On Danu, inter-species communication commences not with mathematics but with music. It was fortunate that Caitlin Mulrayn was the third (lookout etc) in the crew of the exploratory vessel and that she took her musical instrument with her. Unfortunately, communication must cease as soon as it starts because Chinook has to move on.
The human explorers have been fortunate in their first jump because they have found not only an intelligent species but also one that has been favoured by the Others who have given the Danaans metal tools to use on their gas giant planet. Poul Anderson has created an environment that his characters visit but must then leave.
The novel must move on. Chapter XXIX is narrated by a chimpanzee who occupies two entire pages as against the single page granted to the previous avatars of the Others. Chapter XXX returns us to human problems on board Chinook. The familiar contrast between the freedom of interstellar travel and confinement inside a spaceship:
"'Free?...Locked in a metal shell...'" (p. 235)
- had been made back in Chapter XXVII.
The human spirit, exemplified by Caitlin, can transcend its constraints - and can also learn how to construct less constraining interstellar vessels.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
That was too easy, IMO. Assuming a race which communicates via music, I would think both that species and human musicians would first need to understand/translate each other's forms of music before communication was possible.
And all space ships, whether or not STL or FTL tech is used, will necessarily include constraints/limits on one's movements.
Ad astra! Sean
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