The author of this novel, John Sandford, has a certain genius when it comes to writing that enables the writer to clearly picture the goings on of the story. This novel can only be described as gritty in a highly scientific, suspenseful way, all the while involving a sharp sense humor. It is not overt; there are no long-winded metaphors that end with a succinct punch line, in the style of Douglas Adams in A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Instead, there are subtle political references, such as naming the ship after the president who launched the space age, purely for ironic purposes, or at subtle jabs at the evolution of society. In one scene, small seismic devices colloquially referred to as Post-its are being used: “They were called Post-its. …show more content…
Admiral Fang-Castro is willing to do whatever it takes to get her crew home. She shares this motive with Crow, who is paranoid to an unprecedented degree and will do nearly anything to see the mission through. Becca Johansson, workaholic extraordinaire, is virtually willing to kill to protect and ensure the success of her VASIMR engines that power the Nixon. Fiorella, whose role in this mission is to create the future version of a television documentary series of the mission, will stop at nothing to achieve the status of an Ultra: “”That’s why I was so worried about you screwing it up,” Fiorella said. “Right now, if you were to make a list of news stars, I’d be a Senior Star- maybe- but nothing like an Ultra. When I get done with this, I want to be an Ultra. I’ve got a shot at it.” Sandy rubbed his nose. “How bad do you want it?” “Real bad,” Fiorella said” (Sandford 96). Even Darlington himself, who remains a lackadaisical character for most of the book outright flaunts this pervasive character trait at the conclusion of the story: he stows away some alien technology to leverage himself out of punitive measures enacted by the President after his conduct during the hostage situation. However, this is shown to take a toll on most of the characters, most notably Admiral Fang-Castro. Several scenes of introspection show her worries about the uncompromising President scapegoating her if all goes wrong, as the Admiral of the ship. There is also the question of whether or not to provide aid to the Chinese should they need it for a brief period of time, which forces Fang-Castro to weigh the lives of her crew versus condemning the Chinese to certain death, possibly in violation of her orders from Washington. Some internal monologues also reveal she feels guilt for the loss of Engine 1, feels guilt about her ship getting