 What does Ben seem to fear, more than anything else?
With never a moment to rest, the pursuit through space felt like a game of hounds and hares ... or was it follow the leader? But he'd become a kind of invisible Siamese twin, as much a part of Ben as sight in his eyes. Ben, quietly and moderately, wanted to celebrate. So , Ben reflected, you can take a beer-and-pretzels tale seriously. After all, was it right for a single second, a single insignificant second, to destroy a man's life and his dream? So now he sat searching for a perhaps nonexistent red-bearded giant, and hoping and doubting and fearing, all at once. Each whiteness became brighter and closer, like shrinking spokes of a wheel with Ben as their focal point.
 Losing his position and the chance to fly spaceships.
 The law, and atoning for his crime.  Losing his position and the chance to fly spaceships.  The dead man, and the way he persists in his mind.  Maggie and her husband, and the position they've put him in.