and I feel like such a pointless nitpicker, but every time I reread this story, this line, "Out past the edge of the solar system, the sun was dime-sized..." drives me crazy.

Out past the edge of the solar system, the sun was is a dot just like all the other stars, and not one of the biggest or brightest, either. The heliopause is a long way out there, and the sun just isn't that big.

But otherwise, it's a wonderful story with amazing insight into how these guys mesh.