Gosh! You've made me feel nostalgic for the olden days and the good and crappy space opera stories the magazines of those days published.
A lot of them had one quality I did not enjoy. Space opera is a serious business, yet many authors would try to add slapdash humour to it, destroying their story. Thank goodness you have good taste and have not attempted to emulate them.
I'm looking forward to the next part.
Very glad you're enjoying the story so far.
I should have the last part up soon.