#icarushunt

[ri-writing]

Gregory Roarke: Jordan McKell is a dangerous monster!!!

Jordan McKell: cannot go two chapters without being randomly kind to animals Jordan McKell: tells audience it’s a lie when he says he doesn’t want to be liked because he does want people to like him Jordan McKell: makes a complete fool of himself on at least half of his attempts to be an action hero Gregory just amuses me sometimes.

[ri-writing]

So I take back some of what I said about Jordan being much less of a dumbass in the sequel.  He’s still a dumbass.  It’s just more subtle because Gregory tells us the story.  But there’s literally a scene that goes:

Ixil (lying convincingly): We need to talk with Jordan because he’s the boss. Jordan (also lying convincingly): Yes.  I am the boss. Gregory: Am I allowed to know what’s going on? Jordan: [apparently forgets they’re lying about who is in charge and looks at Ixil to determine answer] Ixil: .....I suppose we can tell him Jordan: We can tell you.

God, I love them so much. 

[ri-writing]

When your obscure hyperfixation from 20 years ago gives you more content....

I got off work, and I’m about 60 pages in so far.  Cut for spoilers.

Our narrator is Gregory.  I’m not sure where Jordan is.  This has made me sad because Jordan is one of my favorite Zahn protagonists.  We are, however, going to give Gregory a chance.

What to say about Gregory?  Like Jordan, Gregory does not have a brain cell.  Unlike Jordan, who’s business partner had a brain cell, Gregory’s business partner also does not have a brain cell.  (Gregory and his business partner remind me of the duo from Night Train, actually).  Anyway, they’re now being blackmailed.

Gregory used to be a bounty hunter.  The blackmailers want Gregory and his business partner to unretire from bounty hunting and locate Tera, who made an appearance in a shady town recently.  Upon arriving at the town, Gregory has learned that, apparently, everyone is trying to find Tera.  We also learn that it’s been six years since the last book and that the bounties are still on the crew’s heads.  Poor crew.  Half of them really had no part in any of it.  That said - should there not be locations where they are safe?  I feel like Ixil’s planet would be a place where they’d be safe, considering how things were with that government at the end of the last novel.  [shrugs]  We will find out.

That said, Tera did have a lot to do with everything in the last book, and I can’t help but think Tera is setting all these people up for something.  She isn’t stupid.  She’s probably the bait for a trap.  So far, it doesn’t seem like a dumb trap, so Jordan probably did not come up with the idea for it. 

Ixil has arrived!  Ixil, I have missed you, oh keeper of the brain cell!  Too bad Gregory has managed to separate from you.  You probably could have helped him, despite that whole he wants to kill your best friend thing.

Speaking of, Gregory wants to kill Jordan because Jordan shot him.  Gregory, my dude, I suspect you probably deserved it.

Final thought is that I’m...I’m confused about the front cover of the book.  Did the character artist read the descriptions of some of these people?  I vote no.

[ri-writing]

Dear Book, please stop doing this to me (or Ri yells into the void about a throw away line with implications)

I was working on Part 2 of my meta essay on Jordan and Ixil and trust, and was flipping through my copy of Icarus Hunt looking for the right chapter (the one I want to discuss is Chapter 13), when I stumbled on something in Chapter 12 that I hadn't noticed before.  It's fascinating, and I'm trying to figure out if it's intentional or if it's a case where the author made a mistake.  

Honestly, someone needs to take this book away from me.  All I wanted to do was write a nice essay series about how a trust plot line gave me feels, but there's too much stuff in this book and I keep getting distracted by all the details that make me go “wait.....omg, how did I miss this?!” in a book I've easily read three dozen times.

Cut – because it deals with spoilers.  Everything with this book is a spoiler, I swear to god.

Alright.  Welcome to my Side Quest that I'm now spinning my brain around.  In Chapter 12, Tera is explaining why she called in the tip against Jordan at the Meima spaceport - namely she calls in the tip to prevent Jordan from reaching the ship before Arno, so that Arno can sneak aboard.  That explanation seems to make sense.

But today it hit me - at the time the tip is called in, Tera and Jordan have never met.  Jordan sees her for the first time when he reaches the ship.  It feels pretty safe to say that this is the first time Jordan lays eyes on her.  He describes her in the same manner he describes the other crew member characters.  Jordan does not connect her with Arno.  As he's trying to figure out each member of the crew, his assumption about Tera is that she's part of a religious sect that doesn't trust outsiders.  He holds that assumption about her at least until he's talking with Uncle Arthur, as that's where he suggests Uncle Arthur look to try to find out information about her.  Learning she's Arno's daughter is a real shock to him – so much so that he barges into her room to confront her.  Even afterward, he's not completely sure that it's true.  This man had no idea Tera had a connection to Arno Cameron.  We can confidently say that Jordan's never seen Tera before he meets her in the spaceport.

But Tera's seen him.

As I noted above, Tera admits to being the person who calls in the tip that got Jordan detained back in Chapter 2.  This is before Jordan and Tera meet.  She knows what he looks like well enough to pick him out of a crowd.  (We know there's a crowd at the gate; Jordan literally uses that word).  The only way Tera would know what Jordan looked like was if she was in the taverno when Arno hired him.

But Ri, you might be asking, couldn't Tera have looked Jordan up?  He gave Arno his name.  He has a Mercantile Authority File with his photo in it.  It would make a lot more sense if Tera simply had his name and saw his picture.

That would normally make sense, but in Chapter 2, we're told the photo in Jordan's file is old and looks nothing like Jordan now.  The fact that Jordan no longer resembles his old photograph is what saves him initially from all the bounty hunters looking for him.  Given that people whose job is to find those who do not want to be found are unable to recognize Jordan based on his picture, Tera's not realistically going to be able to pick him out of a crowd based only on the old picture.  For her to pick one guy out of many and know that he's Icarus crew, she must have seen Jordan now.  And she would need to have seen him with her father to know he’d been hired.  That only happens once up until this point - in the taverno.  Tera was somewhere in that room.  Jordan tells us the room is dark and crowded; it would be all too easy for Tera to blend into the background and watch.

Of course, that raises the question of why she's there.  Arguably, she could have been shadowing her father in her role as his mole, but that's contradicted by evidence from elsewhere in the book.  We know that she doesn't see Arno hire the medic.  If she had, she would have known that Everett was not the medic Arno hired.  We also know that she doesn't see Arno hire Jones. During Jordan's homage to murder mysteries, she gets temporarily confused as to whether Jones and Jordan had worked together.  Tera even tells Jordan that the plan was for her to be kept out of the hiring process.  Presumably, that's what happened.

Which then circles us back to why Tera was in the taverno.  Now, it could be that Zahn messed up. There are a lot of inconsistencies between this novel and the sequel that look like mistakes.  (Uncle Arthur, for example, is a general in Icarus Hunt but is referred to as an admiral in Icarus Plot; Tera's last initial, let alone her last name, is never used in front of the Patth, but the Patth know her as ‘Tera C’ somehow.  Authorial mistake is a possible explanation).  The original Icarus Hunt itself, though, is too tightly plotted and the language of each conversation too carefully selected for me to think it's a mistake. The whole sequence with Jordan being detained is too critical to the plot.

Maybe Arno and Tera ended up in the same place accidentally and then became trapped with all the other patrons when the Yavanni decided to barricade the place off.  Coincidence and bad luck are real things that happen.  Maybe they staged a hiring meet-up there so that, if anyone ever did try to look into the hiring of the crew, nothing appeared out of the ordinary and Tera could claim to have been hired off the street just like everyone else.  Regardless, it's an interesting little observation that's itching at my brain.  Because I do want to know why.  And how.  And what Tera thinks of the whole scene from Chapter 1.  These are questions to which I’ll likely never receive an answer.

I've long thought that the two major supporting characters (Tera and Ixil) have more interesting stories than Jordan.  What makes them even more intriguing is that most of their stories happen between the lines and off the pages.  We never get all the details – and we likely never will - but the glimpses we do get are fascinating.

[ri-writing]

Let’s talk about Jordan McKell’s business decisions....

Yes, I'm still on my bullshit, and since now my ongoing threats to go into a meta-fun-time were encouraged.....let's talk about trust and The Icarus Hunt.  Because this is a book that looks like it's a mystery story, but it's actually a story about trust, loyalty, and maybe some of those other sympathetic human emotions.

Ultimately, I want to talk about The Wallet and why that scene is so incredibly good.  Before we get there, though, we've got to talk about some other things that happen first.  Basically, this is probably a series of at least three posts so we can lay the groundwork for why The Wallet hits so hard.

To start, we need to talk about Jordan's new job.  And on that note, we should probably put a cut because...spoilers.

Hi. Still here?  If you get spoiled, this is now your fault.  I gave you a cut.  You clicked to keep reading.

The Icarus Hunt, as told by Jordan McKell, is two stories for the price of one.  You get the original story from your first read of down-on-his-luck ship captain Jordan McKell who has been forced to turn to crime to survive and who ends up getting to take a legit job that quickly goes bad.  (I suspect this is the read that gives us the Star Wars vibes at least as they apply to Jordan).  If you go back and reread the story after your original read with the knowledge that Jordan is a spy, Jordan's behavior and decisions hit differently.  

I'm going to get to the actual decision I want to talk in a moment, but first, let's chat about Jordan's situation.  The reason the book works, and in particular the reason why the big twist works, is that Jordan actually never provides an affirmative lie to the reader. Everything he tells us is true.  Instead, Jordan lies by omission. He leaves out a couple important facts that affect how we understand the story.  

Because of this, we should believe Jordan when he shares with us about how he deeply regrets the choices that brought him here.  Again, Jordan doesn’t affirmatively lie to us - if he says he regrets his life, he does.  Jordan through much of the book is burnt out.  At times, he is downright bitter.  On some occasions, he even blames Ixil for his own decisions (example – Jordan says he doesn't want to hear about his situation from “the one who'd ultimately gotten [him] in this mess to begin with.”). Jordan feels trapped and he wants out.  While the first read impression is that Jordan's telling us that he regrets making bad investments and getting involved with crime, once you know what Jordan's actual deal is, this hits differently.  Jordan regrets becoming a spy.

I can't really fault him for that.  He's been doing this for a ridiculously long time.  Depending on whether Jordan's EarthGuard career started after college or ran concurrently with it, he is somewhere between 35 and 39 years old.  (Yes, I have done the math). There is no end in sight.  His mission is to infiltrate a criminal organization and work his way up the ranks.  He's still on the outer fringes of that organization.  Very little headway has been made. He's going to be doing this for the rest of his life (and when that life might end is an open question some days).  His quality of life is awful – there are times he cannot afford to eat – and he doesn't have any real support system.  At best he has....well, Ixil. Who is his boss.  As far as Jordan knows, Ixil isn't here because he's chosen Jordan. Ixil is here because his bosses told to him to be.  (More on this when we get to Nask).

And I wanted to share all of that because what I'm going to say next is not flattering to Jordan, but I completely get why he does it.

What actually happens in Chapter One is this: Jordan manipulates his way into getting the Icarus contract in a moment of weakness in hopes that he will get to blow his cover.

In the initial read of Chapter One, it feels as if Jordan accidentally came upon Arno Cameron.  They have a discussion, and Arno hires Jordan. But...that's not what actually happened.  First, there’s the obvious fact that Jordan did not accidentally find Arno.  Half-way through the book, we're told Uncle Arthur ordered him to find Arno and watch him (but not to engage).  In the last chapter, we get further information on that – Jordan had spent several hours going in and out of bars actively looking for Arno.  Jordan did not accidentally find this man at all.  It was a very intentional thing.

Upon a closer reread of the opening scene, we get even more.  It is Jordan who brings up the idea of Arno hiring him.  Jordan directs most of that part of the conversation.  Arno's not completely sure if he wants to hire Jordan; Jordan more or less talks him into it.  Now, while finding Arno was what Jordan was ordered to do, convincing the man to hire him to fly his ship is against Jordan's orders.  Uncle Arthur is not pleased when he finds out Jordan's taken the job.  Ixil is also well aware of what their orders are and that Uncle Arthur is not going to like this.  Ixil even takes the approach of – you dug your grave, you lie in it – and makes Jordan tell Uncle Arthur what has happened without Ixil present as back-up.  (Honestly, I'd have done the same).

Okay, so why does it matter?  Maybe Jordan was just really enthusiastic about getting a legal shipping job?  Well – two points – one, he was already on a job for his criminal employer, a man who Jordan knows will kill him if he disappoints him.  It is not in his best interest to blow off his criminal boss.  Jordan is well aware of what his best interest is in regards to that.  So why do it?  Jordan found Arno.  Arno’s doing just fine, going about hiring a crew for what appears to be a routine job.  Jordan has fulfilled his duty to Uncle Arthur.  There’s no reason for Jordan to manipulate Arno into hiring him. 

Except there is.  Point two.  Uncle Arthur had told Jordan that, if Arno Cameron gave the indication that he was in serious danger, Jordan then had permission to break his cover.  (It's on Page 453 of my copy).  

Arno doesn't act like he's in trouble in the taverno.  But, well, he's supposed to be going along on the trip.  There's a lot of space between Meima and Earth.  If the right amount of trouble came up....

Obviously, afterward, Jordan realizes he should not have done what he did.  He even gets a few moments later on where he could be tempted to give the full truth of who he is and doesn't.  He could have told Arno when they're in the strargate. Surely, being trapped on the other end of the galaxy is the sort of trouble where Uncle Arthur would have forgiven him blowing his cover. Jordan doesn't do it, though.  There's also a point where Tera starts to get too close and Jordan actively tries to start an argument with her to prevent her from thinking too much about his situation.  (While that fails, he does manage to divert the conversation and keep his secret intact).

But none of that changes the fact that it is Jordan, not Arno, who orchestrates Jordan getting the Icarus job and that Jordan had been explicitly told to watch only.  Jordan's military.  If he's breaking orders, he has to have a reason. Desperate people sometimes do desperate things.  Jordan’s in a bad place mentally in Chapter One.  Sometimes, you see a lifeline and jump for it before asking whether you should have.And now what’s done is done, and Jordan has to see it through. 

And, friends, Jordan might be able to argue it away to Brother John or to Uncle Arthur.  They might, at least initially, give him the benefit of the doubt.  But Ixil absolutely has his number.  That's going to be important once Jordan and Ixil have their little chat after learning who Tera is.  We'll talk about that in Part Two.

[ri-writing]

in which I engage in conspiracy theories because I don’t want to pay attention at my church meeting

We’re probably talking about something important, but my brain has just been really stuck on Gregory’s dad.  Let’s talk about him.  Lord knows Gregory probably wants to.

Cut because you don’t need to deal with me rambling.

We’ve heard a lot about Gregory’s dad.  Like - every other page, Gregory mentions him (my dude....we get it.  You think you’re dad’s awesome.  Everyone’s so aware of this that the spies are using this information about you to send you coded messages.  And I thought my online behavior was A Lot).

Anyway.  Gregory’s dad.  The interesting thing about all the things Gregory says his father likes to say is that a good 75% of it is useless drivel, but the other 25%?  The other 25% would be relevant if someone was in the business of doing things like stealing the plans to the Death Star.

Y’all, I am over here on the Gregory’s Dad Used To Be A Spy conspiracy theory ship.  I am probably the only one on this ride, but that’s fine.  It’s my conspiracy theory and there are worst things I can conspire about.

BUT - but you guys - Why else tell Gregory that Uncle Arthur is an admiral if he’s a general?  Like - is this so that if Gregory mentions he met an admiral it doesn’t raise any flags.  Does Gregory’s dad know Uncle Arthur?  (I mean - it could also be “the author forgot the character’s rank” - that’s also a valid explanation.  But mine is more fun).

Anyway - Gregory Roarke’s father was a spy.  Make it a thing.

[ri-writing]

I’m in the process of a really big long write up, but in the meantime, check out this amazing art that I found of the MCs from the first book:

https://www.deviantart.com/philotic-net/art/Jordan-and-Ixil-97409841

(Linking because it’s not my art, but it’s a real drawing and not a Rick Roll)