Interlaced throughout the novel will be dream sequences that tell about John’s history in the space marines, establish the universe and elaborate on mistrust of science, and provide insight to John’s subconscious

Mistrust of science -
Temptation of immortality -
John is the only person who is immune to the psionic effects of the DEM machine because he is the only character who has not been genetically modified.

I. John has a dream about his space marine life.  In the year 2348 guns were replaced by the United Infinite Supremacy with a mind controlled suits which fire pulses that cause micro-explosions in the skulls of targets.  The main purpose of the marines were to enforce the domain of the UIS and prevent the spread of lawlessness from beyond the outskirts of space.  This is followed by another nightmare in which he wakes up in space without a ship.
II. The doctor tells John that the entire ship (except John) has confided to having the same nightmares about a ghost ship.
The crew eventually realizes this, and there is a fistfight between the doctor and a crew member when a stationary ship appears on the radar.  Ironically, only John and the doctor are in agreement that the ship must be searched for survivors.
III.  They dock and board the ship, which is offline and zero-gravity.  Daniel and another crew member discover the DEM machine, a large chamber with a pod in the middle and John has all the crew members look at it until the doctor recognizes it as a stasis chamber.  The ship is left attached overnight while they decide what to do.  John is up late reading the ghost ship manifest, which ends scribbled with incoherent madness.  He sleeps uneasily, dreaming that he is investigating something in the control room.  When he arrives, the doctor is standing with his back to him in a spacesuit.  The doctor turns around and when the helmet slides open, a torrent of blood gurgles from the mouth of a horribly contorted face, darkly staining the front of the suit.  A hand on his shoulder in the dream jolts him awake, but he recognizes the hand as belonging to the doctor.
IV.  None of the crew slept well, apparently.  The doctor tries to activate the DEM unsuccessfully,
V. In the morning, two crew members are missing, including the doctor.  John and Kyle suit up and search the empty ship.  Kyle spots one of them but they are unable to confirm the identity as it keeps evading them.   John sees somebody in a suit float past in space, either the doctor or the other missing crew member.  John decides to risk going into space to get closer.  When he gets near enough to identify the suit as Leroy’s, he is strangely unable to see inside the helmet or get a response from him as he mechanically studies the ghost ship’s exterior.  Kyle raises a distress call with gunfire in the background.  More than uneasy, a trigger-wary John re-enters the ghost ship to find Kyle.
VI.  He discovers Kyle, also in a dark suit, but standing completely still facing a wall.  Due to his size, John is unable to move him, so he returns to the ship and seals the airlock.
VII.  Zara theorizes that the cause of their crew’s strange behavior is a virus that killed the crew of the ghost ship.  Evidence of this is documented in the manifest as developing madness in crew members.  She suggests that they un-dock ships and set a return course to the nearest trade ship while they are still alive.  John wants to bring at least Kyle, if not the others back to be de-suited and examined in the medical bay.  It is at this moment that Zara screams “they’re dead!” because she sees undead Leroy float past the control room, which John is unaware of.  She runs to the door of the control room in a frenzy, but is caught by Samuel, who assesses the situation and agrees to save as many crew members as possible.
VIII.  John and the doctor calm Zara and enter the ghost ship to retrieve Kyle.  They are unable to find him, but the doctor muses about how the missing crew members seem to be working together.  Being careful to stay in each others sight, they make their way toward the DEM chamber, but the power fails.  In the dark they must rely on their flashlights and radio communication.  Samuel tricks John into leaving the DEM chamber and seals himself in it.
IX.  Locked out, John watches the machine whir and glow.  He decides to continue to look for missing crew members on his own.  In the control room of the ghost ship he discovers a way to log into the ship system and learn more about the DEM machine.

X.


XIII.  The doctor is standing over Zara, who is apparently unconscious.  He shoots her in the head and his face peels into a skeletal grin at John, who is strapped to a medical table dragged in next to the DEM.

XIV.

XVII.  Both ships are traveling at warp speed in order to power the DEM.  Paraphrasing of doctor’s monologues: “We are travelling faster than the speed of light.  Nothing exists but you, me, and these ships.  Time does not wait for us, in a day we swallow a decade.  When we arrive, humanity may not even still exist.  I am truly a god, so stop hiding from me