In Glory Like Their Star

Roy C. Lackey · 19 Apr 2007, 06:34 · from 2007-April.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:34:50 -0500
Subject: (urth) (Urth) In Glory Like Their Star
Message-ID: <000c01c7824c$d87944e0$5ec95a42 at rclackey.stic.net>

Nathan Spears wrote:
>I still am not clear on why he has to incinerate the native as he leaves.
>That bit weighs favorably for Mr. Ellis' reading as far as I can see.<

The alien must have known that the blast from his engines would kill the
native, so the question becomes: Was it his *intention* to kill?, and, if
so, why? The alien had been safe inside the scout for three days; neither
the desert nor the native were a threat to him.

Was the native's death unavoidable? That is, was it merely the unfortunate
consequence of the native's faith, his refusal to abandon the hope of
supernatural reward? Like a moth, he stubbornly hovered too near the flame
that inevitably consumed him? He just wouldn't (couldn't?) give it up and go
home?

They had killed and eaten the camel; there was no oasis at hand. The native
couldn't breath the air in the scout. Presumably he could not eat the
alien's food. Did the alien kill him to hasten a prolonged death in the
desert? Or was the alien callously indifferent to the native's fate,
blasting off without giving it a thought?

The story title suggests otherwise. It goes back to what was meant by
"glory". There are many definitions, largely religious in nature. There is
one other usage of a form of the word in the story, and it is unusual enough
to call attention to itself. After regaining the scout: "It was a triumph,
and I inspected every part of the scout glorying, and tested every
instrument in every possible way, recalling my navigator. They functioned
without a flaw, all of them. I was ecstatic." Perhaps this usage is a clue
to the other.

-Roy

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