An alien world is inhabited living, highly-intelligent rivers. Those rivers have made a deal with the Great Ship: Send them a mortal human as a sacrifice, and humanity will be given planets and moons as gifts. But who would willingly volunteer for such a duty? A stubborn man named Amund, it turns out. And before it is over, this ordinary mortal holds the lives of billions in his grasp. "Amund was little more than a boy when the captain visited his home. But that boy had a finished body, and being healthy as well as crafty-smart, he had several eager young women helping plan out his promising life. His future seemed to be locked inside one kind of wonderful, and Amund thought he understood what his story would be. But then Washen strode into the Highland of Little Sins. That was a remarkable occasion on its own merit. Captains never visited the sanctuary, certainly not a captain as powerful and famous as this entity. Knowing voices claimed that she was one the Master Captain’s favorites, and Washen brought a famous history as well as that very famous face. Amund knew the face well enough to recognize it from the high ledge. That’s where the children were told to gather while the important adults stood below, forming a tidy half-circle around an immortal machine carrying a lady’s face and a god’s invincible powers." Robert Reed has written quite a few tales about the Great Ship—a world-sized vessel crossing the Milky Way on a many-thousand-year voyage. "The Speed of Belief" is a very recent title.