The Great Vortex was truly magnificent. Massive clouds of super-heated hydrogen and helium swirled around a cluster of early-stage stars that had not yet ignited. Cole now understood Alyssalee’s fascination with the unique artifact so close to Earth’s solar system—hundreds of light-years close. The hand-circled artist’s renditions in the worn book pages didn’t do the real thing justice. Through research, he found that the vortex coalesced midway through the massive span of cosmic gas, making up the Radcliffe Wave. The AI animations were close but witnessing it in its midst was mesmerizing.
This trip was one of the greatest gambles of Cole’s long existence. Finding Alyssalee wandering the spectral plane in this place would be a miracle, a sign from the One Unified God. Even though his life
