"Well, I imagine he's thought about it."Well, I imagine he's thought about it. But think about the sheer number of pendular and other mechanisms that would be altered by even a minuscule change. No, Pendor's rotational speed has not altered by one hundred thousandth in over six million years. And there's a reason for that." Garth nodded. "I kinda figured." "Now, altering Terra's speed, that's different." "What?" "Just kidding." Skii laughed as Kiza returned from wherever she had disappeared to. Together the three of them picked up their tents and supplies and packed them away. "This way!" the Felinzi shouted, and down the mountainside he went in leaps and bounds. "Idiot," Kiza said. "He'll burn up kilocalories doing that, and if he hurts himself the Shatha will probably kill him trying to put him back together again." She took a bite of the fourth highly dense breakfast bar she had dug into that morning. Garth was starting to appreciate just how much food it took to keep a Pendorian "running." Most of the ones who led any sort of active life seemed to eat almost constantly, or at least voraciously when they had an opportunity. It seemed to be a major, or at least significant, drawback. But the lovely day drew his attention back and he wished, idly, that he could whistle as humans did as he walked down the meandering but always-headed-downwards path that eventually bottomed out in a small gutter, on the other side of which was the Spinward March. To his left would be Rocchodain, and on his right, Shardik Castle. He knew that this range and the accompanying primordial forests were not the oldest in Pendor, but that didn't matter. Nothing on Terra conveyed the sense of antiquity and isolation that this narrow ribbon of green of stone managed to say. Skii leaned over and whispered in Garth's ear, "They say that sometimes Pardalets come down from the southern part of the mountain range, especially when they learn to enjoy the taste of sentient flesh." "Wha... What's a Pardalet?" "It's a small feline. They don't get much bigger then around 15 kilograms. But they hunt in packs of six or more, and like the Pamthreats, they make telepathic hunting gestalts. |