Life arises by chance and clings on, striving to flourish. But it is nothing in the face of the vast forces of the universe. Since time immemorial, galaxies have been moving away from one another, and stars have been consuming their own matter. A day will come when the last one will die out – that fateful day of heat death – and even the last memory of the final civilisation will vanish. Is everything ultimately in vain?
‘Our story begins at dusk. Just over a million years ago, something struck our sun. We do not know who or what caused this catastrophe. In the midst of the crisis, we built the Arks: immense spacecraft designed to safeguard human civilisation amongst the stars. The one belonging to my ancestors, the Ark America, came to rest in the rings of a gas giant that the pioneers named Blue. Its occupants colonised a nearby moon and built a prosperous civilisation. Religion and genetics are the bedrock of our world. Like our ancestors, we respect the law and the decisions of our elected president. Science, faith and discipline have enabled us to eradicate disease and violence. We respect everyone’s work and efforts, as well as the technology bequeathed to us by God. Here, everyone must earn a living and pray five times a day. We have turned our planet into an Eden. Moreover, in ten thousand years, we have never undertaken any exploration… Is not the darkness that surrounds us the sanctuary of demons? Space is also the place to which we exile criminals and blasphemers aboard the Ark that brought our ancestors here. It is also my destination. Tomorrow, with my team, we shall take off to escort a heretic whom our society has condemned to deportation.”
