Martha
Names: MarthaMartythe engineerMarty-babe
First appears in Book 1: The Many-Colored Land, chapter 39 (1)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: The Many-Colored Land
- Ch 40Martha and Stefanko have the technical knowledge to make the aircraft and the Spear operational.
- Ch 41Martha, an engineer, was forced by the Tanu to bear four children and tried to drown herself before a fifth; Stefanko saved her.
- Ch 41Martha begins to hemorrhage after the shock but insists the expedition continue.
- Ch 41Martha sarcastically mocks Madame for taking all the guilt and atonement upon herself.
- Ch 42Disabled and frail, she recovers enough to keep up with the party; she and Richard become lovers.
- Ch 42Former Deputy Supervising Engineer on Manapouri who approved substandard dome generator parts for her lover; the dome failed in a 4.18 quake and two-thirds of the village drowned.
- Ch 42Bore four children in the Tanu breeding system; the second was Firvulag and was abandoned in the woods; the fourth birth was a caesarian that healed badly.
- Ch 42After the fourth birth she wanted to die and slipped into the river one night.
- Ch 42Martha has borne several half-human children, whose births were violating and painful; the babies were taken from her, though she says she loved the first one.
- Ch 42Martha seems to understand the man's need, invites him back to her, and may like him a little.
- Ch 42The man comes to see Martha as an individual, unlike the other women he has known, whom he saw only as abstractions of feminine sexuality.
- Ch 43Gave the Bogle his title.
- Ch 45Martha is an engineer who is weakening and hemorrhaging during the trek but refuses to let the party slow down.
- Ch 45Martha served in Finiah, where she saw Tanu-kept ramas working as servants controlled by torcs.
- Ch 45Martha insists the Spear must be repaired, installed in the aircraft and tested from the air before leaving.
- Ch 46Gravely ill, with cramps and hemorrhage, yet she comforts Richard; she asks to come back and live alone with him after the Finiah attack.
- Ch 47Carried on a litter from the flyer, she has nearly bled to death; Richard says Madame would not return until the Spear worked right.
- Ch 48Amerie gives Martha less than a fifty-fifty chance of survival even with transfusions.
- Ch 49Dead; laid out in the chapel at Hidden Springs, she is taken by Richard in the flyer.
Connections
- friend ofStefankoHe rescued and cared for her
- partner ofRichard Voorhees
- related toSister Annamaria Roccaroexpected to provide medical care
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 39Expedition chosen
Madame decides a seven-person party must set out immediately to find the Grave, leaving Amerie behind to heal the people.
- Book 1 · Ch 41Party splits
Madame Guderian decides Fitharn will take the wounded Burke back to Amerie while the others, including Martha, continue toward Sugoll and the Danube.
- Book 1 · Ch 41Party heads for the river
After Madame's tale, dusk falls and Felice urges crossing the Rhine before moonrise; Claude and Madame climb down to the water.
- Book 1 · Ch 42Crossing the Fungus Forest
The five travelers spend eight days through the fungus-filled Black Forest, then emerge with relief into a sunny alpine meadow with a tarn.
- Book 1 · Ch 42Richard and Martha become lovers
At the tarn Martha and Richard make love; she tells her history on Manapouri and in the Tanu breeding system, and he confesses his own crime.
- Book 1 · Ch 42Martha and the man come together
Moved by pity for Martha's past suffering, the man joins her again at her invitation. As they reach climax, he realizes she is a unique person to him, not an abstraction of women.
- Book 1 · Ch 43Meeting with Sugoll
Led by the Bogle to an alpine meadow, the travelers are overwhelmed by the Howling Ones' mental projections, and meet Sugoll, who delivers his challenge by revealing and hiding his true form.
- Book 1 · Ch 45Rama's gift of fruit
A wild rama leaves two fruits near the camp; Claude trades her salmon, and she takes it away to her family.
- Book 1 · Ch 45Arrival at the Ries crater
After a hot trek, with Martha hemorrhaging and carried on a litter, the party reaches the pass and sees the crater rim, confirming Richard's navigation.
- Book 1 · Ch 45Lugonn's tomb and the Spear
The party finds Lugonn's skeleton without a torc; Felice rages and is subdued, then they recover the Spear and powerpack and move to Number Four Aircraft.
- Book 1 · Ch 45Planning priorities
The group debates whether to fix the flyer first or also test the Spear before heading home; Madame decides to do both while time remains before the Truce.
- Book 1 · Ch 45Entering the flyer
Felice runs ahead and goes hunting. Richard and Martha find the Spear by the flyer and enter the aircraft to examine it.
- Book 1 · Ch 46Planning the Finiah raid
Around the campfire the group discusses the flyer, the Spear and the air raid on Finiah. Madame overrules Claude's objection and insists on providing a metapsychic screen; Claude will fire the Spear.
- Book 1 · Ch 46Richard and Martha's night walk
Martha, frail and ill, asks Richard if they can return after the Finiah attack. He promises they will find a private home, and they affirm their love.
- Book 1 · Ch 47Madame returns with the Spear
After a day of watching circling raptors, Amerie spots the high aircraft; it lands at Hidden Springs after dark, and villagers hide it with nets. Madame announces they have brought the Spear, and the bleeding Martha is rushed to Amerie.
- Book 1 · Ch 49Richard departs with Martha
Richard takes Martha's body in the damaged flyer, discarding the Spear, and flies off despite Amerie's pleas.