Alana crinkled her nose. "A lot of it's cultural," she admitted. "You have to know things like this one general had tusks like a walrus, so the walrus in an aquarium story is supposed to be him. And he had to be subtle to get past censors and everything. It's, what's the word. Symbolism."

She was impressed with herself for remembering what the word was. Alana cared about this stuff, but she was no one's idea of a brilliant student.

"But when you understand the message, it's like everything else clicks into place."