Chapter 84

Bill surveys the devastation left by the Others at Delta Pavonis, then works with Jacques and the Bobiverse to relocate twenty thousand Pav refugees to a new colony world at HIP 84051 rather than attempt to reclaim their destroyed homeworld. As the refugee ships depart, the Bobs consolidate their forces across multiple systems and begin planning a more aggressive strategy against the Others.

Bill arrives at Delta Pavonis 4 following the Others' departure and finds the planet stripped bare—oceans turned grey, cities demolished, and all vegetation dead. The devastation deeply affects him emotionally. Jacques argues that rehabilitation would take as long as traveling to a new system, and a suitable candidate has been found at HIP 84051, over 40 light-years from Sol. Bill visits Will (formerly Riker), who has recovered somewhat from Homer's suicide and helped arrange UN approval for the Pav to colonize HIP 84051. Bill then oversees first contact with eight awakened Pav refugees, explaining their kidnapping by the Others and the destruction of their homeworld. The Pav are traumatized but eventually calm when grouped together. After viewing images of both the destroyed Delta Pavonis and the proposed new colony world—which has compatible gravity and atmosphere—the Pav decide to settle the new world rather than attempt to reclaim their ruined homeworld. Hazjiar, their spokesperson, expresses concern about dependence on the Bobs but accepts their assistance. The Pav are returned to stasis, and Bill informs Jacques that scavenged resources will allow construction of new version-3 bodies for bodiless Bobs. The two refugee ships REFUGE-1 and REFUGE-2 depart for HIP 84051. In a final meeting, Andrew reports that Bobs are gathering at Gamma Pavonis and building military forces across multiple systems, with cloaking technology now perfected. However, the fundamental problem remains: the Others control the initiative and can always rebuild after any setback. Andrew pushes for a more aggressive strategy, and Bill hints he is developing a potential long-term solution while the Bobs prepare for possible invasion of Others' territory.