Words have power even if they are not magical spells. The prisoner learned Latin. Now Brother Parvus learns the Wersgor language, quickly because it is uninflected. Finding charts and numerical tables with exact writing (print), he identifies navigational directions and a map of the target planet, Tharixan, showing:
"...the symbols for land, sea, river, fortress, and so on." (p. 37)
Then he interprets symbols on dials for altitude and speed but does not yet understand "fuel flow," "sub-light drive" or "super-light drive." (p. 37)
And I do not think that it will be anything like that easy to understand the interior of an alien spaceship.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I dunno, I can see sheer desperation and the urgent need to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible making SOME of what Brother Parvus achieved not totally implausible.
Sean
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