Foreman Solberg

Solberg’s mustache is as carefully maintained as the old union patch on his sleeve. When the Combine raised him from the foundry floor to command, he insisted that his crew come with him. Some officers objected to the patches they wore; Solberg answered that the people wearing them knew how to keep a ship working.

The Third Shift runs on agreements its crew helped write. Rest periods are recorded, complaints go to elected representatives, and the foreman is expected to explain an order that puts someone in unusual danger. These customs have survived because Solberg defends them as fiercely as he defends the ship.

He is proud of his people, though he rarely says so in a speech. He shows it by listening when a mechanic reports a fault and by sharing the consequences when a decision goes badly. His crew calls him by his first name on the bridge, a habit three Combine inspectors have failed to correct.