“They can’t get back,” he said to himself. Shaking himself, he opened the stasis pod. “I hope dreams aren’t eternal.”

“Why is that, Captain?”

Richard smiled and shook his head. “I can’t explain it, computer,” he said as he stripped off his suit. “Once I activate the stasis pod, send us into warp, computer.”

“Understood, Captain. And after?”

It was the part Richard worried about. If it worked and the Shamblers were truly dead, then there was hope. But scientists would want to know what caused it.

He couldn’t be the cause of another outbreak. He owed that to Robert.