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<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com
href="mailto:danielottojackpetersen@gmail.com">Daniel Petersen</A> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>> I think I remember hearing on this list the theory that the inhumi (be
it just Quetzal </DIV>
<DIV>> or others also in addition to him) boarded the Whorl (presumably by
means of the sort </DIV>
<DIV>> of 'space-flight' they're described as performing in Short Sun) for
the purpose of </DIV>
<DIV>> reconnoitring a potential food source. That strikes me as fairly
straightforward and plausible. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As I recall matters, we were told that it was the people who later became
known as the Neighbours who boarded the Whorl as it approached their system, and
infected it with inhumi as an experiment.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This works better as it seems unlikely that the inhumi could have flown
that distance - they could only fly between the twin planets when they were in
close conjunction. And also they would probably need some sort of
technology to get into the Whorl having landed on it. Carrying a lot
of equipment would have made flight difficult. And how could they
have hit it anyway? The Whorl has little gravity to pull them in.
The Neighbours, by contrast, had legitimate spacecraft.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>> Quetzal, however, is the mystery. I honestly can't decide if
he's sinister or sincere in his </DIV>
<DIV>> intentions and actions. Maybe he can't decide either.
Maybe he has lingered there this </DIV>
<DIV>> long, using them as his food source, but also finding himself caught
up in their politics </DIV>
<DIV>> and drama with some genuine concern. Indeed, the tensions in his
character between </DIV>
<DIV>> exploitation of and empathy with his 'hosts' is perhaps inherent to
the form-shifting nature </DIV>
<DIV>> of the inhumi. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>It is hardly unique to the inhumi. The farmer is sincere in his
concern for his cattle. The slave owner may be solicitous regarding
the comfort of his slaves.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>- Gerry Quinn</DIV>
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