Yimot 70
Yimot 70 is a graduate student in astronomy at Saro University, instantly recognizable for his extraordinary height and a constant, involuntary twitchiness that makes him seem like "a hinged ladder with arms, legs, and a face." He is inseparable from his friend Faro 24, a short, roly-poly student whose languid manner contrasts with Yimot's tense, jerky energy. Together they are considered the most brilliant of the younger students, one notch below Beenay 25 in the Observatory's hierarchy. Yimot's nervousness is so pronounced that even the formidable Observatory director Athor 77 notices it: when Yimot brings him a set of calculations, his wild twitches and convulsions make him look as though he is "dancing on hot embers," and Athor's own hand trembles so violently in response that Yimot stares at it, aghast.
Role in the Orbital Anomaly
Beenay, having discovered a discrepancy in Kalgash's orbit that challenges the Theory of Universal Gravitation, gives the problem to Yimot and Faro without revealing its context, asking them to calculate the whole thing from scratch. They run the numbers first and only afterward realize the gravitational implications. Their results confirm Beenay's own: the orbit deviates from what Athor's theory predicts. When Beenay scans their printout, his hands shake so badly that the sheets scatter across the floor, and Faro kneels to pick them up. Yimot, shocked that Beenay would question their accuracy, cries out, "Sir!" in a tone of deep offense, his face bright red and his arms waving "as if moving of their own accord." Later, when Athor works out the Kalgash Two hypothesis, Yimot is present in the office as the old man, exhausted and trembling, keys in the final numbers that confirm the existence of the invisible satellite.
The Eclipse Experiment
In the months before the eclipse, Yimot and Faro conduct a private experiment. Using their own savings—two thousand credits—they buy a low, one-story warehouse with a domed roof, line it with black velvet to create total darkness, and punch tiny holes in the ceiling covered by metal caps that can be opened simultaneously. Their goal is to simulate the appearance of the Stars that the Apostles of Flame have prophesied. They shut themselves inside, allow their eyes to adjust, and pull the switch. The result is anticlimactic: the roof glitters with little dots of light, but nothing happens. No madness, no terror. They try it over and over, which is what keeps them late on the evening of the eclipse. When they finally arrive at the Observatory, Faro is smirking strangely, and Yimot is defensive about the cost, saying, "Tomorrow two thousand credits will be two thousand pieces of paper and nothing else." Their failed experiment becomes a point of discussion for Sheerin 501, who later realizes that the total time of their exposure to darkness was insufficient to trigger the psychological effect.
During the Eclipse and Aftermath
On the night of the eclipse, Yimot is present in the Observatory dome when the Stars appear. He sees them for only two or three seconds before looking away, feeling his mind spinning and the top of his head starting to lift off. He later describes them to Sheerin as "awesome" and "very frightening, but also very beautiful," and he realizes that Beenay's theory was correct: the Stars are thousands of suns, a tremendous globe completely enclosing Kalgash but normally invisible because of the light of the six familiar suns. When the mob storms the Observatory, Yimot gets jammed up in an alcove and hides there through the night. He survives, and the next morning he meets Sheerin in the wrecked great hall, where bodies lie twisted in ghastly angles and the scientific instruments have been pulled down and burned. Yimot asks about Faro, but Sheerin tells him it is hopeless to search. They leave together, Sheerin handing Yimot a billy-club and telling him to pretend he will use it to defend himself. Yimot catches it clumsily, staring at it as though he has no idea what it is. Later, traveling with Sheerin through the forest, Yimot is killed by a little girl, ten or twelve years old, who comes up to him laughing, stabs him without warning, and runs away still laughing. Sheerin reports this to Theremon 762, saying, "The gods aren't listening any more."
