use Perl

In this case, I'm going to make an exception, just to say that Vernor Vinge really knew what he was doing when he wrote A Fire Upon The Deep... this book is really amazing and I'm glad to have bought/read it :-)

If you have the time, please do read it :-) If you're into Sci-Fi, you'll probably like it; if you're not... well, maybe you should give him credit too... it's rather better then most things I've read so far :-)

Thanks, Vernor :-) I really mean it :-)

Here's an unpublished illustration by Vernor Vinge himself of Jefri with the Flenser, and here's and excerpt of the novel, in which Ravna and Pham get to know that they can't take much longer to get to Jefri if they want to save him and the others:

But the boy on the ground already had an agenda: "-- need help now, Ravna! The Woodcarvers are attacking now."

There was a thumping, as if the transmitter was bouncing around. Another voice spoke, high-pitched and weirdly inarticulate. "This Steel, Ravna. Jefri right. Woodcarver -- " the almost human voice dissolved into a hissing gobble. After a moment she heard Jefri's voice: "'Ambush', the word is 'ambush'."