A Pale Light In The Black (by KB Wagers) Reread - Chapters 10 and 11

Welcome back to my reread of K.B. Wagers' "A Pale Light in the Black!"  You can find the other posts in this reread here.  We've finished our introduction to our main cast of this book, a space opera featuring a SF space version of the Coast Guard in an optimistic future universe.  Now we're getting to see them in action.  Still, it's not too late to pick up this book yourself and read along, as we're just about done getting to know our fun cast.

In this post, we're covering Chapters 10 and 11 and the two letter columns that come after each chapter in my copy.  We're moving forward a bit in time here - Chapter 10 is a week after our last chapter but Chapter 11 is 2 weeks later, and we'll see more time jumps in a bit.

Moreover, we're getting to see the team more in action now, as we have this time around our first seen mission featuring Max and we get to see oh so much about Jenks as she both seduces a young repair tech and a chapter later calls her main lover (and real significant other) for a little chit chat.  And Max begins acting as a proper lieutenant to his Commander.   (Oh and everyone loves Pluto!)


Chapter 10: T-Minus 12 Weeks Until Prelim Boarding Games

Summary:  Zuma's Ghost gets a distress call from a research station orbiting one of Saturn's moons, who has a power outage from some power couplings.  Jenks, Max, and the backup repair tech on the station, a pretty girl named Svetlana, are sent to rewire the couplings from scratch, under Jenks' direction.  Max is pretty proud of himself, and Jenks takes advantage of an invitation to shower together with the pretty tech.  Max is pretty happy to leave them to their fun in peace.

Letters: (Nika to Jenks and back):  Nika is settling in at Trappist, which actually has her spending a ton of time on the ground (helping with her hatred of open space).  Jenks notes that she's been being nice to Max, who manages to fight well in training (as a Ghost) against anyone but Jenks.

Thoughts:  Our first mission actually seen isn't too dangerous, as most NeoG missions aren't - there's little on the line if they can't fix the power couplings, but it's never in doubt that Jenks has the tools to fix them.  Still we find out a bit more about our characters and this world here.  First, LifeEx treatment - needed to extend lifespans and to work in space - is an expensive drug only provided for military service or service for a company working in space, again - ala how American health insurance works now.  If an employee leaves early from her job, she'd have to pay back for some of the treatment, which is a shitty system just as it is here - the one not positive thing about this setting, and something Max is a bit embarrassed about.

Meanwhile we see that while Max is ace like we learned last week, Jenks is most definitely not, taking the immediate opportunity to try and sex up the pretty tech Svetlana...something she is more than willing to go along with.  The two are very different in their physical approach to other people, although that may not be the case emotionally.  And hey they both love Pluto!

Chapter 11: T-Minus 10 Weeks Until Prelim Boarding Games

Summary:  Max finds out that the five smugglers Jenks/Nika pulled off the System Jumper had a fatal accident in the naval transport transporting them to detention and informs Jenks - naturally they both find it highly suspicious and alarming.  Max asks Jenks to look into if there's anything they can use to reopen the case, because technically its out of their jurisdiction - a trust that Jenks isn't quite sure what to make of.  Jenks calls Chief Petty Armstrong Luis Armstrong, the sole enlisted man in the NeoG intelligence division team to ask for more info.....and to just ask how Luis is doing, since Luis and Jenks might be more than a casual thing, even if Jenks doesn't know how she should feel about a relationship that goes beyond casual sex (see last chapter).

Meanwhile, Max and Rosa talk with the Vice Admiral about their boarding games readiness, and Max tells Rosa she needs to trust herself more, finally pulling her own weight as Rosa's Lieutenant in advising her commander.

Letters: Max to Nika and back: Max wonders if the feeling uncertain of whether he's "got this" or "it's harder than I thought" will ever go away, and note Jenks doesn't seem to be hitting her as hard these days.  Nika informs him the feeling goes away, but it gets replaced by other worries.  Still, Nika "appreciate"s the letter....

Thoughts: Less "Action" this chapter, but more plot furthering, as Jenks' suspicions that the System Jumper situation is not on the level seems confirmed by the fact that all the witnesses are dead.  They technically have no jurisdiction to look further, but that won't stop them.   Meanwhile we get introduced to Jenks' significant other, Luis, a widower and father of twin 7 year old boys.  For all Jenks is comfortable with casual sex with anyone - see last chapter - she's emotionally uncomfortable with how close Luis is getting to her.  Meanwhile Max and Nika's letters suggest that such a relationship between them might not be impossible either....although that one would have to be even more of a long distance one.

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That's it for today.  Next time: Max punches Jenks, Rosa starts some inter-service beef, and everyone gets involved with an emergency mission with hundreds of lives on the line.