In Lulach

The Game Of Empire, CHAPTERs THIRTEEN-FOURTEEN.

"'Abide in peace and repletion.'" (p. 336)

Another of those future greetings.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN is another chapter with no human protagonists. Diana is mentioned in one sentence but does not have any active or speaking role here. The Cynthian Wo Lia releases the Tigery Targovi from his cage. After shedding his "performing beast" disguise, Targovi walks through Lulach and converses with the Cynthian Rihu An in the patrol station. Rihu's superior, the station commandant, Lieutenant Commander Miguel Gomez, obviously human, is mentioned, if only in Targovi's inner reflections, but does not appear.

Cynthians are squirrel-like extra-terrestrials and Lulach is a Cynthian town with many houses and travel routes hidden in the branches of enormous trees imported from Cynthia. Buildings under the trees have growing plants on their roofs and flowering vines on their walls. There is a rambling timber inn on the waterfront.

The descriptions sound like pictures in a juvenile story book. This chapter could be dramatized as an animated cartoon. However, in CHAPTER FOURTEEN, Targovi, still in Lulach, visits the Zacharian dealership which is "arrogantly" marked out by:

"Its artificial material, curved contours, and metallic hues..." (p. 337)

The human woman, Pele Zacharia, is described in minute detail. This scene calls for a live actor in a realistic film set. Could the Technic History be dramatized in episodes that alternated between animation and live action as appropriate? Another candidate for animated cartoon treatment is the Dominic Flandry short story, "Honorable Enemies," with its small squat blue Alfzarians, bulky green Merseians, tall golden Chereionite and human characters. The opening sequence of "The Game of Glory," when a monster flees Conjumar, could also be an animation before switching to live action with Flandry on Brae.