He could imagine? Cassal shook his head. No, he couldn't. A blinded and deaf Murra Foray would not go back to the home of the Huntners. According to her racial conditioning, a sightless young tiger should creep away and die.
Again there was silence. "No, she's not pretending unconsciousness," announced Dimanche. "For a moment I thought—but never mind."
The conversation was lasting longer than he expected. The ship must be obsolete and slow. There were still a few things he wanted to find out, if there was time.
"When are you going on Drive?" he asked.
"We've been on it for some time," answered Dimanche.
"Repeat that!" said Cassal, stunned.
"I said that we've been on faster-than-light drive for some time. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Nothing wrong with that at all. Theoretically, there was only one means of communicating with a ship hurtling along faster than light, and that way hadn't been invented.
Hadn't been until he had put together the instrument he called Manche.
Unwittingly, he had created far more than he intended. He ought to have felt elated.