Can something large and loud be kept secret? In a James Bond film, a hollowed-out volcanic mountain implausibly conceals a reusable spaceship. In Poul Anderson's The People Of The Wind, the Marchwardens of the Lauran System camouflage their automated defense factories and systems in the many uninhabited areas of the planet Avalon.
In Orion Shall Rise, something rumbles under a Laskan mountain. The sparse nearby population accepts a cover story and understands discretion. An expert advises them to avert their eyes if they see a bright flash. Brilliance flares and sound crashes. Deep underground, men read instruments. A coded radio messages reaches:
"...three ships, hove to at far-spaced stations." (p. 169)
And Anderson almost gives the show away with the words "ships" and "...-space(d) stations."
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I also thought of the rogue planet we see in ENSIGN FLANDRY which was so important to the events of that story. A rogue of whose existence the Merseians tried very hard to keep secret!
Ad astra! Sean
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