Thursday 18 September 2014

Back To Starkad II

Terrans in spacesuit-like armor, approaching the undersea Starkadian city, Shellgleam, see:

"...tended fields, fish penned in wicker domes, cylindrical woven houses anchored by rocks."
-Poul Anderson, Young Flandry (New York, 2010), p. 71.

A Siravo (Starkadian sea-dweller) carrying a bladder full of phosphorescent organisms leads an elephantine fish pulling a skin-covered, torpedo-shaped wagon with stabilizer fins. A shaft connects an ocean-surface tide motor to a mill drive wheel. On buildings with higher levels broader than lower, walls of multi-colored fabrics move with the currents. Streets are unnecessary but gravel gardens separate buildings. At the town center, a roofless building has a tower with "...a thick glass top just below the surface." (ibid.)

A team of fish pulls a submarine escorted by vaz-Siravo armed with Merseian guns.

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