Wilson Kime
Names: Wilson KimeWilsonCaptain-Pilot Wilson KimeCaptain KimeGrandpaCaptainbossAdmiralAdmiral Columbiaex-Admiral Kime
First appears in Book 1: Pandora's Star, chapter 1 (PROLOGUE)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: Pandora's Star
- Ch 1Wilson is NASA's Captain-Pilot of the Eagle II, a former USAF pilot with nine years at NASA, who sacrificed his first marriage and relationship with his child.
- Ch 1Wilson disobeyed protocol by switching off the autopilot at a hundred meters and landing manually, because he wanted a human, not a machine, to make the landing.
- Ch 1Wilson is third to step onto Mars, after Lewis and Orchiston, and accepts this without caring about fame.
- Ch 6Wilson Kime is a retired captain and former NASA astronaut whose Mars mission ended in a debacle, then became a corporate executive.
- Ch 6Wilson rose through KAD Components to the board of Farndale Engineering, was chairman twice in eighty years, and is expected to become Los Vada's chief executive.
- Ch 6Wilson is on a time-out sabbatical life, running his family's York5 estate and vineyards, with a planned eight-year grand tour.
- Ch 6Wilson still resents Nigel Sheldon for something he did three hundred and thirty years ago and punches him on sight.
- Ch 6Wilson accepts Nigel's offer to captain the starship to Dyson Alpha almost automatically, asking only for a few days to settle affairs.
- Ch 6Wilson agreed to captain the starship four days earlier, and he formerly served on the Ulysses, whose crew he hopes to partly reassemble.
- Ch 6Wilson insists on a safety-first mission: first observe from at least ten light-years out and approach by stages, even if it adds months.
- Ch 6Wilson names the starship Second Chance, and wants a minimal engineering crew with a large science complement.
- Ch 7Wilson Kime has been chosen to captain the Dyson Alpha mission, reportedly to Nigel Sheldon's displeasure.
- Ch 8Wilson is captain of the Second Chance and recruits Oscar as executive officer after watching him run the Chelva operation.
- Ch 8Wilson trained nearly a decade for the Mars mission and insists on covering every angle on the Dyson Pair, including alien knowledge.
- Ch 8Is a captain preparing the Second Chance; he met secret Commonwealth security chiefs about the Marie Celeste's flare bomb and considers asking Nigel Sheldon.
- Ch 10Now runs the Second Chance project with tight discipline and long hours, and set up a final design review board.
- Ch 10Crew selection: 220 candidates in second-phase training, final fifty chosen a month before launch; seventy science team members passed so far.
- Ch 11Wilson is captain of Second Chance and reacts to the attack by sealing the assembly platform's gateway with a force field.
- Ch 11Wilson is aboard the Second Chance, in contact with the SI, trying to secure the starship and find any usable systems.
- Ch 11Wilson is in charge of the starship project and is desperate to protect it; he is not afraid of dying because his memory can be downloaded.
- Ch 12Wilson returned to the gateway to applause and gave many interviews, promising to complete the mission; he is over three hundred years old.
- Ch 12Wilson is deeply afraid of dying and does not believe a re-life copy continues his existence.
- Ch 12Wilson begins a romance with Anna and wants to meet her again that night.
- Ch 12Wilson commanded the Ulysses mission to Mars about three centuries ago and feels his life since has been an interlude.
- Ch 12Wilson flew the Second Chance starship during the attack and enjoyed it, feeling he is doing what he was born to do.
- Ch 12Wilson spent the night with Anna, a project staffer, and jokingly refuses to say what happened in freefall on Ulysses.
- Ch 13Wilson is captain of the Second Chance; Nigel Sheldon chose him for his judgment, since the ship cannot refer decisions back home.
- Ch 13Wilson dislikes ceremony, regrets bowing to political pressure to bring Bose, and is uneasy that no relative of his qualified for the crew.
- Ch 13Wilson uses virtual vision to sweep the starship's primary systems and finds everything running smoothly.
- Ch 15Wilson commands the Second Chance and is a former NASA astronaut who flew on Ulysses and earlier served in the air force.
- Ch 15Wilson nearly drowned at age nine in a deep pool, and the fear he felt then returns in the emptiness of interstellar space.
- Ch 15Wilson prefers one partner at a time, unlike many in the Commonwealth, and rejected all first-life applicants for his crew.
- Ch 15Wilson hides his anxiety over the void from the bridge crew, though Anna notices and messages him.
- Ch 15Wilson is the captain of the Second Chance and spent three hundred years waiting for something as important as this mission to happen again.
- Ch 15Wilson commands the Second Chance and decides to stop studying the Dark Fortress after three months, believing it poses no threat to the Commonwealth.
- Ch 15Wilson orders the Second Chance to within one million kilometers of the barrier to see the fluctuations.
- Ch 15Wilson commands the Second Chance and decides to continue the mission, authorizing a cautious remote investigatory contact despite Oscar's objections.
- Ch 15Wilson is captain of the Second Chance and chose silent running to gather data quietly before making contact.
- Ch 15Wilson, captain of the Second Chance, resolves to withdraw if the aliens do not slow, refusing to risk the mission in combat contact.
- Ch 15Wilson orders the contact teams recalled, sends a preliminary contact package to the aliens, and finally orders hyperspace home.
- Ch 16Captain Kime explained that he left two crew behind because the ship was in grave danger and warning the Commonwealth was more important.
- Ch 16Kime, captain of the Second Chance, was appointed by Nigel Sheldon and had to leave Dudley Bose and Emmanuelle Verbeke behind.
- Ch 17Wilson, captain of the Second Chance, argues the barrier's builders were paranoid about the Dyson aliens, so the aliens' release is deeply worrying.
- Ch 17Wilson fears Bose may not carry out the memory datawipe and suicide because his training was less thorough than the rest of the crew's.
- Ch 20Wilson Kime is commander of the Starflight Agency and is aboard the Conway, expected at Dyson Alpha.
- Ch 21Now Commander of the new Starflight Agency, he resented being bumped upstairs and the political interference with the shipyards, but used his rank to command the scoutship mission.
- Ch 21He and Anna are in a relationship; she serves as his executive officer on the Conway.
- Ch 21He realised the 'Dudley' call was false when the voice claimed to be aboard a ship at ten gees yet spoke calmly.
- Ch 22Confirmed the Primes are hostile and building huge wormholes; promoted to admiral and put in command of the new Commonwealth Navy.
- Ch 22Wilson is the navy's admiral; his years of travel have rekindled his wanderlust, and he doubts he could return to his old job at Farndale.
- Ch 22Wilson proposed to Anna as the Conway docked; they have not set a wedding date, which is a running joke at Base One.
- Ch 25Wilson is navy commander who has been to Dyson Alpha and seen the scale of the Prime civilization.
- Ch 25Wilson orders his ships to rendezvous half a light-year from Anshun to start a counterattack, and fears the Guardians knew of the attack.
- Ch 25The navy has only three functional warships and eight scoutships refitted as missile carriers.
- Ch 25Wilson orders immediate evacuation of the assaulted worlds and wants military reserves and aerobots shipped to help, under his command.
- Ch 25Kime must send a warship through to attack the Primes' staging post, the only way to slow them down, according to Ainge.
- Ch 25Wilson orders the aerobots withdrawn to protect the cities, expecting the Primes to have to come ashore in smaller vehicles.
- Ch 25Wilson directs the Commonwealth military response, pressing the President to show coherent resistance and ordering aerobot squadrons to defend Anshun's shielded cities.
- Ch 25Wilson orders electronic warfare aerobots deployed to cut the Primes' communication links and see what effect it has.
- Ch 25Admiral Wilson directs electronic warfare aerobots against the Primes at Scraptoft and orders all available EW systems deployed.
- Ch 25Wilson concedes the assaulted worlds cannot be retaken, writes them off, and orders evacuation of all of them and a fall back to regroup.
Book 2: Judas Unchained
- Ch 3Presents a three-stage plan: sabotage on the Lost23, a huge fleet of fast, shielded relativistic-drone warships, then destroying the Hell's Gateway staging post.
- Ch 3Admits the navy's initial preparation was wholly inadequate because humans refused to believe such an attack would happen.
- Ch 3Wilson was on Mars for ten hours over three hundred years ago, and trusts Rafael Columbia completely, refusing office politics.
- Ch 3Wilson was on the receiving end of a Guardian operation that nearly destroyed the Second Chance.
- Ch 3Wilson is deeply bothered by the Guardians' interest in Mars, which has a special resonance for him.
- Ch 3Wilson asks Rafael to keep navy intelligence investigating the Guardians' purpose on Mars.
- Ch 3Wilson believes the Primes have limited resources and can be beaten with the new ships, wetwired troops and the Seattle Project.
- Ch 3Alan blames Wilson for letting Prime invade twenty-three worlds and target Wessex, but Nigel says he is the best man for the job.
- Ch 4Wilson, an Admiral, marries Anna in a traditional ceremony and returns to work the next day; he regrets Patricia Kantil's feelgood propaganda idea.
- Ch 5Wilson meets each captain before departure; he tells Oscar the navy must find the star Hell's Gateway leads to.
- Ch 6Wilson was a member of the Ulysses crew and is deeply moved on returning to Mars after over three centuries.
- Ch 6Wilson is marrying Anna and is searching Mars for the flag the crew planted, which he thinks may have blown over.
- Ch 6Wilson says the Eagle II belongs on Mars as part of its history, and calls it her heart that Nigel broke.
- Ch 6Wilson claims he never took a rock sample on the earlier Mars mission, and resists the idea of Nigel being blamed for wormhole technology.
- Ch 8Wilson plans a conventional assault with Moscow-class ships standing off at the system edge and firing Douvoir missiles.
- Ch 8Wilson was also approached by someone suspicious about the mission and decides to consult Paula Myo about a traitor among the crew he and Oscar chose.
- Ch 8Kime asked Paula to visit the High Angel to review information about an abnormality during the Second Chance mission.
- Ch 9Wilson is the Admiral. Two days earlier he and Oscar watched the official recording showing the dish deploying; it has since been altered to show the dish still folded.
- Ch 9Wilson, guilt-ridden for ignoring the sense that the navy was compromised, will recommend deploying quantumbusters and fears the Primes may learn about Douvoir missiles.
- Ch 9Wilson nearly tells Rafael about the Starflyer and treachery aboard the Second Chance but holds back for political reasons.
- Ch 10Admiral Kime announces that the Moscow-class fleet's attack on Hell's Gateway failed, since the Primes deflected the Douvoir missiles.
- Ch 11Kime opposes attacking the Primes or diverting starships from defense yet, wanting to keep quantumbusters secret until more are in service.
- Ch 11Admiral Kime believes the Starflyer is real but is hampered by corrupted evidence.
- Ch 12Wilson is an admiral directing the Commonwealth defence from Pentagon II; he plans for his family to flee on the lifeboats if defeat looms.
- Ch 12Wilson orders starships to launch quantumbusters at every flare and wants the CST network shut down to prevent mass panic.
- Ch 12Wilson orders the Cairo and Baghdad to Hell's Gateway to break its force fields and destroy the gateway generators with quantumbusters.
- Ch 12Wilson fears the burden of command but, once he accepts it, finds the decisions easier; he authorizes quantumbusters that will kill millions through radiation.
- Ch 13Wilson is forced to resign as admiral of the navy after the disastrous Prime invasion.
- Ch 13Before leaving, Wilson tells the War Cabinet the Starflyer is real and its agents on the Second Chance switched off the barrier generator.
- Ch 13Wilson is married to Anna and owns a home on York5.
- Ch 13Kime uncovered evidence of Starflyer agents on the Second Chance, but it was tampered with from inside Pentagon II and he couldn't go public.
- Ch 13Wilson Kime was fired by the War Cabinet and made a scapegoat, shocking the navy.
- Ch 13Wilson is an ex-Admiral who thanks Dudley for the warning that let the Conway return.
- Ch 14Wilson is irritated by Dudley Bose and asks the Bose motile to translate the Far Away flare signal.
- Ch 14Stops the fight between Oscar and Dudley with a commanding tone, then admits the discrepancy in Dudley's account could point to a Starflyer agent.
- Ch 15Wilson was an air force pilot in his first life and is an admiral who was hunting the Guardians thirty hours earlier; he now pilots the Carbon Goose.
- Ch 15Wilson sees his younger self, from 340 years ago, in the eager engineer Kieran.
- Ch 15Wilson pilots the Carbon Goose and flies low toward Port Evergreen without radar to avoid detection; he once navigated blind three hundred fifty years ago.
- Ch 16Wilson Kime used his astroengineering knowledge to reprogram the stormrider so it fell into the neutron star's plasma current, cutting off any return path.
- Ch 16Wilson Kime is an ex-Admiral now allied with the Guardians, and worries about how ill Paula appears.
- Ch 17Admiral Kime resigned, effectively fired, because the War Cabinet disagreed with how navy ships were prioritized.
- Ch 18Wilson is a former fighter pilot who captained the Second Chance and later commanded the navy; he claims to be the only human to have flown on Mars.
- Ch 18Wilson proposes landing a hyperglider on Mount Herculaneum's summit to set up an observation and relay post at Aphrodite's Seat.
- Ch 18Wilson modified arrays to provide the comrelay function Samantha needs, but had only one working unit and wants parts from Adam's cab.
- Ch 18Wilson and Anna are hyperglider experts who check the aircraft, plan the flight trajectory and run preflight checklists.
- Ch 18Wilson proposes flying a standard overflight trajectory, then killing velocity after the twister to land behind Aphrodite's Seat.
- Ch 19Wilson insists the mission continues, with everyone working in groups of at least three, and all three gliders flying to Stakeout Canyon.
- Ch 19Wilson, an admiral whose command of the navy is seen as weak, will fly a hyperglider up Mount Herculaneum with his partner Anna.
- Ch 19Wilson is a former Wild Fox squadron pilot who lost his last squadron buddy centuries ago; he composes himself and presses on to Aphrodite's Seat.
- Ch 19Wilson survives the collision, rides the vertical waterfall and a twister, and plots a parabola landing a kilometer and a half behind Aphrodite's Seat.
- Ch 19x
- Ch 19Wilson reached Aphrodite's Seat and transmitted the storm data; he says his wife Anna was the Starflyer agent.
- Ch 19Wilson, last of the Wild Foxes, crashed a hyperglider on Mount Herculaneum, crawled to Aphrodite's Seat with shattered legs, and watches the storm while dying.
- Ch 20Wilson, gravely injured on a lava field, declines rescue, expecting to die, and believes a re-lifed copy would not truly be him.
- Ch 20Wilson flew up the mountain and helped defeat the Starflyer; he hallucinates being rescued on Mars as he dies.
Connections
- leadsEagle IIpilots the lander
- family ofEmilygreat-great-great-great-grandfather
- family ofVictornephew by a complicated connection
- member ofFarndale Engineeringexecutive director, twice chairman
- leadsSecond Chancecaptain
- friend ofNigel Sheldonold friends, wary after an argument
- related toOscar Monroeexecutive officer to captain on the Second Chance
- ally ofOscar Monroework together but argue; Oscar is subordinate
- has memberAnna Hobermade executive officer under him
- inSecond Chance
- ally ofAnna
- related toSecond Chancepossibly piloting the ship
- partner ofAnnaengaged
- leadsOscar MonroeOscar is his deputy
- leadsstarflight agency
- leadsConway
- leadsCommonwealth navy
- related toRafael Columbiaserves as second in command to
- related toAnnachief staff officer to
- ally ofRafael Columbia
- ally ofLeopoldovichadviser
- ally ofTunde Suttonadviser
- leadsAnna
- leadsJean Douvoir
- friend ofOscar Monroebest man
- leadsCairo
- ally ofAdam Elvin
- ally ofGuardians of Selfhood
- family ofAnnaAnna is the Admiral's wife
- member ofWild Fox squadronformer pilot
- member ofWild Foxes
- family ofAnna Kime
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 1Eagle II lands on Mars
Wilson separates Eagle II from Ulysses, flies the descent to Arabia Terra and takes manual control to land near the cargo landers, accomplishing the first human Mars landing.
- Book 1 · Ch 1First steps on Mars
Lewis, Orchiston and Wilson climb down the ladder onto the surface; Lewis delivers a speech and photographs his footprint, then they prepare to plant the flag.
- Book 1 · Ch 1Strangers appear through a gateway
A sniggering voice over radio claims to be Nigel Sheldon. Wilson finds him behind the lander in a homemade suit beside a gateway opening onto a Californian physics lab.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Nigel punched and recruits Wilson
Nigel Sheldon arrives through a wormhole at Wilson's vineyard, is punched, then asks him to captain the starship to Dyson Alpha. Wilson agrees to take it on.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Wilson arrives at the starship project
Wilson travels by express to Treloar on Anshun, is driven across the derelict junction yard, and enters the starship project complex.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Tour of the Second Chance
Wilson tours the Anshun complex and assembly platform with Nigel and Daniel, sees the unfinished ship, and discusses timetable, power, and safety.
- Book 1 · Ch 6Wilson names the ship
Nigel lets Wilson name the starship, and Wilson chooses Second Chance. He also sets a cautious approach for the mission.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Oscar recruited by Wilson
Wilson Kime, impressed by Oscar's management, offers him the executive officer post on the Second Chance and Oscar accepts.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Crew planning and Halgarth conference
At Anshun, Oscar and Wilson plan crew selection and discuss Ulysses survivors. They then confer with Halgarth about the Marie Celeste and the Dyson Pair.
- Book 1 · Ch 8Director rules out Marie Celeste link
The Institute Director tells Wilson and Oscar the Marie Celeste's builders could not have made the Dyson barrier, which predates the arkship, so it is not connected to the Dyson Pair.
- Book 1 · Ch 10Inspection of the Second Chance
Wilson and Nigel tour the ship's assembly platform, discussing tanks, plasma rockets, funding, crew selection, and Nigel's pressure to consider Dr. Bose.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Attack on the Anshun complex
Kaos software, an explosion and intruders hit the complex. Wilson seals the assembly platform's gateway, orders everyone to Second Chance's life-support ring and names Anna Hober his executive officer.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Wilson secures the Second Chance
Wilson and Anna seal emergency airlocks, organize crews and reconnect to the planetary cybersphere; the SI says reinforcements are twenty-five minutes away.
- Book 1 · Ch 11Spaceplane attack announced
The SI reports two spaceplanes on a collision course; Wilson realizes the kinetic strike is lethal and asks about fuel in the tanks.
- Book 1 · Ch 12Assault on the gateway complex ends
CST security takes the control center after Rob Tannie surrenders; the gateway reopens and Wilson Kime returns to acclaim.
- Book 1 · Ch 12Post-attack morning at the complex
Wilson surveys the damaged CST complex and Oscar reports the starship is stable and rebuilding plans are underway; security wants to meet Wilson.
- 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 13Farewell gala at the Regency Palace
On the eve of departure, Wilson, Anna and Oscar attend the First Speaker's gala, where Council members debate the mission, weapons, funding and defense, and the Second Chance is saluted with fireworks.
- Book 1 · Ch 13Second Chance departs into the wormhole
Wilson leads the crew aboard, Douvoir disengages the ship from its platform, and Tu Lee opens the wormhole. The ship enters it, cutting its link to the unisphere.
- Book 1 · Ch 13Ship settles into routine flight
Wilson checks the starship's primary systems and finds them running well. The engineers keep monitoring their fields while the rest of the bridge crew relax, with about a hundred thirty days of travel remaining.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Second Chance emerges near Dyson Alpha
Wilson's ship exits hyperspace in interstellar space, and sensor modules survey Dyson Alpha's barrier at progressively closer stages, finding no threats and little new information.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Hysradar sweep and approach to the barrier
At one light-month the crew uses hysradar, which is reflected like a mirror, then jumps to one million km above the barrier's equator and learns wormholes cannot penetrate it.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Wilson and Anna view the barrier
Off duty, Wilson and Anna stand in the forward observation gallery, trying to see the barrier as a faint ghostly red haze with natural vision.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Department heads reject breaking through
Tunde says no hyperspace or physical route through the barrier exists. Wilson orders a circumnavigation of the equator and approves a gravity-wave signal plan.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Hemisphere discovered
During the equatorial survey, hysradar finds a 25,000 km hemisphere with an apex opening, gravity pulses and a strong magnetic field. A satellite is launched to look inside.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Exploring the Dark Fortress
Using Galileo and Armstrong satellites, the crew maps four lattice spheres and the central rings, discovering electro-repulsive and negative mass layers, and finds no hole on the opposite side.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Decision to move on
Wilson, Oscar and Tunde agree the Dark Fortress can't be understood with onboard resources and politically won't earn follow-up missions, so the flight around the barrier resumes.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Barrier turns transparent
An emergency alarm wakes Wilson as hysradar shows the barrier bowing inward. He takes the ship to one million kilometers, and the barrier begins turning transparent.
- Book 1 · Ch 15The barrier vanishes
Dyson Alpha's barrier loses cohesion and disappears as the Second Chance approaches, revealing a civilized, heavily colonized system and a changed Dark Fortress. Oscar fears something knows they are there.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Dyson squadrons fight
The crew observes a large battle between two Dyson squadrons using nuclear missiles and gamma lasers; Oscar urges leaving, but Wilson refuses.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Cautious contact plan and approach
Wilson authorizes a minimum-emission investigation of an abandoned wreck or habitat, with the ship on combat alert. The Second Chance crosses the old barrier line and heads for a chosen rock.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Dysons signal the Second Chance
Laser and microwave beams from Alpha Major's moonlets target the ship. Wilson's crew concludes the Dysons detected them, and hysradar then reveals eight ships approaching.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Alien flotilla fires missiles
Alien ships close at extreme velocity, then launch over a hundred missiles, twenty-four at Second Chance, and battle among themselves.
- Book 1 · Ch 15Second Chance flees
After recovering Mac and Francis, Wilson abandons the missing pair and orders a hyperspace jump home.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Two crew left behind
CST reveals Bose and Verbeke were abandoned. Kime justifies leaving them to bring back vital information, while Burnelli criticizes him and calls for another ship.
- Book 1 · Ch 16Nigel Sheldon's interview
Mark watches Nigel Sheldon defend Captain Kime and the mission and call for a return mission with multiple ships, answering Alessandra Baron's criticisms.
- Book 1 · Ch 17Council debates response to the Dyson aliens
After Second Chance's return, the Council concludes a third party removed the barrier, considers the Dyson aliens a threat, and discusses the risk that Bose and Verbeke are captured.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Breakfast at The Georgian
Bradley and Adam discuss the gallery attack, blockade running, a courier for Mars data, and Bradley's plan to convert Wilson Kime.
- Book 1 · Ch 20Bradley asks Adam to contact someone close to Kime
Bradley wants Kime to review Second Chance's system logs and proposes Adam approach an old contact with access to Kime. Adam angrily refuses.
- Book 1 · Ch 21Scoutships reach Dyson Alpha
After seventy-two days the three scoutships halt half a light-year out, find clear space, and the Conway and StAsaph proceed in while the Langharne waits and gathers data. They detect powerful wormhole activity.
- Book 1 · Ch 21Fake Dudley call and flight
MorningLightMountain impersonates Dudley Bose to lure the humans, but the Bose memories break out and shout a warning. Kime orders the scoutships to scatter and flee.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Doi announces the Commonwealth Navy
Doi addresses the Senate, honors Kime, Bose and Verbeke, signs decree 1081 creating the Commonwealth Navy, and promotes Kime to admiral. The speech is received with applause and high approval.
- Book 1 · Ch 22Rules of engagement meeting
Wilson's staff and the oversight committee meet. Dimitri argues for maximum force and destroying any Prime wormhole at once. Patricia is wary, but Wilson agrees to cost out weapons able to break through to the far end.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Prime invasion begins
Forty-eight wormholes open in each of 23 Commonwealth systems, and the Primes bombard planets with nukes and projectiles. Wilson, Rafael and Nigel raise force fields and launch defenses.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Primes launch invasion fleet
After bombardment, MorningLightMountain halts the projectiles and sends forty-eight thousand ships through toward the besieged worlds; Wilson's council plans evacuations.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Primes begin planetary landings
Wilson's team watches Prime ships enter atmospheres on many planets, immune to aerobot fire and heading for water landings, so reinforcement of cities is planned.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Evacuation and defense of Anshun
Commonwealth forces funnel refugees and aerobots through Wessex; aerobots deploy from Treloar to confront Primes landing at Scraptoft, but are beaten back by Prime fusion exhaust and smog.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Humans use electronic warfare at Scraptoft and Anshun
Wilson's EW aerobots jam Prime communications at Scraptoft, disabling armored soldiers and flyers. Navy warships arrive at Anshun and fight an hour-long battle with the Primes.
- Book 1 · Ch 25Humans fall back
Wilson, Nigel and the President decide to evacuate all assaulted worlds as Prime wormholes stay open and gateway machinery is landed.
- Book 2 · Ch 3First War Cabinet meeting
Meeting in Washington's Senate Hall, the War Cabinet hears Kime's assessment of the Prime assault and unanimously approves his three-stage strategy, with the Seattle Project noted as stage four.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Justine speaks with Ramon
After the meeting Justine and Ramon talk privately about his poor health and the LA Galactic killing. She withholds news of the Starflyer, then approaches Kime.
- 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 3Wilson and Anna on the terrace
Wilson and Anna discuss the war plans and Mars; Anna offers to push navy intelligence on the matter, and they spend an intimate evening.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Cabinet infighting over Wilson
Heather, Nigel and Alan discuss presenting a united front and whether to replace Wilson after the Prime invasion, with Heather threatening to shift the navy to her control.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Wilson and Anna's wedding
Wilson and Anna marry in a media-saturated chapel ceremony at High Angel, attended by politicians and navy personnel, then leave for a short honeymoon before returning to work.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Wilson briefs Oscar and Mac
Wilson reveals the Primes are fortifying the Lost23, tasks Oscar with finding Hell's Gateway's destination, assigns Mac to test relativistic missiles, and promises Oscar the assault cruiser project.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Expedition returns to Mars
Wilson, Anna, Nigel and a navy team pass through the old CST gateway to Arabia Terra. Wilson sees the wrecked Eagle II and cargo landers, and searches for the lost flag.
- Book 2 · Ch 6Souvenirs at the Eagle II
On Mars, Nigel, Wilson and Anna argue about the wrecked Eagle II and the old wormhole rivalry before Anna hands them each a pebble.
- Book 2 · Ch 8Navy Strategic Review Council debates the Hell's Gateway assault
Advisors discuss the Hell's Gateway location, Dimitri's call for caution and use of the Seattle weapon, and ship production. They agree to wait a fortnight, keeping reserves for defense and expanding guerrilla warfare.
- 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 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 9Prime wormholes shut and reopen
Before the attack, 772 Prime wormholes shut down, then all reopened five hours later, showing the human strike on Hell's Gateway failed.
- Book 2 · Ch 9War Cabinet approves quantumbusters
After the failed strike, the War Cabinet decides to arm all starships with Seattle quantumbuster weapons against Prime attack.
- Book 2 · Ch 10Attack on Hell's Gateway fails
Admiral Kime announces the failure of the fleet's missile strike against Hell's Gateway.
- Book 2 · Ch 11War Cabinet debates striking the Primes
The War Cabinet discusses carrying the fight to the Primes with quantumbusters; Justine backs genocide, Kime opposes, and Doi institutes an ongoing review.
- Book 2 · Ch 12Primes launch the second invasion
Prime wormholes open around 48 Commonwealth worlds, including Hanko and Wessex, flooding the systems with ships while Douvoirs fail to catch the shifting wormholes.
- Book 2 · Ch 12Dublin scouts the wormhole above the star
Wilson orders Oscar to scout the Prime wormhole above Hanko's star. Prime nukes jam sensors, and exotic-energy shockwaves shake the Dublin as it goes in closer.
- Book 2 · Ch 12Prime flare bomb strikes Hanko's star
Dublin observes a Prime device plunge into the corona and become a flare bomb; Seattle Project scientists identify it, warning the biosphere of Hanko is threatened.
- Book 2 · Ch 12Quantumbuster destroys the flare
Dublin fires a quantumbuster at maximum radius into the flare; the explosion wipes out the flare bomb and Prime covering ships, shocking MorningLightMountain. Wilson orders it repeated elsewhere.
- Book 2 · Ch 12Wilson orders strike on Hell's Gateway
Wilson commits to acting and sends the Cairo and Baghdad toward Hell's Gateway while quantumbusters are used against flare bombs, irradiating Commonwealth worlds.
- Book 2 · Ch 13Wilson forced to resign
The War Cabinet demands Wilson Kime's resignation after the invasion and revokes his codes; he warns them the Starflyer is real before leaving.
- 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 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 14Oscar and Dudley clash
Dudley confronts Oscar over being abandoned; the argument turns into a shoving match before Wilson, Anna and the Bose motile separate them.
- Book 2 · Ch 14Train breaks through to Far Away
Adam drives the Guardians' armored train through the Boongate gateway, then Nigel closes the wormhole behind them. They approach the Far Away station section.
- Book 2 · Ch 15Boarding the Carbon Goose
After sensorbot checks find no sabotage, Adam's group loads vehicles aboard the Carbon Goose, and Wilson pilots it out of the hangar toward the sea to chase the Starflyer.
- Book 2 · Ch 15Drop onto Port Evergreen
After launching recon drones and seeing the Starflyer's group stalled, the Carbon Goose is detected when its radar switches on; ten armored figures jump anyway.
- Book 2 · Ch 15Deciding whether to pursue through the wormhole
With eleven minutes left, the team sends sneekbots through, finds enemies waiting, and debates whether to follow with armored cars given the Volvos' cargo.
- Book 2 · Ch 15Carbon Goose lands and plan to reopen wormhole
After landing at Port Evergreen, Adam proposes hijacking the stormrider to power the wormhole. Morton objects, Bradley insists on going, and Qatux offers to compute a new wormhole end location.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Guardians arrive on Far Away
Wilson sends the stormrider into the neutron star; Qatux opens a wormhole and Bradley's party crosses to Far Away near Armstrong City, then the wormhole is closed.
- 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 16Truck breakdown and sabotage
A Volvo engine burns out on the Aldrin Plains. While transferring cargo, Adam finds four crates sabotaged by maser, raising suspicion of a saboteur within the group.
- Book 2 · Ch 16Sabotage investigated
Adam restores order after the crate discovery and Oscar reveals the gearbox failure looked like sabotage. The convoy sets off after an hour's delay.
- 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 18Plan to glide onto Aphrodite's Seat
Because the observation team is delayed, Wilson proposes landing a hyperglider on Mount Herculaneum. Samantha agrees despite sabotage fears; Adam privately plans to ground Wilson and Anna and let only Oscar fly.
- 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 18Hangar preparations
The group breaks into the Grand Triad Adventures hangar, powers it up, and checks hypergliders, jeeps and files while planning the flight to Aphrodite's Seat.
- 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 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 19Oscar confesses Abadan
During the ascent Oscar tells Wilson about his role in the Abadan bombing and reveals his real name, Gene Yaohui.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Oscar rams Anna
Oscar plunges his hyperglider into Anna's as she closes on Wilson; both crash, and Wilson rides the waterfall and a twister toward Aphrodite's Seat.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Hyperglider crash on Herculaneum
Wilson lands too fast on Mount Herculaneum's summit, the glider bounces, flips and crashes into a rock spur, and he is injured.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Wilson's signal reaches the cave
The Guardians receive Wilson's carrier signal and storm data, and begin phasing in the manipulator stations to amplify the storm.
- Book 2 · Ch 19Wilson watches the storm
Wilson, dying atop Mount Herculaneum, watches the Guardians channel the storm east until it becomes a vast self-sustaining dust storm sweeping over the High Desert.
- Book 2 · Ch 20Wilson awaits death
Wilson refuses rescue after the storm, stays on the cold lava, and drifts into visions as he dies.