A clandestine manhunt spans centuries and narrows from dozens of systems to Triland, where Qeng Ho Fleet Captain Sammy personally searches because he once knew the target. In Grandville, a private investigator, Mr. Bonsol, links the alias Bidwel Ducanh to a failed bid to mount an OnOff expedition and to a death record tied to Saint Xupere’s Pauper Cemeterium. Bonsol refuses payment, asking instead that his children be allowed into university; Sammy quietly commits and resolves to force broader academic access.

Coordinating with Deputy Fleet Captain Kira Lisolet, Sammy confirms a schedule change sending the entire fleet to OnOff. Arriving at Lowcinder, he confronts Brother Song, who denies Ducanh’s survival until Sammy threatens a sweeping search; the monk yields, leading Sammy toward the “sunroom.” A Triland Security commissioner declares he will not execute the target, agreeing only to stand aside.

Sammy finds The Man—Pham Nuwen—aged, hostile, and possibly armed, watching the sunset. Pham taunts the Qeng Ho and recounts his failed effort to fund an OnOff mission. Sammy counters with a decisive reveal: recent spark-gap radio from the OnOff system, signaling living intelligence. Pham, shaken, sees he missed the discovery by decades; Sammy invites him to join the mission, though Pham insists he is not Qeng Ho.

Outside, Sammy wheels Pham into the cold and discusses the risk of rival human visitors, the Emergents, urging heavy armament. He times the sky and shows seven starships rising in line, culminating in a brilliant flagship named Pham Nuwen. Pham watches in grudging wonder as Sammy imagines a long pre-flight to restore him, the hunt ended and a fraught partnership beginning.