The Defiant Agents · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Defiant Agents by Andre Norton.
Chapter 1
Dedication
The author dedicates the book to P. Schuyler Miller, who wished for Apache colonists, and Charles F. Kelley, who enjoys time agent stories.
Chapter 2
The Defiant Agents
Travis Fox and a group of Apache agents are sent to the planet Topaz as part of a secret colonization project, only to discover they are pawns in a larger conflict between the Redax and the Baldies. The chapter explores themes of cultural identity, manipulation, and survival as the Apaches resist control and adapt to the alien environment.
Chapter 3
I
Dr. Gordon Ashe and Colonel Kelgarries debate the risks of accelerating Operation Cochise, which aims to send Apache volunteers to colonize the planet Topaz by awakening their racial memories. Ashe fears psychological breakdown, while Kelgarries and Dr. Ruthven push for speed due to espionage and the threat of rival powers. Ashe is sent to New York to appeal to Hough, but Kelgarries reschedules the team's training to delay Ashe's interference. The chapter also recounts the history of Operation Retrograde and Project Folsom One, leading to the discovery of alien tapes and the current race to colonize Topaz.
Chapter 4
II
Travis Fox awakens disoriented from the crashed ship on Topaz, while two mutated coyotes escape their cages and explore the alien world. The chapter provides background on the coyotes' enhanced intelligence and their role in Operation Retrograde, as well as the Redax system that sends agents' minds into the past.
Chapter 5
III
Travis awakens in a strange wilderness, disoriented and with fragmented memories. He is accompanied by two coyote-like creatures he names Nalik'ideyu and Naginlta, which he believes to be ga-n spirits. They guide him to water and later to a hunt. Travis discovers a wrecked spaceship, confirming he is on an alien world. He successfully coordinates a hunt with the coyotes, using a stone to drive a horned creature into a cleft, demonstrating his growing adaptation and communication with the animals.
Chapter 6
IV
Travis and the Apache clan settle into a new camp on Topaz, grappling with the aftermath of their forced journey and the psychological impact of the Redax machine. Buck urges Travis to embrace his role as a leader and take Tsoay as a companion. Travis, driven by a need to understand the planet's ancient secrets, scouts the terrain while tensions rise between those who cling to ancestral traditions and those open to adaptation. A council fire debate reveals deep divisions, with Deklay accusing Travis of white man's trickery, while Buck and Jil-Lee advocate for unity and cautious exploration.
Chapter 7
V
Travis and Tsoay track a fugitive through the mountains with the help of their coyote scouts, Naginlta and Nalik'ideyu. They discover the stranger's hidden belongings, including a felt jacket with intricate embroidery depicting a deer and puma, which Travis recognizes as Terran but not Apache. They find the fugitive, a woman who identifies herself as a Daughter of the Blue Wolf, and she reveals she is fleeing a flyer from the sky.
Chapter 8
VI
Travis and Tsoay encounter Kaydessa, a woman of the Golden Horde fleeing from a Russian-controlled colony. She reveals that the Russians use a machine to control people's minds, but that freedom is possible beyond its range. Travis learns about the Mongol colonists and the threat of the Red ship. They travel into the mountains, kill an ape-like creature, and Kaydessa later falls into a trance, seemingly compelled by an unseen force.
Chapter 9
VII
Travis carries the unconscious Kaydessa deeper into the mountains, planning to evade the Reds and their mind-control machine. He discovers an ancient tool-cut road leading to a waterfall, behind which the path continues. Kaydessa is under the influence of a caller, and Travis must decide whether to follow the outlaws or find a safe haven. He sends Tsoay back to warn the clan while he stays to learn more about the enemy.
Chapter 10
VIII
Travis Fox, captured by Tatars led by Hulagur, uses his wits and the testimony of Kaydessa to negotiate a truce. He challenges the shaman Menlik, demonstrating his bond with the coyotes and his immunity to the Reds' mind control. After a tense encounter, he is accepted into the Tatar camp to discuss a common cause against the Reds.
Chapter 11
IX
Travis leads Menlik, Hulagur, and Kaydessa to a meeting with the Apache clan, using mirror signals to communicate. The two groups meet in a canyon, where Travis explains the threat of the Reds and their machines. Deklay expresses distrust, but Buck supports Travis. Later, Menlik draws a figure resembling the alien from the derelict spaceship, suggesting the Baldies may still be on Topaz.
Chapter 12
X
Travis and the Apache scouting party, allied with Menlik and his Tatars, observe a Red-led hunting party in the foothills. The Reds use a control plate to dominate their Tatar captives, and a helicopter patrols above. The Apaches debate strategy, noting that the Reds' mind-control technology does not affect them. They decide to attack at dawn, adhering to Apache tradition.
Chapter 13
XI
Travis and the Apaches face a Red soldier protected by an invisible force field and armed with advanced weaponry. After Lupe is wounded in an attack, the Apaches attempt to use a landslide to neutralize the Red, but are interrupted by Tatar warriors under the Red's mind control. The Tatars attack the Apaches, but when the Red is killed by the landslide, the control breaks, and both sides separate. The Apaches decide to leave the region, wary of the witchcraft and the threat of the Red's technology.
Chapter 14
XII
Travis Fox, torn between his Apache heritage and modern archaeological training, ventures into the alien tower valley alone. He climbs into one of the towers, discovers a mysterious pillar that traps him and pulls him down into an underground chamber. There, he accesses a knowledge repository containing three-dimensional pictures and alien information about a treasure on Topaz that could be a deadly threat to both his people and Earth. Realizing the Reds must not find this, he resolves to eliminate the Red leaders before they discover the towers. He escapes via the pillar and races to intercept his clan, but arrives too late to change their decision.
Chapter 15
XIII
Travis, recovering from being stoned and outlawed by Deklay's faction, is nursed back to health by the coyotes Nalik'ideyu and Naginlta. He decides to challenge Deklay to a traditional Apache duel to reclaim his place in the clan and prevent Deklay from leading them into danger. With the coyotes' help, he tracks the clan, ambushes Manulito to deliver his challenge, and faces Deklay in a knife duel within a scored circle, aware that the outcome could affect more than just their two lives.
Chapter 16
XIV
Travis and Buck plan to use Kaydessa as bait to lure the Reds into a trap involving the wrecked ship, which has become a haunted place due to the malfunctioning Redax machine. Manulito, revealing his M.I.T. training, proposes to booby-trap the ship's control cabin to destroy the Reds when they investigate.
Chapter 17
XV
Travis and the Apache force execute a plan to use Kaydessa as bait to lure the Reds, but the mission is complicated by the fear-inducing effects of the alien ship and Travis's injury. Kaydessa escapes, guided by Apache scouts and coyotes, while Travis is forced to recuperate. The chapter ends with the group heading to the towers to prevent the Reds from seizing their weapons.
Chapter 18
XVI
Travis, Buck, and Jil-Lee retrieve three alien weapons from the ancient outpost, testing their devastating disintegrating power. They decide to use them only against the Red ship and then seal the armory, establishing a taboo. Meanwhile, Naginlta reports that Kaydessa is being moved toward the ship by four Reds, and Tatar outlaws are advancing toward the tower valley, forcing Travis and Buck to plan a defense.
Chapter 19
XVII
Travis confronts Menlik and a band of Mongols, demonstrating the power of an alien weapon to win their trust. He reveals that Kaydessa is leading the Reds into a trap in the mountains. An alliance forms between the Apaches and the Mongols, who help destroy a Red helicopter and its crew, cutting off the enemy's aerial surveillance and communication. The chapter ends with the allied forces preparing to assault the Red fort on the plains.
Chapter 20
XVIII
Travis and the Apaches, allied with the Mongols, plan and execute a raid on a Red ship in a vast basin. They stampede the horse herd to draw attention, then attack the ship. Travis infiltrates the vessel, disabling its systems and killing a Red in close combat, but is wounded and horrified by the ease with which he uses the alien burner to kill.
