The Ardazirho electrocram Flandry with Urdahu so that they can interrogate him. What better gift to a spy than the enemy's language?
When escaping, he snatches a navigator's manual.
"'My biggest hope was always to steal a navigator's manual. Don't you understand, it will tell us where Ardazir lies!'"
-CHAPTER XIV, p. 94.
Flandry has been taught to read as well as to speak?
Even if Kit and he die before they can be rescued from the weather station, the pilot book will be there - but human beings will have trouble reading it?
When Flandry has given Commander Sugimoto the correlation between Ardazirho and Terran astronomical tables and explained the number system, Sugimoto easily finds Ardazir.
Thus, Flandry's intelligence-gathering is crucial to the success of the Terran Naval campaign.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
An interesting point I never thought of before, was Flandry taught how to read as well as speak Urdahu? I would tentatively say yes, because it seems reasonable to think this kind of
"electro-cramming" would seem to logically include basic literacy in Urdahu. Even if not, Flandry's knowledge of spoken Urdahu should still help in translating tects.
Yes, but even if Flandry and Kit died before Chives rescued them, that navigator's manual would still be invaluable to Navel Intelligence. I'm sure there were means and ways of fairly rapidly translating texts in an unknown language.
Ad astra! Sean
Languages are much more difficult than codes. Usually you need a bilingual text, like the Rosetta Stone.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Granted. So, that navigator's manual won't necessarily be quickly translated if Flandry and Kit had died.
Ad astra! Sean
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