"Telemetry continues. The crew is following the signal."
They said that somewhere beyond the known routes there were pathways that could never be drawn on a chart.
They were not plotted by computers or astronomers, but by the pulse sequences themselves slow electronic rhythms, beating like the heart of a gigantic machine.
The Navigator sat in the half-light of the command deck, surrounded by panels of amber indicators and endless rows of glowing lamps.
Analog modules were wired directly into the ship's guidance systems. A new chord shifted the course by fractions of a degree. Every repeating sequencer unveiled another stretch of the void.
No one knew where the journey would end.
They could only watch as the stars slowly ceased to be stars, becoming luminous markers left by an unknown civilization millions of years ago for those who would one day dare to follow them.