Arzunians practice "'...a new sort of ventriloquism...'" (p. 396) I would call it super-ventriloquism. They can telekinetically vibrate the air molecules right beside someone's ears so that only he hears the words as if they were inside his head or as if he were receiving telepathically. (But the Arzunians cannot read minds.) Valduma, the female Arzunian who has had a relationship with Donovan in the past, tempts him by super-ventiloquism as the Earthmen enter the ruined city. She offers him a future life of wildness as against domesticity. Inwardly, he recites the conventional reply that there is greatness in ordinary humanity - but does not really believe it.
The city is a trap because the Arzunians telekinetically cause buildings to collapse on the Earthmen. Entering a former park, the few survivors run toward a "...Comet-class scoutboat." (p. 431) - another detail that is consistent with the very next Technic History installment, The People Of The Wind.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I think "Sargasso of Lost Starships" was set about 150 years after Manuel the Great founded the Terran Empire. Which means, in the timeline of Technic Civilization, the Terran/Ythrian War would happen a litte more than fifty years later. Not too long a period for some classes or models of Navy ships to still be in use.
Sean
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