Aster is preparing for the difficult task of removing the gangrenous foot of a child named Flick. In the vast generation starship called Matilda in which they both live, Aster is in the rare position of being from a different lower-deck region than Flick. Travel between low decks is so rare and closely guarded by the upper deck power structure on Matilda that cultural differences and dialects form. For instance, all the people from Aster’s deck are referred to by the feminine pronoun “she,” while all the people from Flick’s deck are referred to as “they.” Aster holds a special pass provided to her by an organization called Heavens’ Hands Made Flesh that allows her to travel between decks as a medical specialist. Just as happened 25 years ago, Matilda is suffering from power outages, and the lower decks have suffered from a lack of heat.

To forestall the surgery, Flick talks about a variety of subjects. Illumination is provided by chemical lamps called starjars. Flick tries to make a comparative between the chemical reactions within lamps and actual stars. Aster, with a literalness typical of her personality, maintains that the two chemical reactions are different: “You’re arguing that a person is identical to a dog because they both have bones and blood,” she argues (11).