ONE: Epilogue of Hermesh

46. Radiance of a Billion Suns

“Amazing. Simply amazing!” Mondroh Annokh said while analysing the data of the Shaarn explosion, coming in from Mahuka.

“I admit. On some rare occasions, the power of destruction can be as captivating as the forces of creation.” said Onkar.

“But you misunderstand, Onkar. The amazement is not surrounding its destructive power but the development of the weapon itself. Shaarn, as an invention, is far beyond the scope of the combined information, knowledge and wisdom of the minds that created it.”

“You believe it is a weapon from the future?”

“I believe it is something that should belong to the future. Much like the whitehole we're about to bring forth.”

“And yet I knew an Amarthian who predicted the existence of that same whitehole over two centuries ago.” Onkar replied.

“I didn't predict. I hypothesised.” Mondroh Annokh corrected.

“You added it to the knowledge of Hermesh, believing and hoping that, in time, someone would put your theory into practice.”

“I feared someone at some point would try to create a wormhole using my theory, without knowing how to contain it. And if things went wrong, then with the whitehole they'd at least have a theoretical chance to undo some of the damage. However, I never thought I would live to see that day.”

"Truth be told Mondroh, you didn't."

"You're right. I didn't."

The undercurrent of fear could not be hidden by the lightness of their banter. Descending into silence, the two momentarily focused once again on the data stream from Mahuka.

“You know, that monolith still stands in Narhathimeh.” Onkar's orb broke the silence. “Here rests the mortal remains of Mondroh Annokh. The greatest physicist amongst his peers and all who came before him in the history of Hermesh.”

What it took to write that epitaph and mention this galaxy by the name given to it by the Amarthians…" the hovering orb turned to the Nashger. He would have smiled if he could. "I really didn't think we had enough humility to spare.”

“I remember dying in Narhathimeh. It was peaceful.” Annokh said, with wistful softness. “The red sun was rising over the white sands of Aloro. Eolan and six other Amarthians, who were allowed there, stood by me. I was listening to the hymns of the lost stars being chanted as I went to sleep….”

Annokh fell quiet for a few moments. “….only to be reborn on Damar as a Nashjer. The journey never ends, does it? The universe simply makes us forget how far we have come. I wonder why? Why would the universe make us live over and over again."

"I believe it is to teach us that in the end, we don't wish to hold on to life, but only the moments that we hope to stitch together, to make a perfect and everlasting version of it."

Mondroh Annokh gazed at the quasi-geode. It was now going through its final phase of activation. Bright pulses of light was emanating from it with greater frequency. It was almost time.

“But what if the journey ends now? What if ours is the story that will never be told?” Annokh asked, looking past the quasi-geode at the sparkling dot of light behind it. This doubt was an inevitable part of the grand undertaking.

“Look there, before us shines Grohir, the last bastion of the lives we are defending. And far into the darkness behind us, the last of the defenders of Hermesh are fighting the final battle to keep life burning still.” The Nashger said, “What if the whitehole doesn't appear? What if these ten ships fail to cross, and life ends in this universe forever? What then?”