The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Ashby sits in his office, wondering if there was something he could have done differently. Rosemary comes in and tells him that Kizzy and Sissix are still chasing down Jenks after he flung himself into an escape pod. A message has also come in requesting that Ashby be on Hagarem in a tenday to give testimony. Ashby does not wish to go, but Rosemary convinces him. She tells him that she expects her captain to tell Parliament what happened; the crew needs him to speak for them all.

Corbin enters Ohan’s quarters and wakes them. Corbin delivers a monologue about the pain that all the crew are going through. He tells Ohan that he cannot allow the crew to suffer the pain of losing another crewmate and injects Ohan with the cure for the Whisperer. The rest of the crew bursts into Ohan’s quarters. Dr. Chef and Rosemary take Ohan to the infirmary, while Ashby rages at Corbin. Corbin doesn’t worry about Ashby’s anger. Now that Sissix is his legally appointed guardian for the next cycle, Ashby cannot dismiss him without also dismissing Sissix.

Lovelace adjusts to her new consciousness. She knows that there has been some tragedy but is not sure what it is. Pepper comes to talk to her and explain the situation. Lovelace wants to give her condolences to Jenks and the rest of the crew, but Pepper advises against that. She tells Lovelace that it will be much harder for Jenks to move on after the loss of Lovey if Lovelace remains the ship’s AI. Pepper suggests that Lovelace transfer into the body kit meant for Lovey and come work in Pepper’s scrap shop. After some debate, Lovelace accepts the offer.

As Ashby enters the Parliament building, he is asked to surrender his scrib by an AI. Following the loss of Lovey, Ashby feels guilty that he has not treated all Ais as sentient and makes a point to ask the AI’s name. The members of the inquiry board extend their regrets for the damage done to the ship but are relieved there were no casualties. Ashby corrects them, noting that they lost Lovey. They begin asking him about his experience at Hedra Ka. The Quelin representative is somewhat hostile towards Ashby and asks unreasonable questions. The Aeluon member brushes aside the Quelin member’s questions.

Ashby is surprised by the short length of the interview. He has come a long way and intends to say his piece. He does not believe that the GC understands the Toremi well enough to form an alliance with them. The Toremi are simply too unpredictable. If the Wayfarer was attacked over some minor breach of etiquette, then how could the Toremi possible integrate with the GC species? They ask Ashby to wait outside and then dismiss him a few minutes later. Ashby receives a news bulletin that the GC has dissolved the alliance with the Toremi Ka. Aandrisk and Aeluon representatives led the charge to end the alliance with the Harmagian delegation leading those seeking a continuation. 

Rosemary brings Ashby a thin package in his office. It is clearly a paper letter from Pei. They discuss plans for the Wayfarer. Ashby tells her to start shopping to upgrade their bore to take on bigger jobs. In her letter, Pei writes that she will have leave soon and will bring her ship to Ashby. After Ashby’s brush with death, she doesn’t care what her crew thinks anymore. Jenks walks into Kizzy’s workshop. She is knitting wool hats for the fixbots. She feels bad for having kept them in their box for so long. Jenks tells her he has a present for her, a bag of shrimp spice from her home colony. Kizzy is grateful but not sure why she is getting a present.

He tells her that he appreciates how she stayed with him for every second of the attempt to save Lovey and that she tried just as hard as he did. He tells her that she has done more for him than he would ever expect from a friend. She tells him that he isn’t her friend; he’s her brother. After a moment, Jenks asks if she wants to play Battle Wizards. Ashby tries Dr. Chef’s latest test batch of bread approvingly. Ashby tells Dr. Chef that they haven’t gotten any job offers yet, but he is not concerned. Dr. Chef thinks it would be good to ease back into work slowly given the recent changes. A new AI, Tycho, has been installed on the ship.

Corbin enters the Fishbowl with Ohan leaning against him. Ohan is no longer a Pair, and Ashby has to remind himself to refer to Ohan as “he.” Ohan tells Ashby that he should go to Arun now that he is a Solitary, though he does not want to. When asked what he wants, Ohan says that he wishes to stay and have dinner with his crew. Dr. Chef invites Ohan to sit with him while he cooks, and Ohan smiles. Ashby invites Corbin to have tea with him. Rosemary puts on a spacesuit. Sissix is taking her on her first excursion outside the ship. They jet away from the ship holding hands and then tumble apart to take in the cosmos.