So cutting out one of the least important subplots to "The Linen Butterfly" significantly shortened the rather drawn-out ending, but it's still 47,000 words or only slightly shorter than "Basecraft Cirrostratus" in its current unfinished form.

Considering the initial feedback I got was that a lot of things could be expanded, I don't suspect I'll have any problem expanding this to about 52,000 words or about the length of "Escape from St. Arned." I added a lot of unnecessary filler in my earlier drafts but most of that's been cut now.