Part 3, Chapter 3 The Far Black Summary

The wrinkled dwarf leads the team of Toby and five officers through a dimly lit corridor. He asks what era they are from, but no one knows how to answer him. Killeen says it was after the Calamity (meaning the war with the mechs), but the phrase means nothing. "That doesn't cut any thick air here, fella. All life's a big old calamity, if you look at it the right way," the dwarf replies.

The dwarf tells Toby this is an ordinary entrance portal to the esty. That's S for space, T for time. He explains that they are in a stable, inhabited, governed chunk of convoluted esty. The dwarf demands Killeen's thanks for pulling them from the Far Black, and then tells the Cap'n they will be charged for it.

The dwarf, who belatedly...