The Lachrimosa is an Ultra vessel whose captain has bought some information which he believes will make him a lot of profit. And so the ship ends up at a planet exploring a place the crew really don’t want to explore.
This has hints of the wars between the maggots and the machines that was mentioned in Chasm City, and it seems we’re getting info dumped for the big books at the end of the series. Info dumping aside, it’s an enjoyable novella to whizz through in a day or so.
Available in the collection, Beyond the Aquila Rift.
This is folllowed by Turquoise Days.
