In space, a dozen men in combat armor, carrying rifles, fly on individual jet-units powered by beams from their spaceship's nuclear engines. Interplanetary beam power was developed in the previous story, "Holmgang."
The Terrestrial flagship, Monitor, was built only the previous year, thus by the revolutionary Humanist government. A giant spheroid, never meant to land on a planet, it has visible gun turrets and is the only spaceship designed for no purpose other than to kill. Crane's small group destroys it.
The Monitor is an indictment of the Humanists and also is reminiscent of similar engines of destruction in Poul Anderson's Technic History. See Hell Rock.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That name, "Monitor", will be evocative for many Americans! It was the name of the first iron clad warship of the US Navy in our Civil War. Iron plated warships marked the end of the usefulness of wooden navy ships.
Since I expect human beings to still have disputes, conflicts, and wars in the future, space navies will be built if we ever get off this planet! Nor will that always be a bad thing.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I hope that, when mankind goes into space, war will be left in the Terrestrial past.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I am not so optimistic! And Poul Anderson and Jerry Pournelle would agree with me.
Ad astra! Sean
We'll end war when we end politics Iof which war is a form) and not one minute before.
I agree but I do think that with education and information/communications tech, we can move from the government of people to the administration of things.
Kaor, Paul!
Alas, I have to agree far more with Stirling rather than you. People can be as "educated" as much as you would like and they will still have conflicts. Conflicts which can and thus WILL lead to wars. Anderson shows us that in GENESIS, for example.
Ad astra! Sean
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