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"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam."
- Frederik Pohl
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| Skitter | ||
| A small passenger vehicle, for two beings, which uses a steering bar. It is parked in a structure that parks and releases vehicles automatically. |
I especially like the name given to this small, two-seater vehicle. It contrasts with some of the heavily armored vehicles in this story. Since this is only a limited reference in the novel, the name is used to give some sense of how the vehicle moves.
| He pocketed his book, slid down, and opened her door. His actions were a bit too brisk. The button tab on one of his green-striped sleeves caught a door handle. Jedrik slipped into the passenger harness. Havvy slammed the door a touch too hard. Nervous. Good. He took his place at the power bar to her left, kept his profile to her when he spoke. "Where?" "Head for the apartment." He activated the grapple tracks. The skitter jerked into motion, danced sideways, and slid smoothly down the driveway to the street. As they emerged from the parking spire's enclosing shadows, even before the grapple released and Havvy activated the skitter's own power, Jedrik firmed her decision not to look back. |
| Technovelgy from The Dosadi Experiment,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Berkley Putnam in 1977 Additional resources -
|
The American Heritage dictionary defines skitter in this way: "To move rapidly along a surface, usually with frequent light contacts or changes of direction; skip or glide quickly"
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and Technology from The Dosadi Experiment
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"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
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