Erika could only gape at the shattered glass that had once been the gravity core. The emergency protocol had immediately engaged to destabilize the black hole and stop the deadly radiation from leaking out. The power source of the Hyperion had winked out of existence, leaving them with only basic power. Forget firing the gravity core, they wouldn’t be able to so much as move the ship.

She turned to Captain Singh, who still held the pistol forward. His eyes seemed fixated on the core and his expression distant. It seemed even he was grappling with what he had done. Erika wanted to strangle him there and then.

She knew it must’ve been Klyker who let the gun through. It was only a five percent chance! Erika gritted her teeth, wanting to scream out. It was such a mundane calculation. While Klyker held his sympathies with the Captain, he shouldn’t have taken action. He shouldn’t have done anything except what she had told him to do. And even then, it shouldn’t have been near as catastrophic. But the dice rolled differently, and it had played out in the worst possible way.

It changed nothing in the end, only adding risk to herself that more of the entities’ ships would arrive. She would still hold most of the hierarchy, especially after this move. But Captain Singh was apparently a sore loser, and he wouldn’t go down easy.

“My men are still in charge of the bridge.” Samir lowered his pistol and addressed the whole of engineering. “We can all die here on the Hyperion, or you can let me go back and call for help to the derelict. If you let me go, I’ll dispatch half the shuttles for you.”

Erika scrambled to catch up with the Captain’s plan. The man needed to act fast if he wasn’t just going to be taken prisoner. Presenting a compromise like this kept him in the game. No sane person would turn it down. The only way out of this solar system was on the derelict—and they were now all unwilling passengers.

Amos picked himself up, and the man straightened himself. The Chief Engineer was more surprised than anything. His wide eyes stared at the Captain, disbelieving what had happened.

“Those terms are acceptable.” Erika was forced into a corner for the time being. She had to go along with this plan for the time being, but it was only a matter of time until the situation stabilized again. Once then, she could maneuver against the Captain. But right now they had bigger problems to deal with.

“There is one more thing.” Captain Singh tucked the gun away on his waist. “Tannis. Do you know he’s aboard the derelict?”

Erika felt her breath leave her as the Captain mentioned that name. What!? She stared at the man, looking for any sign of dishonesty. No. She desperately thought. He wouldn’t lie about this. Which meant Tannis had somehow—

There’s no time! She wanted to slap herself. She could sort the details out later. Every moment was a moment more she was losing ground. If Tannis was aboard the derelict, then the game suddenly became far more dangerous. The bureaucrat had a head start on her, and that was deadly enough.

“I take it from your expression, no,” Samir said.

“We can’t waste time talking,” Erika snapped back. “If Tannis is already in control of the derelict, we’ve both lost. Call the shuttles and pray he hasn’t gotten to Dr. Philips yet.”

It was almost a joke. The Captain turned around and walked out of engineering. The whole of the section stood almost motionless as he simply left. They watched as he exited the melted hole and out into the hallway, doing nothing as he did so.

It was true that Erika wasn’t a fortune teller. Her science predicted that she would control the Hyperion—and she did. It’s just that the Hyperion was no longer worth controlling. What would happen next would be a scramble to transfer everything from their ship to a rusted, broken derelict.

They would run. They might even have to run to the edges of the cosmos. But Erika still held the advantage in the long game. Most of the crew were sympathetic to her. All she needed to do was to hold on to power.

“What are you waiting for!?” she yelled to the rest of engineering. “Gather all the supplies you can. I mean everything! Rip the bulkheads apart if you have to! We’re leaving the Hyperion within the hour!”

The section suddenly exploded in motion as a dozen people ran to their tasks. They would need everything they could pack into the shuttles and more. Erika knew it would never be enough. They would have to run relays with the shuttles right until the last moment. But even then…

She wanted to sink back against the gravity core and fall to her knees. How long had it been since she last slept? Exhaustion threatened to send her careening to the floor. Captain Singh was right. Erika was only human. She had made a mistake, and now it came back to bite her. What were the odds? She sullenly thought.

What had happened was only the worst possible outcome of all worse possible outcomes. It relied upon a series of probabilities so insignificant that she had disregarded them all together. It was injustice. That’s what it was.

Erika shook herself from those thoughts. She could think on it later. Many things needed to happen in a very short span of time. As much as she wanted to oversee the shuttles, there was one more task that needed to be done. It was a gambit that she didn’t want to make, but if Tannis controlled the derelict, then she had little a choice in the matter.

“Take over for me,” Erika ordered Amos. “There’s some work I need to finish up.”

The Chief Engineer nodded as she took two armed men and left the section.

It was a short walk back to the laboratory which contained the entity. She was sure the Captain would send a few men to finish the job once he returned to the bridge. This needed to be quick to avoid needless confrontation.

“Stay outside and make sure no comes in,” she ordered the men.

Entering the room, the first thing that she had noticed was that the liquid metal was gone. She felt her heart seize at the empty chamber. It couldn’t have— She noticed out of the corner of her eye a figure sprawled out against the corner of the room. Father Soren breathed heavily, still in great pain from his wound.

Her eyes glanced over to the closet they had locked him in. The metal hinges appeared to have been melted away, and the door pushed to the ground.

The priest chuckled as he noticed her and tossed a knife on the floor. “Thermal blade. Comes in handy every once in a while.”

She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The knife was a small thing, but she recognized the design. The hilt extended over the hand as the blade superheated to cut through metal. It was common among aristocrats who made too many enemies. Good tool for getting out of a kidnapping.

Erika kicked the knife away. “You should know Captain Singh bought himself a little more time.”

Father Soren gave a tired smile. “Good.”

She went over to inspect the containment chamber. She could see some residue at the bottom which remained from the vaporization procedure. The entity had been destroyed. It hurt her to see that happen, but that was the nature of the world. It was a cold and uncaring universe—and many times, progress was cruelly taken away.

“It’s over.” The priest breathed. “Go on, there’s nothing here anymore.” He sat smugly in his victory.

Erika turned to him. “That’s the thing. Men like you think you can turn time backwards. If you can only destroy this iteration of progress, you make the world the way it once was. But what’s done is done. You can’t change the past.”

She went over to one computer. Thankfully, with restored power, she had no problem accessing it. Typing on a few buttons, she found what she was looking for. With a quick press of a key, a small data card ejected from a nearby machine. Swiping it, she turned again to the priest.

The smart thing would’ve been to remain silent, but she had put up with enough defeat for today. She indulged herself.

“I made an agreement with the entity for a transfer of data. You might call it my backup plan. Though to them it was probably more an offensive strategy.”

Father Soren’s expression turned foul. “What’s on there?”

“A weapon,” she told him. “The entity gave me instructions on how to make more of their race.”

The priest snorted. “I doubt you’ll ever get the chance to make use of it out here.”

“It’s not meant for me,” Erika whispered. “It’s meant for the Free Exchange. I’ll have to get my hands on a powerful enough transmitter, but that will be an issue for later.”

Father Soren looked at her, confused.

Erika explained, “The Free Exchange has always had transhumanist elements inside it. You might call them small cancer cells in the system. They are kept in check through vigorous treatment. And so their research never gets beyond the initial stages. They may never grow.”

Erika continued, “But the system was never built to handle external shocks. If all those groups suddenly got their hands on the technology… those cancer cells given a rapid stimulant…” She let the words sink in. “It would rip the Free Exchange apart in bloody war. They might survive, but that’s a wager I wouldn’t bet on.”

This was a weapon of last resort. Erika might’ve been for progress but not random progress. As she had told Captain Singh back at their dinner, the Matrioshka Divide was littered with unforeseen consequences which prevented transition to the next stage. Loosing this data upon the galaxy would mean hundreds if not thousands of groups using it to further their own ends.

And with such powerful technology at their disposal, the outcome could only be widespread destruction and war. Billions would die. Worlds, if not whole star systems, would burn. Atrocities committed that would make the Butcher of Three Systems seem innocent in comparison. But if bought humanity a chance to move forward, then that was a price Erika was willing to pay.

But the best part was that it was inherently unpredictable from Tannis’ view. Because it came outside of humanity, there was no way for him to know until it was too late. No way for him to predict and outmaneuver her as when he did to get to the derelict. Though again, this option was one she was reluctant to use unless she knew it was over.

If Erika had her way, the process would’ve been slow and controlled. Each step carefully researched, and every caution taken. But if Tannis forced her into a corner, then she had no problem of setting the Free Exchange ablaze. Better death than continued slavery.

And that really was the choice given to her. The Free Exchange was a perpetual order that would extend until the heat death of the universe. She had to consider the practically infinite number of generations of uncountable humans versus an insignificant speck of time. It was a brutal choice, but not one she was incapable of making.

Father Soren chuckled, which caused Erika to raise an eyebrow. The old man groaned with pain. “I wonder if humanity would thank you—even if you succeed.”

“Someone has to take up this fight. It might as well have been me.”

The old priest stared at her with questioning eyes. “Tell me, why are you so driven? Even zealots have reasons for their faith. To torch a galaxy, do you love your utopia that much? Or rather, is it because you hate humanity?”

Erika blinked. “I never thought about it like that before. To be frank with you, I’m just not that interested in humanity.”

She moved towards the door, gently tucking the data card into her pocket. “There is nothing left for humanity to exist for. We’ve already conquered the stars, physics, and even death. The world of the Free Exchange is one without future—only the eternal present churn of civilization. That’s not a world worth living in.”

Erika stepped out of the door and motioned for the two men armed men. “Take the priest. He might become useful later.”

They nodded and entered the room while Erika began walking down the hall. She stopped at a glass window, and just as luck would have it, she could see the derelict floating silently above the swirling gas giant.

The battle over the ruined vessel would determine the fate of the galaxy. A single decision could now change the fate of trillions. She couldn’t help but grin at that. To have come so far, to have journeyed so long, and now she was here—standing on the precipice of history.

She gripped the data card tightly as her eyes longingly looked toward the stars. Tannis, you may have outsmarted me, but even you have your blind spot just as I do. The game wasn’t over yet. They all had one last hand to play. And the winner would take the universe.