"'Human life on Unan Besar depends on Biocontrol, which must therefore be inviolable.'" (p. 22) (For full reference, see here.)
Human life depends on Biocontrol because Biocontrol keeps it that way. Inhumanity is morally rationalized as a holy mission to preserve life.
Is "...technicial..." (p. 21) a typo or a portmanteau word, "technician-official"?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I have two texts of THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS, the original 1965 Chilton Books edition of FLANDRY OF TERRA and the Gregg Press reprint of 1979. Both texts, in Chapter III of PLAGUE has "technician," not "technicial," meaning the latter, in the Baen Books edition, was a misprint.
One of the tasks for the editors of a COMPLETE COLLECTED WORKS OF POUL ANDERSON would be to correct mistakes like this and guard against similar typos for this hypothetical edition.
Another point that interested me in the same Chapter III of PLAGUE, on the next page, was Nias Warouw asking Flandry: "You know what an overly high concentration of acetylcholine does to the nervous system?" I would have liked a more detailed of what acetylcholine is and why too much of that chemical is fatal to human beings.
And, as you said, human life on Unan Besar depends on Biocontrol only because it was a corrupt and oppressive monopoly using obsolete technology to preserve its grip on power.
Sean
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