MDMD: 428.4 "A Polaris of Evil"

[Otto]

And don't forget the Stanislaw Lem-novel with the same name where the
protagonist is haunted by his dead wife.

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: jbor <jbor at bigpond.com>

428.4 "A Polaris of Evil"  Polaris n. 1. Also called: the Pole Star, or
North Star, the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, situated
slightly less than one degree from the north celestial pole. It is a Cepheid
variable, with a period of four days. Visual magnitude: 2.08-2.17; spectral
type: F8.  2. a type of U.S. two-stage intermediate-range ballistic missile,
usually fired by a submerged submarine; also used as an adjectival modifier,
as in "a Polaris submarine" [shortened from Medeival Latin *stella polaris*
polar star]

I think there are overtones of both definitions here. Cf. the actual and
projected directions of the (disarmed) 00000 and 00001 in _GR_, and

      "The edge of evening . . . the long curve of people all wishing on
    the first star. . . . Always remember those men and women along the
    thousands of miles of land and sea. The true moment of shadow is the
    moment in which you see the point of light in the sky. The single point,
    and the Shadow that has just gathered you in its sweep . . . "
      Always remember.
      The first star hangs between his feet.
      *Now--*
                                                    (_GR_ 759-60)

Cf. the similarities in phraseology and mood when, just before this sudden
appearance of the star-decorated weapon, Austra farewells Mason:

          "'Good-bye, Charles,' beginning to blur, receding 'round the long
        curve of the Wall. [...] " (427.32)

best