Targovi's Skills II

The Game Of Empire 

See also Targovi's Skills.

Targovi says:

"'...for long I have been a secret agent for Intelligence.'"

-CHAPTER THIRTEEN, p. 331.

 

- but adds:

 

"'Oh, I am no Flandry.'"

-ibid.

 

However, he operates exactly like Flandry and therefore perhaps counts as one small part of "Flandry's Legacy."

 

Ordered to stand down and to stay quiet, he continues to investigate diligently. All that he really wants to do is to get onto the island of Zacaharia to check on some mysterious spaceship landings. Seeking a private interview with the Zacharian dealer in Lulach, he asks whether there are any Ancient remnants on the island, probably knowing that there are not, but that is a good starting point. His spiel, both explicit and implicit, is as follows:

 

Axor would like to spend some time on the island to question Zacharian merchants about any Ancient remnants that they might have come across;

 

however, this widely-traveled alien Axor would be a useful source of interstellar intelligence for those same merchants;

 

(Targovi makes his account of Axor's quest succinct in order to whet Pele Zachary's appetite);

Axor is accompanied by Diana who, it need not be stated, will be of interest to Zacharian men;

Targovi travels with them both;

of course (when asked), he is in search of food and lodging! - but only for a few days until maybe he can make trade deals with the Zacharians or secure their help in influencing the Navy to allow him to return home to Daedalus.

I couldn't have put it better myself.

And he argues all this without as yet having mentioned any of it to either Axor or Diana. Behind Targovi, we detect the legacy not only of Flandry but also of van Rijn, the ability to persuade the other guy that everything that is being proposed is in his best interests as well.