A Northwest Union Intelligence officer, Mikli Karst, reports to Lodgemaster Benyo Smith that he has tried to kill several Maurai and succeeded - with one exception, Terai Lohannaso! Do we agree that Lohannaso should be killed? Karst is concealing "Orion" from Maurai Inspectors and we have not yet been told what it is.
It was Karst who invented the idea that references to Orion could be made to sound like a defeated nation's standard legend of a liberator who is come. In fact, Ronica Birken as a child repeated the overheard phrase, "Orion shall rise!," to defy Terai Lohannaso, without as yet understanding it. When, as a young adult, she is asked by Benyo Smith whether she knows what is going on, she more knowledgeably repeats the phrase and Smith responds:
"'Let's not say anything more just yet.'" (p. 54)
It is as if they know that the readers must not be told yet. But we cannot judge the rights or wrongs of Orion until we know what it is. It might be a genocidal device of some sort.
CHAPTER FIVE is yet another change of scene, back to Skyholm, and again I cannot cope with that at this time of night. Also, the Gaeans have been mentioned a few times but have not come on stage yet. The world will not end but "We will all be changed." (This time, the Biblical quotation is mine, not Anderson's.)
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I have some sympathy for the ends or goals desired by the Wolf Lodge, but not with all of the means and methods it used. If my memory is correct, the members of that lodge virtually turned it into a state within the Northwest Union, acting secretly in ways unbeknownst to the other lodges. Iow, it was subverting the laws and constitution of the Union!
If memory is correct, NU citizens were members of Lodges, and these lodges, guided by the views and wishes of its members, sent delegates to meet with those of other lodges to decide policy for the Union.
Ad astra! Sean
Conflicts generally aren't about "right" or "wrong"; they're about "us" and "them". Which is how human beings operate.
Your own tribe always thinks of itself as "right"; that's just a bonding mechanism to increase group solidarity. A bit of a kludge, but evolution is like that
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Of course! I'm nor disagreeing, merely criticizing how the Wolf Lodge behaved. The Wolves were committing the NU to a VERY dangerous policy, and one I don't think all the other lodges would have agreed with.
Ad astra! Sean
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