Clearly trying to be hard SF but getting bizarre easy things super wrong. What does it even mean for a rocket engine, or any object for that matter, to have a maximum velocity in space far below relativistic effects? While it’s fine for people to use colloquial definitions of “swarm” that have little relationship to actual bee behavior, a honeybee researcher would not do the same.

A fun read in spite of being constantly shaken out of suspension of disbelief though.