Paula Myo
Names: Paula MyoChief Investigatorthe superbitchPaulathe bossChief Investigator MyoChief Inspector MyoChiefCommander MyoCommanderInvestigatorInvestigator MyoInspector Myo
First appears in Book 1: Pandora's Star, chapter 3 (TWO)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: Pandora's Star
- Ch 3Chief Investigator of the Intersolar Serious Crimes Directorate, she has hunted Bradley Johansson's group for 134 years without making an arrest.
- Ch 3Her genome was designed by the Human Structure Foundation; rejuvenated to look early twenties, she never smiles and seems to lack a sense of humor.
- Ch 3She sleeps about two hours a day, pays obsessive attention to detail, and suspects Johansson is secretly helped by someone powerful outside the Directorate.
- Ch 3Paula wants to delay arresting Elvin until the weapons are shipped, so the route and destination expose the whole Guardian network and lead her to Johansson.
- Ch 3Paula believes Elvin is a fanatic who would suicide or have his memories wiped rather than allow memory extraction.
- Ch 3Paula insists that criminals, including her informants, must be arrested and take responsibility in court for their crimes.
- Ch 3Paula spent nine years working the case after turning Sabbah into an informant, tracking Elvin through his habits.
- Ch 3Paula is troubled that someone wealthy and powerful would want to protect a terrorist like Johansson.
- Ch 3Paula suspected Elvin's memory crystal held instructions rather than a weapons list, and that he suspected surveillance.
- Ch 3Led the pursuit of Adam, was deceived by the empty taxi, and shouted in frustration.
- Ch 6Paula Myo is a Chief Investigator with 147 years in the Directorate; she turned down directorships to stay in investigative work.
- Ch 6Paula believes Adam Elvin is shipping arms to Far Away, hidden as innocuous components in other cargoes, but her data analysis has found nothing for months.
- Ch 6Paula Myo is Chief Investigator of the Serious Crimes Directorate, and her notoriety precedes her; she keeps a permanently packed bag for off-Earth assignments.
- Ch 6Paula was raised on Marindra by a couple, with a stepsister; she keeps a hologram of them and a Silfen-gifted rabbakas plant in her office.
- Ch 6Paula believes law enforcement relies too much on digital evidence and that ice crimes need a holistic picture of human behavior.
- Ch 7She is Tarlo and Renne's boss at the SCD; the Guardians are her only unsolved case.
- Ch 9Ozzie has heard Paula Myo has some kind of arrangement with the SI.
- Ch 10Paula is a Chief Investigator investigating the apparent ice murder of Tara Shaheef and Wyobie Cotal, believing the Tampico story is a setup.
- Ch 10Paula was born on Huxley's Haven and raised on Marindra by the Redhounds, who told her of her true origins when she was sixteen.
- Ch 10Psychoneural profiling destined Paula to be a law enforcement officer; knowing right from wrong is the core of her identity.
- Ch 10At sixteen Paula turned in Marcus and Rebecca Redhound to the police within two hours of their confession, becoming an instant celebrity.
- Ch 10Paula holds that crimes are committed by people, so motivation is found by investigating people.
- Ch 10Her testimony got Marcus and Rebecca sentenced to thirty-two years of life suspension each, double the time over which they committed their crime.
- Ch 10After the trial she went to Huxley's Haven but felt she belonged there even less than on Marindra, rejecting its anti-technology society as provincial.
- Ch 10She enrolled at the Intersolar Serious Crimes Directorate on Earth and became its best operative, though the notorious 2243 case remains unsolved.
- Ch 11Famed detective, recently rejuvenated, who tracked an arms seller in the Shayoni case; seen travelling to the High Angel with an overweight companion.
- Ch 11Chief Investigator concluding Tara Shaheef was murdered, presumably with Cotal, and the Tampico story is a fabricated alibi; she now seeks a motive.
- Ch 11Gives Shaheef's memory crystal to Qatux, asking him to search for anyone who carried a grudge or was edited out of her life.
- Ch 11Believes the Raiel are indifferent to humans and probably did not build the High Angel.
- Ch 11Paula supplies memories to Qatux, arguing it helps solve the crime and that stopping him would be a transgression by Raiel standards.
- Ch 11Paula offers Hoshe the chance to leave the case without penalty to his record.
- Ch 12Paula deduces that the motive is that Morton killed his partner so both could profit financially; she tasks Hoshe with finding the bodies while she checks company records.
- Ch 12Paula Myo is a Chief Investigator who rarely gives opinions and rarely admits defeat; she refuses Morton's dinner invitation for now without saying never.
- Ch 12Paula has a suspect in a forty-year-old murder case; AquaState accounts confirmed her theory, but she needs the bodies to convict.
- Ch 12Paula has spent decades on the Johansson case and believes he is helped by someone well placed in the Commonwealth establishment.
- Ch 12Paula argues Johansson is deluded but rational, and that the attack signals something new is happening.
- Ch 13Paula is a Directorate Chief Investigator who is investigating the attack on the Second Chance, and she distrusts lawyers.
- Ch 14Paula admits she let Hoshe down by failing to send promised forensics teams, and apologizes. She says she is hunting an elusive opponent, likened to Holmes and Moriarty.
- Ch 14Paula arrests Morton on a warrant for two counts of bodykill and deliberate memory erasure.
- Ch 14Paula Myo is the prosecuting investigator whose cases normally end in guilty verdicts; as a sixteen-year-old she attended her parents' emotional trial.
- Ch 14Paula takes over questioning Morton herself and wins the case by showing the killer removed only Tara's belongings, implying intimate knowledge of the home.
- Ch 14Paula argues that, because re-life makes death non-final, murder is now seen as less serious and an acceptable risk to remove someone.
- Ch 14Paula Myo is on the prosecution side; she stays calm and detached after the verdict, tidying her papers and leaving the courtroom without looking around.
- Ch 16Paula Myo investigated Morton's case with Hoshe, then left after the trial; Mellanie hates her.
- Ch 20Paula leads a surveillance operation on the Nystol Gallery, disguised in a blond wig and sunglasses, still wearing her business suit.
- Ch 20She dislikes the Agency's reorganization and growing political control, and fears being pulled back into the general accounting system.
- Ch 20She expects Rigin to export the components in crates, intends to follow the shipment, and believes Bradley Johansson will be waiting at the end of it.
- Ch 20Paula Myo heads an expanded Agency that is increasingly efficient at intercepting the cause's shipments to Far Away.
- Ch 20Investigator who refuses to give up the Johansson case; she suspects the Venice Coast attacker was sent by the executive, CST or the Starflyer.
- Ch 20Believes her Agency is compromised by highly placed people and asks Hoshe Finn for an unofficial investigation.
- Ch 20Wants every export to Far Away searched rather than randomly checked.
- Ch 20Paula consistently beats Thompson Burnelli at squash, never throwing a game because dishonesty is something she can never be.
- Ch 20Paula uses elimination entrapment to find the Agency's internal leak, giving each suspect different information and watching who reacts.
- Ch 20Paula suspects a mole in the executive office, a Grand Family or an Intersolar Dynasty, and has told Mel Rees it could be the Starflyer.
- Ch 20Paula has argued for decades for full inspection of all cargo shipped to Far Away, but cost and scheduling delays block it.
- Ch 20Paula admits there is no solid evidence Rigin was working for Adam Elvin; the shipment only resembled Elvin's smuggling, but carried high-tech goods, not weapons.
- Ch 22Had predicted that there would always be a weak link in the Shansorel Partnership.
- Ch 22Paula is now a naval intelligence commander and heads the Johansson project, kept in Paris; she beat Mel Rees in a dispute over relocation to Kerensk.
- Ch 22Paula has spent decades filing requests to inspect Far Away cargo with each new Directorate boss, all of which came to nothing, apparently blocked by the executive office.
- Ch 22Paula directs team B boxing Stig and treats everyone, including Hoshe, as a possible leak.
- Ch 22Paula leads the operation against Stig, suspects a leak among those who knew of it, and lied to Tarlo about why the op was small.
- Ch 22Paula keeps the team from focusing cameras on the target in case the Guardians watch the dataflow, and requests an armed LAPD squad on standby.
- Ch 22Paula ordered a massive police, helicopter and sonar search of the Venice marina after her target jumped into the water.
- Ch 22Paula believes the Guardian target was distinct from the Venice Coast operative, who was working for someone else.
- Ch 22Paula ordered Renne to assemble a team of imaginative weapons specialists to speculate on uses for Valtare Rigin's equipment.
- Ch 23Paula told Columbia she believes a leak exists in navy intelligence and that her small team in Los Angeles was chosen deliberately to test for it.
- Ch 23Paula resigned her commission rather than accept an advisory role, saying she is a police officer and not a navy officer.
- Ch 23Paula lives in a sparse, centuries-old Paris apartment; she cries recalling her parents' trial and her stepmother Rebecca mouthing 'I love you'.
- Ch 23Paula travels to Huxley's Haven, her nominal home, by train, and expects Hogan to monitor her, seeing the trip as looking like running for cover.
- Ch 23She was born on Huxley's Haven, left as a teenager decades ago, and now returns to seek advice from the Denken family.
- Ch 23She considers erasing her Commonwealth memories via rejuvenation to fit in on Huxley's Haven, but cannot yet bring herself to, because her first big case is unsolved.
- Ch 23She has pursued the Great Wormhole Heist case for 139 years, rising to command the task force and keeping it alive after it was dissolved.
- Ch 23She has no mother; she is a designed person whose abnormal heritage the Directorate never mentioned.
- Ch 23She had just qualified as a Senior Investigator when the heist happened, and was given only a secondary role on the task force.
- Ch 23Paula is a police officer who has been rejuvenated several times and left Huxley's Haven as a teenager over 150 years ago to join the Commonwealth.
- Ch 23Paula has been dismissed from her position and now works alone on the Johansson case, which she has pursued for over 130 years.
- Ch 23Paula is unsure whom she can trust, and her instinct is to catch Johansson, though she is troubled over whether to pursue the Starflyer instead.
- Ch 23Paula decides to travel to Far Away, contact the Guardians and let them lead her to Johansson, an approach he will not expect.
- Ch 23Paula is financially secure through long salary, frugal habits and an SI-managed fund, so she declines Leonard's offered Treasury salary.
- Ch 24Dismissed as Investigator by Rafael Columbia for lack of results on the Johansson case after about 140 years.
- Ch 24Believes Johansson was protected from inside the Senate or executive, and that Thompson's killer was connected to the Starflyer.
- Ch 24Myo spots and confronts Mellanie, warns about illegal searches, refuses interviews, and hints Mellanie should look in deep space.
- Ch 24Myo never tells a direct lie but will modify the truth to forward an investigation, according to the SI.
- Ch 25Mellanie suspects Myo has long known about the Starflyer and may be working with the Guardians.
- Ch 26Paula Myo, an investigator, tells Justine the navy did not kill Kazimir and that there is a leak in the navy, probably several.
Book 2: Judas Unchained
- Ch 1Paula Myo, head of the investigative office, is removed from her post by Admiral Columbia, visibly shocked, leaving with her rabbakas plant.
- Ch 2Myo rates it very unlikely that the Starflyer got to Justine on Far Away, but treats Justine as being on probation.
- Ch 2She noticed blood under Justine's fingernails, deduced she searched the body, and asked to see what she found.
- Ch 2Paula Myo is still on the case and is at the concourse speaking with the Senator.
- Ch 2Paula Myo was dismissed from navy intelligence and now serves in Senate Security, appointed with the Burnelli family's backing.
- Ch 2Paula suspects a Starflyer agent sits in the navy intelligence office in Paris, her old office, where she ran entrapment operations.
- Ch 2Paula is wary of the SI, thinking it watches humanity more closely than admitted, but considers it a useful ally against the Primes.
- Ch 2Paula believes Thompson was killed because he learned Nigel Sheldon had been blocking her requests for cargo inspections to Far Away.
- Ch 2Myo previously headed the Paris office and was forced out; Alic now appreciates what she faced for decades.
- Ch 3Paula was fired from navy intelligence by Admiral Columbia, and now works with Justine Burnelli to keep the Guardian investigation alive.
- Ch 3Wilson finds from restricted navy files that Myo has come to believe the Starflyer is real.
- Ch 3Myo was fired by Rafael for lack of results, then recruited into Senate Security through the Burnellis.
- Ch 3Paula pushed Mellanie toward Dudley Bose because his wife once met Bradley Johansson, hoping she would find the Starflyer.
- Ch 3Paula says she was told the Cox charity was legitimate, implying the real facts were withheld from her; she promises to investigate.
- Ch 3Paula now works at Senate Security and offers Hoshe a job as her assistant because she cannot tell which of her old team is Starflyer's agent.
- Ch 4Paula now works at Senate Security in London, commuting daily by maglev from Paris, with a large antique-furnished office.
- Ch 4Paula asks Hoshe to re-investigate the Cox Educational charity, which her old Directorate team earlier cleared, because of an allegation its records were doctored.
- Ch 5Paula Myo comes from the Hive and cannot let go of a crime; Elvin warns Mellanie she might arrest her for associating with Guardians.
- Ch 5Paula Myo was protected by extraordinarily sophisticated software that Paul could not penetrate, suggesting powerful backers.
- Ch 5Paula Myo was fired as an investigator, reportedly due to the Starflyer, but has political connections and works for another government department; she thinks the Starflyer is real.
- Ch 6Paula plans to arrest the Cox commissioners and have Senate Security ask navy intelligence to watch Alessandra Baron, to see what the request exposes.
- Ch 6Paula leads an arrest team to Bromley, Waterford, and Granku, finding all three Cox commissioners absent for two days.
- Ch 6Paula orders Geena Seaton to a medical forensic exam, unsure a scan can detect Starflyer agents, relying on Bradley Johansson's claims.
- Ch 6Paula believes Alessandra Baron is a Starflyer agent and part of a network acting against human interests.
- Ch 6Paula deliberately gave Renne information about Isabella to goad her into contacting the Starflyer network, which a team is monitoring.
- Ch 6Paula cannot arrest Kantil or order a neurological examination because she lacks grounds; Senate Security is too small to watch everyone.
- Ch 6Paula has a well-placed friend in the Halgarth Dynasty and can arrange for the Halgarths to be watched.
- Ch 7Myo is under political attack; she believes removing her from Senate Security serves the Starflyer's interests.
- Ch 8Paula asked her old Paris office to put Alessandra Baron under observation; Nigel considers her scrupulously honest.
- Ch 8Paula proposes withdrawing Commonwealth funding for the wormholes to Far Away to block the Starflyer's return and expose its political allies.
- Ch 8Paula is a respected investigator who is Tarlo's boss and is currently annoying Admiral Columbia with her inquiries.
- Ch 8Paula secretly suspects Tarlo may be a leak, and tests him with a bogus favor to see whether he passes it on.
- Ch 8Paula tells Tarlo to keep her investigation hidden from Hogan and the others, saying Columbia already tried to block her once.
- Ch 9Paula refuses to accept the unofficial copy as evidence, since its provenance cannot be proven, even though she suspects it is genuine.
- Ch 9Paula tells Wilson and Oscar the Starflyer mentally controls its agents, and that she suspects it is real and is tracking several suspects.
- Ch 9Paula withholds some information because she cannot be sure Wilson and Oscar are trustworthy, and considers they might have conspired to fake the recording.
- Ch 9Paula advises Wilson to compartmentalize information, strengthen navy security and assume everything leaks to the Primes, since the attack cannot be rescheduled much.
- Ch 10Paula plans to arrest Tarlo but delay moving on Bernadette until she meets her contact, hoping to penetrate the Starflyer agent network.
- Ch 10Paula Myo reassigned Gwyneth to her interdiction team and used her call to Tarlo to locate him before the assault.
- Ch 10Paula had been running entrapment operations on both Tarlo and Renne, and believes Bernadette, Victor and Isabella work for the Starflyer.
- Ch 10Paula chooses to delay arresting Bernadette, reasoning that Bernadette is waiting for something important to the Starflyer and will lead them to it if allowed to think she has escaped.
- Ch 10Paula says the Agent is the breakthrough that can lead them to the Guardians, and that taking him into custody tonight is the second objective.
- Ch 10Paula has political allies who could change Commonwealth policy on the Guardians if the Agent's information proves useful.
- Ch 10Paula leads an armored arrest team into Saffron Clinic, sees through Mellanie's disguise and has her removed from danger.
- Ch 10Paula's team has been tailing Bernadette, who entered Greenford Tower; Bernadette believes she lost them.
- Ch 10Paula leads the raid on the Saffron Clinic and orders arrest teams to move in once the team is exposed.
- Ch 10Paula knows Admiral Kime, and plans to ask him whether the Starflyer was part of the failed starship attack.
- Ch 11Paula uses herself and Mellanie as bait to lure a Starflyer agent into an ambush on the express train.
- Ch 11Paula's old Paris office contained a Starflyer agent who manipulated information, including the Cox case.
- Ch 11Paula exposed a Starflyer agent in the navy intelligence Paris office, providing leverage over Admiral Columbia and the Halgarths, though no Tridelta agents were captured.
- Ch 11Paula suspects Mellanie may be involved with the Guardians and wants to establish her true sympathies, fearing she could be a Starflyer trap.
- Ch 11Paula suspects Isabella has some alien presence or conditioning; she arranged for the Raiel to examine her mind.
- Ch 11Paula once finished a case on Merioneth after it went Independent, a case to which the Sheldon Dynasty remains deeply indebted.
- Ch 13Paula has pressed for a century for cargo inspections for Far Away to restrict Guardian weapons shipments, but was blocked.
- Ch 13Paula has a Raiel reading Isabella Halgarth's memories to find how the Starflyer controlled her and how to detect other agents.
- Ch 13Paula announces that Qatux is ready and begins the meeting, but Dudley interrupts to speak first.
- Ch 13Paula reasons the Starflyer wins whatever the outcome: it tests whether barriers are guarded and sets humans and Primes against each other.
- Ch 13Paula says the Institute director would have lied to cover up the Starflyer's true nature.
- Ch 14Paula Myo is trusted by Bradley for her honesty; Adam fears she would kill Guardians on sight, and she is at the Narrabri wormhole with Nigel.
- Ch 14Paula refuses to deliver Kazimir McFoster's data to Elvin Johansson, since he is a mass murderer and terrorist, despite Nigel's pressure.
- Ch 14Paula reluctantly agrees to accompany the Guardians, refusing to legitimize Elvin's crimes.
- Ch 14Paula tells Adam she will arrest him for the Abadan atrocity after the Starflyer is dealt with; Johansson will likely be pardoned.
- Ch 14Paula Myo is travelling with the Guardians in pursuit of the Starflyer and contacts Alic to coordinate a zone killer strike.
- Ch 14Paula accuses Adam of being a black market arms dealer who slaughtered innocent people before Johansson sheltered him.
- Ch 14Paula suspects the open gateway to Half Way is a trap and warns Adam that the Starflyer may have deduced his plans.
- Ch 15Paula calculates the Carbon Goose passengers could survive 17 to 20 months if the Starflyer closes the wormhole behind it.
- Ch 15Paula joined the Guardians' group on terms she will neither forget nor forgive; she and Adam are long-time adversaries.
- Ch 16Paula Myo is now an ally of the Guardians against the Starflyer, and she accompanies Adam's group to the Dessault Mountains.
- Ch 16Paula falls ill with a flu-like virus on Far Away, shivering and sweating; Adam suspects it could be extraterrestrial.
- Ch 16Paula is in physical shock, gaunt and feverish, because she let Adam go free; her genetically ingrained need to close cases is being violated.
- Ch 16Paula insists Adam treat everyone, including her, as a suspect for the Starflyer agent among the group until innocence is proven.
- Ch 16Paula has been pursuing Johansson for 130 years and reminds Adam of the victims of the Abadan station train attack he caused.
- Ch 16Paula deduces the sabotage likely occurred during the nine-hour unguarded Carbon Goose flight, and that the agent lacked heavy weaponry to destroy it.
- Ch 18Seriously ill, she is being treated with a medical kit; Adam's team cannot spare her much help.
- Ch 18Myo is seriously ill with neurotoxic shock-like symptoms, which she claims result from her decision to let Adam go free.
- Ch 18Oscar considers Myo a definite candidate for the Starflyer agent; Adam notes her illness suggests her genuine personality is intact.
- Ch 18Paula is gravely ill with fever, vomiting and pain; Adam judges her condition genuine, not faked.
- Ch 18Paula lies unconscious and feverish with an unexplained illness that sedatives and biogenics have not helped; Adam fears the diagnostic array.
- Ch 19Paula is weak and barely conscious, wearing Adam's sweater; she reasons the Volvo's single door makes Rosamund's alibi for her credible.
- Ch 19Paula, recovering from illness, suspects one of the three navy figures (Wilson, Oscar, Anna) is the Starflyer agent and feels no guilt over Adam's death.
- Ch 19Paula believes Adam knew one of the three was innocent and hid why. She broadcasts a short-wave message asking Johansson who contacted Oscar.
- Ch 19Paula deduces that Oscar is not the Starflyer agent, since an agent would have captured Adam when he made contact, and turns back to question Oscar.
- Ch 19Paula believes justice must be served whatever the time elapsed, and says she would have arrested Adam afterward.
- Ch 19Paula is exhausted and not religious; she bases her universe on solid facts.
- Ch 19Paula deduces Anna is the Starflyer agent because Oscar is cleared, and Anna had sensor access and was told of the dish deployment evidence.
- Ch 19Paula knows about Abadan but withheld it from Oscar so as not to impair his effectiveness.
- Ch 19Paula Myo exchanged short-wave messages with Bradley and was desperate for information about Oscar.
- Ch 20Paula returns to the Paris Serious Crimes office as newly promoted Deputy Director, backed by the Burnelli family, and restores normal operations.
- Ch 20Paula holds Oscar Monroe's memorycell and weighs whether to re-life and try him or keep him in storage; Wilson's lawyers will seek custody.
Connections
- related toSabbahcoerced informer
- member ofIntersolar Serious Crimes Directorate
- enemy ofAdam Elvinshe is hunting his arms smuggling
- ally ofMaggie Lidseyfellow officers on the raid
- has memberDon Maresserves on her operation
- ally ofDon Maresfellow officers
- led byMel ReesRees is her immediate boss
- ally ofHoshe Finnassigned to assist her on the case
- related toMel Reesdeputy director, her nominal superior
- related toMarcus Redhoundabducted and raised her as their daughter
- family ofCoyastep-twin
- leadsHoshe Finn
- ally ofQatux
- leadsHoshe SaleemChief Investigator over him
- enemy ofBradley Johanssonpursues him
- enemy ofMortonshe arrests him
- ally ofIvor Chesselprosecution team
- has memberTarloserves as her deputy on the operation
- has memberAlic Hogannew deputy appointed by Columbia
- friend ofHoshe Finn
- ally ofThompson Burnellilong-standing information exchange
- enemy ofMel Reesclashed over office relocation
- leadsTarlo
- has memberRenne Kempasaworks on her team
- family ofRebecca Redhoundstepmother
- partner ofAlexisbrief affair
- ally ofGore Burnelli
- related toJustine BurnelliInvestigator consoling and informing the senator
- enemy ofRafael Columbiaremoves her from her post
- ally ofJustine BurnelliWary, probationary cooperation over shared goals
- member ofSenate Security service
- related toAlic Hoganreplaced her as head of the Paris office
- related toMellanie Rescoraiwary former acquaintance seeking her help
- related toRenne Kobalformer mentor and boss
- friend ofRenne Kavanaghformer subordinate and boss
- enemy ofStarflyerinvestigating and hunting it
- enemy ofTarlo
- ally ofAlic Hogan
- has memberWarren Yves Halgarthserves on her armor-suit team
- ally ofMellanie Rescorai
- ally ofVic Russell
- ally ofGuardians of Selfhoodtravels with them in pursuit of the Starflyer
- enemy ofGuardians of Selfhood
- ally ofRosamund McKratz
- has memberGwyneth Russellinvestigator under her
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 3Sabbah informs on Elvin
Sabbah, coerced for nine years, calls Paula Myo to report that Adam Elvin has arrived.
- Book 1 · Ch 3Paula briefs Tokat police
Paula Myo arrives on Velaines and sets up surveillance on Murphy and Elvin with Tokat detectives, aiming to catch the arms exchange.
- Book 1 · Ch 3Johansson warns Adam
An encrypted message from Bradley Johansson warns Adam Elvin that Paula Myo is on Velaines; Paula's team detects the message but cannot decrypt it.
- Book 1 · Ch 3Meeting at the Scarred Suit
Elvin meets Lancier at the club and hands her a memory crystal supposedly with additions to the order. Police spy through a spindlefly; Paula suspects it holds instructions and that Elvin is onto them.
- Book 1 · Ch 3Weapons shipment readied
Elvin authorizes agricultural machinery to be sent to Lancier's dealership, and eight trucks arrive and enter a screened warehouse. Elvin checks out of his hotel.
- Book 1 · Ch 3Taxi chase and stage three
Elvin's taxi evades pursuit and goes to Lancier's warehouse, where Kavanagh takes his suitcase. Paula orders stage three, and pursuit cars blockade the taxi.
- Book 1 · Ch 3Failed warehouse raid
Police tactical squad storms Rachael Lancier's warehouse expecting arms and Adam, but finds only staged crates and a toast; the taxi is empty. Maggie realizes they were deceived.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Paula's data hunt
In Paris, Paula searches cargo data for Elvin's arms smuggling to Far Away and clashes with Mel Rees over budget.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Paula assigned the Oaktier ice case
Mel Rees gives Paula a possible deliberate bodykill and memory-loss case on Oaktier involving two possible victims, and she accepts.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Paula interviews Wyobie Cotal
At the Clayden Clinic, Paula and Finn question the re-lifed Cotal, who recalls nothing of leaving Oaktier or Tampico and begs them to find his killers; he is sedated.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Brad interviews Wendy
A man calling himself Brad questions Wendy about funding, learns of the Cox charity's role, and leaves a cryptic message for a Paula.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Paula interviews Tara and Matthew
At the plantation, Paula questions Tara about her affair with Wyobie, the Tampico trip, and weapons. She concludes the Tampico story was a setup and Tara was likely killed over something she encountered.
- Book 1 · Ch 10The Redhounds' Hive raid
Marcus and Rebecca Redhound's cabal stole seven Hive babies from a Fordsville birthing ward. All were recovered except Paula, whom the Redhounds raised on Marindra alongside their daughter Coya.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Paula turns in her parents
On learning her true heritage at sixteen, Paula, profiled to be a police officer, had Marcus and Rebecca arrested two hours later and became a celebrity.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Marcus and Rebecca sentenced
Paula's testimony led to thirty-two-year life suspension sentences for Marcus and Rebecca, while Coya broke down in court.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Paula and Hoshe interview Morton
Paula questions Morton about Tara's departure, divorce, finances and enemies, and requests the divorce file and a check on Tara's Tampico shares.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Journey to the High Angel
Oscar and Mac pass security at Kerensk, take a zero-gee shuttle from the gateway station to New Glasgow dome, and spot Paula Myo travelling too.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Paula and Hoshe review the financial trail
Aboard the lift to the Raiel dome, they conclude Shaheef and Cotal's accounts show no sign they were alive after disappearing, supporting murder and a faked alibi.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Shaheef's memory given to Qatux
Paula brings Shaheef's memory crystal to Qatux in the Raiel city so he can search it for a motive or enemy; he promises results within a week.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Paula explains Qatux's memory absorption
Paula tells Hoshe why Qatux absorbs Shaheef's memories and defends supplying them, though Hoshe stays uneasy.
- Book 1 · Ch 12Paula deduces Morton's motive
After Qatux finds no enemies for Tara and Hoshe finds no crime link, Paula concludes Morton killed his partner to profit for both of them, and orders Hoshe to find the bodies.
- Book 1 · Ch 12Paula requests AquaState accounts
Paula calls Morton, who releases the old AquaState financial files and asks her to dinner; she declines for now.
- Book 1 · Ch 12Paula's case progresses
Paula and Hoshe plan a search of Darklake for the bodies; Mel Rees arrives unexpectedly with an apparent new assignment.
- Book 1 · Ch 12Investigation of the Alamo Avenger attack
Columbia, Rees and Paula examine the wrecked Alamo Avenger, argue over blame, and Columbia gives Paula full Directorate resources to pursue Johansson.
- Book 1 · Ch 13Paula questions the Boses' lawyer and wife
At the Manby clinic Paula reveals the Guardians of Selfhood hacked a charity account using a Trojan based on Bose's codes; Wendy explains a break-in copied their household array and relays Bradley's message.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Bodies found beneath condo
Hoshe's scans find two box-contained bodies ten meters below a thirty-story Darklake condo. Paula arrives, promises extraction teams and says she can now get an arrest warrant.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Morton arrested
Paula and Hoshe arrive at Morton's penthouse and arrest him for the bodykill and memory erasure of his ex-wife Tara Jennifer Shaheef and Wyobie Cotal. Morton insists it's a mistake.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Media frenzy and start of the trial
After Morton's arrest is announced, reporters flood Oaktier. The trial opens in a refurbished Court One before a global audience, with Morton and Mellanie presenting careful images.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Paula Myo breaks Morton on the stand
Paula cross-examines Morton herself, showing only he could have known which possessions were Tara's. He breaks down, the jury finds him guilty, and the judge begins sentencing.
- Book 1 · Ch 14Morton sentenced
The judge sentences Morton to 120 years of life suspension. Shaheef shouts at him, Mellanie is restrained, and Morton is led away while the prosecutors celebrate and Paula Myo leaves unmoved.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Surveillance of the Nystol Gallery
Paula and Tarlo sit at a café reviewing the target, a gallery fronting arms dealer Rigin's purchases of restricted components matching Adam Elvin's shipment pattern.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Adam spots Paula
Adam sees Paula Myo outside a café while approaching by gondola and retreats, shaken by how close he came to being caught.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Paula briefs Mel Rees on Venice Coast
Paula tells Mel the attacker was sophisticated and sent by someone else; Mel rejects the Starflyer theory. She agrees to finish the gallery investigation and asks for export searches.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Paula asks Hoshe Finn for help
Paula visits Hoshe unofficially and asks him to investigate the Shansorel Partnership's software link to Rigin's modulator.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Squash match and bar talk
After Paula beats Thompson at squash, they meet in the Clinton Estate bar and discuss the Venice Coast fallout, a possible mole, and Far Away cargo inspection.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Thompson agrees to lobby the President
Paula asks Thompson to press President Doi for full examination of cargo to Far Away; he agrees despite likely Halgarth annoyance.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Paula takes Burnelli's call
In a Paris bistro, Paula takes a call from Senator Burnelli, who says the Venice Beach hit was not authorized by the executive or Senate Security.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Thompson reveals blocked inspections
Thompson tells Paula his request to inspect all Far Away cargo has stalled in the executive office, suggesting someone is lobbying against it.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Stig tailed through Seattle station
Stig McSobel checks for followers on the way to a loop train while Hoshe Finn and Paula's team B shadow him.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Paula's team tracks Stig to Del Rey Marina
Paula arrives at LA Galactic and coordinates a CST, navy and LAPD team following Stig through LA to the Del Rey Marina, while Senator Burnelli calls with news.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Cargo inspections ordered and Sheldon implicated
Burnelli tells Paula that Far Away cargo will be inspected at Boongate, and that lobbyists blocking her request work for Nigel Sheldon.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Target escapes through Venice marina
Paula's target jumps into the water at the marina; the police launch a large search, but Stig later reaches Kazimir's house exhausted.
- Book 1 · Ch 23Paula removed from the Johansson operation
Columbia blames Paula for the LA and Venice Coast failures and appoints Hogan to run the operation; Paula resigns her commission and leaves.
- Book 1 · Ch 23Paula travels to Huxley's Haven
After resigning, Paula takes an express to Wessex and a steam train through a gateway to Huxley's Haven.
- Book 1 · Ch 23The Great Wormhole Heist
Johansson's team broke into the museum, restarted the old wormhole generator, robbed a Las Vegas casino vault of 1.17 billion dollars, and escaped while guards were locked outside by their own force field.
- Book 1 · Ch 23Paula visits Leonard Denken
Paula travels by train and tram to Montagu and meets Leonard Denken at his home, seeking more advice as her ancestor Alexis once gave her.
- Book 1 · Ch 23Paula consults Leonard
Paula visits Leonard, tells him about the case, and weighs pursuing Johansson versus the Starflyer. Talking it through, she decides to go to Far Away and approach the Guardians.
- Book 1 · Ch 23Golden man confronts Paula
Back at her apartment, a black Zil limousine blocks the street and a gold-skinned man tells Paula they need to talk.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Paula appointed to Senate Security
Gore and Paula tell Justine that Thompson's murder links to the Starflyer and Far Away inspections. Gore appoints Paula to Senate Security; Justine agrees to clear it.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Alessandra assigns Mellanie to Campbell Sheldon
Alessandra instructs Mellanie to seduce Campbell Sheldon for navy information; then they notice Paula Myo at the party and Alessandra grows curious.
- Book 1 · Ch 24Myo catches Mellanie
Mellanie tails Paula Myo through Paris but is caught; Myo warns her and hints she should look in deep space before leaving by limousine.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Mellanie learns of Myo's interview and the Cox charity
After hours of Dudley's rambling, Mellanie gets him to reveal Myo's interview and the Cox Educational charity, then asks the SI about it and finds suspicious funding.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Mellanie pitches the Starflyer story
Mellanie calls Alessandra with her Starflyer story, but the SI warns of the attack and she dives behind the bed.
- Book 1 · Ch 26Mellanie flees Alessandra
Mellanie deduces that Alessandra warned the Starflyer's cover-up, flees the penthouse, and heads to Dudley, intending to find Paula Myo.
- Book 1 · Ch 26Justine mourns Kazimir
Justine kneels by Kazimir's dead body. Paula Myo tells her the navy did not do it, that it has leaks, and that the Starflyer is real.
- Book 2 · Ch 1Paula Myo removed
Back at the Paris office, Admiral Columbia dismisses Paula Myo, who leaves with her belongings while staff look on stunned. Columbia then calls in Commander Hogan.
- Book 2 · Ch 2Justine takes Kazimir's body to New York
Justine rides with the body, secretly finds a memory crystal, and takes it by private train to her family clinic. Myo notices the blood on her fingers and asks to see what she found.
- Book 2 · Ch 2Bruce McFoster attacks Kazimir at the Carralvo
Bruce, believed dead, shoots at Kazimir on the concourse. Navy pursuers chase him, he cripples the network with kaos, and he escapes into a freight container.
- Book 2 · Ch 2Scanning Kazimir's crystal
In a screened, isolated room, Justine and Paula have the array scan Kazimir's memory crystal. It holds 372 files too strongly encrypted to crack, and they weigh asking the SI or Guardians for help but decide to wait on the navy's Peru report.
- Book 2 · Ch 2Suspicion of Nigel Sheldon
Paula tells Justine and Gore that Thompson learned Nigel Sheldon blocked cargo inspections. They resolve that Justine will find Thompson's source and Gore will build a resistance network.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Justine and Paula confront Wilson
Justine and Paula tell Wilson about the Guardians' Mars operation and ask him to urge Columbia to keep navy intelligence investigating; Wilson says he will think about it.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Wilson discovers Myo believes in the Starflyer
On the train back from Newark, Wilson reviews navy files and finds Myo's restricted reports show she now believes the Starflyer is real; he questions Rafael about the Guardians on Mars.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Mellanie confronts Paula Myo
Mellanie visits Paula in Paris and tells her about the Starflyer, the fraudulent Cox charity and Baron. Paula is noncommittal, says she'll investigate, and asks Mellanie to come to her, not the media, with proof.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Paula offers Hoshe a job
Paula visits the recovering Hoshe, comforts him, and offers him a job as her assistant at Senate Security, citing her distrust of her old team. He asks about the medical benefits.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Paula briefs Hoshe
On Hoshe's first day, Paula assigns him to re-investigate the Cox charity and discusses Mellanie and the Rowden escape from LA Galactic.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Hoshe uncovers Cox charity fraud
Hoshe shows Paula that the Cox's records were faked and Directorate data suppressed; they conclude the Starflyer funded Bose's discovery and the war was deliberate.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Arrest attempt at Bromley, Waterford, and Granku
Paula's team raids the law firm, finding the commissioners missing, then visits Seaton's home and orders his wife Geena to forensic examination.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Paula Myo recruits Renne's help
Paula tells Renne that Alessandra Baron is a Starflyer agent and asks her to research Isabella's background, while secretly having Renne monitored to see whom she contacts.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Meeting at Justine's apartment
Paula, Justine and Gore share findings on the Mars data and Isabella Halgarth, and discuss approaching Ramon DB as an ally.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Link between Isabella and Far Away discovered
Justine finds that Isabella's father directed a research institute on Far Away fifteen years ago, suggesting how the child Isabella was reached by the Starflyer. Gore agrees to investigate the law firm's finances.
- Book 2 · Ch 7Justine probes Ramon
After a committee ambush by Valetta Halgarth, Justine questions Ramon about the origins of the navy deal and then warns Paula Myo of the vote.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Oscar reveals the Second Chance traitor evidence
Oscar privately shows Wilson a log of the dish pointed at the Prime homeworld, revealing a traitor aboard Second Chance. Wilson resolves to consult Paula Myo.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Paula proposes Far Away trap to Justine
Paula and Justine plan to propose cutting Far Away wormhole funding to flush out Starflyer allies; Paula discerns Justine's pregnancy and warns she would be bait.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Paula tests Tarlo at the club
Paula finds Tarlo at a Paris club and asks him to check old Cox Educational accounts, citing a tip-off and Baron's possible involvement, asking secrecy. She is secretly testing his trustworthiness.
- Book 2 · Ch 9Tampered navy records discovered
Wilson and Oscar show Paula Oscar's copy of the shuttle recording, but the official record has been altered to remove the dish deployment. Paula rules the copy inadmissible and says the Starflyer is likely behind it.
- Book 2 · Ch 9Bayfoss link to the barrier's collapse
Paula reveals the Bayfoss connection and warns the Armstrong-class satellites may have been sabotaged to switch off the barrier. She urges Wilson to inspect Bayfoss components supplied to classified projects.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Paula's team detects Tarlo's warning
Hoshe reports that Tarlo sent an encrypted warning to Bernadette after Renne's call; Paula decides to monitor both and arrest Tarlo later.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Attempted arrest of Tarlo
Paula Myo's team attacks Tarlo's room next to Gwyneth's; Tarlo fights back with plasma, wounds Gwyneth and escapes.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Paula briefs Alic
Paula tells Alic that Tarlo is a Starflyer traitor, that the Halgarths are suspected agents, and that Tarlo's cases must be reviewed.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Plan to let Bernadette run
Paula persuades the group to delay arresting Bernadette, keep multiple teams on her, and prioritize taking the Agent in custody at tonight's meeting.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Guardians follow the navy team
Bernadette's evasion forces the Guardians to switch tactics. They trail the navy team to the precinct, see Paula Myo arrive, and follow a convoy leaving at dusk.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Paula's team infiltrates Saffron Clinic
Paula's armored team takes the clinic's net down, catches Mellanie, learns the lawyers' locations, and assigns teams to each.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Raid on the Saffron Clinic
Paula's teams storm the clinic; wetwired hostiles fight back with explosions. Bernadette and others are killed, but an unidentified man's body is found and an elevator shaft breach suggests someone escaped.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Renne killed by Isabella Halgarth
Renne spots Isabella Halgarth and follows her taxi; Isabella detects her and destroys the taxi with a maser, killing Renne, whose memorycell survives.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Paula and Mellanie leave Illuminatus
After the Greenford Tower aftermath, Paula and Hoshe take Mellanie by police van to the CST station and board an express toward Earth.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Isabella ambushed on the express
Isabella Halgarth, a Starflyer agent, attacks the compartment; Paula's team traps her in a cage, disables her with a dump-web and nervejam stick, and captures her alive. Paula reveals it was an entrapment.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Hoshe delivers Isabella to the High Angel
Hoshe is stopped by navy troopers but cleared after the High Angel intervenes, then travels to the Raiel dome with Isabella's suspension shell.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Planning at Tulip Mansion
Justine, Gore and Paula discuss the failed assassination, the need for Nigel Sheldon's support, and plans to approach him through Campbell and watch Boongate.
- Book 2 · Ch 11Justine secures Sheldon support for Paula
At Nitachie, Campbell asks Nigel, who declares the Sheldon Dynasty will oppose Paula's dismissal from Senate Security.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Meeting at Newark station
Paula, Justine and Mellanie tell Nigel and Nelson the Starflyer is real and has infiltrated the navy and Halgarths. Nigel orders a secret strike on Dyson Alpha, and Paula deduces the Starflyer travels in a train wagon.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Ozzie's role revealed
Daniel finds that Ozzie ordered the political office in 2243 to block Far Away cargo inspections, showing the Guardians, not the Starflyer, were behind the obstruction.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Breakfast confrontation and Dudley's demand
Morton confronts Paula Myo at breakfast. At the meeting, Dudley demands lifeboat berths and reveals the Second Chance's message to the Primes.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Origin of the Starflyer revealed
Dudley explains the Dyson Beta alienPrimes and that the Starflyer is a MorningLightMountain subsidiary that fled to Far Away; the group infers the Starflyer's plan to pit humans against the Primes.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Qatux describes Starflyer's control
Qatux reveals how Isabella was compelled as a child, how the Starflyer adapted its plans, and agrees to help Paula read captured agents' memories in exchange for emotional experience via Mellanie's contact.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Plan to trap the Starflyer
They decide to arrest known agents, set up a secret operation at Narrabri with Morton's squad, and execute the Starflyer quietly once found.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Bradley and Burnelli negotiate
Senator Burnelli proposes joining forces; Bradley demands Paula Myo deliver McFoster's data to prove trust.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Qatux arrives with Tiger Pansy
Qatux and Hoshe come through the wormhole into the High Angel; Qatux links with Tiger Pansy, then goes to the analysis center to help find Starflyer agents.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Paula refuses Johansson's demand
Johansson demands Paula deliver Kazimir McFoster's data; Paula flatly refuses, angering Nigel, who tells Justine to negotiate alternatives.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Gateway hijacked
Nigel opens Boongate for Alic's team, but Mellanie and Johansson reveal Victor and a second unregistered train; Nigel loses control of the gateway system and Alster stops responding.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Guardians and allies pursue
Nigel agrees to send Bradley's Guardians, Paula, Qatux, Tiger Pansy and others through to Boongate with Justine's data crystal, then Adam's train heads through.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Zone killer strike on escort vehicles
Paula warns Alic to take cover, and the train fires zone killers that destroy the Starflyer's escort vehicles outside the force field.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Teams advance to Half Way gateway
The train is halted by broken rails. Teams transfer to armored cars and trucks; Vic stays to hunt Tarlo while the others attack the Half Way gateway defenses.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Guardians pass through the gateway
The Guardians destroy the maser cannons and send a drone and their trucks through the gateway to Half Way, with suspiciously little opposition.
- Book 2 · Ch 15Bradley explains the planet's revenge
On the Carbon Goose, Bradley tells Paula the smuggled force field equipment will steer a superstorm to smash the Marie Celeste on Far Away.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Stig meets the allies
Stig reunites with Adam and Bradley, is stunned to find Paula Myo and others allied with them, and nearly shoots her. Teams are divided for the Starflyer chase and the revenge project delivery.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Adam and Paula discuss suspects
Adam finds Paula collapsing in shock. She guides him through reasoning about suspects and opportunity for the Starflyer agent, then explains her condition arises from letting him go free. He sedates her.
- Book 2 · Ch 18Refuelling at Wolfstail
Adam's convoy stops at Wolfstail, where Adam and Oscar buy medical supplies for Paula. Adam tells Oscar he doubts he is the Starflyer agent and they weigh the remaining suspects.
- Book 2 · Ch 18Adam and Oscar weigh suspects
Buying medicine, Adam and Oscar discuss which of Wilson, Anna or Myo could be the Starflyer agent, without conclusion; Adam decides to rely on Paula.
- Book 2 · Ch 18Arrival at Stonewave
Adam's Volvos reach the deserted hyperglider town Stonewave across the wet desert; Paula remains gravely ill and Wilson needs equipment for the comrelay.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Adam found murdered
Oscar wakes from a memory implant to find Adam dead in the hangar. The Guardians accuse the others, but Paula's questioning establishes no clear culprit; Wilson insists the mission continue.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Hypergliders tethered in the wet desert
The group tethers three hypergliders along Stakeout Canyon for the morning storm launch. Oscar, Anna and Wilson board; the rest retreat to shelter at Mount Zeus.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Paula broadcasts to Johansson
Paula sets a repeating short-wave message telling Johansson Adam was murdered and asking who contacted Oscar to review the Second Chance logs. Johansson's group receives it.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Bradley deduces the observation trap
Realizing Paula's message concerns the hyperglider observation, Bradley sends a verification message over short-wave naming Oscar's link to Adam at Abadan.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Paula turns back to Oscar
Paula hears Bradley's reply, concludes Oscar is not the agent, and has Rosamund turn the jeep back toward Stakeout Canyon to question him.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Paula exposes Anna
Paula reasons that Oscar is cleared and that only Anna could be the Starflyer agent; Wilson reluctantly accepts it as Anna stays silent.
- Book 2 · Ch 20Paula takes over the Paris office
Paula returns as Deputy Director, welcomes the team, keeps Alic, and plans a meeting about Oscar Monroe's fate.