Jesper Fahey grew up in Novyi Zem and moved to Ketterdam to study at the university. His father, Colm, took out a loan on the family’s farm to pay for his education, but Jesper gambled away the money. The loan is coming due, so Colm travels to Ketterdam to see his son, whom he believes is still a respectable student. Wylan accompanies Jesper to the university to meet his father; Kaz and Matthias follow at a distance in case of trouble. Jesper expects Colm to be irate with him, so his father’s relief and joy upon seeing him strike like “a bullet right in Jesper’s heart” (74).

Jesper soon has more than figurative bullets to contend with as unseen gunmen open fire. The heat of action melts away the nerves Jesper felt about his father’s visit, leaving him feeling “free, dangerous, like lightning rolling over the prairie” (77). A bullet grazes Jesper, and Wylan comes to his aid by setting off a bomb that injures their unknown attacker. The joy that Jesper usually feels after a thrilling firefight drains away as he realizes that his father nearly died because of him.