‘What do you think?’ Yuri asked. ‘An Olyix habitat?’
‘Most likely,’ Jessika said. ‘There are several wormhole terminus hoops close to it. We’re heading for the nearest.’
‘No space traffic visible,’ Kandara said. ‘This place is like a ghost star.’
‘I haven’t seen any planets, either,’ Jessika said. ‘In fact the ecliptic plane is remarkably clear of any solid matter; no asteroids, comets . . . They cleared it all out.’
‘Hellfire,’ Callum exclaimed. ‘I was wondering how they powered their wormholes, given the energy they require to stay open is huge. Take a look at that star’s equator.’
Alik waited while the visualization refocused again, following everyone’s whim. He’d said nothing about all the wonders of this alien star, because frankly it was way outside his comfort zone. The nesting ring thing was so much bigger than the habitats humans built – if that what it actually was – and the radio telescopes were the size of fucking moons. He’d always known this flight was a long shot, but they were now getting seriously out of their depth – and still sinking. Reluctantly he looked at the gleaming red disc that was the small star. The equator was clearly visible, marked by a slim dark band. Magnification expanded until it became blurred.
‘Is that solid?’ Yuri asked incredulously.
‘Seems to be,’ Callum said. ‘It’s rotating faster than the star, but it’s on the top of the chromosphere.’
‘The star’s got a radius approximately a third of Sol,’ Jessika said. ‘Which gives a circumference of . . . Shit! One point three million kilometres.’
‘They built a ring of solid matter one point three million klicks?’ Yuri said. ‘What the hell from?’
‘Out of something tough enough to sit in a star,’ Callum added wickedly. ‘And function as a generator. My God, if that’s what they’ve built to power wormholes, what do they need to power something that slows down time inside the enclave? How big? What does it do, eat stars whole?’
Kandara chuckled. ‘Ever get the feeling you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?’
‘Not goddamn funny!’ Alik told her.
‘Relax. We’re not here to go mano a mano with these fuckers. We’re a bacterium on an elephant. Utterly insignificant. But if a bacterium gets into its bloodstream . . .’
Alik closed his eyes and exhaled as he slumped back into the seat. He knew the gesture wasn’t real, yet it still helped calm him. ‘I think reality is finally biting me on the ass.’
‘Lucky you,’ Callum said. ‘Me? I’m still in complete denial about all of this. Yuri?’
‘I wish cloning was not illegal. I would grow one and send him instead. Maybe I should have done that anyway.’
‘Good call.’
‘You guys are wusses,’ Kandara said. ‘I wouldn’t miss this for anything.’
‘Yeah, but you’re—’ Alik closed his mouth.
‘Pure psycho? Face it, there’s only me and Jessika functioning normally here. And she’s—’ She made a mock gasp of horror and put her hand over her mouth.
‘Wasn’t born human,’ Jessika goaded.
‘We must be one of the biggest concentrations of fuck-ups in history.’
‘Hope never dies,’ Callum said solemnly. ‘But it sure as hell gets overlooked a lot.’
‘Stuff that guru shit,’ Alik sneered. ‘I never said I was giving up hope. I’m a practical guy. We just carry on and get the job done.’
‘Very profound,’ Kandara said.
‘I’ve got the Salvation of Life’s course vector,’ Jessika said. ‘We’re on track to fly into the wormhole terminus next to the habitation rings – the biggest one there is. Twenty klicks across. You could fit two arkships in that side by side easy.’
‘How long?’ Yuri asked.
‘Eighteen hours.’
*
They spent the rest of the time on the tiresome bridge. Alik started to think about livening it up a little, maybe make it a bit more luxurious like some of the penthouses he’d visited. And how come there was only this? You were either on the bridge or oblivious in the tank. They hadn’t even simulated the utilitarian compartments on the real Avenging Heretic.
Several times during the hours that crawled by, Deliverance ships soared around the Salvation of Life in long curves like eagles guarding their nest.
‘Why?’ Yuri asked after the eighth one performed a graceful spin as it looped around the arkship. ‘This is their star system. There can’t be any threat here. What are they looking for?’
Jessika frowned. ‘I think it’s some kind of ritual. They’re celebrating a successful mission. Or a returning mission; I’m not quite sure which. There’s emotional content in the onemind’s thoughts that I’ve not experienced before.’
Callum grinned. ‘Dance like nobody’s watching.’
‘A happy Olyix!’ Alik murmured. ‘The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine.’
‘Mary save me!’ Kandara declared. ‘I’m locked up in a ship full of philosophers.’
‘The Olyix can’t always have been miserable fascist bastards,’ Yuri said. ‘Something changed them.’
‘The God at the End of Time happened,’ Kandara said. ‘Simple.’
‘And none of them ever questioned it?’ Callum said. ‘I find that hard to believe.’
‘Some of them did,’ Kandara said. ‘Once. That’s why they’re not around any more.’
‘I wonder,’ Yuri said. ‘If Olyix mainstream culture is fascistic, allowing no dissenters, there must be a resistance, a group of non-believers.’
‘Unlikely now,’ Jessika said. ‘Individual Olyix don’t die; they just incorporate a new body into their quint whenever an old one starts to fail. They’re not born any more. They’ve become a truly artificial species. Any of their number who didn’t conform were probably eliminated millennia ago, like Kandara said. The Olyix transformed themselves into a monoculture. There is no opportunity for change now.’
Kandara sat up abruptly. In the relative calm of the bridge it was almost startling, a real show of emotion. ‘Unless . . .’ She stared intently at Jessika.
‘Yeah?’ Alik pressed, interested by her reaction.
‘The unbelievers saw what was happening and made a run for it before the Olyix version
