Book One: The Thing Was, Chapter 23-Chapter 24 Summary

The narrator randomly chooses to inhabit Adolf von Kleist's brain, not realizing he is about to become the father of all humankind. Adolf is thinking of meteorites. As a cadet, he was a poor student and nearly got kicked out of the US Naval Academy, but he was impressed by a lecture on meteorites hitting Earth. He believes meteorites will ultimately destroy humanity.

Adolf has been left feeling meaningless and futile, after his father murdered his mother under the influence of Huntington's chorea. The narrator suffers similar feelings, since shooting a grandmother in Vietnam who had killed his best friend and worst enemy with a grenade.

Adolf goes straight to the Bahía de Darwin from the airport. Clearly, he is only ceremonially the captain, knowing nothing about the ship or...