"He had no need for recapitulating except the need to gloat..." (p. 613)
- and the need to inform the readers of what he has been doing, of course.
Trillians are just under a meter in height so a man can pat one on the head. Three human brigands have hijacked a primitive Trillian spaceship. When their leader, Harker, informs the Trillian pilot, Witweet, that he will remain their prisoner for years while they sell his ship and its design to barbarians and help them to build a space navy:
"The head rose beneath his palm as the slight form straightened. 'Very well,' Witweet declared.
"That fast? jarred through Harker. He is nonhuman, yes, but -..." (p. 621)
Harker thinks that Witweet has instantly acquiesced. Instead, the Trillian, suddenly understanding his predicament, has immediately decided how to turn the tables on his captors. That rising of the head and straightening of the form is an understated Andersonian moment of realization. First, Witweet will divert the brigands from their immediate destination:
"'Have you heard of a planet named, by its human discovers, Paradox?'" (ibid.)
- he asks.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, that was an UNDERSTATED Andersonian moment of realization that we see with Witweet. I might or might not have realized what that "moment" was in my previous readings of the story. A pity we only see Trillians once in the Technic series!
Ad astra! Sean
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