Tuesday, 6 September 2022

Capturing Temulak

"Hunters of the Sky Cave," X.

Clanmaster Temulak, chief officer of the Garth garrison, must know a lot and speaks Anglic so he is an ideal target for capture and interrogation but Flandry does not know:

"...what anaesthetics might be fatal to an Ardazirho." (p. 225)

- so Temulak must be rendered unconscious by punching and throttling.

The Ardazhiro commute between barracks and garrison in armed groups on foot. When five Ardazhiro pass, Flandry must identify the target in the dark and rain but is trained to differentiate alien faces and had a good look at Temulak when he handed in his rifle. Emil Bryce, a hunter, must kill four Ardazhiro quietly while Flandry attacks Temulak. The unavoidable noise draws more Ardazhiro from the garrison but Flandry spreads petrol to counteract their dog-like sense of smell.

Every detail is carefully thought out, including possible explanations of why the Ardazhiro prefer to commute on foot rather than in vehicles. Lacking a biopsych lab with drugs and chemicals, Flandry resorts to sensory deprivation in order to overcome Temulak's resistance.

3 comments:

S.M. Stirling said...

The interrogation technique is quite credible; any animal is designed for continuous sensory input.

In fact, the aliens there would be more vulnerable because they have more acute sensory organs -- their sense of smell, for example.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Maybe someone very well-practiced in Zen meditation would be able to withstand sensory deprivation.

S.M. Stirling said...

Paul: certainly resist it for a while.