Chapters 26 through 43 Summary

In Chapter Twenty-six, Ritsel's headquarters are located on the ship named the Invisible Hand. He is overseeing groups of focused snoops who are looking for any threats from the Qeng Ho. On this particular day, he sees video of Ezr's attack on Qiwi and laughs, thinking that the "mindscrubs" that had been performed on Qiwi over the years had become a highlight of entertainment for him. Ezr, meanwhile, is ashamed of his attack on Qiwi and wonders about Pham's intervention. He knows Pham as Pham Trilini and knows that Pham is doing something positive for the Qeng Ho though he can't decide exactly what that is. He also knows that Pham's identity is probably false and tries to think of who he might really be. He begins research in search of that information and comes up with the idea that he's...