‘All this is surmise. Even if it was the Ideocracy’s intention to seed the black hole with post-humans, we have no proof it worked. There may be nothing alive in those thin gases. And even if there is, it may no longer be human! Have you thought of that?’

‘Yes,’ Poole said. ‘Of course I have. But I always did like long odds. Quite an adventure, eh?’

Futurity couldn’t help but smile at his reckless optimism. But he stepped up to the window. ‘Michael Poole, please—’

‘What’s wrong, acolyte? Are you concerned about what your Hierocrat is going to do to you when you go home without his intellectual property?’

‘Well, yes. But I’m also concerned for you, Michael Poole.’

Poole did a double-take. ‘You are, aren’t you? I’m touched, Futurity’s Dream. I like you too, and I think you have a great future ahead of you - if you can clear the theological fog out of your head. You could change the world! But on the other hand, I have the feeling you’ll be a fine priest too. I’d like to stick around to see what happens. But, no offence, it ain’t worth going back into cold storage for.’

Mara said, her voice breaking, ‘If you find Sharn, tell her I love her.’

‘I will. And who knows? Perhaps we will find a way to get back in touch with you, some day. Don’t give up hope. I never do.’

‘I won’t.’

‘Just to be absolutely clear,’ said Captain Tahget heavily. ‘Mara, will this be enough for you to get rid of that damn bomb?’

‘Oh, yes,’ said Mara. ‘I always did trust Michael Poole.’

‘And she won’t face any charges,’ Poole said. ‘Will she, Captain?’

Tahget looked at the ceiling. ‘As long as I get that bomb off my ship - and as long as somebody pays me for this jaunt - she can walk free.’

‘Then my work here is done,’ said Poole, mock-seriously. He turned and faced the black hole.

‘You’re hesitating,’ Futurity said.

‘Wouldn’t you? I wonder what the life expectancy of a sentient structure in there is . . . Well, I’ve got a century before the black hole hits Chandra, and maybe there’ll be a way to survive that.

‘I hope I live! It would be fun seeing what comes next, in this human Galaxy. For sure it won’t be like what went before. You know, it’s a dangerous precedent, this deliberate speciation: after an age of unity, will we now live through an era of bifurcation, as mankind purposefully splits and splits again?’ He turned back to Futurity and grinned. ‘And this is my own adventure, isn’t it, acolyte? Something the original Poole never shared. He’d probably be appalled, knowing him. I’m the black sheep! What was that about more real?’