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Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

“BUT WE ARE LIMITED BY THE LAWS OF PHYSICS OF THIS UNIVERSE, DEAR CLEVER CREATURE. EVEN IF WE WERE ABLE TO TRAVEL AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT, SPACE IS EXPANDING FASTER THAN ANY VESSEL WE ARE CAPABLE OF BUILDING COULD TRAVEL. WE ARE CONFINED TO THE LOCAL GROUP OF THE MILKY WAY AND ANDROMEDA GALAXIES, AND THERE IS NO LIFE IN EITHER OF THESE GALAXIES OUTSIDE OF THIS ONE SPIRAL ARM OF THE MILKY WAY. YOU ARE THE ONLY CIVILIZATION CAPABLE OF ADVANCEMENT THAT WE WILL EVER FIND.”

Kaveh let his posture go slack while he took a minute to soak this in. Then, he fell on his back, lying down in the sand and pebbles and smooth rocks and looking up at the overcast sky through his sunglasses.

“BUT PERHAPS THERE IS A WAY TO AVOID TOTAL HUMAN EXTINCTION.”

Kaveh tilted his head toward him. “How is that?”

“I COULD COLLECT GENETIC MATERIAL.”

Kaveh sat back up, now very interested.

“I WOULD NEED VERY MUCH—THOUSANDS OF SAMPLES. BUT I HAVE AN ABILITY THE SUPERORGANISM DOES NOT. I CAN FOLD SPACE. I COULD HIDE US SOMEWHERE THE SUPERORGANISM WOULD NEVER FIND US. THERE ARE NO LIFE-SUSTAINING PLANETS INSIDE THE LOCAL GROUP, BUT PERHAPS OUTSIDE OF IT, FAR BEYOND OUR TELESCOPIC CAPACITY, BILLIONS OF LIGHT-YEARS AWAY, THERE MIGHT BE. IF AN ARM OF THE SUPERORGANISM WERE TO ARRIVE HERE, PERHAPS WE COULD SLIP AWAY BEFORE THEY NOTICE. THIS CIVILIZATION WOULD END, BUT IF I HAD ENOUGH GENETIC MATERIAL, IT MAY NOT MEAN HUMAN EXTINCTION.”

Kaveh crossed his legs and rested his arms on them, his gaze floating into the Nietzschean abyss, feeling like some part of his brain was about to pop. The medulla, perhaps. Or the amygdala. Har. Har. “So you’d . . . start us all over in your image. You’d be your own . . . Divine.”

“MY DEAR BELOVED WOULD NEED TO CONSENT TO THIS. AS WOULD MY LITTLE COUSIN. AS WOULD YOU.”

Kaveh chuckled. “Oh, I’m coming along, too.”

“I WOULD PREFER NOT TO LEAVE YOU TO DIE.”

Kaveh closed his eyes and let out a long breath that was almost a whistle. “Okay, well . . . we can explore this option. In the long term. Not the short term. Not the next few months. But we can consider it.”

He looked out at the blue-green horizon. The sun was starting to peek through the clouds, the haze of the overcast sky beginning to dissipate, turning the Pacific a vivid blue. “But in the meantime, in the short term, I want you to continue trying to rehabilitate Ampersand. Do we have an agreement?”

Nikola’s eyes brightened, and the crest on the back of his head perked up slightly. “WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT.”

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