Saving Tiamaat

I can see from some posts that some people are confused about this story. I am too, which is slightly concerning considering that I am supposed to lead discussion about it. I guess a good thing to ask would be, what threw you guys off in the story, what was particularly confusing about it?

I also guess that a good plot synopsis would be in order, so that we don't spend all our time in class trying to figure out what happened...
SPOILERS AHOY!!

Basically, what I understood from the story was that Debra and her friend Pele work as some sort of ambassadors for a NATO type organization based on some sort of space station called Speranza. Some time ago (I forget the exact date) the native planet of the Ki An was discovered through interspace travel that operates on some level that is faster than the speed of light.

Upon reaching this planet it was discovered that the An, although basically the same in genetic makeup to the Ki, were cannibalizing their brethren and generally just being very domineering meanies to them. In typical Western good guy fashion, the government extension for the Blue Planet (presumably Earth) supplied weapons to the Ki, helping them in leading an uprising against the An. This insurrection failed, resulting in a diaspora of the Ki, and a very big mess in general.

In present day, our good friend Debra and her friends at Speranza are holding a peace agreement between the Ki and the An to welcome them into their federation. Debra and her friend Pele are assigned to chaperon Baal, leader of the An, and Tiamaat, leader of the Ki, during their stay. Debra and Pele lead the two to some sort of sacred memorial ground, at which Baal kills and begins to eat a Ki, who was spouting some protest against the An.

This does not go over well, but does not really derail any of the proceedings, as it was generally assumed that Baal would kill and eat the Ki, as that's just what An do. Unnerved by Baal, Debra decides to go off and spend some time with Tiamaat. During their time together, Debra begins to get a better feel for Tiamaat's character, and of her ingrained suppression resulting from a lifelong struggle with the predatory An.

Debra meets back up with Baal, and decides to take him out to an asteroid on the outskirts of the Speranza space station. Here she lures Baal to some type of virtual reality space pod, in which she shows him his home planet, and promises him of its return to peace. Following this, Debra detaches Baal's pod from her own, leaving him stranded in space to die.

Debra wakes up some time later, and learns that her assassination of Baal went as planned. Most people in the Ki An delegation are pleased at Baal's demise, and any dissenters are two tied up with jumping through bureaucratic loop holes to make their voices really count. Tiamaat is appointed the sole leader of the new Ki An delegation, and during a ritualized cerremony, she cannibalizes a Ki. This illustrates to Debra that it was not necessarily the Ki An dichotomy the dictated their predator-prey relationship, but rather one of the powerful against the powerless. Debra returns to her room to relax at the behest of Pele, wondering if she has indeed done the right thing.

I hope that this is mostly correct, and is useful in clearing up the plot. As for any sort of deeper discussion, I guess we can save that for class.