Desai reads a Naval Intelligence report on Chereion:
"Nothing has been scanned which would make it possible for the sun to be located or spectrally classified." (9, pp. 143-144)
Later, Aycharaych and Flandry:
"'I should not have let slip that I am color-blind in the blue wavelengths.'
"'But you see further into the red than I do,' predicted Flandry.
"'Yes. I admit, since you would infer so anyhow, my native sun is cooler and redder than yours. If you think that will help you identify it, among all the millions of stars in the Merseian sphere, accept the information with my compliments.'"
-Poul Anderson, "Hunters of the Sky Cave" IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 149-301 AT II, p. 162.
The report read by Desai refers to Flandry's first sighting of a Chereionite on Talwin. We learn in The Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows that that Chereionite must have been Aycharaych since he is the last surviving member of his species.
A young Merseian officer, introduced to debaucheries by Flandry (in the joint research base on Talwin?), let slip, while drunk, that Chereion:
was very old;
possessed secret powers;
had had a high civilization;
might regard even the Merseians as a means to an end.
That is correct but is a great deal of information for a young officer to know, suspect or divulge. The ranking Merseians abruptly ended the occasion.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I checked Chapters 3 and 9 of THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN, and found no clear indications of where Desai had that meal with Uldwyr (my thought was either on Jihannath or Alfzar/Betelgeuse). I was a bit surprised Flandry's first glimpse of Aycharaych was on Talwin.
And I'm sure that young Merseian officer who was so indiscreet to Flandry was severely reprimanded by his superiors! To carelessly divulge so much to an Imperial Intelligence officer could have done that Merseian's career no good.
Ad astra! Sean
A problem in intelligence work is that it requires intelligent agents -- who can then, and -will- even if they keep it private, make informed speculations on the "need to know" information that's doled out to them.
Secrets are really, really hard to keep -- which is one reason why conspiracies are so much rarer in reality than fiction.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And that explains why some intelligence agencies can be so paranoid about keeping secrets, even at times when some field agents NEEDS that information.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: there's a cartoon I like, showing a devil prodding a damned soul with a pitchfork. They're in front of two doors, one marked "Damned if you Do", and the other "Damned if you Don't."
The demon is saying: MAKE UP YOUR MIND...
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
An all too APT cartoon!!!
Ad astra and Merry Christmas! Sean
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