Astra Reflects on Glider Ways
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 30653
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Surely the system of government that Checkers had described could never
work, Astra reflected, even if you ignored the fact that it went against
the divinely ordained rights (and accompanying responsibilities) of
royalty. You might as well allow soldiers to vote for who their general
should be. She supposed that allowing only the elderly to vote might help
a little. At least that should ensure that the voters would have acquired
some experience of life. Even so, surely candidates to become Burgesses
must be tempted to make unrealistic promises, since those who were honest
about future prospects would receive few votes? Unless Checkers' people
thought so differently from humans that it was impossible for her to
imagine what they could be like. Certainly Checkers herself, for all her
strange ideas, didn't seem to be that alien.
At least pondering the strange customs of Checkers' homeland had taken her mind off her own desperate situation for a while. She had far less confidence than Checkers that her own virtue and wisdom could help her. There was a certain black humour to be had in the Glider's idea that Belboz would feel unbearable shame at having her as his slave. She was sure that shame was something that he was incapable of feeling, and that what Checkers and Fred (or anyone else) might think of him would not worry him in the slightest. When Astra estimated that four hours had passed, she woke Checkers to take the next watch.
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JH
7/12/2003 12:22:37 PM
Extending Enabled
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