p. 430

While S continues to serve wine to the guests, he observes more of them. Among them are “a finance minister from Eastern Europe,” “a Central Asian rocket scientists,” and “a Texan oil tycoon” (430), all very influential and potentially very sinister people, particularly in the eyes of an anarchists like Straka who likely opposes large corporations, large weapons, and large oil refineries. The behavior of these commercial and scientific powerhouses is not reflective of their positions in the world-they behave like children, elbowing each other, spitting out wine, and flirting with women.

Once S gives out all of the wine on his tray, he goes back to the barrel to restock. On his way he notices a “barn full of ill-gotten art” (430). He notes that some of that art may come from El-H where he worked with revolutionaries against Vevoda years ago. It is worth noting that though Vevoda’s main pleasure comes from greed and exploitation, he also appreciates art. Straka’s inclusion of this likely positive detail about Vevoda is interesting, because most descriptions of the weapons tycoon are far from flattering. At the same time, however, Straka describes the art as “ill-gotten,” meaning it was stolen. Vevoda’s appreciation of art still does not make him a good person.

In the margins, Jen and Eric discuss how terrified Straka was that something would happen to Signe. Eric is sympathetic to him, pointing out that “she’s another reason he didn’t show himself to Filomena” (430), and Jen ackowledges this to be true, but “she still want(s) to fault him for it” (430). Jen was very determined for Straka and FXC to meet up, mirroring how desperate she was to meet up with Eric after their first correspondence.