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Johannsson’s directions and words of reassurance to herself as she regains consciousness alone on a spacecraft also reassure the audience. Set in the future, the book is disorienting from the start. Johansson’s slow awakening as she takes stock of the damage to the ship orients readers in real-time to the brave-new-world gadgets, control panels, and equipment in her environment. The ship’s nuclear and quantum features are a compelling highlight of the story, capitalizing on technologies just outside of science’s present-day capacities. As the heat from her spacesuit and the medicine she finds enable her to move through the ship and recall what transpired to get her into this mess, the story reveals tantalizing snippets of backstory. Johannsson accepted this risky mission to help her estranged daughter. The small doses of information create suspense and empathy for this sole character and narrator until she discovers another crew member—Law.
Law commands Johannsson not to ask questions when answers are all she wants. Seen through Johansson’s perspective, Law’s arrival is as threatening as it is helpful. On the one hand, they are dependent on one another to return the ship to safety, but on the other, they wonder if they are enemies, as the reasons for the ship’s damage come to light, despite Law’s privacy of information. Johansson’s italicized reactions to Law contribute to an intimate tone in which readers are privy to a secret. The power of the secrets between Law and Johansson becomes more and more palpable, and tension builds. The two women channel world politics, greed, and an abundance of pent-up anger as well as compassion toward each other, the unleashing of which is as dynamic as the ship’s attack. The suspense remains high through the end as the conclusion reveals the ship’s true mission.