“The Salvation of Life was an asteroid,” Alik explained to her in a tediously patronizing tone. “You only find sedimentary rock on a planet. Which means those obelisks were brought on board from—what?” He lifted a quizzical eyebrow at me. “The Olyix home world?”

“That’s our theory,” I said. “The obelisks are incredibly ancient, which makes them the most sacred relics the Olyix possess. Obviously, they have a deeply religious significance. It may even be that those symbols contain their proof of the cyclic-state universe—which, given the level of their orthodoxy, can never be challenged, let alone by an upstart species like us.”

“Hence the whole secrecy obsession,” Kandara concluded, her head dipping in understanding.

Callum leaned forward in his chair, keen for details. “What about the fly swarm? Did they detect any quantum spatial entanglement?”

“No.” I shrugged. “Obviously there’s a great deal of volume inside the Salvation of Life we haven’t explored, but the fourth biochamber is their biggest, darkest secret. And in strategic terms, it’s irrelevant. They just don’t want us disbelieving aliens contaminating it with our heresy.”

I could tell from Callum’s creased brow that he was about to fire off another query, which is when events became strange. I saw Alik starting to pour himself another bourbon from his precious vintage bottle. His focus shifted to me, his eyes widening, betraying surprise. Then his fingers began to open, allowing the bottle to fall. My attention flowed to Kandara in the chair next to him, who was grabbing a handful of roast pistachios from a dish. Her formidable muscles were stiffening in a classic threat response. I even saw her forearm flesh ripple as buried peripherals activated. Suspicion and alarm triggered a strong sense of threat within me, and I determined something very wrong was occurring behind my chair. My head started to turn as I heard Callum’s panicked yell begin, and I caught a blur of motion. Jessika was standing behind me, face contorted with effort, her arms gripping a long red pole she was swinging toward me. Instinct forced my own arm up protectively even as I attempted to duck. It was no use at all; she was moving too fast. Then I saw the wickedly sharp head of the fire axe as it expanded into my vision, becoming my whole universe. I even briefly heard the cracking sound of my skull breaking as it struck. Then the blade penetrated my brain—

Juloss

JULOSS

YEAR 593 AA

Before they left, before every item of human technology in the Juloss star system was reduced to its constituent atoms, they went back to Kabronski Station’s garden for a final nostalgic look. Their marble table by the little waterfall was still there, the elegant koi sliding about in the water just as they always had.