Chapters 23-25 Summary

Chapter 23

As Nemes closes in, Aenea tells Raul that it is his moment. He and Nemes do battle on the platform, Raul sustaining many injuries. During the fight, Raul orders the Ship to land on the platform, reducing it to splinters. Raul knocks an incredulous Nemes off of the cliff and is helped by Aenea into the ship. His injuries are severe, but all of the niches in the autosurgeon are full. With the Pax fleet closing in, Aenea decides to put him in cryonic fugue, and orders the Ship to make a break for edge of the system.

Chapter 24

Raul wakes up two weeks later in a room inside an Ouster Startree. Rachel Weintraub tells him that he required surgery, which, as the autosurgeon niches were full, she performed. She tells him that Aenea orchestrated their escape from the T'ien Shan system by somehow...