The natives call the astroengineering contraption built around the black hole the Skythrone. Within it lies Eternity, an afterlife of sorts where chosen Ascendants travel after their death to gain immortality. Yet unlike the heaven and hell of Earth, it is absolutely real, and sometimes, guests who call themselves the emissaries of Eternity come down from there.

But are they guests or are they masters?

Legends say that the Kel civilization, the creators of the Dyson sphere, left for Eternity three galactic cycles ago to become almighty immortal gods. The passenger in my head claims that they are wretched cowards who doomed Unity and all of its inhabitants to save their own hides.

I . . . am about to learn who is right and what Eternity is truly hiding.

As long as I remember that only one thing matters to its ageless sovereigns. A single thread connecting the two worlds.

And it is Starblood!