed, if Plik is right.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
This blunder by Ronica can be at least partly rationalized when you remember that she was not truly a PROFESSIONAL intelligence officer, but an amateur. An experienced and wary pro like Flandry would never have revealed such crucial information so soon.
I think we see TERAI acting, instead of Wairoa because the former was far more of a field agent, a professional, than the latter.
Ad astra! Sean
"Need to know" is a basic principle of intelligence work; you never tell anyone anything unless there's an inescapable operational necessity.
Of course, paranoid hoarding of data is the besetting sin of intelligence organizations, too.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I discussed the second point you mentioned in my article "Finding An Unexpected Contradiction," to rationalize an inconsistency I noticed when comparing THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN to "Honorable Enemies."
Ad astra! Sean
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