The One Body Problem: Basic Human Incompetencies

Trik, twenty years of age, Prince of Y, tells us the story of a few months in the year 18,000 CE. Trik is sailing through the stars on his way to university on X when he is suddenly in need of more maturity than he possesses. The ship is by chance and unknown motive, attacked and destroyed. An ambush, but how? Why? Trik and his team escape to become pedestrian refugees on the politically hostile planet R. Trik's team of six is deeply experienced, entertainingly diverse, and mature–Trik's opposites in a way. All play more than one crucial role. Trik is also, privately, accompanied by The Goddess, a being who appears and disappears at her own whim, but turns up in time of crisis. As the story develops, Trik tells us something of his erratic self-education, especially one curious topic (the Delphic telepaths) seemingly unrelated to his predicament on R. The planet has its dangers, but coming to the attention of the authorities is not an option. The team must blend in to the population in hope of finding the tools for their escape. Ultimately, it's Trik's unfolding mental abilities that provide the shortcut out. At the same time, his immaturity and erratic personality endanger himself and the team. In the end, he has to push through grief and physical challenge alone. Well, almost alone. The story concludes through events of betrayal, chaos, violence, and perhaps, for Trik, growth.

The human diaspora into space creates a new context for what it means to be human. Trik, his companions, and people of R are products of the genetic wars ("purity"), benign and criminal genetic manipulation, fears of being superseded as "human", religions old and new (shamanism, Funnelism), art (animated sculpture as shamans portal, data as abstract art, a barely legal virtual symphony orchestra, the beauty of nature uninterested in the human species), immense distances between populations, and the explosion of variety in human experience. As Trik puts it: "No limits. Those two words are exciting and terrifying. Then you gasp awake, look up, and all the stars resume their significance as the backdrop to your brief life."