- Boone captures Judson William Corr, the man who planted and triggered the bomb that killed Kate Boone.
- Sandoval admits that he hired Corr to murder Kate. His motivation was twofold: to remove the barrier preventing Boone from acquiescing to Da’an’s request for him to work for the Taelons and to save Boone from having to choose between Kate and Da’an once his CVI was implanted. Sandoval believes he was acting compassionately. “We aren’t cut out for love, Boone. Not any more,” he explains.
- Someone sends Dee-Dee Sandoval flowers. Could it be Sandoval himself, or perhaps Boone?
William Boone
- Eddie Jordan was Boone’s platoon mate in the ‘01 War.
- Boone’s office is located in an unnamed federal building and equipped with such amenities as Taelon virtual glass.
Ronald Sandoval
- After his CVI was implanted Sandoval considered his wife Dee-Dee “infantile” and found that she interfered with his ability to serve Da’an. He had her committed to a sanitarium in Restin, Virginia, used by the FBI to hide witnesses and informants.
Augur
- Augur is the “ultimate home entrepreneur,” using his computer hacking skills to steal money and other assets.
Jonathan Doors
- Doors’ opinion of the Taelons is that they are “complex, duplicitous, and nothing about them is ever what it seems.” Boone replies “Just sounds like another species I know.”
- When Boone says to Doors, “It’s too bad Dr. Belman can’t fix my implant so that I could just serve you,” Doors responds “I’ll have to talk to her about that.”
Da’an
- Da’an tells Boone, “I have never ordered the death of your wife.” Does this really mean that the Taelon knew nothing of Sandoval’s plan?
- Sandoval states that “Da’an wishes to study his [Corr’s] kind.”
The Taelons
- Agenda on Earth
- Da’an tells the press corps “We Companions have come to Earth to share our knowledge, to learn…that together we may thrive.”
- Da’an to the Synod: “When first arriving on the surface, I may have expected the humans to more compliant, malleable like the game pieces on a field of qaliol. I find them enigmatic. They are so capable of such beauty, yet they brutalize each other with such intensity. But I suppose that is one of the reasons we are here.”
- Physiology
- The Taelons’ true appearance is translucent with a series of glowing pathways running through the body. When affected by strong emotion they “blush,” revealing this form momentarily.
- Technology
- CVI: The CVI allows one to “recall memories in complete detail.” The sudden surfacing of such memories is referred to as a “memory intrusion.” Sandoval says that the cerebral cortex adopts the CVI as “just another way of thinking.” The CVI also allows one to read at a faster pace. The Taelons refer to those to whom they give CVI’s as “Implants.”
Miscellaneous
- Kate Boone was killed on August 14.
