Nicole meets with the caretakers of Rama, and the two alien species. When the expedition is sent Earth-wards again, many of the new colonists sent are convicts.

The beginning and end of the book were interesting. I thought the middle could have been completely avoided if people had wanted to be truly happy. I think the first thing to do is avoid money altogether. Rama would have provided everything they needed. I think the critical junctions of the book were completely inconsistent with human nature -or am I being naive? The situation created there has parallels in history, so... We'll see what the next book holds. An absolution, I would expect.