Iceland Spar, Chapter Thirteen: Frank and the Girl Anthropologist!

Now, we turn to Frank, who's wandering about, trying to figure out what's what. He keeps meeting sort of suspicious "middle-ranking managers, urban in style with something also of the look of mine inspectors to them" (273), who want to know what he's doing. He determines that they're from Vibecorp, which puts him immediately on the defensive: he doesn't know at this point that the organization is responsible for his father's murder, but he has his suspicions.

It sours, him at any rate, on mining, or at least mining precious metals. He gets into zinc, which I feel like should mean something but I'm not exactly sure what. He has sort of a something with the "girl anthropologist" in question, Wren Provenance. She gets him to take her to a brothel, and there's this weird, porn-y section (I mean, nothing explicit, but still) where they both, possibly, get serviced there, with her conclusion being that the girls have "simply ruined [her] for everyday bourgeois sexuality" (277). I mean, okay, again with the transgression, but I'm not quite sure what to do with that.

I'm on a little firmer grounded when she explains that way back when, there were lots of native people living in the region--but then, they disappeared: "suddenly, within one generation--overnight as these things go--they fled, in every appearance of panic terror, went up the steepest cliffsides they could find and built as securely as they knew how defenses against...well, something" (277). This mysterious Something. Of course, seeing as we're talking about native Americans here, you might think of European colonialists, also. These things could merge together. Or not. As with many things, it is very mysterious.

Reef, being the oldest Traverse offspring, is supposed to be seeing to the whole revenge thing, but Frank has his suspicions that Big Bro may be back to aimlessly wandering and cardsharping, and he doesn't want Kit to get involved, so, SIGH, he's gotta be the responsible one. Booo-ring! He and Wren part amicably, and that's it. More of Frank's zany adventures next time!

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