Chapter VII

Summary

• In Chapter VII, the Transvect Ulciscor and the narrator are riding is attacked, causing it to go up in flames.
• To escape, Ulciscor finds an access hatch that leads below to a stone pillar that serves as a platform. Despite the narrator's fear, they both escape from the burning Transvect by jumping out the hatch and onto the slim "platform."
• Ulciscor suggests they jump off the platform just as the plummeting Transvect is about to hit the surrounding trees, something the narrator is highly averse to but is forced to do, resulting in them crash landing into the nearby woods.
• Both survive, but are very sore, bruised, and wet from the rain.
• Ulciscor insists they return to the Transvect because if key pieces of the Transvect (such as the core lift and propulsion mechanisms) are undamaged, they may be able to get it moving again.
• On their way back to the Transvect, they encounter four men near the wreckage. Ulciscor confronts them but after becoming suspicious that the unlucky man at the front, Sacro, is lying, he somehow makes Sacro's head explode, killing him instantly.
• The remaining three men and the narrator are shocked but before more confrontations can occur, an arrow suddenly pierces Ulciscor's leg, causing him to collapse.
• The three men consider escaping but eventually decide to confront the collapsed Ulciscor with weapons in hand.