Deltander

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Synopsis

"There was a deep rumble through the decking beneath his feet. Deltander braced himself against the cold hull-wall, and waited until the loose cargo stopped shifting. He coughed, then wiped his streaming nose on a once-elegant sleeve. Checking the sensor hung on his belt, he resumed shining his hand light into the docking bay’s nooks and crannies. Despite the sharp stench of sealant, the air was fit to breathe. He shoved a pile of casings aside with his foot and watched them tumble away. He was useless at this, totally ignorant of what to look for, not even knowing what looked normal. His only edge on the situation was the unregulated portable com Beybaken Norrey had pressed on him at the last moment. “Del, if anything looks funny, use it.” Del stroked the pebbled surface of the unit with his thumb. Everything looks funny, Beyba, he thought. I just hope I don’t kill us all by missing something." Deltander, a trade magistrate wrestling with unfamiliar destruction and death during a space station disaster, finds an unconscious boy, and must decide whether he should accept the law or battle for compassion. A Beyal Universe story that parallels The Companionates River of Night, Tide of Day, and Ocean of Dawn. Action, adventure, aliens, clones, starfaring civilizations, and a crisis of conscience. Revised and updated, edition two.