Everyone aboard Westward during its first mission shares the experience of having returned to an Earth that they found unrecognizable–and possibly uninhabitable. But more than any single shared experience, Carter may here be referring to the psychological trauma each member of the senior crew had experienced by the end of their misadventure. What’s possibly more pertinent is that the senior crew present aboard for this new mission is made up of members of what Ben called “The Unmentionables;” that is, the six people who went through Westward’s last Escherspace jump without being normalized. That would be the late Phobos, Francis Carter, Amila Santana, Rosemary Wells, Ben Schultz and…let’s see, who else…?

On a personal note, this past week was a difficult one, with work pressure being such that I hardly had any time for Westward. I’d like to thank Craig, Rob, Felix, Alec and John for their support and feedback. They bolstered my hope this week that Westward can meet its benchmark goals in the future. At the first benchmark, Westward will be generating enough revenue that delays and hiatuses due to work pressure should be ruled out. Thanks, Pioneers! -e