Short Fiction · Chapter
The Table explained
Underhill and Woodley discuss the dangers and psychological toll of pinlighting, a job that involves telepathically guiding light bombs to destroy hostile entities called Dragons or Rats during interstellar travel.
What happens
Underhill and Woodley discuss the dangers and psychological toll of pinlighting, a job that involves telepathically guiding light bombs to destroy hostile entities called Dragons or Rats during interstellar travel. Underhill reflects on the horror of the job, the loss of ships and crews, and the reliance on Partners—non-human creatures with superior speed—to protect planoforming ships. The chapter explores the tension between human limitations and the demands of space travel.
Themes in this chapter
The Cost of Progress
The chapter details the immense human and psychological toll of interstellar travel, including lost ships, insane crew members, and the need for recuperation after pinlighting.
Humanity vs. Mechanization
Underhill and Woodley discuss the limitations of human minds compared to the speed of Partners and the pin-set technology, highlighting the tension between human fragility and technological demands.
Fear of the Unknown
The Dragons represent a malevolent, incomprehensible threat from outer space, and the chapter explores the terror of encountering them during planoforming.
Characters to notice
- Underhill
A pinlighter who reflects on the horrors of his job, the loss of ships, and the psychological strain of working with Partners.
- Woodley
A veteran pinlighter nearing retirement, pragmatic and dismissive of Underhill's philosophical musings.
- Dogwood
Mentioned as a pinlighter who was destroyed by the Dragons, his soul described as 'wet and sort of sticky' as it left his body.
Key passages
“Pinlighting is a hell of a way to earn a living.”
Underhill thinks that being a pinlighter is a terrible job.
Opening line establishing the grim tone of the chapter.
“It must have been pretty good to have been an Ancient Man. I wonder why they burned up their world with war.”
Underhill envies ancient humans who didn't have to face the dangers of space travel and questions why they destroyed their own civilization.
Reflects Underhill's longing for a simpler, safer past.
“I saw what Dogwood looked like when he came apart. There was something funny. It looked wet and sort of sticky as if it were bleeding and it went out of him.”
Underhill recalls witnessing Dogwood's soul being torn from his body by the Dragons, describing it as a wet, sticky substance.
Illustrates the visceral horror of the Dragons' attacks.