Two books in is a good time to talk about the cap'n. I am not entirely sure what the authors intent is for several scenes. Nick comes across as slightly deranged. It reminds me of zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. In that the author there was an asshole, and didn't know it. So his character's tend to do weird fucked up shit. Similar here, although the extenuating circumstances that Nick goes through could explain his behavior. I think we are supposed to be seeing a man on the edge of a nervous breakdown. When he is likeable it is despite his massive character flaws, or perhaps it is when he isn't concerned with trivialities. Very little Vax in this book. A shame as he is an interesting character in his own right, and is seen very little of in the third book. What these characters are feeling, or why they behave as they do is troubling to me. I don't know if its inconsistent writing or if David had a point. Or maybe he understood people better than me. If he did I wish I knew what exactly he knew about humanity.