After I wrote: <I find the whole thing a bit like Avon and Cally in Horizon ... he needs someone else to *agree* to the decision to desert before he can actually *do* it.>

Natasa answered: <I'd rather say, he needs someone to *disagree* because it gives him an excuse. Then Avon can say to himself, "I wanted to desert, it's just that Jenna/Cally/Feds/Alien fleet/fill in the blank... prevented me.">

Which begs the question, what *would* he have done in Horizon had Cally agreed to go? Dithering around until An Excuse to Do The Right Thing is a little harder to manage when someone's actually there watching you ... would he have bitten the bullet and left Horizon (and never forgiven Cally for 'making' him live up to his own bad image) or suddenly found a pressing if self-interested reason why they had to make *absolutely* sure ("Vila stole my second-best laser probe and took it with him, I don't care about them but I'm not leaving without *it*.")

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