The Ruadrath pack called Wirrda's estivates in a cage in deep dark sea water. Colonies of aoao planted on the sides of the cage glow blue and lure piscoids. Awakening, Wirrda's, not yet linguistic, move by instinct, reflex and training. Leaving the cage, they eat food not yet digested by the aoao, then swim to land. Encountering a school of piscoids, the pack leader, Rrinn, not yet remembering who he is, feeds himself, then some of the infants among the approximately two hundred individuals of Wirrda's.
Evolutionary ancestors, inhabiting the continental shelf and therefore having to contend with alternating floods and drought, had developed both lungs and gills and also the habit of avoiding summer heat in the water but, inefficient as sea carnivores, had resorted to estivation.
This chapter sets the scene for Flandry's next inter-species machinations.
The attached image shows not a swimming Ruad on Talwin but a flying robot on Wayland. It is a big universe.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
A CIRCUS OF HELLS is one of my favorite Flandry stories. A BIG problem for the Domrath, the hibernators, is that they are awake only for about seven Terran months--which inevitably slows how far and fast they can advance.
The Ruadrath, by comparison, were more fortunate. After awaking from estivating, at the beginning of Talwin's long, long winters, they are awake for about 16 months, giving them more time simply for THINKING and DOING many different things.
Ad astra! Sean
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