In part 2 of chapter 4, Cathy begins putting her stamp on how the General Store is run. Later, Aaron runs to Cathy's rescue when a stranger attempts a robbery at knife point. The robber escapes. Little money is taken, but there is some damage to the case that contains the rare steel knives Aaron has carried over from his home world into this iron poor one.
In chapter 5 Aaron teleports to his home world to report on his progress before a council of independent militias. We learn that both Aaron and Helmet Klein, the other militia member who can teleport, have not been totally truthful when reporting on the new world. We also learn that Helmet plans on building his own empire and that the militia is working on a machine that will allow them to teleport into the new world at will.