The short intro to the story relates how Greg Benford challenged Larry Niven to return to short story writing. I may have approached this story with the added disadvantage of the cover of the magazine there must be some complicated mathematic formulae in place at Asimovs which determines just when cheesy cover art is used. It takes place after the events of previously published stories, of which I am not familiar at present. I can say that upon the basis of this story I will be seeking out these preceding tales. Hard SF, with a junior midshipman suddenly plunged into a dramatic confrontation with strange alien life in deep space.
Good characterisation helps the story succeed.
The Cloud Man continues the adventures on Lydia Duluth, who was introduced in Stellar Harvest. The story starts high in the clouds on one planet and finishes deep in a jungle on another planet. My main criticism is that perhaps Arnason throws in too many ideas, which could usefully have been looked at in more depth perhaps. Sergeant Mother Glory is dramatic hard sf, with a genmod Interception Patrol rookie faced with some major decisions. The issue tails away to my mind, with a short whimsical story Peggy s Plan by Jim Grimsley.