In AL 1098, the deep-space exploration vessel Aurora recorded an impossible signal on the edge of the abyss: a data stream running backward, whose information structure exceeded the limits of pure mathematics in its degree of order. It could only be a snapshot of a consciousness preserved for 1,100 years. Navigator Viriel North received it by accident. It wasn't a System interface, but a set of tactical instincts: conditioned reflexes implanted by a dead military theorist from Earth. When he looked at a star chart, the 0.8-second gap in firing coverage between the third and seventh ships made the back of his head tingle. But he couldn't explain why. Instincts could be wrong. There were 63 marks left on his wristband. Hardcore fleet warfare | Tactical instincts, not a System | The law of overwhelming tonnage
