[LMB] "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you"

[Jim Parish]

I'm in the middle of rereading _Cetaganda_, and mulling over a... 
discrepancy between it and _Ethan of Athos_.

In the former, Miles learns a good deal about the innermost workings of 
the Cetagandan Empire - in particular, the peculiar power-role occupied 
by the haut women. In the latter, Elli Quinn, having been sent on a 
mission of espionage (prompted by a conversation Miles overheard in 
the former), encounters Ethan Urquhart; at one point, speaking to 
Ethan, she describes Cetaganda as "a typical male-dominated 
totalitarian state, only slightly mitigated by their rather artistic cultural 
peculiarities".

The Doylist explanation of the discrepancy is obvious: LMB had a 
Better Idea. But I'd like to noodle about it Watsonianly, a bit. I see three 
basic possibilities.

a) Miles did not tell Elli the details of his Cetagandan adventure. This 
seems rather unlikely to me; you don't send out an agent with 
inadequate information. It's possible that Miles judged the nature of the 
Star Creche irrelevant to Elli's mission. That this is prior to the time that 
Miles and Elli became intimate makes this omission, perhaps, a little 
more plausible, but I still don't buy it, without a positive reason on 
Miles's part not to mention it.

b) Miles told Elli about it, but she didn't believe him, or didn't take it 
seriously. I mention this possibility only for completeness' sake; I think 
it's actually absurd.

c) Elli did know, but chose not to mention it to Ethan. This is the 
strongest possibility, especially since it's quite early in their 
acquaintance, before he began demanding more complete 
explanations. But did she keep it secret just on general principle, or was 
there some specific reason not to mention it?

Any thoughts? Have I missed any possibilities?

Jim Parish