Hope was a flame, guttering in the dark.

The Plague was hunting us across the Universe, consuming everything in it’s wake. What stars remained were few, and far between. Often, when we entered a new system, we found the signs of the Enslaver God already waiting for us: portals that spewed forth untold legions of screaming monstrosities.

Near the center of the universe, a bottomless pit of black matter was dragging the whole universe into itself.

But the flame of hope refused to be snuffed out, for we had a new power to cling to...

Doctor Zhang was walking the entire War Council through the process, live.

We were sitting around that mahogany table, surrounded by a loose perimeter of guards and a wall of screens. There were a few other faces at the table too - politicians, governing influencers, a few leading scientists. The real work, however, was being handled by the engineering and development departments on the engineering deck.

We were simply observing.

“First,” Doctor Zhang said, “We cut to the core of a star.”

On the screens, an incredible beam of light shot from our Ship.

We were orbiting a star, and where our beam of light pierced the star, the star boiled and vomited magma into local space. Nobody spoke, not even the Russian, and those short minutes felt like hours.

The beam of light disappeared.

“Then we move closer to siphon the remaining power.”

The star expanded across the screen. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any brighter, a long metal arm extended out from our ship. Black metal glowed white-hot as it sank into the newly formed hole in the Sun.

“Unlike the Plague, our aim is not to absorb the power of the star but to divert it. If all goes well, we will conduct enough power to create our portal.”

The Sun warped and blossomed with light as the gravity holding it in place began to weaken. Lassos of light and magma whipped around the Star as we siphoned off the last of its energy.

Doctor Zhang carefully wiped sweat from her forehead. From what I understood, this new device had been tested only in theory. Which meant this live demonstration was our first - and probably our only - chance to get it right.

“And… here we go.”

There was a rocking motion, as the whole Ship bucked. The lights in our warehouse flickered off and on.

“What happened?” Shouted the Russian. “Did it work?”

“There’s nothing,” someone else muttered. “Shouldn’t we be seeing something?”

Burren cursed from the head of the table.

All the hope and joy in the room suddenly sagged under the weight of failure. Doctor Zhang was on her tablet, scrolling like mad. Sonya had a hand pressed to her ear as she listened to the communications from the science team.

But it was Kangongo who leaped up and shouted: “Look!” she shouted, “I can see stars!”

“It’s space,” the Russian said. “There are always stars in space.”

But that wasn’t true. The Plague had eaten all but a handful of specks of light in our Sky. These stars were not of our universe.

The Portal was open.

Cheers went up from the table. Even guards at the perimeter were cheering and hooting and clapping each other on the back. An alert rang out over the speakers, followed by an announcer: “All hands, prepare for … Oh, fuck it. I don’t know what to prepare for. Just get ready, we’re going in!”

If you’ve never crossed the divide from one Universe to another, I don’t know if I can describe the feeling. You just know something is different. Even though most universes are indistinguishable from one another, you just know something is different.

What mattered was this: we had done it. After how many years of running…

After how many years of fighting, and living, and trying…

This was our sweetest victory. To stretch our wings under new stars. To find a new place to call home.

Somewhere, the Russian had pulled out two bottles of champagne and was shaking them. Generals were shaking hands over the tables, smiling and laughing with each other. Even Doctor Zhang had a special smirk on her face.

And then, the announcer cut across the speakers again:

“All hands…”

It’s funny, how much pain you can hear in just two, short words.

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“All hands… Defensive stations.”

The Plague had already found us.

----------------------------------------

I wish I could recount to you all the wonders we saw, in the years that we kept running. But to be honest, it hurts to think about.

We never stopped jumping from one universe to the next, and each one was rich with unfathomable phenomena. How many discoveries - how many treasures of the universe did we skip past - never to see again?

What did the Plague take from us? We would never know.

Our Ship was growing old, and it was badly in need of repairs. Our once glittering city was growing tired and sickly. You could see it in the gaunt faces of every person on the Ship. Crime was up, birthrates were down, and hope was all but extinguished.

Humanity was not meant to be caged for so long.

Entropy took its toll. Each jump, each portal seemed to cost us another irreplaceable piece of the Ship. Our engineers were doing the best they could, but most of the technology that surrounded us was built by our Alien. And Icthyos hadn’t said a word to us since we had stolen the portal technology from Azthera. Seven years.

At first, there had been riots outside of the Alien’s chamber. Death threats and even a few bomb scares. But eventually, humanity figured that Icthyos wasn’t talking to us because the Alien was dead. Something about that first, new universe we transported into had killed it.

I didn’t believe the rumors…

Sonya said I had to let it go. But I just couldn’t. I don’t know how many times I went down there, to try to talk to it. I remember a few nights, where I fell asleep under the Sarcophagus (it had gone dark, and all the symbols had ceased their dancing). Feeling pity for myself.

Sonya would check in on me from time to time, though she was far busier most of these days. She would be on the People’s Council, soon. Of that, I was certain. A shame, that the peak of her career should be under such dark days.

Doctor Zhang often visited with me, though she didn’t have the luxury of sticking around for hours and hours. Unlike me, she was needed elsewhere.

That’s how I spent the twilight years of my life. Hiding away from the rest of humanity, while they kept going on. I told myself I was waiting for something, but the truth was… I had lost hope. An old dog needs a good, quiet place to die, and the Alien’s chamber was always silent.

Until I heard a voice.

I was sitting in the Chamber, surrounded by the remains of too many meals, scattered across the coffee table. We had moved a couch down there, too, and I was nodding off in the dark as the latest news reports blared from my tablet:

“...after two weeks, power has been restored to the Lower Decks, but the People’s Council asks that all citizens remember to conserve water where possible. Electricity is on half-rations due to the collapse...”

HUMAN.

I snorted awake. My cane slipped off the couch, and clattered to the ground.

Something was different in the Chamber. It took me a few, bleary-eyed seconds to figure out what had changed: the Sarcophagus was glowing. The old symbols rotated slowly around its surface.

“Icthyos?” I said.

YOU MUST KILL ME.

I fumbled for my cane and struggled to rise to my feet.

“Is that really you?”

I AM CURSED. YOU MUST DESTROY ME, TO SAVE YOURSELVES.

“What…“

I frowned hard at the Sarcophagus. I looked down at my feet. How do you know when you’re in a dream?

“Where have you been?” I said, trying to get a grip on reality.

HIDING. I THOUGHT IF I RECEDED INTO SILENCE, GOD WOULD NOT FIND ME.

BUT I WAS WRONG.

THIS IS ALL MY FAULT. YOU ARE IN DANGER. PERHAPS, GOD WILL NOT FIND YOU IF I AM DEAD.

“How could any of this possibly be your fault?”

I NEEDED TO KNOW. I NEEDED TO SEE GOD.

AZTHERA… MADE A TRADE WITH ME. I SOLD YOU OUT, FOR KNOWLEDGE.

“So what?” I couldn’t put the pieces together. “It’s God. God knows everything.”

NO. IT IS A POWERFUL BEING, BUT IT IS NO GOD.

IT HAS ENSLAVED MY PEOPLE, AND CHANGED THE WAY WE THINK. IT LIVES, ONLY TO CONTINUE THE CYCLE.

AS LONG AS I AM WITH YOU, DEATH WILL FOLLOW YOU.

YOU MUST KILL ME.

“Absolutely not.”

YOU THINK I AM WRONG?

“Unfortunately, I think you are absolutely correct. But I don’t give a damn, because there is no way in hell we’re going to kill you.”

BUT…

You could almost read the confusion in the dancing lights. The symbols, rapidly shifting into each other. Getting stuck on each other.

BUT THEN YOU WILL DIE.

“Listen to me, Icthyos. We need you. Our planet is dead, but we’re not. Because of you. And I don’t know about your species, but humans don’t easily forget the people who help us. So, I’ll say it again: as long as you’re here, we’re on the same side.”

YOU WILL NOT KILL ME, TO SAVE YOURSELVES?

“Yup, you’re not getting off that easy.” I tried to crack a smile, and something inside me broke. When I spoke again, my throat was dry and my eyes were wet. “Icthyos, it’s so good to hear your voice again.”

ARE YOU…

WHY…

The symbols swirling around the Sarcophagus stopped for a moment. Dripped down the surface of that floating box. I had never seen it do that before.

HOW CAN YOU BE LIKE THIS?

“Who?”

HUMANS.

ARE YOU ALL THIS NOBLE?

I started to laugh. It was the kind of laugh that snowballs into an avalanche. I started laughing so hard, I started to choke.

When I finally caught my breath, here’s what I said.

“Look, you can’t say Humans are any one thing. We’re everything. Hell, look at me. I’ve been a terrible person, I’ve had some awful moments in my past life. Go ask my ex-wife. But… we try. And we aspire to be more than we are. We learn from ourselves, we learn from each other. We’re just like you.”

NO.

“No?”

YOU ARE NOT LIKE ME. I AM SELFISH. I HAVE KEPT SO MUCH FROM YOU.

AND FOR WHAT?

THAT BEING WHO HUNTS YOU - THAT IS NO GOD. THAT IS A MONSTER. IT ENSLAVES, AND IT DEVOURS. AND I WANTED TO BECOME A PART OF IT. I WANTED TO LIVE FOREVER, AND I CARED FOR NO ONE ELSE.

BUT YOU HAVE SHOWN ME…

...THERE IS ANOTHER WAY.

WE CAN GROW, TOGETHER.

The symbols and designs dripping from the Sarcophagus pooled onto the floor, making a puddle of light. It rippled and glowed as it gathered in size. And slowly, a vision (a hologram?) began to emerge from the puddle.

I WILL ASCEND, HUMAN. BUT IT WILL NOT BE THROUGH SOME ENSLAVER GOD.

IT WILL BE THROUGH YOU.

WE ARE DESTINED TO ASCEND, TOGETHER.

The hologram solidified, became thousands of thin, gossamer strands made of light. They glistened in the space before me.

“What…” I reached my hand out, but the light danced away from my fingers, “What is this?”

GAZE UPON MY GREATEST WORK.

IT IS UNFINISHED, BUT I CAN TAKE IT NO FURTHER.

I WISH TO GIVE IT TO YOU.

The Sarcophagus and the spiderweb and the whole Chamber surged with light. And in a single instant, I saw how it worked.

And I broke down, and I wept.

When at last, I regained my composure, I hobbled over to the couch as quickly as I could. I pulled out my tablet and dialed Sonya.

“Colonel?” She sounded surprised. I guess it had been more than a few months since I talked to her.

“Sonya,” I spoke into my tablet. “Sonya, I need you.”

“Colonel, I’m sorry. I’d love to talk, but I’m about to walk into a meeting. Can it wait?”

“No.” I said. And I laughed. “No, this is urgent. Get Zhang. Get Kangongo. Get everyone you can.”

“What should I tell them?”

“Tell them… Tell them I’ve found a new hope.”