Part 7, First Half (Saul, Carl, Virginia, Carl) Summary

Saul is observing creatures in the new ecosystem on the surface of the comet. The canyon they have created, called LeGrand, has many newly developed forms of life in it, and he has been in a sleep slot for the past ten years. A small mech tells him that Virginia wants to talk with him. He goes into a park, and a holographic projection of Virginia appears. She tells him that Ould-Harrad has died. A guide is waiting to take Saul into deep Gehenna in order to give him a message from the recently deceased leader. The guide leads him to Ould-Harrad's body, and Saul realizes the chamber he has entered is actually the remains of some kind of sea-creature, most likely older than the Sun itself.

Carl wakes next to...