Part 1, The Crazy Eddie Probe: Chapter 10, The Planet Killer Summary

MacArthur will be outfitted as a complete science mission vessel and accompanied by another vessel, the Lenin, commanded by Admiral Lavernti Kutuzov. The MacArthur cannot be allowed to fall under alien control, and Kutuzov's job is to destroy the other ship if it captured.

Part 1, The Crazy Eddie Probe: Chapter 10, The Planet Killer Analysis

At this point in the story the expected conflict between science and military is presented very succinctly. The conflict is not any surprise and all that needs to be highlighted to move the story along are the different arguments and assumptions under which each camp operates. The specific dynamics for the mission also are given an initial complexity that hints at further development in the plot. Rod's quasi-conflicting urges leading a first-contact mission...