A very annoying story. Damia is an idiot, Afra is stupid...well, I suppose he didn't have much choice, she wouldn't have looked at him without the shock. But still. Poor Larak. And a big hole in the story - where did Sodan come from and why? Were the fissionables actually weapons or just his drive (no one seems to have considered that)? And if they were weapons - exactly what did his people expect to accomplish sending just the one ship? I think some of these questions are answered in Damia or one of the other later Tower books, but I find them all too annoying to read, or remember the ones I have read. ( )