Forbidden Knowledge 12 - Chapter 8

[Cord Hurn]

Morn leaves Captain's Fancy's bridge after Nick's appointing her data third, heading towards her cabin in anticipation of a visit from Nick. She does this because she could see in Nick's eyes and scars that he's wishing to show he had control over her. Morn is now uncertain that she wants to abort her son with Angus, and realizes that she's already named him after her father.

She is at first dismayed that a part of her wants to keep her son, seeing it as a surrendering to Angus' brutality. Then she considers that allowing her son to be born will restore family to her when she's lost all family from her destruction of Starmaster. And she also considers that she's enacted a form of surrender to Angus' brutality when she'd accepted the zone implant control box from him. This puts her into a state of total indecisiveness with regards to whether she'll keep her unborn son.

Nick comes into Morn's cabin and grabs her by her wrists, asking her if she's heard the story of how he had come by his cheek scars. Morn shakes her head "no", so Nick gives her the story with which we readers are familiar: a female space pilot/pirate seduced him to get information to catch a ship, then cut his cheeks and laughed at him and abandoned him after killing the ship's crew. Nick demands to know of Morn if she is also laughing at him, and plotting against him.

Poor Morn can't make herself look innocent by acting indignant, because unfortunately she has already set her zone implant control for sexual desire. The best she can do is to dare Nick to "try her" in a passionate voice. And that insecure slob Nick lands on her hard and treats her roughly.

Artificially responsive, she accepted the way she was hurt and answered it with ecstasy.

Take that and be damned, you bastard!

She hated him far too much to laugh at him.

Here, I once again find myself wondering if Morn is really in a significantly better situation than when she was trapped with Angus. She gets to interact with friendlier characters like Vector and Mackern, and she gets control of her zone implant, but other wise she's as trapped as she's even been since the demise of Starmaster, alas.

Once Nick's asleep, Morn takes the zone implant control and sets it to ease the pain of the wounds Nick has given her. Then she goes to sickbay and has her hurts addressed. But she decides to keep her unborn offspring, and returns to her cabin to shower and change clothes. Nick awakens feeling more trustful of Morn, and orders her to report to data second Alba Parmute. Morn discovers that Alba isn't very bright, and that in a half-hour's time she has learned about all she can from Alba about running the auxilary control room's data station. So Morn asks Alba to let her alone to "practice her duties" so that she could go about her secret purpose of discovering the ship's destination.

Alba accedes and leaves, and Morn gets Nick's permission (via intercom) to search the auxiliary data board in the interest of gaining proficiency at working that board. Morn studies the datacore playback in progress, discovering that navigation, scan, and astrogation information have already been restored. Morn is able to plot the trajectory of Captain's Fancy away from Com-Mine Station, and by disregarding all destinations in the second half of the trajectory circle shown by the plotting, she's able to figure out exactly where the ship is going.

Thanatos Minor. No wonder forbidden space sheltered it, condoned it, despite diplomatic protests, ambassadorial outrage--despite the fact that its very existence was prohibited by signed treaty. Forbidden space threatened every human being alive, even though the threat was genetic rather than military; even though no human ships were ever attacked, and no alien vessels ever crossed the border outward, and no accords were ever broken--except by such telling omissions as the refusal to extirpate Thanatos Minor. And Thanatos Minor served that threat more effectively than warships and matter cannon.

At least by reputation, the rock was a shipyard and clearinghouse for pirates. Ships were built there (ships like Bright Beauty?): ships went there for repairs. And pirates like Nick Succorso and Angus Thermopyle took their plunder there, to one of the few markets rich enough to buy ore and supplies on the scale they offered; a market fueled by forbidden space's unquenchable appetite for human resources, human technologies, and--if the rumors were true--human lives.

It certainly sounds like a sleazy and dangerous place.

Morn is alarmed that Nick selling her police secrets (via her id tag) there could amount to a betrayal of humanity. She considers dramatic measures, ranging from destroying the ship to destroying herself, to prevent Nick from selling those secrets, all the while beating her knuckles bloody against the data console. She's as torn in spirit as she's ever been.

Nick notices those bloody knuckles of Morn's when she reports for her next bridge duty as data third. He at first insists that Morn skip her shift and go to sickbay, but Morn says she fell, and Nick lets her work the third shift, under the supervision of Liete.

Liete was a small, dark woman with blunt features and a voice that barely carried across the bridge. In addition, her manner conveyed so little obvious authority that at first Morn wondered whether Liete had obtained her position by being another of Nick's discarded lovers. But the command third looked too plain to suit Nick Succorso's romantic tastes. And before long Morn became convinced that Liete Corregio was nearly as competent as Mikka Vasaczk. She lacked Mikka's overt aggressiveness, but not her certainty or skill.

Liete's portion of the crew to command are the least competent on board, and from Orn's virus they manage to trigger data wipe after data wipe. Morn repeatedly retrieves the data from the ship's datacore, enduring it because she knows Nick would accept no refusal. Morn remains depressed about the prospect of Nick selling her police information to those Amnion aliens on Thanatos Minor, because it can only strategically weaken humanity. She depends a lot on her zone implant to get through her days and to avoid getting violent with Nick.

Six weeks go by since Orn's death, and Morn sees Nick make the unusual move of showing up and heading to the communications station during the switching out of people between second and third bridge shifts. Morn hurries away to the auxiliary control room to covertly monitor what Nick is doing.

Morn decides that the best way to get information on what Nick is doing is to copy the message from the datacore after he has made his transmission. She does so, retrieves a ciphered message--and discovers that the message has been aimed at a UMCP listening post.

The implications chilled her. She felt that she was losing contact with reality, as if g had disappeared from under her--as if Captain's Fancy had lost internal spin, or gone awry in her trajectory across the void. Nick had sent a message to the UMCP. He was expecting an answer.

Oh, my God.


But she wasn't given a chance to sort her way through the morass. Before she could try to gauge the extent of Nick's treachery, she heard him ask sardonically, "Any luck?"

Blanking her readouts, she swung her seat to face him.

He leaned in the doorway, grinning at her. After all this time, the sight of her still pulled his lips back from his teeth, darkened his scars. Maybe her disconcertion made her look frightened: maybe the idea that she was frightened excited him. Or maybe he was so caught up in the masque of her passion that he couldn't break free.

But she wasn't frightened; not now. She had gone past that without knowing it. And past trying to second-guess the consequences of her actions. She was thinking for the first time in weeks, and her questions were about to be answered. Deliberately she stared at him. Her tone was neutral with concentration

"You sent a message to the UMCP."

Instantly his whole body became still and ominous, poised like a bomb.

As if the subject were one of purely intellectual curiosity, she asked, "Does your crew know you do things like that?"

His gaze was as steady as hers; his grin had no love in it. "You're the only one who isn't in on the secret. And you still aren't--so don't push your luck."

Morn lets Nick know of her awareness that they're heading to Thanatos Minor, and lets him know how she discovered he beamed a transmission to a UMCP listening post.

Then she returned to her own question. "Why are you talking to the UMCP?"

As if she'd gained her point, he shifted his weight off the doorframe. Casually, like a lazy predator, he moved to the command station and sat down. She turned to face him all the way, tracking him like a targ.

For a moment his fingers massaged his scars as if he wanted to rub the blood out of them. Then he said, "I can get more money for what you know if I hold an auction. But you can't hold an auction unless you've got at least two bidders. I'm giving your old buddies a chance to keep what you know secret by paying for the privilege."

That was a lie; she recognized it immediately. It was plausible in itself; but it didn't explain how he knew the location of the listening post.

_______________________________________________________


Carefully, neutrally, she offered, "I've got a better idea. Tell them if they pay enough you'll take me somewhere else. And you'll let me report to them that you really have changed course. Let me convince them you're keeping your part of the bargain."

Between one heartbeat and the next, he lost his air of nonchalant disinterest. He stiffened in his seat; his gaze sharpened on her. In a harsh, slow drawl, he asked, "Now, why would you want me to do a thing like that?"

If he thought he could make her falter, he was mistaken. Facing him as squarely as ever, she replied, "Because I don't want to go to Thanatos Minor."

"Why the hell not? Do you think you're still a cop? Do you think you've got a right tocare who I sell your secrets to? You gave that up several billion kilometers ago. What makes you so fucking scrupulous all of a sudden?"

There her dilemmas came together. In his hot glare and her own danger, she saw how they depended on each other; and her intuitive indecisiveness vanished. Abruptly certain, she held his gaze as if he were the only one of them who had any experience with doubt.

"I'm pregnant," she announced distinctly. "I'm going to have a boy. He's due about the time you're planning to get your gap drive fixed--and I don't want to have him on Thanatos Minor. We'll both be too vulnerable. He could be used against me. Either of us could be used against you."

Praying that he would believe her--that he wouldn't demand an examination in sickbay to confirm what she said--she concluded, "Nick, he's your son."

It's curious to me that Morn is described as thinking more in this scene than she has in recent weeks. In one sense, it's true, as she's formulated exactly what she wants to say to Nick. In another sense, it seems inaccurate, for she can't be thinking very well if she can't foresee that her lie about her unborn being Nick's son will be easily found out. I doubt she feels bad about lying to Nick, especially since she knows he's lying to her. But she may feel bad about being found to be lying, which could have many unforeseen and unpleasant consequences. She's become convinced that it is important enough to prevent Nick from selling her police secrets to "forbidden space" to the point that any lie that forestalls that seems like a good idea.

[Skyweir]

I agree .. and tbh Morn owes Nick nothing. Hes used her and now she is using him. In her defense shes doing what she needs to survive .. but youre right she is no further advanced, is she?

Angus and Nick have both exploited her for their gain and satisfaction. I hated that scene where Nick hurts Morn.. its almost nauseating to witness his violence. Its Angus 2.0 in many respects.

The whole thing is so fucked up for Morn ... I just want her to get away from these abusive men.

Sadly, and intentionally she uses herself, her sexuality as well. She really hasnt had much of a choice. She has to survive.

This is the part of the book that I fear most for Morn .. it is a very dangerous lie .. especially after Nick explained his anger at being abused himself by whatshername.

Nick does not love Morn .. she excites him, she challenges him, and hes never had a woman that wanted, "needed" him, his body. No thats wrong .. a woman genuinely capable of yearning for him, from his perspective.. he doesnt know its the zone implants doing... so its a first for him. But hes so messed up himself, incapable of trust or any other mature interpersonal connection

Shes faking all her responses technologically and he is just so arrogant that he cant tell. I mean why would he? The control takes over quite viscerally..

Nick is a despicable character .. and the violence in him is pretty terrifying for her.

And I am forced to ask why? Why does Donaldson insinuate the degree of sexual manipulation and violence into almost all his works? Rape, systematic abuses of his female characters?

[Cord Hurn]

Nick is a despicable character .. and the violence in him is pretty terrifying for her.

And I am forced to ask why? Why does Donaldson insinuate the degree of sexual manipulation and violence into almost all his works? Rape, systematic abuses of his female characters?

You ask a very good question, Skyweir. Your other questions and observations are also good, but I'll focus on that one, first.

[Donaldson fan] Meredith N: Dear Stephen,

I've been a fan for the last 5 years, having read all of the Thomas Covenant books up to date, Mordant's Need, and just now the first two books of The Gap Series. I suppose my question will be considered typically female, but my concern drives me to ask it.

Why all the rape and victimization of women? Why are you driven to destroy both soul and flesh of nearly every woman in your novels, especially those who play a lead role? I realize that these women also demonstrate a sort of primal strength in survival, but I am still left wondering why you depict so many women as living their lives in subjugation...fighting, but entirely hopeless.

I know that I cannot really say what motivates you personally to write these things. I've read your commentary about Angus and how you feared that he was truly a public revelation of your own hidden darkness, but that doesn't really tell the whole story does it?

I appreciate your desire to keep your personal life just that, personal. But could you please give me some indication that you know women who are more than survivors, who are able to live their lives with joy, sense of purpose and wholeness?

My apologies if I have offended, but I am one of the many women who feel personally pained at your depiction of women, even while I immensely enjoy your literary talent and ability to weave tales.

[Stephen R. Donaldson replies:] I've been procrastinating here. Similar questions have come up (and have been answered, here and elsewhere) fairly often, and now I find that I'm tired of them. (Please don't take this personally.) Or maybe I'm just tired in general. So I'm going to approach your question indirectly. Bear with me. And forgive me if I sound exasperated. That's the fatigue talking.

First, I grant that my protagonists (men as well as women) lead very difficult lives: in some cases raped (metaphorically and/or physically), in most cases victimized in one form or another. Neither Terisa Morgan nor Linden Avery has been raped (physically). Both Thomas Covenant and Angus Thermopyle have been dramatically brutalized, if in very different ways. [Brief digression. Without pausing for thought, I could come up with a list as long as your arm of important female characters in my books who have been neither raped nor victimized. If I did so, I could start with Giants, Ramen, or Lords in "Covenant," Min Donner or Mikka Vasaczk in the GAP books, all three of King Joyse's daughters in "Mordant's need," or Ginny Fistoulari in my mystery novels.] Certainly the rape of Lena in "Lord Foul's Bane," and Morn Hyland's experiences in the first two GAP books, stand out. As they should. But they are not thematically unique. Indeed, they are thematically universal. What happens to Angus in the GAP books is not less of a violation than what he does to Morn. What Covenant endures is not less hurtful than what he does to Lena.

This is WHAT I DO. It isn't optional for me. I write about the damaged and the maimed, the violated and the bereft. And I seek in them the seeds of regeneration, healing, salvation, honesty, integrity, forgiveness, love. Broadly speaking, I don't have anything else to write about. And anyway, who else *needs* to have these kinds of stories happen to them? Who else could benefit from the possibilities which my stories provide? Certainly not the healthy and the happy, the whole and the unharmed.

But still: why rape? From my perspective (which is exclusively my own), that's the same as asking: why leprosy? Why zone implants and gap sickness? Why...fantasy and science fiction? Because I'm a writer who works best when he has access to physical metaphors for emotional states, psychological conflicts, spiritual quests. I use "the external"--as well as every other resource I can think of--in an attempt to shed light on "the internal". (Why else does Mick Axbrewder take SUCH a beating book after book?)

On this subject, I want to paraphrase former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins. Among other things, he says that he writes a poem to express an emotion for which we have no name, no direct language. In effect (he says), the poem *becomes* the name of that emotion. So it is with rape in my stories. And maiming. And sickness. And abuse. And possession. They are part of the "language" by which I'm trying to express emotions/needs/conflicts/yearnings that have no other name; that cannot be conveyed by simpler means. (I also want to cite Edgar Allen Poe at this point; but I'll spare you.) I could argue--if I have to--that the whole of the first "Covenant" trilogy is an attempt to *say* what the rape of Lena MEANS.

One example (from a work of fiction, admittedly, but not from my fiction). A woman is locked involuntarily in a box and abandoned. Later a man finds and rescues her. He asks, "What was it like?" She replies, "It was like being locked in a box and abandoned." OK, it was a light-hearted work of fiction. But what else *can* the woman say? ("It was like being buried alive." I'm sorry: that doesn't help. Analogies are only useful when they refer to shared bodies of experience.) Her only meaningful alternative is to tell the story of her life (of herself) up to, during, and after the experience.

So I write stories that include rape. And leprosy. And child abuse. And zone implants. If I want that "meaningful alternative," what else *can* I do?

(06/16/2009)

SRD's books focus a lot on redemption and healing, but for the healing and redemption to feel profound, the suffering that occurs beforehand must feel profound (extreme) as well. And we know that SRD often makes his characters suffer, and physical abuse is certainly a big part of that. The eventual victories of his characters that survive his stories seem that much more euphoric precisely because their sufferings have been so extreme. And somehow, deep down inside us, we're entertained by the journeys these characters go through. That must be so, or otherwise what are we doing on a website such as this?


There are other discussions of this in the Gradual Interview under the "from the author" category on SRD's official website. I just went there, typed in the search word, "rape", and found this and other answers. Please feel free to check that out on SRD's website, Sky, if you wish to know more. (Some of SRD's answers were not appropriate for me to reproduce here in a Gap chapter dissection thread, because they contain spoiler details relating to the Gap story.)

[Cord Hurn]

This is the part of the book that I fear most for Morn .. it is a very dangerous lie .. especially after Nick explained his anger at being abused himself by whatshername.

I worry for her, too, because the only way she can have her son and not have it obvious that he is not Nick's son is if only Morn's phenotype (outward physical characteristics) are expressed in her child. And the odds are against that, genetically.

[Cord Hurn]

I agree .. and to be honest Morn owes Nick nothing. He's used her and now she is using him. In her defense she's doing what she needs to survive .. but you're right she is no further advanced, is she?

She's not trapped in a tight little ship like Bright Beauty with her abuser like as she was in the first book, she has a least a couple of seemingly pleasant characters among the crew to interact with, and she can ease her own sufferings and fatigue whenever she wants with the zone implant. But now she's trapped in a larger ship with her abuser being the one who's in charge, the relatively pleasant characters still have loyalty to her present abuser, and her zone implant could be discovered and taken away from her at any time. So, is her situation an improvement over how it was for her in the first Gap book? I say: no, not significantly.

[Skyweir]

Cheers Cord .. that was interesting and insightful.

I am keen to hear from SRD what he intended the rape of Lena to mean.

I enjoy a lot of SRDs works .. but I am not entertained by the gritty and violent nature of Morns attacks. I find them as they are obviously intended, shocking, visceral and disturbing. Although I see her attackers as layered characters with depth .. I am not so contented by the concluding threads, with the exception of those that DO reap the rewards of what they have sown.

But one of the most appealing aspects of SRDs authorship that I have always appreciated is his attention to real characters, flawed humans, in particular his antiheroes. I like accompanying these characters on their journeys to self discovery.

I enjoy their growth, including their internal conflict, I find this powerful.

I have seen, worked with and experienced the kinds of abuse we read of in a great number of his works. As he says, its his method, his medium through which he explores his unique creative style.

I thought it moderately disturbing that Donaldson suggested Angus may be a reflection of a darkness within him. That is a remarkably honest exposing of ones personal inner most demons. We all have them, but not all are so honest about them.

I will read more as you have suggested. Yes not all his female characters are sexually objectified .. but its interesting to me that he identifies female sexuality as an obvious vulnerability. And male sexuality as a natural weapon of violence. Of course not all his characters are sexualised. But at the same time he highlights the reward of healthy interconnections. I find that balance, when it is finally struck, heartening.

Though we are sexual animals and those drives are powerful motives for the actions we take and the choices we make, whether for good or ill, whether beneficial or detrimental to ourselves or others.

To me its less about this internal juggling of this natural balance and conflict, than the characters that exude an absolute absence of ethical action. Like Eremis who simply considers Teresa as "nothing". Or Angus, who considers Morn an object of personal revenge for the mistreatment he experienced from his mother et al. Of course this changes and we see that change.

I do not want to minimise that .. at all. Donaldsons gentler characters are all the more endearing for this contrast though arent they? .. and we may not have that greater appreciation without the presence of the harsher elements.

Humans ARE complex creatures .. flawed, struggling to grow and get by. Donaldsons greatest character development journeys are the ones that exceed their core programming, their basal function and desires and become more than they were, stronger than they were, deeper, more capable than they were.

In my early years as a fantasy fan, but particularly of TCTC I held great admiration and respect for such creations, and especially their creators. In many ways I viewed creative Donaldsons capability as a gods.

Not in any religious way, but in his ability to manufacture an existence, a world, and all its component parts. The Gap series is similar, but not a world I fell in love with. The Land captures the readers heart and soul with its native goodness.

Thanks Cord

[Cord Hurn]

Donaldson's gentler characters are all the more endearing for this contrast though arent they? .. and we may not have that greater appreciation without the presence of the harsher elements.

That rings true with me, Sky, that the gentler SRD characters are easier to appreciate by the contrast they make with the harsher characters. Vector's concern when he finds Morn huddled over the auxiliary data station makes him seem that much more of a warm, caring character in contrast to the self-centeredness of Nick "I'm a legend in my own mind" Succorso.

She was still in that position--hunched down as if to protect her baby--when Vector Shaheed found her.

He must have been passing outside on his way to his console room. From the doorway, he asked, "Morn?"

She should have said something to make him go away. She should at least have concealed her hands. But she couldn't.

"Morn? Are you all right?" He came closer; he touched her shoulder. Then his grip tightened. "What the hell are you doing to yourself?"

Like a flare of cold fire, she rose to face his look of mild surprise, mild concern.

"You should have told me," she rasped thickly. "Back when I first asked you. You should have told me where we're going."

Turning her back on him, she left the auxiliary bridge and went back to the artificial courage of her zone implant.

[Cord Hurn]

In my early years as a fantasy fan, but particularly of TCTC I held great admiration and respect for such creations, and especially their creators. In many ways I viewed creative Donaldson's capability as a god's.

Not in any religious way, but in his ability to manufacture an existence, a world, and all its component parts. The Gap series is similar, but not a world I fell in love with. The Land captures the reader's heart and soul with its native goodness.

The Land seems to me like it's one of the living characters in the TC books, whereas the Gap Cycle galaxy and the Mordant's Need world are both inert backdrops to the drama--they do not feel to me like living characters on their own.

Yet I can appreciate how both the Gap and MN have personal interactions between the characters that grow increasingly complex, whereas in the Covenant books it's mainly about how each of the supporting characters react to TC and/or LA. The strong supporting cast of characters in the Gap and Mordant's Need have a lot to do with why I like the Gap and Mordant's Need better than I like the Chronicles books. And I love the Chronicles books, don't get me wrong. There is something about the need to care for the magical, nurturing, and vulnerable Land that I can relate to in an environmentalist way.

I simply see the Gap and Mordant's Need as demonstrating improved skill in writing about characters, as examples of Donaldson building upon what he can do with his story actors compared to how he was able to write them in the First and Second Chronicles. I think it is because he came to worry less about world-building design after writing the first six Chronicles books, and became more engaged in developing character sketches with which he could be satisfied.

As for the view you state of Stephen R. Donaldson's creative capacity being like a god's, that sounds rather similar to how he described the responsibility he felt in developing his characters. In his introduction to Reave the Just and Other Tales, he wrote, "I am, if I may be forgiven the expression, the only god they've got." His working with flawed characters who become more than they thought they could be is kind of an uplifting type of experience to read about, and I think it has something to do with why I like his writings so much.

[Cord Hurn]

I thought it moderately disturbing that Donaldson suggested Angus may be a reflection of a darkness within him. That is a remarkably honest exposing of ones personal inner most demons. We all have them, but not all are so honest about them.

Reading SRD's admission in The Real Story's Afterword chapter about how he knew he'd be exposing that darkness inside him once TRS was published struck me as uncompromisingly honest--and it gave me mixed feelings as I found it both unsettling and admirable.

[Skyweir]

Agreed..

And agree with all the points you have highlighted.

I also think the writing is improved, and the storyline tighter re MN and the Gap series.

No argument at all

And that is exactly my take on the Land.. very much influenced by my environmentalist self

[Skyweir]

Oh and yes I see the Land as definitely one of the living characters in the story. I was soo saddened to not see a continuation of the stone downer and woodhelvin characters .. I love their sense of stewardship re the Land, not burning wood etc