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BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 103:

            Edmynd Walkyr, master after God of the galleon Wave (when his wife wasn't on deck, at least), stood by the galleon's after rail and worried.

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SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS – snippet 13:

            Galsson grabbed her arm. "On the peril of your soul, Sister. Demons are masters of deception!"

            She shook off his hand impatiently. "At this stage, it could be a demon or even an injured angel. And surely the hand of God is over anyone who treats an injured being, be they devil or angel."

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BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 102:

.XIII.

City of Ferayd,

Ferayd Sound,

Kingdom of Delfarahk

            "How may I help you, My Lord Bishop?" Sir Vyk Lakyr asked courteously as Bishop Ernyst Jynkyns was shown into his office near the Ferayd waterfront. Father Styvyn Graivyr, Bishop Ernyst's Intendant, followed on the bishop's heels, somber in the green cassock of an upper -priest bearing the sword and flame badge of the Order of Schueler.

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SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS – snippet 12:

Chapter 6

            The fault with early slowship concepts was simple: When you get there, the place may not be habitable. It may not even be terraformable. Maybe there won't even be a planet: And then one has to start the journey over. Even probes can let you down—arrive on the one habitable spot, or at the only habitable season. With space habitats, the equation changes. Man stops colonizing planets. He colonizes space around suns. There is a life zone and everything he will need from m-asteroids to ice around every star.

From SLOWTRAIN: THE STARS WITHIN OUR GRASP, Conquist, A., Mordaunt Scientific Press, NY. 2090.

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SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS – snippet 11:

Chapter 5

Internal e-memo.

Re Habitat 37.

Date: 2120-11-3 Time: 13:53 NMT

To: Chief Construction (Spacefitting) Officer M. Kabongo

From: Systems Engineer (Maintenance) W. Ankar

Mike,

            If they don't want maintenance robots, we can't force them to take them. The micro-bots are in place already and the externals will be here within 24 hours. There are standby 'bots in storage. What they don't see, they won't complain about, and it's not like work and safety people are going to come after us. You know that environmental planning is only giving the 350 year plus habitats a less than 50% chance of survival anyway. Their lookout. Their religious convictions.

            Wanda

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BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 101:

            Howsmyn looked as if he were tempted to spit on the polished marble floor, and Ironhill sighed.

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BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 100:

            He shrugged irritably, his mood obviously darkening, and Ironhill frowned.

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SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS – snippet 10:

            He stood there, leaning against the thick door, and staring into the blackness inside. A transport tunnel. That's what it had to be. A way of replenishing lost water or air from the stockpiles that were just behind the ramscoop. One stockpile for the entire string of habitats, fed through this tube. Simple. Elegant. Alien. Did he dare crawl into it?

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BY SCHISM RENT ASUNDER – snippet 99:

.XII.

A Palace Ballroom,

Tellesberg Palace,

City of Tellesberg,

Kingdom of Charis

            Ehdwyrd Howsmyn and Ahlvyno Pawalsyn stood beside the punch bowl and watched the colorful crowd.

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SLOW TRAIN TO ARCTURUS – snippet 9:

            When he woke up, Kretz had no idea how long he'd been lying there. The alien he'd fallen with would have no idea either. By the stillness and the odd angle of his head, Kretz guessed that he was dead. The alien had been less lucky about where he had landed. He was lying on a metal girder, and not half-buried in a mass of stinking, rotting, soft vegetation. Kretz tried to move.

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