Six centuries previously on Harbor, Kithfolk who had stopped starfaring founded the city of Argosy where the newly founded Venture League now occupies an old building with its academy in a suite on the seventh floor.
Shipwatch is a system of satellites that tracks starship trails. Several times, Shipwatch has detected a trail that stopped suddenly and never restarted. The few remaining Kith ships have agreed a cycle of routes. Thus, if Fleetwing, whose trail has just disappeared, fails to arrive at Harbor, then there will be no other ship for at least a century, well past the lifetimes of those now living on Harbor. This in turn will almost certainly strike a deathblow to the starward aspirations of the League whose members had expected to draw on the experience of some Kith who were still starfarers. Nansen must lead an Envoy crew on a mission to rescue Fleetwing. This is a cosmically pivotal mission.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I've not yet reread Chapter 49 and this puzzles me. Why should Captain Nansen and the Venture League need a ship like 'Fleetwing' when the new tech being introduced makes me think it's obsolete? My thought being Nansen and his supporters, backed by a friendly planet, would have the capital/resources needed for designing and building a completely new ship.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
But they want the experience of the Kith crew.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Being able to make use of experienced space hands would be useful, I agree. But, it seems to me, not an absolutely crucial necessity.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
No but it makes sense to rescue FLEETWING Kith if possible.
Paul.
Also, it would take time to build a new ship. They might not have that much time to rescue the crew.
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