Kithrup

The setting for most of the novel, Kithrup is a volcanic, water-covered world orbiting the population-II dwarf star, Kthsemeneem. Its region of space is gravitationally shallow, resulting in it being rarely visited—so little, in fact, that the planet is last surveyed some 400 million years before, at which time it is designated by the Galactic Migration Institute as a peaceful place for the Karrank% species to die. It is then, apparently, forgotten. The ship's physician for the exploration vessel Streaker considers it barely habitable as the damaged ship seeks a place of refuge to repair damage.

The seas of Kithrup are rich in metals that are, without treatment, toxic to the neo-dolphins and humans aboard Streaker, but a possible source of the vanadium nickel needed for repairs. The water is crystal clear and marked by coral-like metal mounds rising above the surface. These are great spongy...