-Prologue-

Dib sat in his quarters, messing around with the various free-floating monitors and complex switchtoggles on his computer systems that were tracking many of the high-speed objects whizzing past the Massive. A beeping notification pulse reached his antennae and he whirled around, searching for its source. After locating the right screen he read the information, then got up abruptly and walked swiftly out the door towards the nearest teleportation pad.

"Destination?" the mothership asked.

"I need to go to Dad's lab."

"His Honourable Tallest is very bus-"

"This is urgent. I need to talk to him."

Without another word Dib was transported instantaneously to the enormous laboratory where his father spent his days. Hearing his son's arrival, Tallest Membrane paused what he was working on and walked over to the small Irken.

"Son! What brings you here?"

"I was checking on my astroidal analyzation receivers, and- "

"Oh Dib. I told you to get rid of those a long time ago. There is no practical use for them in the fields of real science!"

"But what if there are living organisms right outside our ship! Are you just going to let them float by?"

"Son, I've said this before and I'll say it again. There are no life forms anywhere near us! Aliens may exist, but they are billions of lightyears out of our reach. The only creatures you will encounter are fellow Irkens. There is nothing to worry about!"

"Yes there is." Dib brought out a portable data display and handed it to his father. "There is a series of small objects that will hit us in about four hours- "

"They are harmless," Membrane interjected, "My team discovered them last week."

"They are covered with a variety of peculiar micro-organisms. I didn't recognize their cellular structure, so I thought you would."

"Let's see..." murmured Membrane as he scrolled through the readings. "Oh my..."

"What's wrong?"

"The cells contain unusually large amounts of cesium and magnesium oxide...and they will hit the ship right next to the boosters. It'll blow up half the ship."

"We need to get everyone out then! Sound the alarms!"

"There aren't enough escape pods to fit everyone, we must evacuate to the far east side and cut off the extra fuel engines. It's our only hope. Go get your sister and meet me at the food court."

Dib ran out of the lab as his father's voice ran out over the intercom maintenance screens throughout the Massive. Teleporting up to the highest level, he heard the steadily growing hum as irkens reacted to the news. When he reached the top floor, it was crowded with irken scientists hustling about and preparing for evacuation. The mob was so thick he couldn't see the arcade room across the corridor. Some nearby chemists recognized the big head and the trench coat and escorted the Tallest's son across the hall. He thanked them and quickly found Gaz at her favourite fighting game booth.

"Come on, we have to meet Dad in the food court before it gets too crowded." Dib said, pulling her along.

"Why is everyone flipping out? He said we have at least three hours." The female irken slipped a pair of virtual reality goggles out of her Pak and placed them over her deep violet eyes. A see-through nanogel controller found its way to her three-clawed hands and she wasted no time in starting up another game.

"Because, Gaz, our ship is going to explode! There aren't any planets nearby, and there's no way we can go back to Irk! We're all going to be stranded here unless they can entirely repair the ship before we all get pulled out into empty space, assuming we all don't die in th- Are you even listening?"

"Nope."

Dib sighed. It was all hopeless. They should never have left Irk. All he wanted was to see the universe and all its mysteries unraveled. Was the spoochsucker that broke into their house still there? The bigfoot irken that dwelled in the Kayan forest too? Were the aliens he read about going to find his people on the Massive? In a few hours they were going to die, and he would never know.

They reached the food court and made their way through the crowd before sitting in front of the New Irk Fries booth. Tallest Membrane's voice ran out through the resonant intercoms, but Dib could barely hear his father over the din of twelve million Irkens preparing for doom. Pilots were arguing, smeets were crying, and a pair of teenage girls gossiped like there was no tomorrow. Gaz just sat there silently, fingers flying over her controller as she fought the final boss of Smeet Fighter 9.

Dib smiled. No matter what happened, his sister never faltered, never changed. Their home was about to be blasted apart and there she was, just sitting there playing video games. It was amazing, really, how nothing got to her.

Suddenly the lights flickered and dimmed, before blowing out and showering sparks down above the crowd of Irkens. Worried wails escaped the mouths of the citizens, but before Dib had time to complain he felt claws grip his limbs and pull him away. He looked over a few seconds later and saw Gaz beside him. It seemed they had been thrust onto a nearby teleporter by some guards.

"Did Dad tell you about this, too?"

"No, he only s-"

"Then shut up and pay attention. We're in the largest escape pod reserved for the Tallest. Why would they put us in here if Dad weren't as well?"

"Because there is no time for me to join you, Gaz. We no longer have four hours, the threat was accelerating too quickly so I changed the plans." The two young Irkens whirled around to face the information screen behind them, which now housed a transmission of Tallest Membrane.

"But what about everybody else?! You said we'd all be safe!" Shouted Dib indignantly.

"I was wrong. There's no guarantee everyone will survive. That's why I have to save you two, my precious family. The pod will disconnect in fifteen seconds, and land on the nearest inhabitable planet. Set up base there and wait for Irken contact. I will come back for you, just remember that I l-" The screen went blank as the transmission was cut short.

"DAD! Wait, no! Listen-" Dib trailed off as loud explosions and asteroid impacts sounded within the Massive. The pod detached itself from the mothership and raced away at multiple times the speed of light, having acquired a target for landing.

"Put your seatbelt on, Dib, before I hang you with it."

"Don't you care?! Our people, practically our entire race was on that ship! They're all going to die, and it's all my fault!"

"What good will whining do them? Put on the goddamn seatbelt so your huge head doesn't crack from the impact. You can help them by staying alive."

Gaz's realistic statement made Dib feel even worse. They were all alone, surrounded by the vast silent doom that is space, rushing towards an empty and unknown future. His pessimism would have continued, if not for his thoughts being interrupted by the unexpected crash-land as the pod landed on an unknown planet.