This episode, we find ourselves reading and discussing the second anthology. This one is entitled Worlds of Honor. It was published in 1999 and contains five stories.
Aptly named, these stories are as much tied to Honor’s worlds, as to the characters we read about. Through the pens of several authors, we travel to Sphynx, Manticore, Gryphon, and Sylvestria.
First comes the story The Stray, written by Linda Evans. Linda brings us to Sphynx for the second bonding between a human and treecat: that between Dr. Scott MacDallan and Fisher, just 15 months after Stephanie Harrington is adopted by her treecat.
The story focuses on a stray treecat named True Stalker who, near death, finds Scott and Fisher. He leads them to the crash site of an aircar, located near a facility owned by BioNeering. There are essentially two storylines here. First, we gain additional insights into what humans and treecats experience as a bonded pair. We also glimpse into the treecats’ moral code as Scott and Fisher learn through True Stalker that the aircar crash wasn’t an accident. It was a murder to cover up what’s occurring in the related storyline.
In the second storyline, related to this case something has gone wrong at the BioNeering research site with the devastating result of killing off a significant section of Picket Wood trees. As we already know, this species of tree is a clonal organism (much like the Aspen tree on Earth). It is also a primary environment for treecat colonies. The murder of the aircar crew was an attempt to hide the significant damage that had been done to the forest. What wasn’t known or anticipated by BioNeering: one of the crew aboard the shuttle was paired to the treecat True Stalker — the same cat that found and brought Scott and Fisher to the crash site. Ultimately, the crime is revealed.
As a side note, we learn of Manpower Unlimited., a company which provides cloned and bio-engineered human slaves to corporate colonies looking for labor they wouldn’t have to pay to work in dangerous environments. This is a company that will play a large role in future stories.
All three of us gave this story a “thumbs-up”, with Raul sneaking a second “thumbs-up” in for good measure.
The second story was written by David Weber: What Price Dreams? We are introduced to Princess Adrienne and her father King Roger II. We see an estranged relationship which was the result of the assassination of Adrienne’s mother, Queen Solange. The damaged relationship between Roger and Adrienne is further fueled by the Princess’ fascination with treecats. When she makes a trip to Sphynx two important things happen: she’s adopted by the treecat Seeker of Dreams; and next, she’s target of an attempted assassination. The attempt is ultimately foiled by Seeker of Dreams and his clan.
Of note, these events occur not long after the first adoptions of Stephanie Harrington and Scott MacDallan. As a result, not much is known about treecats, adoptions are still very few, and as a result, opinions run strong. With Adrienne’s salvation coming through the hands of treecats, King Roger has a change of heart regarding treecats in general, and the rights of these sentient creatures.
One nugget of information we gain from this story is of a technique called a “psych adjustment,” with all its unresolved moral baggage. We get just enough information about it to see what happens when psych adjustments are used for malicious purposes where an adjusted individual is effectively programmed and used to attempt the assassination of Adrienne. Another nugget is more background on Manpower and Mesa and especially their attempts to get hold of treecats for “research” purposes.
Your hosts all rated this one with a “thumbs-up” as well.
Queen’s Gambit was the third story in the anthology. It was penned by the expert hand of Jane Lindskold. Here we move...
