When Joel says that he is not human, Peggy asks whether he is a mutant but then says that he couldn't be and he confirms that:
"'...all this could never happen in one mutation.'" (p. 39)
He is an alien.
A Brian Aldiss story, title forgotten, refers to aliens but then says that these aliens have not come from another planet. Instead, they have been born among us! Of course, the word for this is "mutants" but Aldiss was playing with language. He gained the connotations of "aliens" just by using the word.
"Earthman, Beware!" was published in 1951, the same year as Captain Comet, a mutant born ahead of his time - and this character was apparently based on Captain Future, first published in 1939. Another time and another world. Read what Captain Future's Solar System was like.
We have exhausted "Earthman, Beware!" and Alight In The Void for the time being and will look through some other Poul Anderson collections.
2 comments:
I don't really believe an alien could pass as human without radical modification.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree with Stirling's comment. Even the Scothans of "Tiger by the Tail" needed some surgical modifications for spies of theirs to pass as humans in the Empire.
In "Nightpiece" Anderson gives us a very plausible scenario for how a very different "intelligent" species could co-evolve alongside mankind on Earth.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment