It seems a shame to leave Avalon after so many posts but Poul Anderson's text follows the Terran fleet into the Domain of Ythri where the Khrau and Hru Systems fall. Marchwarden Rusa tries to retake Khrau but recalled Terran forces annihilate his command. Choths on Hru III revolt but are defeated by bombardment from space. The Wyvans are:
"...rounded up and shot." (p. 572)
I did not like that.
The Terran fleet surrounds Quetlan, the sun of Ythri. That system is now heavily defended whereas Ythrian tech had been pre-spaceflight when the first human ship had visited that planet in "Wings of Victory," the original "earliest" Technic History instalment. Admiral Cajal addresses a scripted and rehearsed speech to the High Wyvan and simultaneously to the Ythrian population. He does not like addressing an entire population but I think that it is right that he should do so. On Avalon, Arinnian points out a weakness in planetary defence to the Great Khruath.
When the Wyvan says that Cajal's terms will be considered, a xenologist knows:
"'The war's over! The war's over!'" (p. 577)
The narrative returns to Saracoglu and Louisa on Esperance, then, in the following chapter, to our preferred setting of Avalon.
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That "considered" was a telling sign. No haughty rejection of the terms offered by the Terrans, merely a request for time to "consider" them. It meant there was a good chance Ythri would accept them.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The xenologist correctly interpreted it as a certainty.
Paul.
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