After reading a Diomedean description of shipwrecked human beings, we next read what it feels like to be one of those human beings:
"Desolation walled him in.
"Even from this low, on the rolling, pitching hull of the murdered skycruiser, Eric Wace could see an immensity of horizon. He thought that the sheer size of that ring, where frost-pale heaven met the gray which was cloud and storm-scud and great marching waves, was enough to terrify a man. The likelihood of death had been faced before, on Earth, by many of his forebears; but Earth's horizon was not so remote."
-Poul Anderson, The Man Who Counts IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 337-515 AT II, p. 344.
See:
Eric Wace
Two Reasons To Deduce That Eric Wace Is A Catholic
Even a man who has crossed an interstellar distance can be terrified by an unusually wide horizon.
On p. 345, Wace damns:
PLC 2987165 II;
the PL itself;
Nicholas van Rijn;
himself because he has been fool enough to work for the Company.
We know that the PL is the Polesotechnic League and deduce that "PLC" means "Polesotechnic League Company" - or maybe "Public Limited Company"? - so is "2987165 II" the League number of van Rijn's Solar Spice & Liquors Company? In any case, we know at last that Old Nick is involved.
(It is clear from the context that "the PL itself" and the "PL" of "PLC" both refer to the Polesotechnic League. Also, I am not sure whether van Rijn would sell shares in SSL?)
7 comments:
Paul:
I didn't think of that number as being a bureaucratic code for Solar Spice and Liquors, but as the registry number of the ship. It's referred to as a skycruiser, so "Polesotechnic League Cruiser 2987165 II" could make sense. A pilot thinking of the company he works for by a code number rather than its name never crossed my mind ... but he'd have to give the ship's registry to port authorities every time he requested landing clearance.
David,
You are so right.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
A single light year is 9.5 TRILLION kilometers in length, and far vaster than the mere horizon of any planet can possibly be. But the first is so vast and abstract that it can't FEEL alarming. While the ocean and horizon of Diomedes is more COMPREHENSIBLE.
Sean
Sean,
And visible.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly!
And, btw, I don't think Old Nick would have his company go public and start selling stock. Because to do so would inevitably, in time, reduce his control over Solar Spice & Liquors due to stock holders insisting on having a say in running the company thru a Board of Directors, who would appoint a CEO.
Despite the extra work involved in keeping sole ownership in his hands, doing so gave van Rijn a freer hand in deciding what he wanted the company to do. We see an amusing scene in SATAN'S WORLD showing Old Nick buckling down to running the firm.
Sean
Incidentally, instinctual responses to threatening phenomenon aren't limited to things like that.
For example, a knife is often more of a deterrent than a gun; and people are irrationally fearful of big animals with teeth and claws. We evolved with those threats.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
But I think EVERYBODY on Earth knows what a gun can do. A knife is not much good if the man with the gun shoots you more quickly than you can slash or stab him.
But I admit I would feel VERY worried to have nothing between me and a grizzly bear, tiger, or lion!
Sean
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