Valenderay And Duty

The People Of The Wind, VII.

"Cajal sat alone in the middle of the superdreadnaught Valenderay." (p. 514)

That is an excellent future historical detail because this superdreadnaught flag vessel is named after the supernova that had been the ultimate cause of Merseian resentment of Terrans in the trader team story, "Supernova"/"Day of Burning."

Admiral Cajal is safe going into battle because Valenderay stretches for kilometres around him! Also, most of the Terran fleet precedes the flag vessel toward the enemy.

"Man's duty in this life, [Cajal] thought, is to choose the lesser evil." (ibid.)

This is almost word for word the teaching of Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita. Recently, the British Prime Minister, giving evidence to a public enquiry, swore on the Gita. I was not sure whether this was a Hindu practice but googling confirms that, at least for a while in India, Muslims swore on the Koran and Hindus on the Gita. Cajal, of course, would be a Bible man. He prays before a crucifix. Poul Anderson, like some other future historians, imagines the major Terrestrial religions exported to colonies on extra-solar planets. If human beings go there, then so will their beliefs.

Andrea, whom I visited today, is an expert amateur military historian and very pessimistic about the immediate future of this planet.