Having moved forward through unidimensional time within the Solar System, the Psychotechnic History now spreads outwards through three-dimensional space in the galaxy. For these few stories, we no longer read a history. The Nomads, having been introduced in "Gypsy," will not reappear for another seven installments.
In "Star Ship," human beings have been stranded on an already inhabited planet. Dougald Anson swears in several languages, including Krakenaui, Volgazanai and "...spaceman's Terrestrial..." (p. 273) Is "Terrestrial" English, which was still spoken by Planetary Engineers based on Luna, or Basic, which had been introduced in the inner Solar System?
The politics on the extra-solar planet where Dougald and his few fellow human beings live are too complicated for me at this time of night. I have other reading to get back to. I hope that we will all meet back here again tomorrow.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember that rather ironic story, "Star Ship." Ironic because the humans would never have gotten stranded on that alien planet if they had heeded that boring, bureaucratic rule about ALWAYS leaving a minimum two crewmen aboard the ship. Not doing so turned a minor mishap into a sentence of lifelong exile!
Ad astra! Sean
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