The two Arzunian powers are telekinesis and teleportation:
"'The Arzunians use telekinesis to control matter and energy, and the same subspatial principle as our ships to go faster than light.'" (IV, p. 406)
Maybe "subspace" is another way of saying successive quantum jumps? Thus, a giant lizard defeated by Wocha vanishes. Thus also, Arzunians can appear inside an approaching spaceship and can manipulate air molecules to whisper threats, simulating a haunting.
However:
"'...differences of potential energy must be made up from their own metabolism.'" (ibid.)
Therefore their area of control is bounded by the fringe stars of the Nebula but that is as much as they want.
In Poul Anderson's World Without Stars, a spaceship can make an instant jump even to another galaxy but must first accelerate through space to reach the appropriate relative velocity.
Even great power has limits.
2 comments:
"must first accelerate through space to reach the appropriate relative velocity."
Jumping to an empty point where the relative velocity would have your ship moving toward your destination and accelerating to bring the relative velocity to zero when you reach that destination, would be better, but would have made the initial mistake that set the plot going not happen. So Poul had to make it necessary to do it the other way.
Kaor, Jim!
You are better at making sense of speculative futuristic technology than I am. Which I appreciate!
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment