Two Hijackings And A Lot Of History

In "Holmgang," the Humanists try to hijack the experimental interplanetary power beam apparatus in order to adapt it for their own purposes, including military use. In "Brake," Western Reformers try to hijack a spaceship and terraforming equipment again for their own uses. Both stories present philosophical and political conflicts but also physical action that resolves the issue for the time being. But only for the time being. What is more fundamentally happening here is that the Solar Union, riven by irresolvable problems, will go down into the Second Dark Ages. When the Psychotechnic History resumes, there will be not only faster than light interstellar travel but also, soon after that, a Stellar Union with a Coordination Service. With humanity dispersed across self-supporting planets separated by interstellar distances, I would have expected any subsequent Dark Ages to be only local and planetary in scale. However, the Chronology informs us of a Third Dark Ages, this time affecting interstellar civilization. If "The Chapter Ends" is to be accepted as a valid conclusion to the series, then millennia of interstellar imperialism will precede an eventual Galactic civilization. Millennia of struggle toward eventual peace: we know that we are living through at least the first part of such a scenario.