Status Updates From Rendezvous with Rama (Rama,...

After the anxiety of escaping from Rama, there is a moment where the commander thinks to himself that it’s time to return to “a normal family life“ of course, in the mind of the futurist artsy Clark a normal family life involve two wives on different planets giving birth, and him having an extra marital fling with his medical officer. No strings. It always comes down to lots of women in the 60s SF!

The feeling within the text as Rama begins to prepare for maneuvers and the lights start going out has all the tension one feels when a thunderstorm is coming. I am also reminded of Bilbo Baggins after they have found the door into the mountain and he is filled with anxiety with fear concerning the now awake dragon.

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"Dr Stenton was a somewhat imaginative man, a little too prone to jump to conclusions. He now jumped to one which gave him a very uncomfortable few minutes indeed. (...) No, it was utterly impossible for an object as massive as a dead sun to sneak up unobserved. In a way, it was a pity. An encounter with a dark star would have been quite exciting. While it lasted..."