Brigade XO wrote:Ruth is Michael's daughter- by adoption. She is not in the line of succession just like Ruth's mother is not because she is the wife of an heir, not an heir herself. If I remember correctly, Ruth is the daughter of a former leader of Masada....and was born there ---so more than technically, she does not qualify as heir and to be in the line of succession.
The books show her as chaffing under the restrictions of being the daughter of an heir. From the standpoint of wanting to go out and do things vs being a pampered princess I can see her point.
The comparison to Michelle Henke is somewhat valid although Mike went to the Naval Academy and that is an accepted job choice for persons not in the direct line of succession. On the other hand, she is a target to be sued to try and gain leverage of the Crown.....which is exactly what happened when she went to Torch. And it is somewhat safer if she was actually in the military rather than being sent on a diplomatic mission, certainly safer than if she was the sort pampered idiot who got running around with a fast crowed of other rich people and banked on her position and status to get her out of escapades.
She does come by this stuff honestly. Dad (along with being brother of the Emperes) is former Naval Office with a really interesting record. Mom is also no slouch- she helped organize and compleat the escape from her husband on Masda (along with sister-wives, other women and their children) by learning how to operate a hyperspace ship and rescue themselves from the whole Masada problem. So, yeah, the genetics and intelligence are there plus Ruth WANTS to do someting to serve, not just be decorative. Perhaps she might be safer and almost as useful working for ONI or even getting involved with somebody in Charles O'Daley's operations at Special Intelligence Service?
Mike isn't in the direct line of succession?
Ruth loves the work as an Intelligence Officer, but the job can get stale and monotonous, while sitting in front of a computer analyzing data most of the time. Her high score in her favorite game must be astronomically high.
How well does Ruth love this stuff? Ask Honor. Honor let the cat out of the bag during one of the brainstorming sessions that was analyzing the captured data ...
"Where is Ruth?" Honor smiled crookedly. "I wouldn't have thought you could have pried her away from something like this with a tractor beam!"
Can't you just see the hillarious images of circuitry exploding all over the ship if you tried?
"Perhaps we should use a presser beam Captain!"
"What will a presser beam do?!"
"I just thought since she's so anxious, it will make her overshoot her target!"
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