Samir walked pensively down the quiet hallway. It had been a day since they had escaped the Inheritors. The shields had held inside the star. Thankfully, most of the pursuing entities were forced to turn their guns on each other again as they couldn’t ignore the ships protecting Providence.

They had made it out to the next system. There, they had waited another paranoid hour, waiting for ships to arrive, but none came. Since then, they had jumped nearly fifteen times across ten thousand light years. While he didn’t want to raise any false hopes, it appeared that they were out of harm’s way for now.

He stopped at a closed door which sat the boundary between his and Erika’s sections. Through a small window of reinforced glass, he could see her walking towards him. She stopped a few feet away, watching him with a deep-seated tiredness.

Captain Singh reached for his personal comm. “I’m told Amos died in your arms.”

She glanced away from him as she reached for her own comm. “He did.”

Samir eyed her. “Did he have any last words?”

Erika shifted and met his eyes again. “He wanted me to tell you that he was sorry that he didn’t believe you. That you had to carry the work on your own now.”

“Hmph.”

He lowered his comm from his face, and the two stood in silence. There wasn’t much to discuss. Samir had learned to accept casualties in combat. He had learned to deal with people dying at his command. Amos was…

Samir shook his head. Amos was another body to add to the pile. His ghost would take his place among the rest.

“It’s a shame we’re at odds, Samir,” she spoke, drawing his attention again. “I’m just trying to improve humanity.”

Samir leaned forward, placing his hand on the door as he inched closer to the glass. “And I don’t think that’s possible.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Then let’s talk about what is possible,” Erika paced, crossing her arms. “I’ve had time to reflect on my views—especially with what’s happened.”

He waited to hear what she had to say next.

Erika paused for a moment. “Utopia is out of reach for now,” she spoke the words with some difficulty. “However, I am willing to take a more incremental approach than I previously considered. All the problems of life aside, there is one which stands above them all. Death.”

Samir remained silent.

Erika grew stern at his expression. “I think you of all people should sympathize with me, Captain. Given your history.”

“I accept what I’ve done.” He held the comm. “I accept the consequences. Death is a part of humanity. You shouldn’t change that.”

“Then we remain at an impasse,” Erika said.

Samir rested his shoulder against the door. “I don’t want to go down this road, Erika. After everything we’ve been through, all I see are more corpses to add to the rest. Can’t you be satisfied with what is? All the good—all the bad. We have so little time in our lives. I don’t want to fight this war.”

He glanced out of the corner of his eye, and he saw Erika rest against the door as well. The two stood back-to-back, with the steel contraption between them.

“I can’t be satisfied with this existence,” Erika quietly said. “I watched him die in my arms. I owe it to him to try.”

Samir closed his eyes. “And did Amos want that? The world you want?”

Erika snorted. “I knew him well enough—in my own way, I suppose. This isn’t about my world, whatever you think that means. This is about fixing what’s broken. To gain greater understanding. Righting the wrongs.”

Samir lifted his head. “Then I have to stop you.”

He heard Erika sigh. “We both know you don’t have a chance.”

Captain Singh raised the comm to his mouth. “I have to try, anyway.”

Erika chuckled a little. “A wager then. Your God versus my Truth.”

“No,” Samir whispered over the device. “It was never a wager.”

“…What then?”

Samir paused, hesitating before he spoke. “A life worth living. To live in fear… or to understand… and hope. That’s the difference between us, Erika. The lives we have chosen to live.”

He waited in silence for her to answer. He heard the static of the comm as he listened for her response.

“Then we shall see to the end together,” she finally said.

Samir remembered back to the day of the commencement ceremony. He had to shake his head at it now. How oblivious they were to the fate that had awaited them. Looking forward, there was no telling what would happen next. The only thing he knew for certain was that there was no going back.

He raised the comm again. “To whatever end we meet.”