form without letting him speak to a lawyer. They persuade him to sign a form that looks like an insurance claim and that lets them take away his license as a freerunner, on medical grounds. Ben bribes a corporate contact to expedite his and Bird's claim to Dekker's ship, on the basis that he and Bird have been waiting too long for the police to release their own ship. This gets their ship, the Trinidad, released at last, and then they get ownership of Dekker's ship, though Bird feels bad that Dekker's being kept in hospital and has lost his license, especially when Ben wants to claim against Dekker's account for his and Bird's expenses. The authorities persuade Dekker to sign a form stating their findings that it was a catastrophic malfunction on the ship that caused the crash, not Dekker's fault but also not the company's fault, and the doctor tells him the driver was nowhere near. Then Dekker is released from hospital, and finally discovers his pilot's license has been revoked, and then that he has lost ownership of the ship. Dekker goes to confront Bird, wanting his ship back, and then wanting the log from his ship, but Bird tells him the authorities already wiped it. Dekker protests about his situation but Bird quietens him down, and Meg, whose dress and hairstyle reminds Dekker of the radicals he'd hung out with before he got arrested and was put in contact with Cory via an official pen pals scheme. References 2000 fiction books Alliance–Union universe Military science fiction novels Science fiction book series by C. J. Cherryh Fiction about asteroid mining