About the skrode's perversion. "It's your world. I was tired of playing god with the Secret. And Greenstalk agreed. Even if the Queen had refused,
复件 (21) air max2, Greenstalk could have used a cold box on the OOB." And likely slept forever. "But Woodcarver didn't refuse. Somehow she understood what I was saying: it's the true skrodes that can be perverted,
复件 (85) air max, but Greenstalk no longer has one of those. In a decade, this island's shore will be populated with hundreds of young Riders, but they would never colonize beyond this archipelago without permission of the locals. The risk is vanishingly small ... but I was still surprised Woodcarver took it." Peregrine settled down around Ravna, only one pair of eyes still watching the Rider's fronds down in the foam. Best to give some explanation. He cocked a head a Ravna, "Oh, we are medieval,
mbt kisumu men, Ravna -- even if changing fast, now. We admired Blueshell's courage in the fire. Such deserves reward. And medieval types are used to courting treachery. So what if the risk is of cosmic size? To us, here, it is no more deadly for that. We poor primitives live with such all the time." "Ha!" Her smile spread at his flippant tone. Peregrine chuckled, heads bobbing. His explanation was the truth, but not all the truth, or even the most important part. He remembered back to the day before, when he and Woodcarver had decided what to do with Greenstalk's request. Woodcarver had been afraid at first, statecraftly cautious before an evil secret billions of years old. Even leaving such a being in cold sleep was a risk. The statecraftly ... the medieval ... thing to do, would be to grant the request, leave the Rider ashore on this distant island ... and then sneak back a day or two later and kill it. Peregrine had settled down by his Queen, closer than any but mates and relations could ever do without losing their train of thought. "You showed more honor to Vendacious," he had said. Scriber's murderer still walked the earth, complete,
复件 (88) air max2, scarcely punished at all. Woodcarver snapped at the empty air; Peregrine knew that sparing Vendacious hurt her too. "...Yes. And these Skroderiders have shown us nothing but courage and honesty. I will not harm Greenstalk. Yet I am afraid. With her,
复件 (49) air max1, there's a risk that goes beyond the stars." Peregrine laughed. It might be pilgrim madness but -- "and that's to be expected, My Queen. Great risks for great gains. I like being around the humans; I like touching another creature and still being able to think at the same time." He darted forward to nuzzle the nearest of Woodcarver,
kaya mbt, and then retreated to a more rational distance. "Even without their starships and their datasets, they would make our world over. Have you noticed ... how easy it is for us to learn what they know? Even now, Ravna can't seem to accept our fluency. Even now, she doesn't understand how thoroughly we have studied Dataset. And their ship is easy, my Queen. I don't mean I understand the physics behind it -- few even among star folk do. But the equipment is easy to learn, even with the failures it has suffered. I suspect Ravna will never be able to fly the agrav boat as well as I." "Hmmf. But you can reach all the controls at once." "That's only part of it. I think we Tines are more flexibly minded than the poor Two-Legs. Can you imagine what it will be like when we make more radio cloaks, when we make our own flying machines?" Woodcarver smiled, a little sadly now. "Pilgrim, you dream. This is the Slow Zone. The agrav will wear out in a few years. Whatever we make will be far short of what you play with now." "So? Look at human history. It took less than two centuries for Nyjora to regain spaceflight after their dark age.