Within the whole of the planet Aeternitas, a highly amplified effeminate voice, with a slightly detectable lisp, reverberates off the deep inner structures:

ACHTUNG, ACHTUNG, ATENCION, YOUR ATTENTION, PA-LEEEZE.

WE ARE APPROACHING AN IMPORTANT POINT PEOPLE, LISTEN UP.

IN 4.32x10 to the 20th femtomoments MAXIMUM UNIVERSAL EXPANSION WILL HAVE OCCURRED, And THE BIG CRUNCH WILL, ta-da, BEGIN.

WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THIS EVENT EVERYWHERE IN TIME-SPACE and ESPECIALLY FOR ALL OF YOU! HERE WITHIN THE, fill in the, OOPS, I MEAN, THE AETERNITAS ORB!

It's only 4.89921276x10 to the 36th femtomoments to go from there to crunch time, and, WE LOOK BACKWARD TO YOUR CHALLENGE IN UNMAKING YOUR PAST MISTAKES, again. DETAILS TO FOLLOW, again.

Fugio, unmoving, is entombed in a plaster cast from head to foot, and lying in a hospital bed. The only visible openings are two eye holes, a mouth hole, and various apparatuses connected to tubes emerging from different parts of his body. Not a sound is uttered. Monitors mark time with his vital functions.

Ignarus ignores the message and is speaking to Fugio in a monotone, with absolutely no inflection or letup: "…wandering in life, no real aim, no real goals, here we are, and then we're not, and look at you, lucky you, all your life is taken care of, no worries, me I'm stuck here, within this dark orb, floating aimlessly, possibly forever, I'm here because of a snafu, it was a simple mistake, a technicality, I'm sure it will be taken care of, hey you're not talking, well never mind, you're the silent type, it's okay, you're recuperating, I know that, I can see you're all wrapped up, so I said to the Gatekeeper there must be some mistake, the actions don't add up to a negative balance, I'm sure, I've lived a good life, just look back, that's what I said, you know, he just looked at me and said nothing, can you imagine that, nothing, so I assumed I had more time to make my case so I elaborated, I was good to animals, children, I helped the old folks, I entertained relatives, donated to good causes, and… Hey you're not speaking don't you have a thing to say? well never mind, I'll let you know that the Gatekeeper kept looking at me so I went on, I asked him when was the last time he had the scales of life calibrated by the certification board, I think he really appreciated that one, my representative says I made a real case and he's sure that, hey you, Fugio, you moved? you want to say something? no? well I'll go on with my story, the gatekeeper summoned some of his people, I remember he was pointing at me and he was smiling, well I think it was a smile, he kept pointing up, and looking up to somewhere and said something about someone helping him please and I think someone got it wrong, he must be overworked and made a mistake, because here I am and I know this is not where I'm supposed to be, no not here, why should I have to go through a crunch to redo my life again, what mistakes have I made, none that I can tell, I kept a diary of my exploits every day I wrote it in there and I presented it to the Gatekeeper too, you know this crunch thing is a real pain, you know what? in 4.89921276x10 to the 36th femtomoments, we'll be a singularity again and we get another get-go to correct our past mistakes, well, that's well and fine for the others but you you're blameless just lying there in white, what did you do to deserve that, hey, come on tell me."

Fugio utters not a sound.

Ignarus continues, droning on,

"…well I'm sure they made a mistake with you too, me I know this will be corrected soon, my representative states that this will all be made right in due time, do you ever get the feeling you've been here before? I mean I'm sure it's not true but I swear I've met you before in a past life, now that's funny, really now,I don't see a smile, come on, a past life, really? you think you would remember something like this aimless wandering all over creation, and me doing good helping the sick and hurt just like you, I'll be here to cheer you up until you're able to walk again and talk, won't that be great then maybe the two of us can help others to feel better, that is until my representative get me a hearing because I know they made a mistake, I should be one with the, oh you know, and not here waiting for the big crunch, that's insane you know that, me of all people, bureaucracies they can really make your life miserable, it just takes persistence on your part to make the corrections and then things will be made right, that I do believe, that's a law of the universes, yes it is, I said that when my time in front of the Gatekeeper was up, yes he was sad to see me get such a mistaken ruling, the tears were streaming down his face as I explained my situation again and that the scales need to be recalibrated and maybe he could use some time off, having to do this for an eternity, and maybe I could help, if he needed it."

Fugio opens his eyes and but cannot recognize Ignarus through a haze, The voice… THAT voice… that story again, Oh my god, he screams in his head, he's still here, he never leaves, and passes out. The monitors go blinky.

Ignarus glances up at the monitors, shrugs his shoulders and drones on, "…you know I think you may have an issue with your monitors, you should get it looked at, but as I was saying, the Gatekeeper had tears of joy running down his face…."

Mr. Woodcock smirked at the steamer trunk following his friend. "Why are you lugging stuff around when we have business to attend to, Doc?"

"The only business you have in mind is monkey business."

Mr. Woodcock shrugged. "What's in that thing?"

"Oh, in here? – A dead body," the small man answered flatly. He grabbed a stool at the table, looked around the small bar, and the large trunk parked itself nearby.

"You're hilarious, Johnson!" bellowed Big, slapping the table for emphasis. "A dead body indeed."

"The funniest thing is: the more I say it, the less people believe me."

A waitress came over to the men's table, turning to Mr. Johnson. "Can I get you anything?"

"A place to hide this body would be nice," Doc Johnson said flatly. Right on cue, the waitress broke out laughing. "How about a Budweiser, then."

She turned to go but Mr. Woodcock stopped her. "When do you get off, Sugar?"

"My shift ends in five minutes, so I guess I'm getting off seven minutes after that. If Yanowaddimeen."

"I DO knowwatyameen, Sugar."

"I like bald men," purred the waitress, stroking the top of his head.

"This isn't a bald head, this is a solar panel for a sex machine," insisted Big.

"You'll do. I'll meet you out back in ten minutes. And I'll be back in a second with your beer, honey." The happy pair was practically ROFL as she stepped away from the table.

"People sure take customer service serious around here," said Doc Johnson.

"You're welcome to COME along too," Mr. Woodcock told his friend. "If Yanowaddimeen!"

"Yes Larry, I know what you mean - I mean Mr. Big Woodcock. But I'll pass. I'm looking after this trunk and all. Are you sure you wouldn't rather go back to our cabin and play some blackjack?"

"Not a chance, friend. I'm standing firm, IF yanowad…" he stopped midsentence, noting that Doc obviously knew what he meant. "Why would I want to play some blackjack with you, when I could play some POKER with her! I'll probably see you about four in the morning."

"How can you tell time on this piece of ice, Big?"

"It's three shots of Bourbon after they dim the sunbelt."

Sugar was back at the table now, with a beer and two fortune cookies. Big crunched his cookie and read the holograph that popped up. "'You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time.' Boy! Have they got me pegged! Are you going to read yours?"

Before Doc could crunch his cookie, a guy at the next table, who was surrounded by three voluptuous women, began to read his. "'You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time!' Wow! It's like they've met me all personal like!"

"I'd like to meet you all personal like, Honey," said one of the women, resulting in a burst of laughter from everyone at the table.

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what mine says," said Johnson, absentmindedly munching on Mr. Woodcock's cookie crumbs.

"You ready, Honey?" asked the waitress.

"I was born ready!" said Mr. Woodcock, leaving his friend at the table with his crate.

Doc sadly got up from the table, motioned to the trunk to follow, and began to leave the bar. He passed two women who were quietly talking. One lady began twirling a strand of the others hair. "If you want to come up, Bambi, just whistle. You know how to do that, right? – Just put your lips together and BLOW." The other woman pressed her rouge covered lips together and let out a low slow wolf whistle, and the jolly pair joined hands and practically skipped out the door.

He shrugged – it was that time after all. The tiny man thought wistfully of an advertising holo he had seen on a planet circling his home star. It pictured a priest spanking a woman dressed as a schoolgirl who giggled with each naughty slap. Below was the caption: "Sin is fine for a Season – so spend your Season with us." He remembered that he couldn't wait to get back home to tell Helen – god, he missed her.

Stepping onto the moving sidewalk, Doc saw the Sunbelt blink off. He looked up through the glass ceiling, peering into the center of the Milky Way. The stars looked so warm, but he knew better. The stars were like her, like Helen. He missed her, in spite of how close she was.

Doc's pants pocket began to vibrate and he took out a small communication device. He held it up to his mouth and said emphatically: "I'm not interested Congressman Hot Dog, so stop texting me!"

1:30 A.M.

Mr. Big Woodcock passed his hand over the keylock, and the door shhhhed open. He found his buddy staring at the entertainment wall. "Is that a banana in your pants, or are you happy to see me?"

Doc reached into his pants and pulled out a fruit and began to peel it.

"I see you still have that trunk with you. Can't find any place to put the body?"

"I checked out the freezer downstairs. It wasn't long enough."

"It wasn't long enough? That's what SHE said!"

"Huh?"

"Well, I am home early," Big said sheepishly. Then he looked over at the trunk, beginning to get angry. "I'm tired of seeing this damnable crate. What's really in here, Doc?" he screamed, walking over to it and throwing open the lid. His face was beginning to lose its color as a long "Sheeeeeeeet, Docccc…" seeped out of him, like a balloon running out of air. "What the…" But he never finished the question, because Doc was standing behind him with a raised tool in his hand.

Walking slowly on his four tapered legs along the bottom of the canal artificially made by means of their robots, deep inside the high ice cover, Huw got finally to the control station.

There Kuw, the First Superintendent Technician, all wrapped inside his working grey space suit, was adjusting the settings of his check instruments. Next to him his female aide, Wuwa, stood silent.

Huw approached his fellow and opened the broadcast channel in order to communicate with him. "How long do you think this world has been floating alone in space?"

"I don't know, I think more than a thousand years, probably…"

"Did our chief-researchers discover how it has gone so far? Why has it been ripped away from its pristine solar system?"

"They thought it happened because of an abrupt action of the feared Planet Stealers." he replied, turning his triangular helmet to Huw. From the outside, the interlocutor was able to see his hairless, four-eyed head inside. "They are told to have dealt the same way with so many planets, the ones not so evoluted or technologically advanced as they were, which proved unable to stand against them. It is unknown if that happened as a sort of punishment, maybe just to make all the worlds nearby respect them and not to question their resolutions anymore, or cause of some past war…" Wuwa added.

"But no one has seen the Planet Stealers for a very long time in the whole galaxy, there's no record in recent history about them…"

"You're the historian, Huw" Kuw crisply replied. "By luck, they've gone extinct now, likely, or at least they don't roam this space area anymore"

"What do our field officers say?"

"They have already had the bombs placed in the underground, explosion is in two days…" the First Superintendent Technician answered.

"But…have you asked the Council for a new overall evaluation? Don't they see what they're going to do?"

"They won't change their minds, be sure. This lonely planet is dangerously erratic, moreover it's approaching an expanse densely settled. It is too near to our planetary system, too, just to let it go this way simply…"

"That's terrible!" the historian objected.

"Unfortunately, we have the technology to destroy it, putting and end to its pointless going around in space, but do not possess any means to safely avert its course, it's too big, only the Planet Stealers could do it."

"But they are not here around, anyway…" Wuwa softly pointed out.

"That's all you have to say?" Huw cried out.

"I don't want any problem, you know…" Wuwa glanced at him.

"There should be another way…"

"There is not" Kuw intervened. "Don't be selfish, you're forgetting about the safety of our colonies in this sector, just think of it!"

"And what about such a great historic loss? I'll make a formal protest!"

"As you please, but it will be unfruitful, you know"

"Be reasonable, grant me just some time more, do not make the bombs explode! The Council is making an enormous mistake, you know, they will cancel really a wonderful example of alien archaeology: we're speaking of an extinct species…probably this world was inhabited by billions of intelligent living beings in times past. By destroying it, you'll kill all of them twice! We didn't even know how they called themselves, what deeds they achieved… There will be no remains of their civilization afterward. I can't allow you do this!" the historian cried out.

"I am in charge here!" Kuw rolled all his eyes.

"Look at those stones trapped in the ice, consider their size, touch them as I do now…don't you feel the history coming out from them?" Huw insisted, "How many other alien species do you know that built once a Great Wall like this, 5,500 miles long? The same about those strange Pyramid-like structures, and that peculiar statue next to them, found elsewhere on the surface, under this cold cover, or …"

"Don't bother us…" the First Superintendent Technician asked him. "I have a work to be done."

"The same about me," Wuwa said. "The Council may become very teasing at times, if I just try to stand out against that, you know, everything could go awry for us…"

"People disappear when they thwart the Council's plans" Kuw reminded his fellow.

"But…"

"Regretfully, the Council has decided, for the good of all of us. So, please, ask no more!" Wuwa cut him short.

Clouded inside, Huw stretched out his left hand, touched the ruins of that wondrous Great Wall for the last time and let his twenty fingers take account of them once again.

All that was cruel! Didn't they figure out what terrible mistake they were going to do? Was Kuw only an ice-cold, aloof technician or simply didn't he care at all about? – His "work-to-be-done" was the only thing meaning really something to him? The historian couldn't approve, no way.

What about Wuwa? Did she care about something else other than her career? Or, simply, she was too unmanly? Huw didn't know, too.

Was he himself the only one capable of taking care of such matter, the last defender of the ruins of a dead species?

There was really nothing he could do, Huw knew well. He slowly moved away from the control station, dragging all his tired legs, just thinking that there would have been a general outcry from History cause of all that, one day.

Monga studies the charts and computer displays along with Kerlunta in the Chamber of Destiny. Monga's long hair shook with awe and Kerlunta's scales hardened themselves as a clear picture started forming in their mind's eye. The asteroid would collide within one month. Action is required now, not theory to save their world, Elwood.

"Are you sure about you calculations?" Kerlunta said.

"Of course I'm sure!" Monga retorted.

Then why didn't you present your findings to the council? It's your duty to!" Kerlunta said.

Because if unchecked data is submitted to them—and it's proven erroneous you will pay with your life," Monga said. "You should know that!"

Kerlunta glared at Monga but Monga shrugged his shoulders and ignored Kerlunta as an older kid would to a younger brother that had just been proven wrong.

Kerlunta's eyes found the Honor Wall where awards to great scientist were displayed. Monga's award, a new one glittered brightly in the light generated from moss-like growth that clung to the ceiling. His eyes widened as he read over the award again and again. Every day he read the award and every day his scales reddened more.

"Surface temperature has increased .5 degrees," Crebs said. He waited patiently for Monga's reply. None came.

"Monga looked at Crebs then said, "Go check my calculations with the crystal grazer. I want another check before I announce what I have found. And I hope I'm in error—for once." Monga looked up a Kerlunta with a deep stare the penetrated into the very caverns of Kerlunta's soul. Kerlunta frowned, for he knew that Monga was never in error.

Kerlunta turned and studied the surface of Elwood through a periscope. Monga studied Kerlunta's tall muscular frame with well-defined muscles that pushed his scales tighter and tighter until they appeared as armor.

Monga looked at his thin arms with loose-skin-clinging to the bones. His face contorted as he thought and watched Kerlunta push his way through or around others for most moved out of his way. Blah, Blah, Blah , Monga thought as he studied Kerlunta for a moment and glared at Kerlunta's necklace—awarded to only those who have won the all-games of physical challenges during the last year in the academy. Monga turned his attention to the crystals that displayed images of the asteroid.

Through the periscope the stars changed into new patterns never seen before every few minutes, and the terrain with its icy winds, and rolling hills and the one active volcano, were photographed and archive for future reference. The core temperature of Elwood remained steady as it had since the first records were kept. This data was a requirement every twelve hours. Kerlunta entered the data, thought for a moment but before another thought came to him, Creds whispered, "It is not an asteroid! It behaves like it's intelligently controlled!

"Let me see your calculations!" Kerlunta whispered.

Creds showed Kerlunta his graphs and projected trajectory of the asteroid and, to Kelunta surprise since Kerlunta was versed in mathematic, Kelunta saw something that Monga had missed. The asteroid did indeed change its direction, a change that could not be attributed to gravity from Elwood, and the asteroid appeared to be slowing down! It was intelligently controlled.

"Gather all you data and meet me in Destiny's cavern. We will approach the council with this data. They will be enlightened that a young two-year academy student has solved this problem of the asteroid. Now, the great Monga will not be so great anymore!

"You did as I told you?" Kelunta said.

"Yes, sir—I deleted all the info about the asteroid in my work-section and my private -space." Creds said.

"Very good," Kerlunta said. "Let me have the data."

After the Destiny Cavern, they made a right down the Sky-View carven which had large and very thick crystal-windows that let a passer-by look upon the surface of Elwood.

"Let us go into the antechamber and see if we can see it," Kerlunta said

They passed four doors, each thick-steeled, and only Kerlunta or his equal in rank had the codes to open them.

Finally in the antechamber Kerlunta looked up at the sky and showed Creds where the asteroid should be.

"I can see it!! I can see it!! I can see it!! Creds screamed. "Oh my lord, I can hardly wait for permission to come out here on my own…."

Kerlunta backed up and out the door leading into the antechamber. He took a device out of his pocket and threw it in near Cleps's leg.

Kerlunta closed the door leading into the antechamber, then waited. The outer door to the surface of the planet in the antechamber opened on its own, and Cleps could only move two steps until he was turned into a frozen statue—-still standing with the device at his feet.

A large space ship almost a mile-long and half-mile wide, landed on Elwood in a month.

"Kerlunta you will have the highest honor on the Great Wall. Without your calculations, we might have fired a missile to deflect an asteroid, and our new-found friend here might have taken it as an act of war."

"I feel the death of young Cleps were my fault…" Kerlunta said.

No, he was just an over-zealous young man who took your device without permission…

With some strain Chittik pushed himself up from the icy muck and swam to the edge of the trench to peek out across the abyssal plain. The brisk current was refreshing, but all he could detect in the darkness was the distant glow of Chacrat Vent, a faint infrared crescent that flickered within a roiling black cloud.

"Anything yet?" Bulboo asked. His voice was gruff but Chittik knew that the battle-scarred warrior was making an effort to hide his amusement.

"Nothing," Chittik said and floated back down into the trench.

"The signal will come soon enough," Bulboo assured. "Then the glory of battle will be ours." Bulboo continued to hone the tip of his spear with a stone. The steady rasping sent shivers down Chittik's spine.

Bulboo and the rest of his clan, berserkers from the far north, had just joined the rebellion. They were different from Chittik's people, from a wild cold sea of few vents, most were a head taller, their backs were covered with long bony spines, and their mouths were lined with needle-like teeth that seemed to have outgrown their faces.

"We heard the stories," Bulboo had said on meeting. "You little serfs trying to overthrow Old King Ik." He had ended with a hardy laugh and had momentarily bathed his face in a yellow bioluminescence from the forked photophore that dangled from an appendage near the top of his forehead. Chittik appreciated the display, as gruesome as it was, and flashed a soft orange light on his own face to return the gesture. Then both had settled into the cold muck of the trench to hide their heat.

Chittik's people were thankful. Bulboo's clan had effectively doubled the size of the rebellion army, and now for the first time the serfs felt that they might win. Now they waited in hiding on the border of the king's domain for the signal. Each serf assigned to one of Bulboo's clan to lead the way through the unending darkness to the palace gates.

"So, have you ever seen an ice wyrm?" Chittik asked.

Bulboo laughed again, a huge bubble glugging out of his mouth. "Seen? They do call me Bulboo the serpent-slayer. The north sea is swimming with them. And this very spear has pierced the bellies of a dozen, each fiercer than the last and all large enough to swallow your little army whole. Each spawned by the Great Wyrm herself."

Chittik admired the bravado. He knew the warrior was probably embellishing, but for some reason he wanted to believe there was some truth in it. He looked up into the blackness and imagined the ice that covered the world. According to legend that ice was the body of the Great Ice Wyrm who in searching for warmth had wrapped herself around and around and around the world until she was able to clench her own tail in her mouth. It was a childhood story about gods that Chittik had almost forgotten from a childhood that had been brutally snatched away.

Chittik felt the heat rush to his face. He tried to picture Ikbarchilub's palace, the forces of rebellion surging through its gates. He imagined himself with spear in hand in the vanguard, a ragtag group of young serfs, untrained but determined, the king's guards falling away. But that's as far as his imagination would carry him. His mind, the product of the simple life in the king's fields around a vent, couldn't begin to visualize the extravagance of the tyrant. The abundance of food, delicacies piled high on stone platters, mountains of gems and exotic shells, and all illuminated with the bioluminescence of the enslaved. Then the dream soured and he could only see himself being shoved by a misguided crowd to be the first impaled on the jagged points of the spears. He felt a queasiness in his belly right where he imagined the first spear going in. Then the whispers of the lost that drove him faded away.

"Sometimes I don't know if I can do this," Chittik said. Bulboo's rasping stopped.

"Swallow that," Bulboo said through gritted teeth. "There's no place for it now." Bulboo's intensity shook Chittik. He suddenly felt a current of shame flow over him and wanted even more to just swim away.

Then the rasping continued. "I suppose it is only natural, you are very young, and but a serf. I wish, for a moment, I could remember what you must be feeling. But you've chosen this path freely. Remember that. If you gain nothing else serf, you freed yourself the moment you made this choice."

The photophore that dangled over Bulboo's face lit up with a yellow glow. The tip of his spear was close to his face so that he could inspect the fineness of the point. His beady black eyes were like opaque gems in a mask. He ran his bulbous tongue the width of his gaping frown along the rows of teeth as the light faded.

"Is my spear next to you?" Chittik asked. He raked his flippers through the muck. Submerged in the cool mud he might never find it. "It was leaning here when I went up to look out."

Bulboo got up, the muck sliding off him in sheets and forming clouds of sediment in the water.

"The first thing you must learn little serf is that a warrior never puts down his spear."

Then beyond Bulboo, Chittik saw a red glow further down the trench. "What is that," he asked. Immediately after another sphere of red light appeared and closer yet another. Bulboo turned back toward Chittik; his photophore also lit up with a red eerie light.

"But that's not the signal." Chittik said.

"Yes serf, I'm afraid it is." Bulboo thrust the tip of his spear deep into Chittik's belly. The photophore danced over his face wildly, a red beacon lighting his hideous face and motioning toward his slowly expanding jaws.