The mercenaries have:
"...an instrument sensitive to the gases of breath and perspiration." (p. 211)
Thus, Falkayn cannot hide in a wood and they call him out. However, they disregard Chee Lan:
"An arboreal creature clinging to a high branch didn't count. It was inconspicuous, its fur gray with black spots, its posture that of a creature frozen into immobility. Chee had rolled in the humus below the dead leaves. And the men were not Hermetians, they knew nothing of the planet's wildlife. Perhaps none of them had even noticed her." (p. 213)
Chee hides her gun between her body and the tree, then uses it to destroy the "sniffer," to kill the man holding it and to injure one of his companions. The trader team, now undetectable, flee through the wood while their pursuers retreat.
This reminds me of an Indian immigrant to Britain who, finding a hedgehog in his garden, phoned the nearest zoo, thinking that one of its animals had escaped. What would we see that we did not expect on arriving in India?
In a future history series, we can alternate between focusing on a single detail in a single instalment and contemplating the fictional history in its totality.
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Strang's men made a bad mistake. They should have been suspicious of everything, esp. "animals" large enough to hold weapons.
Ad astra! Sean
You wouldn't see much in India, unless you went to a nature preserve. Too many peasants using every inch. There's more wildlife in Britain now than there was in the Victorian period, in many respects.
There are wild boar again, for example.
And wolves in Germany, for the first time in many centuries.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I suspect hunting enthusiasts were the ones who brought wild boar back to the UK.
Ad astra! Sean
S.M. - Actually, depending upon what defines as wildlife, you'd likely see a lot in India - even in some of the largest cities, there's more open space per person than in NYC or Tokyo, for example. Not tigers, of course, but plenty of birds, small mammals, etc.
And there is a lot of open space, both protected wilderness and otherwise, in India; much of the country is mountain, hill, forest, jungle, swamp, desert, etc. The total forest cover in India (as of 2023) is about 22% of the total geographical area of the country.
Sean: culinary enthusiasts, in fact. The boar were introduced on high-end farms which produced expensive rarities for the up-scale market. Then they escaped.
Wild boar are highly intelligent, strong and tricky.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha, I'm not surprised! I'm sure some hunters will enjoy stalking wild boars.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: there are some here in the US who enjoy hunting wild boar with spears, or even knives. That's taking it too far, IMHO!
Wild boar genes are spreading rapidly in feral pigs here.
The ones in California already mostly -look- like European wild boar.
Wealthy men introduced wild boar, mostly Russian ones, in the late 19th century to 'beautify' their country estates... and some escaped. From San Simeon in California and Biltmore in North Carolina, to name two examples.
Feral pigs were already common, and they reverted in some respects to their wild ancestors. The wild boar encouraged the process, though -- particularly size.
The link below leads to an example. It weighed in at 735 pounds and was the third-largest wild boar on record.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oakdaleleader.com%2Fsports%2Fregional-sports%2Fhog-ing-the-best-record%2F&psig=AOvVaw0Q34QryKkrGumC8JuvHoCo&ust=1694460127895000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCOiQsIbioIEDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Hunting large, smart, and very dangerous wild boars with only knives and spears is taking sportsmanship too far!
Will be looking up the boar you mentioned.
Ad astra! Sean
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