Hall Devenant knows that he has broken the rules of the Order of Planetary Engineers. However, the Coordinator of the Order interviews Devenant, hears his account of events on Ganymede and sends him to a secret school for future members of the Council of the Order.
Outcomes:
Dalmady is a successful entrepreneur and some of his children accompany Falkayn to Avalon;
Devenant becomes Coordinator of the Order - maybe close to the time of "Brake," when Terrestrial society is in chaos, sliding towards the Second Dark Ages.
Anderson's The Snows Of Ganymede (New York, 1958) is another work that does not quite end with the word "stars" but does end with that idea:
"...men were walking across the snows of Pluto while [Devenant] sat here.
"Some day the Solar System wouldn't be big enough for them.
"Briefly, he looked out to the cold challenge of the stars.
"Then he returned to his work." (Epilogue, p. 96)
3 comments:
As I just wrote in a work in progress(*), any human organization has a formal set of rules which can be looked up, and an informal, unwritten set. How functional the organization is depends on both.
(*) Question: how many authors does it take to change a light-bulb? Answer: Forget that. Let me tell you about -my- light-bulb.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
I agree with the serious point you are making, formal rules co-existing alongside unwritten, informal rules.
Very amusing, how authors will praise their light bulbs and pan those of others!
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
And one thing I thought amusing about "Esau" was how Emil Dalmady had MISUNDERSTOOD the summons to meet Old Nick. He thought he was in for a reprimand but Old Nick's subordinates at HQ were simply following procedures the boss had laid down that he wanted to personally meet esp. promising and enterprising factors or other employees.
Seam
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