David Falkayn has gone to Babur, then to Hermes, and now must again return to space. He cannot leave Adzel and Chee Lan fighting on his planet. Coya says, "'But you can leave us -,'" (p. 262) but then apologizes.
"What is a woman that you forsake her,
"And the hearth-fire and the home-acre,
"To go with the old grey Widow-maker?"
-see here.
David says that afterwards he will be content to settle on Earth but Coya replies that they will go elsewhere. Indeed.
Their dialogue is complete on p. 262. However, at the top of p. 263, there are just two lines:
"The wind whistled cold. Chill also, and bitter, was spindrift cast off the the booming waters." (p. 263)
When we turn the page, Chapter XX recounts the first civil war in the Polesotechnic League. In Poul Anderson's texts, the commentary of the wind is always appropriate.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can see why David later changed his mind about settling down on Earth. The times were starting to get bad there, as the state, the Commonwealth, became increasingly both incompetent and harshly dictatorial.
Happy New Year! Sean
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