More Firestar

Stories have sub-plots. In Kassandra's Song it's her flashbacks, and the same in Crosstime Cop. In Firestar it is Alan Young, an officer in the navy of the People's Star Kingdom.

Alan is there for a reason, and not just to pad the story to some wordcount. We get to see the Families through his eyes, and Corey gets to tell him things, which means the reader learns them. It adds 2.5 to 3.0 chapters to the story.

This changes the end of the story. As before, it ends with a battle in system K-303 (Families Catalogue). In this one there is no mention of Morosini's Children. Instead, Corey and Alan will work closely together, and that will be critical in winning the battle.

The battle won't be the end of the story, though. Because there will be the aftermath. After all, one of the themes is Corey trying to find a way to win the war.