"(Earth's food and drink had subtly peculiar tastes.)" (XII, p. 172)
One of van Rijn's men must impersonate Eric:
"'Gait's important too. Did you know that you Hermetians walk differently from any breed of Earthlings. Looser jointed. I've spent the past day in crash-course training.'" (p. 173)
"The constellations were strange. Maia was drowned in distance." (p. 174)
Eric wonders whether he recognizes:
"...Alpha Centauri, the beacon for which men steered when first they departed the Solar System." (ibid.)
Our future is his past. See The Pioneers, in particular the quotation from James Blish.
When Eric meets van Rijn, the latter roars:
"'Often have I wished I was not too obstreptococcus a bastard for [your mother] to live with long. You, now, you is a fine, upstanding type of bastard, nie?'" (p. 175)
Van Rijn is accompanied by a middle-aged man and a pregnant younger woman. Eric meets David Falkayn and must tell him that his older brother, Michael, is dead. In an interstellar setting, human life and death continue.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I assume the Hermetian gait was affected by the gravity of Hermes. Was it just lighter enough from Earth's gravity that it made the "looser-jointed" way of walking common to Hermetians possible?
And, of course Old Nick's "obstreptococcus" was a malapropism for "obstreperous"!
Sean
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