“The most stubborn,” Justin said softly next to him.

“We will live,” said Joshua, “because even though we know that the enemy is fallible, we shall not count on it.”

“But what will we become?” Justin asked, raising his voice, and Joshua felt the stab of betrayal from his friend. But he set it aside, telling himself that no fear, no doubt must remain hidden from public discussion, lest it fester in private.

“And the tactics!” Justin continued. “What will be our tactics? May we hope to defeat the enemy in any of our lifetimes? We can evolve new technologies very fast, but not that fast. We have no tactics. Has anyone a plan beyond the brown dwarf?”

Joshua said, “First we must guarantee ourselves time. First we must live. That’s the way of it at a time like this. Amateurs talk tactics. Professionals talk logistics.”

“Then I ask you again: what will we become?”

The question was a labyrinth, Joshua realized, carrying within it a longing for worthwhile effort, for guarantees that could not be given. Joshua nodded, acknowledging his friend’s insight into complexities that could not be faced now, then said, “We will become like them in one respect—survivors. All of you here, set your minds on the brown dwarf!” He turned back to Justin. “It’s the only place we can go, my friend.” The word seemed suddenly strange on his tongue, and he wondered if Justin was in fact still his friend. Could his apparent dissent, or even his questions, pose any danger to the Cat’s survival?

A middle-aged man stood up and fixed Joshua with his brown, tired eyes. Joshua recognized him as a nanotech specialist whom everyone called Al. “Let’s understand what you’re asking of us,” the man said. “We’re to take up housekeeping somewhere in this dark star system and start breeding. Is that right?”

Joshua nodded, hearing the unbelief in Al’s voice, seeing the lack of will in the man’s eyes as he stared into them, hoping to instill some of the strength he felt.

But Al had his own strength, and it was different from Joshua’s. “You can quit now, false messiah. We allknow where this is leading, so don’t talk us into sitting through the play to the end. I think some of us would rather signal our position to the enemy and let them destroy us than face the life you envision.”

“What’s so terrible about the dwarf?” Joshua asked almost casually. “It will become a place of healing for us—our place—the portal to the universe for us as a powerful new civilization.”

“Or our portal finally to hell!” Al cried out. “Everything we’ve known, everything we thought we could return to is gone. And you’re telling us what Stalin once said to his people as they went into a war, that now there will be fewer but better Russians.”

Perfect silence reigned. Joshua could feel the weight of Al’s doubts, and how much they were shared by others in the room—and he felt them himself, despite his efforts at self-control. But then, as he thought of how rare the human species had become, the word “logistics” sang loudest to him. The miracle that lay in the new opportunity to restart humanity would not be lost.