People – a group comprised of every sapient species, organic or otherwise – were chaos, but chaos was good. Chaos was the only sensible conclusion. There was no law that was just in every situation, no blanket rule that could apply to everyone, no explanation that accounted for every component. This did not mean that laws and rules were not helpful, or that explanations should not be sought, but rather that there should be no fear in changing them as needed, for nothing in the universe ever held still.
Oh, I do love these books. Especially on audio. There just such a delightful take on the sci-fi ‘slice of life’ genre. Once again, it’s a new cast and new stories, with loose tiebacks to the previous characters (seeing Pei and hearing her talk about Ashby is a nice change of view). Chambers really shines at taking a bunch of weird and wonderful aliens, sticking them in a tight space (this time what’s essentially a ‘space truck stop’) for a few days, and seeing what happens. Nothing earthshaking1 or deadly2, but a lot of interpersonal drama. It’s great. Worth a read.