(urth) Travelin' Jahlee

[Roy C. Lackey]

Andrew, who does his homework <g>, wrote:
>It looks like Jahlee is their on Lizard before conjunction, and in
>any case at much too young an age to have flown there.
[snip]
>Reading Fava's story, I get the impression that inhumi do mature
>quickly, in the sense that an inhuma could mimic a "little girl"
>not long after birth.

Crush wrote:
>However, in this case, if one assumes that Inhumi require only a year to
>mature (like rats), then it is not impossible for Jahlee to board a lander
>and fly to Blue in plenty of time to feed on Sinew.

>I think you are right. Since it took years for her to learn to fly to the
>top of the cliff, then she could not have flown to Blue on her own the
first
>time. Anyway, she wouldn't have needed the lander if she had (and I agree
>she boarded a lander posing as a little girl). Soooo she had to take a
>lander back to Green where she would then learn to fly for her journey back
>to Blue (with plenty of time, no?).
>
>Taking a lander both ways cuts out any need for the wait for Green's close
>approach.

Well, well, we three seem to be in agreement that Jahlee didn't get to Blue
unaided when she was very young. Do you also agree, Andrew, that she
traveled by lander between Green and Blue?

Andrew also wrote:
>8. But on the other hand, there's an added time constraint not
>discussed so far. Jahlee as a child has heard about crossing to
>Blue from others, who presumably must have made the return trip.

Now that's a problem. Not for Jahlee's personal timeline, but in general.
Landers can't account for the Crossing stories she heard. Assuming Wolfe
just didn't make a mistake, that would require a pool of sentient inhumi in
place on Green *before* Auk's lander arrived, inhumi who had made the trip
during a conjunction prior to the exodus. Who might those sentient inhumi
have fed on? Worse, there would have to have been people on Blue for them to
feed on, otherwise they would have been making a very dangerous trip for no
reason.

I know of no textual evidence or justification for believing there were any
humans on Blue before Horn's lander put down. Something stinks.

-Roy