(urth) Home Fires and Chelle ** SPOILERS **

[Matthew Keeley]

On Tue, Jan 25, 2011 at 9:01 PM, Dave Tallman <davetallman at msn.com> wrote:

> My theory is revenge. Rick may have been uploaded with a scan of Master
> Sergeant Mort Pununto, the spy Chelle killed. He was the best noncom she
> ever had. A good officer (promoted from the ranks) and an talented spy would
> be valuable skills for a cyborg to possess, whether he spied for the EU or
> the Os. When Mort was caught as a spy Chelle was the only member of the
> firing squad to aim to hit him, so she was directly responsible for his
> death. I see little other reason for Wolfe to have included this otherwise
> completely extraneous story in detail.
>

I think one reason Wolfe includes this detail is to give us a little insight
into Chelle's mental state; when first we hear of Mort, we just hear that
Chelle shot him. We don't learn that she was in a firing squad until the
last page of the book.

Of course, if we want to introduce crazy conspiracy theories (we know
they'll come out eventually), we could cast some doubt on Mort's existence.
Isn't it strange, after all, that the dead spy is named "Mort?"

-Matt
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