Dark Core (Original short text)

We lie in our sleeping chambers, slowly waking.

The slow, dark heartbeat of the reactor powers our ship.

The spore carries us to distant worlds; the dark core drives the ship.

I remove the connections to my veins that both nourished me and held my body in stasis.

Inject me with a stimulant.

A new world lies ahead. The ship has carried and cared for us well.

The spore will go into orbit.

With the landing parties, we search for extraterrestrial life forms.

If we are lucky, we will find a superior intelligence.

The spore carries the seed further — to colonize new worlds.

Sometimes, we meet hostile, superior species.

If negotiations fail, the settlement occurs.

Our weapons are unmatched.

The blood must continue to exist.

The seed is carried away, whatever the cost.

The dark core pulsates.

Disastrous energy beats in its heart; we build, we create,

And, if we must, we destroy first.