Starting today, I will drag back through this section, do some line editing and rewriting. Some time next week it will go off to first readers. At that point, I'll do some revising and updating on the outline. Then a week or so away from Sunspin while I bat cleanup on some short fiction invitations and generally ratkill writing/career stuff that's been awaiting my attention.
After that, I'll probably move into revising Kalimpura, because it's due to Tor in June, and I don't really have time to write the next tranche of Calamity beforehand.
So Sunspin will be in the drawer a bit before going on. Ah, life. I'm fairly pleased with the project thus far.
To celebrate, here's a bit more WIP:
"It was a hot fight," the Before said.
"I see the power drains." He stabbed his way through the virteo projection. "You spike off real good, oh, half a dozen times."
"Old time shipbuilding," Shinka commented. Cannon felt a surge of pride at that. The Lieutenant-Praetor continued: "They went armed back in the day. No one ever decommissioned this ship."
Spinach shook his head in disbelief. "You guys went into a firefight with weapons that had been idle for over a thousand years." He glanced up from the data display. "Nothing lasts for a thousand years."
Once more Shinka looked appalled, but Cannon had to swallow a very unBeforelike giggle. "I beg to differ," she said in a kindly voice. "I can think of a thing or two."
He snorted. "Right. Peace, love, understanding, and your friendly neighborhood Before." With a sidelong look at Shinka, he added, "Is she always like this?"
Shinka shrugged. "How should I know? What's 'always' to a Before?"
"I came how many light-years for this?" he muttered, then dove back into the engineering logs.