However, a mysterious force opens the airlock, killing the two scholars and causing significant damage to the Nightflyer.ĭespite their mutual distrust, the scholars agree to help Royd make repairs to the ship's damaged structure. Later that night, the cyberneticist Lommie Thorne and Alys hack into the ship's computer systems in an attempt to investigate captain Royd. Despite growing unrest among the crew, d'Branin still proceeds with the voyage due to his determination to find the Volcryn. However, a mysterious force causes Thale's head to explode. Not trusting Royd, Agatha gives Thale a drug called esperon and tells him to read Royd's mind.

As tensions among the passengers escalate due to the ship's cramped and claustrophobic quarters, captain Royd tells the crew that he is the cross-sex clone of his late trader mother and has lived his entire life in zero gravity space. Things start to take a turn for the worse after the xenotech Alys Northwind accidentally cuts her finger with a kitchen knife. The team's psipsych Agatha Marij-Black drugs Thale with the drug psionine-4 to keep him calm. The team's telepath Thale Lasamer senses there is something dangerous aboard the Nightflyer. Over the next five weeks, the passengers speculate about the secretive nature of their mysterious captain. He is particuklarly obsessed with Melantha Jhirl, a dark-skinned genetically engineered human who is a head taller than the other scholars. Royd secretly spies on the passengers using computer monitors. The enigmatic Royd keeps to his own sphere of the ship, preferring to correspond with the passengers via hologram. Due to limited funds, d'Branin has hired the services of the Nightflyer, a modified trader ship owned by captain Royd Eris. Plot Summary - WARNING: THIS SECTION CONTAINS SPOILERS -Ī nine-member team of Academy scholars from the planet Avalon led by the astrophysicist Karoly d'Branin are searching for the Volcryn, an enigmatic alien species with an advanced interstellar travel technology. 7 Connections to the 'Thousand Worlds' Universe.

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