Select to view spoiler:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Fletch2:
If I can use a StarWars analogy for a moment. I think the Operative is like Vader, the guy the ruling elite sends to eliminate problems. Book I think was like Tarkin, a high up functionary of the Alliance, perhaps one high enough as to have once given guys like the Operative their orders.

If he was something like the Governer of a sector (or whatever the Alliance equivalent was) then he would know an awful lot about the was things like the Federal law was organized because he would probably it would have come under his juristiction. As to the ID. If he left on good terms there is no reason to think that he wouldn't still retain all kinds of influence within the Alliance that he simply chooses not to use.

Imagine you are a US navy vessel that gets a call from a yacht in trouble and on board is a former secretary of Defense or Admiral with a gunshot wound. Chances are the Captain will do all he can to save the guy, after all even if he's no longer in power it looks bad if someone important dies in the care of your command, who knows what high ranking friends he might still have?

---

Quote:

---

Not to mention that Book's line about high-ranking officials not doing field work had a disparaging tone to it (in my opinion...there were much more euphemistic ways to have put that).

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Tayeatra:

Operatives don't exist, like the Academy scientists. There is no way that Juble Early could have identified (at least partially) the Shepard if he had been an operative.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Tayeatra:
Operatives don't exist, like the Academy scientists. There is no way that Juble Early could have identified (at least partially) the Shepard if he had been an operative.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Gabriel:


Call me crazy, but I have never thought that Jubal Early actually knew Book. Like his analyses of the character of all aboard, he just made a dead-on but skewed intuitive leap about Book, based on listening in to the crew's conversation before. Early was nuts enough to just read Book's mind, or near enough as makes no difference.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Tayeatra:
However, to the people who think he's an operative... think again...

Operatives don't exist, like the Academy scientists. There is no way that Juble Early could have identified (at least partially) the Shepard if he had been an operative.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Amiton:
My new assertion is that Book ran smuggling ops much like our current beloved crew. The ident card? It's a forgery... He likely even used to do a mission (or all of them) on the older Fireflys...the ones prior to the E-model with the extenders for stability =)

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by ncbrowncoat:
OK, here's my theory on Book. I think he was a high Fed law enforcement official.

Most law enforcement officials would have tactical experience and come up thru the ranks. That would account for Book's abilities with weapons and tactics. It would also explain his feeling that what Mal was doing was small potatoes. He's seen lots worse.

That would also explain why he knows the procedures regarding contacting other Fed officers (The Message) when you are out of your sector and his protection of Dobson (the pilot).

If he was involved interrogating prisoners that would explain his familiarity with the theory of torture, at least on an academic level.

It would also explain his knowledge of Niska (which makes him more likely to be a Fed), familitarity with Operatives and the reason Jubal Early recoginized him. The disgust that Jubal Early uses suggests some sort of scandal or noteritiy attached to Book.

I feel that something happened. Maybe he was involved in a operation that either hurt a lot of innocent people or there was a disaster for the Feds but was officially called a success and he felt responsible none the less. He either retired with high rank (most likely) or was forced out. The incident, what ever it was, caused him to reevaluate his life and faith and he entered the monestary.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by StakeTheLurk:

Quote:

---

Not to mention that Book's line about high-ranking officials not doing field work had a disparaging tone to it (in my opinion...there were much more euphemistic ways to have put that).

---

I believe it's Simon who actually says that line in "Ariel," to the Alliance officer who captured them. Makes you wonder how Simon knew that sort of stuff? It is an important point to consider, though.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Kwicko:
I won't call this a "theory", or even call it what I believe, but it *could* help explain a few things...

Suppose Book was a high-ranking military man. Say, a commander in the Alliance forces. Then suppose that Book had actually been one of the Alliance commanders in charge at the battle of Serenity Valley. He saw things there that could absolutely change a man and cause him to question his beliefs (whether he was fighting on the wrong side, for instance), AND it would go a ways towards explaining his response to Mal when Cap'n Reynolds says Book will have to tell him about his past sometime. "No, I don't," says Book. Could that mean that he's so ashamed of his involvement with the Battle of Serenity that he can't tell Mal about it, or fearful of what Mal's reaction would be if he DID tell him?

Could be that Book left the military after the war and entered the abbey in an attempt at some sort of redemption (remember, Joss is BIG on redemption!), and that he later came to identify with Mal and his crew as being The Good Guys in all this mess. Sure, they're petty criminals and up to no good, but that might just suit Book fine, given what he's seen the other side do in time of war.

Just an idea.

Mike

"Kaylee, find that kid that's taking a dirt nap with baby Jesus; we need a hood ornament."

---