How many escapes are there in Poul Anderson's action-adventure fiction? They must be uncountable.
When the trader team escapes from the planet Babur, their prisoner is killed by "friendly fire." Adzel wants to pray for him but Falkayn has to say, "'Later,'" because they are still escaping. Religious observance comes after practical tasks.
Falkayn had wanted to interrogate the prisoner about who armed the Baburites etc but Anderson does not make life too easy for his characters. Falkayn will learn what is going down but he will have to return to Hermes to do so.
As they escape into space in danger of their lives:
"Stars burned many-fold, some among them the color of blood." (Chapter VI, p. 108) (For full reference, see here.)
Pathetic fallacy: the stars are many colors but the mention of the red stars - the color of blood - underlines that the team are in danger of their lives.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I wonder how Falkayn would have interrogated his prisoner? Narcoquiz? Intense questioning? The hypnoprobe, if that device had been invented? And possibly use sensory deprivation to induce an unwilling prisoner to cooperate with being questioned? There are many things we don't know!
Sean
Sean,
Falkayn reflects that he would have put the prisoner under narco (Chapter VI, p. 107).
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Thanks! Only goes to show I should reread SATAN'S WORLD. But I still have chess on my mind!
Sean
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