Of our three surviving viewpoint characters, one, Terai, hears the others, Iern and Ronica, speaking from space. (pp. 426-477). By the end of this section, three have become two.
Terai, ax-wielding, boards the nuclear ironclad "...like a storm or a tide." (p. 430) The remaining warhead detonates. A fireball whirls, waves boil, birds fall, a crash echoes, loosening avalanches, and a wind howls, bearing fallout. Then there is stillness and emptiness.
Section 3 at last presents the now two remaining viewpoint characters in space and that is all from me this evening. Now I will check what has been happening on Earth Real.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Off the top of my head I question how a single man could destroy a warship like this in the face of RESISTANCE. Weren't there armed crewmen posted to guard against exactly this kind of thing?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
It seems that one of the Norrman defenders blew up the ship rather than let it be captured.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That makes sense, more so than a single man capturing or destroying the ship. Similar things have happened in real history.
Ad astra! Sean
Incidentally, this demonstrates the futility of conventional-weapons victory in the face of nuclear weapons. On a smaller scale, the Norrman just "blew up the world" rather than accept defeat.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
A MUCH smaller scale in this case. Also, I thought it made desperate sense to destroy the warship, rather than let it fall into Maurai hands.
Ad astra! Sean
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