the planets, Chereion, Ythri and Aeneas, are terrestroid but smaller, colder and drier than Earth;
Chereionites colonized appropriate planets, including Aeneas;
they were possibly wiped out by their telepathic parasites;
the parasites have survived on various planets;
Ythrians, colonizing those planets, encounter the parasites;
having realized the parasites' nature, the Ythrians exterminate them;
before any Ythrians had entered the Virgilian System, human beings had already colonized Aeneas in order to study the inhabitants of the sister planet, Dido;
Aenean tinerans are addicted to the emotional stimulation provided by the parasites.
Thus, over time, Chereionites, Ythrians and human beings have interacted in unexpected ways.
Which begs the question of why the Chereionites didn't twig to the threat of the parasites...
ReplyDeleteThey became addicted slowly as the slinkers power grew?
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I don't think addiction to those telepathic animals was a major factor in the extinction of the Chereionites. There had to be other, deeper causes for that.
Ad astra! Sean