23. The Road to Garack’s Spine

Bob and Hugh execute their plan to transport Bender's matrix downriver toward Garack's Spine, but their operation is discovered and intercepted by four pursuing boats. Bob creates a distraction while Hugh submerges with the matrix attached to a catamaran hull, and Bob hides the transport case and escapes into the forest, destroying a surveillance drone in the process.

Bob and Hugh begin their two-week journey down the Nirvana River system, traveling quietly at night in the outer sections to avoid detection by patrols and aerial surveillance. The plan requires them to float past Garack's location, take a connector tributary to the Arcadia River, and float back to reach Garack's Spine. Between Bridget's message about the feral young Quinlan they encountered and conversations with Will about his secret departure from 82 Eridani aboard a mini-Bellerophon, Bob has much to contemplate, though he defers difficult conversations until they reach safety. After eight days of successful travel, Hugh alerts Bob to four boats converging on their position in the middle of the night. Realizing escape underwater is impossible with the heavy transport case, Bob and Hugh execute the "Millennium Falcon maneuver"—Hugh submerges with Bender's matrix while Bob takes the case as a decoy. Bob leads the pursuers on a chase through the water and onto land, using his superior speed and night vision to lose them in the forest. He destroys a surveillance drone with a metal projectile, then buries the transport case, changes his appearance, and heads west before doubling back east in the water at dawn. Hugh remains attached to the underside of one of the catamaran hulls, riding with the pursuers themselves, theorizing they are concentrating their search on Bob and may not be actively hunting for a second fugitive.