"'We could progress a lot faster in interstellar exploration, for instance - with everything that that implies - if we had sufficient hafnium to make sufficient polyergic units to make sufficient computers to pilot a great many more spaceships than we can build at present.'" (Chapter XII, p. 445) (For full reference, see here.)
"...hafnium..." and "...polyergic..." read like gizmos and doohickeys. However, each has a precise meaning that we can learn by googling.
When Nicholas van Rijn and Thea Beldaniel have to travel together to rendezvous with the Shenna, they jointly order from a nonhuman yard a newly built spaceship that has been advertised for sale with a complete supply stock and is then delivered to the Solar System. The ship has at least four staterooms. The bulkhead between two is ripped out to make a room big enough for Adzel. In this particular nonhuman ship, the stars are visible in a strip around a compartment.
When the ship lands on Dathyna, it is disabled by disconnecting its drive units, then is left behind, after only a single interstellar journey, when Falkayn and Chee Lan rescue van Rijn and Adzel. Maybe Thea gets some further use from it. But this single use of an expensive ship is worthwhile because it enables van Rijn and his trade pioneer crew to prevent a Shenn attack on Technic civilization.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I clicked on the links to "hafnium" and "polyergic" and, yes, they are real! And their inclusion in SATAN'S WORLD makes sense. And I think a real space faring civilization will need such things. For all I know Elon Musk's SpaceX company uses hafnium and polyergic units.
Sean
Post a Comment