Exordia

by Seth Dickinson

I always told my girlfriend, black hole polar jets are proof of God.” “How so?” Khaje asks. “Because the black hole makes the polar jet. One can’t exist without the other.” “So?” “So, if you look up at the night sky, at the center of galaxies where anything with eyes will want to look, you’ll find a terrible sign. You’ll find that at the heart of that whole galaxy and all the stars in it the devil used a million suns to build the biggest darkest most seductive most hopeless crushing prison he possibly could.” Chaya swallows. Her voice stays brave. “And then God saw that prison, and said: thank you, Satan Lightbringer. Thank you for the ultimate final prison from which not even light escapes. Thank you for your black hole. This will make the perfect engine for the biggest, brightest, most beautiful rocket you ever saw. “And out of that darkness, there was light.”