Carl

Carl is a Percell who begins his career on Halley's comet as a space technician. Although he originally does not hold a high rank, he is eventually granted the comission of Lieutenant Commander and proves to be a very capable leader. What he lacks in scientific knowledge, he more than makes up for in experience out in space, and many of the senior officers defer to his decisions as a result of his extensive knowledge. He is intelligent, and among the Percells has a reputation for being an Ortho-lover because he refuses to see normal human beings as a threat. He spends most of the book hopelessly in love with Virginia, and resents the fact that she and Saul are together. This resentment is at its worst in the beginning of the novel, but throughout the years on the comet, he matures and eventually comes to accept the...