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Unless Zane's superiors are stupid enough to miss the implications of exiling a xenobiologist to a planet on the cusp of space, I imagine this will earn Zane no official reprimands but the career impact of at least one unofficial one. So that's very kind of him to do it anyway.
Gharr notes that Earth is unlikely to be a candidate for the Alliance, and Earth is possibly the furthest planet from the Raharr, with intelligent life, thats been discovered so far. Thus visitors from his own species and others in the alliance could be very few and far between. Even if the Fleet hangs around for a while it will inevitably move on. The scout ship said it would see them in a year.
Unless others elect to stay behind (likely requiring the captain's permission) it could mean Gharr is one of, if not the only, Raharr or even alien, on Earth and must deal with not only pre-space explorer technology and whatever Earth can provide for Raharran needs.
Its still the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm sure that when ships visit they will take copies of his studies and work back to Raharr space for publishing where it will be highly regarded in academic circles and studies... But he won't be attending Raharran conferences and lecture halls or leading departments and study groups in Raharr.
I'm sure he'll be quite the celebrity on Earth as well, but that will be more for his existence as an alien and such, rather than any of his xenopsychology or xenobiology work on humanity. Humans might be interested in how they compare to other races discovered, but anything else they would likely tell him their own psychologists and biologists have known for decades.
Regardless, Gharr will regard it as better than a prison sentence and Zane will still need to explain the deaths of 6 soldiers to their loved ones.
"Leave you in exile" certainly means no return to the Alliance itself, and Earth is a loooong way from the Alliance, even for an Expeditionary Fleet. However, since Zane is already planning to announce the Alliance to Earth's entire population, it's not like he's going to be the only extraterrestrial left on Earth. Whether it will be anyone he knows or gets along with, and whether he'd be allowed to socialize or work with them is an open question. But I expect Gharr would choose being exiled on a new and interesting planet over rotting in a prison for who knows how long. This is an interesting challenge for Zane.
It seems Gharr just stumbled upwards but there are too many loose ends yet for me to have an wise opinion . I have a hunch though thing are now in for a wild ride..
.....Cough...."Ghost´n´viruses".......cough...
Then comes the Terran players behind the curtain who will do everything to get an edge technological wise out of Gharr despite the Directive forbidding him to interfere in the natural development but big Players do not take "no" for an answer , which brings me to :
Gharr cannot be here all alone in "exile" , there will be need for a big and good security detail.....Hello Nea, how long have you been standing there ?!
I get it: This is a blessing in disguise. Would Gharr have any trouble introducing new technology to Very Interested Earth-dwellers who are already on the verge of discovering it for themselves?
Hello, let's ALL go to the planets and stars! (Insert cheering here.) Gharr could then meet the new representative(s) half-way and save them all that travel time!
Do you know how to recognize a true scientist? He doesn't give a damn fuck about prison, reputation or exile, what counts is scientifics opportunitys!
And what Gharr is hearing right now is that he's being taken away from the greatest scientific honor and opportunity of their Alliance... When he will understands that he will be "abandoned" in the midst of the greatest scientific opportunity of a generation, he'll certainly change a bit his tune.
Even if Zane does it to turn a punishment into an opportunity and avoid an unpleasant fate for Gharr, it's still a very harsh sentence and future. In the short term, he will surly managed it (scientific opportunity), but the long term may hit hard. Let's hope that the "rest of your life" part will turn not true. In any case, this is a brutal remind that the stunt Gharr pulled, and the consequences, are very serious.
Oh, and that also reconect with the conversation between Ahshu and Hekaht page 45 about the Azinarsi vagabond, well play.
Beside, I wonder if Zane's superiors won't squint and see through his game when he makes his report, but won't have technically anything to complain about.
Beside, I wonder if Zane's superiors won't squint and see through his game when he makes his report, but won't have technically anything to complain about.
Zane is explicitly referring to his authority as the expedition commander here, and when he did so previously, I was under the impression that he knows very well how far it does or doesn't go. Hence, I suspect that whether the authorities back home realize and/or like it or not won't make a difference.
That does not, however, mean that whoever the Alliance sends to officially keep contact to humans in the long run would not be able to remove Gharr from that activity as soon as Gharr gives him the slightest reason to do so. As far as to the Easter Islands, or making him the personal liaison (and lab animal) of professor Zelenkov ...
I think Gharr's initial concern is for the fleet. He noted to Dan that the fleet would need a Xenopsychologist and believes his exile will harm the expedition's mission... Its POSSIBLE this means that Gharr was aware of the hidden mission for the Ghosts. While a Xenopsychologist is important in the event of discovering intelligent races, I could see that not happening often enough the exploration mission would be seriously jeopeardised. BUT, it might be a critical role for chasing down a specific alien race, such as the Ghosts.
...I guess the other possibility is to think of Gharr as the Fleet's psychologist for the various aliens, onboard to consult with and confide in. It just happened they discovered humanity and he got this opportunity of a lifetime.
The fleet probably already has at least a few who can step into Gharr's position. Maybe not as well-trained but decent fits (if the situation ever actually happens again.) Encountering another "advanced" race on the edge of space-exploration is like buying a single ticket for the Lottery, or the chances of being hit by lightning twice in the same day.
Hmmm. "The rest of your life" translates to something like 70 years probably, assuming that the medical care Gharr can get on Terra is up to Alliance standards. How many years of prison are we talking about ... ?
Also, "to this planet" seems to imply that Zane doesn't see humanity colonizing other places within those ~70y, otherwise he'd say "to live among the humans" or somesuch. (Watching in person how humans fare in their first venture outside "the cradle" would be very interesting to a xenobiologist, I suppose.) Can't say that I'm surprised, but it's worth noting ...
Yes, the Ghosts. The expedition has only found traces of their existence or interferrence. Arguably thats more a confirmation they're on the right trail and should continue. But if the Ghosts are still on Earth its an opportunity for the fleet to possibly catch a contingent of the Ghosts off guard. Whoever and whatever the Ghosts sent to Earth were expecting to deal with pre-space explorer technology. Now a much more advanced race has shown up it may might be more than the Ghosts anticipated and capturing Ghost technology or even individuals could yield better information.
Oooh! The Human Forces will be enlisted to deal with the "Ghosts" who it turns out have plans of their own for Earth that include eradication of those who won't be their willing allies. Gharr will assist the Human Forces, to bring them up to speed and this act will exonerate him from the mistake he made.
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The Alliance space stretches for an impressive 16 thousand light years along the longest axis and contains approximately 12 billion star systems. Despite that, 99.99% of those star systems haven't been explored even by an automatic mapping drone yet, and the borders of the Alliance space are defined mostly by the reach of spaceships from the nearest colony or space station, and in general are purely informative.
Comments (16)
Well, Gharr, you wanted the opportunity of a lifetime, so now you get lifetime…
Unless Zane's superiors are stupid enough to miss the implications of exiling a xenobiologist to a planet on the cusp of space, I imagine this will earn Zane no official reprimands but the career impact of at least one unofficial one. So that's very kind of him to do it anyway.
It might be more punishing than it seems.
Gharr notes that Earth is unlikely to be a candidate for the Alliance, and Earth is possibly the furthest planet from the Raharr, with intelligent life, thats been discovered so far. Thus visitors from his own species and others in the alliance could be very few and far between. Even if the Fleet hangs around for a while it will inevitably move on. The scout ship said it would see them in a year.
Unless others elect to stay behind (likely requiring the captain's permission) it could mean Gharr is one of, if not the only, Raharr or even alien, on Earth and must deal with not only pre-space explorer technology and whatever Earth can provide for Raharran needs.
Its still the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm sure that when ships visit they will take copies of his studies and work back to Raharr space for publishing where it will be highly regarded in academic circles and studies... But he won't be attending Raharran conferences and lecture halls or leading departments and study groups in Raharr.
I'm sure he'll be quite the celebrity on Earth as well, but that will be more for his existence as an alien and such, rather than any of his xenopsychology or xenobiology work on humanity. Humans might be interested in how they compare to other races discovered, but anything else they would likely tell him their own psychologists and biologists have known for decades.
Regardless, Gharr will regard it as better than a prison sentence and Zane will still need to explain the deaths of 6 soldiers to their loved ones.
"Leave you in exile" certainly means no return to the Alliance itself, and Earth is a loooong way from the Alliance, even for an Expeditionary Fleet. However, since Zane is already planning to announce the Alliance to Earth's entire population, it's not like he's going to be the only extraterrestrial left on Earth. Whether it will be anyone he knows or gets along with, and whether he'd be allowed to socialize or work with them is an open question. But I expect Gharr would choose being exiled on a new and interesting planet over rotting in a prison for who knows how long. This is an interesting challenge for Zane.
It seems Gharr just stumbled upwards but there are too many loose ends yet for me to have an wise opinion . I have a hunch though thing are now in for a wild ride..
.....Cough...."Ghost´n´viruses".......cough...
Then comes the Terran players behind the curtain who will do everything to get an edge technological wise out of Gharr despite the Directive forbidding him to interfere in the natural development but big Players do not take "no" for an answer , which brings me to :
Gharr cannot be here all alone in "exile" , there will be need for a big and good security detail.....Hello Nea, how long have you been standing there ?!
I get it: This is a blessing in disguise. Would Gharr have any trouble introducing new technology to Very Interested Earth-dwellers who are already on the verge of discovering it for themselves?
Hello, let's ALL go to the planets and stars! (Insert cheering here.) Gharr could then meet the new representative(s) half-way and save them all that travel time!
Do you know how to recognize a true scientist? He doesn't give a damn fuck about prison, reputation or exile, what counts is scientifics opportunitys!
And what Gharr is hearing right now is that he's being taken away from the greatest scientific honor and opportunity of their Alliance... When he will understands that he will be "abandoned" in the midst of the greatest scientific opportunity of a generation, he'll certainly change a bit his tune.
Even if Zane does it to turn a punishment into an opportunity and avoid an unpleasant fate for Gharr, it's still a very harsh sentence and future. In the short term, he will surly managed it (scientific opportunity), but the long term may hit hard. Let's hope that the "rest of your life" part will turn not true. In any case, this is a brutal remind that the stunt Gharr pulled, and the consequences, are very serious.
Oh, and that also reconect with the conversation between Ahshu and Hekaht page 45 about the Azinarsi vagabond, well play.
Beside, I wonder if Zane's superiors won't squint and see through his game when he makes his report, but won't have technically anything to complain about.
Zane is explicitly referring to his authority as the expedition commander here, and when he did so previously, I was under the impression that he knows very well how far it does or doesn't go. Hence, I suspect that whether the authorities back home realize and/or like it or not won't make a difference.
That does not, however, mean that whoever the Alliance sends to officially keep contact to humans in the long run would not be able to remove Gharr from that activity as soon as Gharr gives him the slightest reason to do so. As far as to the Easter Islands, or making him the personal liaison (and lab animal) of professor Zelenkov ...
I think Gharr's initial concern is for the fleet. He noted to Dan that the fleet would need a Xenopsychologist and believes his exile will harm the expedition's mission... Its POSSIBLE this means that Gharr was aware of the hidden mission for the Ghosts. While a Xenopsychologist is important in the event of discovering intelligent races, I could see that not happening often enough the exploration mission would be seriously jeopeardised. BUT, it might be a critical role for chasing down a specific alien race, such as the Ghosts.
...I guess the other possibility is to think of Gharr as the Fleet's psychologist for the various aliens, onboard to consult with and confide in. It just happened they discovered humanity and he got this opportunity of a lifetime.
The fleet probably already has at least a few who can step into Gharr's position. Maybe not as well-trained but decent fits (if the situation ever actually happens again.) Encountering another "advanced" race on the edge of space-exploration is like buying a single ticket for the Lottery, or the chances of being hit by lightning twice in the same day.
Hmmm. "The rest of your life" translates to something like 70 years probably, assuming that the medical care Gharr can get on Terra is up to Alliance standards. How many years of prison are we talking about ... ?
Also, "to this planet" seems to imply that Zane doesn't see humanity colonizing other places within those ~70y, otherwise he'd say "to live among the humans" or somesuch. (Watching in person how humans fare in their first venture outside "the cradle" would be very interesting to a xenobiologist, I suppose.) Can't say that I'm surprised, but it's worth noting ...
Probably, a lifetime.
Hm, I thought it would indicate the exact opposite.
Meh. The established English idiom is not "pick your prison".
It does *if* we assume that Zane wants to explicitly forbid Gharr accompanying humanity's first space forays ... ?
"... The Expeditions' goal has been met, Gharr..."
Yes, the Ghosts. The expedition has only found traces of their existence or interferrence. Arguably thats more a confirmation they're on the right trail and should continue. But if the Ghosts are still on Earth its an opportunity for the fleet to possibly catch a contingent of the Ghosts off guard. Whoever and whatever the Ghosts sent to Earth were expecting to deal with pre-space explorer technology. Now a much more advanced race has shown up it may might be more than the Ghosts anticipated and capturing Ghost technology or even individuals could yield better information.
Oooh! The Human Forces will be enlisted to deal with the "Ghosts" who it turns out have plans of their own for Earth that include eradication of those who won't be their willing allies. Gharr will assist the Human Forces, to bring them up to speed and this act will exonerate him from the mistake he made.