"Barbarians - Beyond this Taurian sector of the Empire lay the wild stars, ungarrisoned, virtually unexplored; and among them prowled creatures who had gotten spaceships and nuclear weapons too soon. Raids and punitive expeditions had often gone back and forth across the marches." (p. 308)
"'Merseia's too far from here for it to be a likely influence on any local barbarians...'" (p. 318)
But, as I understand galactography from reading the following Technic History installment, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, the Taurian Sector is on the marches of the Merseian Roidhunate.
The answer must at least in part be that space is a big place. When Flandry says, "'Merseia's too far from here...," he is on the sector capital planet, Vor, whereas, in A Knight..., the capital has been moved to the planet Dennitza. Since space is vast and three-dimensional, there could well be barbarians beyond Vor and Merseians beyond Dennitza.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, however hostile and energetic the Merseians were in their schemes against the Empire, they could not have been behind EVERY petty barbarian warlord or kinglet trying his hand at raiding and plundering. Space was too vast for that.
Ad astra! Sean
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