In the deep black gulf great engines throbbed. A ship more vast
than many planet-bound cities began to move. Her commander ordered
maximum tolerable acceleration. She had fallen months behind her
sisters.
Clouds of smaller vessels gathered to her. They had finished
their part in the Shadowline War. There were no more debts to
pay.
The Starfisher decision-makers were saddened because the results
had not been more positive. But history, like everything else, is
seldom fair. The balance had been rectified, and that was
enough.
The great ship fled ever farther into the deep.
In the deep black gulf great engines throbbed. A ship more vast
than many planet-bound cities began to move. Her commander ordered
maximum tolerable acceleration. She had fallen months behind her
sisters.
Clouds of smaller vessels gathered to her. They had finished
their part in the Shadowline War. There were no more debts to
pay.
The Starfisher decision-makers were saddened because the results
had not been more positive. But history, like everything else, is
seldom fair. The balance had been rectified, and that was
enough.
The great ship fled ever farther into the deep.