Summary:
When last we left our hero, she had just found a secret message embedded in
her Life set. The message contained a set of coordinates, which after a
bit of work with her sextant, she determined matched her present location
almost exactly. The message was from a fellow prisoner!
Maia then discovers some sort of electrical/telecommunications outlet, from
which tapping emmanates every night at midnight. Maia cracks that code to
find another serious message. Then, with a bit of McGuyver-like
ingenuity, she sends a crude return message - and suddenly Maia has contact
with Renna!
Analysis:
Stratos' seasons are of unequal length, with winter being the longest,
lasting roughly half of the year, or two Earth years. This likely explains
why there are more clones than vars. Men may remain libidinous through the
end of Fall, however, as they are not fully readmitted to society until
"Autumn-End Day", when men traditionally make their visitor's passes into
paper airplanes. On the other hand, it may simply be that starting with
the first day of Winter, the females *want* men around. (239-40)
In addition to A-E Day, a major holiday seems to be Farsun Day. It
definitely includes allusions to Christmas, with a "Frost Lady", parties,
and giving of treats to passers-by. Perhaps it is a mid-winter festival
to celebrate the height of the breeding season?
This Renna chacter is clearly an experienced subversive, to be so
proficient in secret communication. Perhaps Renna is her first name, or
maybe a clan-name, but I would expect that it is an alias. Of course, as
a var, there probably is minimal harm in her using her real name.
Nevertheless, since so many subversive-types out there know who Maia is, it
probably was another case of Maia's naivete.
Notes:
-The Stratoian's sexual cycle was programmed by the Founders, The
planet-wide aurorae of summer trigger the male sexual reaction, and
"winter's specil frost" initiates estrus in females. (238)
-Stratoian season are not due to axial tilt, but to planetary position.
Moreover, 'winter' is not necessarily a time of 'bad' weather on Stratos,
rather it is a time of placid weather. (239)
-The Pelican of Euphrosyne, Epona, the Dancing Dolphin, and Thalia are some
prominent winter constellations. (239-40)
-Earth has a colony named "Florentina", likely populated by feminists.
(239) Additionally, Earth had two colonies in the Taranis Cluster, both
destroyed by the Enemy. (241)
-There is a greater moon named Durga, and a lesser moon named Aglaia. (242)
-Maia, as might be expected, uses the female for the 3rd person indefinite,
rather than the masculine, or the combination of both as might be expected
on present-day Earth. Indeed, she hardly imagines that something so clever
could be accomplished by a man. (243)
-The police use grand zep'lins (245)
-Crossing one's arms and tugging the ear lobes is a gesture of luck. (246)
Lifeforms:
-There are edible petu nuts near Port Sanger. The tree producing the nuts
has large holes to acoomodate at minimum, squirrel-sized animals. (242)
-Squirrels have been imported from Earth. (242)
Questions:
-When Maia refers to summer's disruptions (239), is she referring to the
necessity of avoiding men, or EM interference?
-Who is the Enemy that destroyed the Taranis Cluster colonies? (241)
-What does the message mean?
Cy, Tell Grvs Imat
49* 16' 67* 54'
No Deal W/ Odo!
LV If NEC
-When did Renna start watching DS9? ;-)
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Our campaign against international terrorism does not represent some
sort of 'clash of civilizations.' Instead, it is a clash between
civilization and those who would destroy it." -Amb. Richard N. Haass
