shayvaan wrote:One point that many of you seem to have forgotten.
You keep imagining the conversations between Honor and Nimitz that could/should have been happening at the time, but in actuality could NOT have, because treecats could not sign yet, and would not be able to yet for a couple of decades.
This was central to human/treecat relations at the time as the treecats were perfectly capable of understanding human language but incapable of talking back.
also remember at that time the treecats were deliberately making themselves seem to be less intelligent then they were per earlier treecat society decions.
An excellent point. Although, in my defense, Nimitz' ability to sign was not needed to get his point across with respect to being left in his quarters. You ever tried to pry the hands of a small child away from a door jamb who didn't want to leave? Happens all of the time when parents leave their kids to play in my game room. It should not have been easy for Honor to pry six much stronger limbs away from what passed as her ship's door jamb. And I'm sure Nimitz' head would have been rapidly swiveling on its axis from side to side in the universal language of a "No Way Jose!" type of a gesture. The words I embedded, for dramatic effect, I imagined that Nimitz was thinking accompanied by Honor's retort.
Besides iirc, textev always supported the fact that there was a reasonable amount of communication between Honor and Nimitz that had developed over the years, and though it was limited, was still plenty enough for her to know his wishes. Just not efficient enough to impart the in-depth, detailed type of information in a formal interview-like setting that would have been required regarding, for instance, the dissemination of the history and tradition of the cats, per se.
Even a human child that hasn't quite learned to talk manages to convey certain things. Nimitz, being greatly more intelligent and determined than that would have had no problem making his wishes known, especially those involving Pavel Young and being left in his quarters. Just the image of Nimitz' arms outstretched and whiteknuckle gripping both doorjambs and blocking Honor's exit and delivering an earpiercing child-like shrill would have been communication enough, and humorous. It would be interesting to note the number of times she left him in his quarters when she knew that her path would cross Youngs
after he learned to sign though.
Excellent point still, to keep us on our toes.