Atdtda36: As if desire were all it would take, 1021-1026 #2

[Paul Nightingale]

In the previous section the Chums negotiate 'an updraft over the deserts of
Northern Africa unprecedented in size and intensity' (1018) and there is
some discussion about 'whether or not to take the Inconvenience into the
great updraft over the Sahara without somebody paying for it in advance'
(1019). Down the page, 'ordinarily no skyfarer with his wits about him would
have ventured within a hundred miles of the desert phenomenon'. Following
disaffiliation (1018), then, this is a new departure, underscored by
Ksenija's observation: she seems to know enough of their history to ask why
they don't 'just have adventures anymore' (1019). A sense of loss is
confirmed, in the current section, by the juxtaposition of 'safely back home
on Earth' to 'an American Republic' they do not recognise (1021). Above the
section break on 1021 'the Pythagorean or Counter-Earth' is an attempt to
make sense (eg 'the ship had most likely .' etc) of experiences difficult to
grasp, conceding the elusive nature of representation.

Upon news of his 'mysterious disappearance' (1022) - and one might say that,
prior to Baklashchan's declaration that '[h]e's been missing since the
summer', he has not disappeared, is merely absent, elsewhere - Padzhitnoff
has become 'their old friendly nemesis', the rivalry between the two crews
based on repetition. Padzhitnoff's absence, moreover, is tied to 'the
current world situation'; and that 'situation' is, by implication, on the
previous page, associated with 'the evil and moronic' who have taken over
the 'American Republic' (1021). The narrative draws attention, then, to a
system of government than can be contrasted to the European monarchy, here
represented by Randolph's wistful reference to 'the Tsar and his family'
(1022): revisiting, perhaps constructing, the past ('[w]e cherish our
memories of their hospitality'), he reminds us of the Chums' conservative
inclinations while, at the same time, the reader's superior (?) knowledge
kicking in here, the narrative offers an oblique reference to the fate of
the Russian royal family. Cf the reference to Ryder Thorn on 1023 and then
the appearance of the Bolshai'a Igra on 1024 without its former Romanoff
crest.