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MERE PASSERS BY

Les Johnson



Leave it to Les Johnson, Baen’s resident NASA rocket scientist to ask some of the heaviest questions posed in this anthology.

The discovery of intelligences beyond our wildest imaginations, capable of reshaping the order of the cosmos seemingly at a whim are nothing new to the genre. Yet there remain some very important points should humanity stumble upon signs of an intelligence on that scale, beyond wondering if we’d even recognize it at all. Would first contact even be possible? Or even advisable?

***

“It’s good to be exploring again instead of fighting in a war,” mused Lieutenant Enzokuhle Achebe with his thick South African accent. Achebe, on a goodwill assignment as the executive officer of the United States Space Navy (USSS) Alligator, was, like his captain, waiting on the ship’s Hawking Drive to activate and send it across hundreds of light years in an instant. South Africa was a relatively new participant in the Earth Defense Forces and many of that country’s aspiring officers were now integrated into the crew of other EDF ships as part of their training.

“Especially a war that so easily could have been averted,” said James Stockton, the ship’s captain.

“So many people died for no good reason. It was a tragedy,” replied Achebe, trying to be sensitive to the loss he recently learned that Stockton suffered in the conflict. His sister was a lieutenant on the USSS South Dakota, the very first EDF ship lost in the war with the Kurofune.

“Tragic in many ways—for both sides, including for the perpetrators. My faith says I should forgive them, and I’m trying, but I’m not there yet,” said Stockton. Stockton looked at his new friend and shipmate, then at the status screens projected in front of them.

Stockton, Achebe, and the rest of the bridge crew were strapped in their chairs, anticipating the imminent sense of nausea they and most people experienced when a ship’s Hawking Drive activated and took them across light years of space in barely the blink of an eye. Stockton knew it was a small price to pay when compared to the months and years it had taken humans merely to cross their own solar system just a century ago. Harnessing the energies required to zip from one location in spacetime to another was immense, but not so immense that the Alligator’s onboard fusion reactor couldn’t provide it.

The light briefly dimmed. By the time Stockton and the crew noticed, the jump was complete and the accompanying nausea came and went with the seeming blink of an eye. Had it not been for these small telltale signs and the star field changing on the virtual display now projected in the forward part of the bridge, no one would have known the two hundred men and women of the Alligator had just completed a series of jumps taking them nearly 150 light years from their starting point near Jupiter.

Stockton was surprised when the Level 2 Alert sounded.

“Lieutenant Chowdhury, speak to me. Why the alert?” asked Stockton. Lieutenant Karen Chowdhury was the ship’s tactical officer and responsible for making sure the ship was prepared not only for combat, but for any situation that was out of the ordinary and could pose a threat. She was neat, efficient, good at her job, and always eager to learn new skills. Stockton had recently recommended her for promotion.

“I triggered the alert, Captain,” said the Alligator’s navigator, Lieutenant Almira Griggs-Snyder. Griggs-Snyder was one of those rare navigators who could plot counterintuitive interplanetary trajectories in her head, often better than others using a ship’s computer. “We arrived nearly two AU farther away from the star than we should have.” An AU was short for astronomical unit, a measurement based on the nominal distance from the Earth to the Sun.

“Are we in immediate danger?” asked Stockton.

“From what I can tell so far, there is nothing near us for a few million kilometers, but something threw us off course and until we understand why that happened, I suggest maintaining a heightened state of alert,” she replied.

“I concur,” said Chowdhury, as she busily scanned the situational data flowing across the screens at her duty station.

The forward display dissolved and was replaced with a top-down projection of the star system they just entered. At first the image showed only a small part of the planetary system. The ship’s not-quite-sentient artificial intelligence, John Paul, was building it up by first showing the locations of the large objects, the major planets, followed by multiple minor planets, asteroids, and comets as the ship’s telescopes and other sensors found them. It was like watching a puzzle being put together in three-dimensional space, each segment having to be fit with the complex geometry of the planetary worlds (enlarged so they could be visible on the vast scale of a star system nearly seventy astronomical units across). The puzzle was now approaching fifty percent complete and, if history was a clue, it would take much longer for the remaining fifty percent to fill. They were, after all, on one side of the system and any objects on the other side were very far away and more difficult to see.

“Preliminary surveys do not detect any sort of artificial electromagnetic communication in the system nor any of the characteristics we normally assume might indicate the presence of advanced sentient life,” said John Paul in his rather stale sounding midwestern American accent. As was the AI’s custom, the voice emanated from near the holographic projection in the front of the room. “I cannot yet rule out the presence of pre-industrial activity, but as of yet there is no sign.”

The response was not unexpected. After all, in the hundred years or so that humanity had been traveling between the stars, no sentient alien life had been found. Life appeared to be everywhere, life not dissimilar from Earth life, but none that came close to being recognized as sentient.

“Would you look at that,” said Achebe as he pointed to one of the planets circling the star in the inner part of the system.

“Look at what?” asked Stockton.

“Look at the orbit of the second planet. There’s more than one. There are three,” said Achebe.

Stockton gazed at the image and his jaw dropped. The second planet in the system had not one, but two co-orbital companions as it circled the star. Three planets sharing the same orbital plane, the same distance from the star, and spaced at what looked like sixty degrees apart. One of the planets was a giant, at first glance reminding him of Jupiter. The other two were much smaller, Earth sized or perhaps Mars. There were four other planets of various sizes in the system, irregularly spaced outward from the central star as one might expect in an otherwise normal stellar system. He could not believe he hadn’t noticed the three planets himself.

“John Paul, what can you tell us about the co-orbiting planets near the star? Has such an arrangement ever been reported before?” asked Stockton.

John Paul’s 3D holoimage appeared on the bridge, slowly forming just to the right of the projected star system. When he chose, he appeared as a human male, fortyish, with an ever-so-slightly receding hairline and a thick head of black hair peppered with grey.

“Not that I am aware of, and my astronomical database is very comprehensive. This type of planetary arrangement is inherently unstable and should not exist in a star of this age. If it had formed by some cosmic accident from the protoplanetary nebula, then it would have long ago become unstable with one or more of the smaller companions flung to the outer star system or out of it altogether. I am unable to explain how this might be possible,” said John Paul. “I was running through the data library looking for other known examples and anticipating I would be able to find at least one to share before I reported the anomaly. I have now had ample time to look through the archives and find no other such examples. This is not only new, but theoretically impossible.”

“Enzokuhle, the mystery deepens,” said Stockton, scratching the stubble on his chin. “Might this explain why the Hawking Drive brought us in farther away from the star than we planned?”

Griggs-Snyder replied, “Almost certainly, sir. Though the gas giant appears to be about the size of Saturn, it is far more massive than even Jupiter. That alone would change the curvature of spacetime enough to throw us off course. The exoplanet database back home will need to be updated.”

“I’d say,” mumbled Stockton, mostly to himself. Someone’s inaccurate survey data had placed his ship and his crew in jeopardy and he did not like that.

“Sir, I believe we can return to Level 3. I don’t believe we are in any immediate danger and we now know the cause of the displaced Hawking jump,” she added.

“Lieutenant Chowdhury, do you agree?” asked Stockton.

“Yes, sir. I agree.”

“Lower the alert level to three and let’s allow John Paul to complete his survey while we consider our next steps.”

Two hours later, the model of the star system was mostly complete, and there was another curious anomaly to consider: there were no asteroids or comets larger than fifty meters across anywhere in the system.

“Forgive my ignorance but is it possible for a star system to have no large comets or asteroids?” asked Stockton.

“There are no other stellar systems in the database with no large asteroids or comets. Most that have been surveyed have far more large objects than can be found in the solar system. What we see here is, so far, unique. I am compiling a list of phenomena that have never been postulated, measured, or observed,” replied John Paul.

“John Paul, share your lists with senior staff and engineering personnel, with daily updates and additions. We won’t learn much more out here. Unless someone has a compelling reason to do otherwise, we’re going to visit the planet leading the gas giant in its orbit,” said Stockton. “Take us in,”

As commanded, the Alligator powered up its fusion drive and began accelerating for the inner star system. The journey would take about six days thanks to the inability of the Hawking Drive to operate near stars. Stockton did not understand all the math, but the experts told him that the warping of spacetime by a star would cause the Drive to malfunction if it were to be engaged too close in, with close being defined as roughly 4–5 AU from a Sun-sized star. The larger the star, the farther out the effect. In this case, they had planned to arrive about four AU from the star but the anomalously massive planet caused the drive to drop them six out instead.

The next six days were mostly routine, with Stockton running various conflict simulations to keep the crew sharp and to pass the time. While off duty, Stockton chose to work out in the ship’s small gym and spend time with the crew. He enjoyed getting to know those who served under him and hearing their stories. Why did they enlist? Where were they from? What were their goals? It was easy to see the billions of humanity as nameless beings; realizing each was unique and had a story to tell was one of his life joys. Objectively he knew that it would also improve morale and crew efficiency, but that was not his inner motivation. He did it to help relieve the pain of losing his youngest sister, Erin. She had been serving similarly on the South Dakota and had had her own hopes and dreams. Hearing those from his crew, most of them younger than he—about Erin’s age—helped him cope.

The day they entered orbit around the leading planet, now called Nyanga, they knew a lot more about it. Though Stockton and the crew of the Alligator were aware that whatever name they gave the planets they visited would inevitably be changed by the powers that be back in the solar system, they put a great deal of thought into the working names they would use in the interim. In this case, Achebe came up with the most popular name, Nyanga, the Zulu word for moon. Stockton placed the ship in the equivalent to what would be called a geostationary orbit back at Earth, allowing them to continuously view one hemisphere of the planet as they circled it. A robotic probe was launched to orbit in a similar position on the other side of Nyanga so they would have continuous views of the entire planetary sphere.

Stockton gathered his officers in the CIC, a small room adjacent to the bridge, to discuss next steps.

“I’ve asked John Paul to give us an overview of what we’ve learned about Nyanga and the odd orbital dynamics of the planets,” began Stockton. “I think you’ll find what he has to say to be very interesting.”

The wispy image of John Paul appeared at the head of the table. The combat information center, bridge, and captain’s cabin were the only places on the ship equipped with the holo projectors that allowed him to have a virtual 3D presence (other than on a screen).

“Nyanga is a terrestrial planet roughly twenty percent larger than Earth and Venus, covered with water except for two major continents, possesses a strong magnetic field that shields the surface from the solar wind and coronal mass ejection events, an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere with a mixture ratio not dissimilar to Earth’s, and what appears to be a vibrant biosphere filled with all sorts of flora and some small fauna. There are no obvious signs of habitation or sentient life, but spectroscopy of the atmosphere reveals the presence of chlorofluorocarbons, carbon 14, and nitrous-oxide compounds in ratios that are unlikely to have been produced naturally, though in very small quantities. The average surface temperature is about 59 degrees Fahrenheit and both poles are covered with water ice,” said John Paul.

“It’s a Goldilocks planet where somebody is or used to be home,” said Lieutenant Adolf Woods, the ship’s signals officer. It had taken Stockton some time to fully appreciate Woods and he was glad he had made the effort. Woods was a bit of a loner and spent a great deal of his time, even his spare time, reading the latest information theory journals instead of socializing with the crew. At one time, Woods would have been pigeonholed as “on the spectrum” and perhaps not allowed to serve. From what Stockton could see, that would have been a waste of talent. Woods was good at his job and on the path to a promising career.

“So, it would appear,” said Stockton. “John Paul, please continue.”

“I can also report on Nyanga 2, the planet trailing the gas giant in the 3-body system. While we are not close enough to perform surveys with the same resolution as can with Nyanga, Nyanga 2 is only one percent larger than Earth, also has a strong magnetic field, and contains an atmosphere that appears remarkably similar to Nyanga. It is a bit colder, with an average global temperature of about forty-six degrees Fahrenheit and appears to be in the middle of an ice age. We are too far away for a detailed spectroscopic analysis of its atmosphere.”

“Two potentially habitable planets in one system?” asked Woods.

“Not only in one system, but in one orbit,” said Stockton.

“Sir?” said Lieutenant Griggs-Snyder.

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

Griggs-Snyder stood to address her fellow officers. “I’ve been working on some analysis with John Paul and we can’t figure out how this is possible. There is simply no way that three planets can be orbiting in this configuration. It’s inherently unstable and shouldn’t last for more than a few months, not the millennia that would be required for the development of the complex biospheres we observe, let alone the development of complex life.”

“The lieutenant if correct,” said John Paul, nodding affirmation in her direction. “As I initially calculated when we entered the system, the arrangement is only quasi stable. Those familiar with orbital dynamics may recognize that the two smaller planets occupy the Lagrange Points, L4 and L5, of the larger planet that serves as the gravitational anchor relative to the much more massive star. In theory, objects placed at these locations could co-orbit the star as we observe them doing, but only with constant small adjustments to their trajectories. Without adjustment, the gravitational interactions among the bodies would quickly force them from their current locations and most likely eject them to elsewhere.”

“Back at Earth, we’ve placed habitats at the Earth’s L4 an L5 regions, but they have to constantly use their onboard thrusters to avoid drifting away,” added Griggs-Snyder.

“Yet here they are. From what we can tell, the planets are not only at L4 and L5, but they also appear to have been there quite a long time and don’t look like they are going anywhere soon,” said Stockton.

No one spoke, making the quiet whirl of the vent fans the loudest sound in the room.

“Captain, I recommend we get closer and check out Nyanga 2,” said Lucas Cardoso. Doctor Cardoso was the ship’s physician. True to its origins, the Alligator was a warship and had no provision for carrying civilian science teams. They would come later after the EDF ships first found “interesting” new destinations and determined that they were safe enough for survey ships to follow. But every ship did have a medical officer and, in their training, they were far closer to being scientists than any other in the crew, except for the rare exceptional ship’s engineer. Cardoso usually kept quiet in Stockton’s staff meetings, only speaking up on matters that directly affected the medical section or the rare science matter. But when he spoke, Stockton found it was wise to listen.

“I agree. Let’s see what we can find there and then decide what to do or where to go next.” replied Stockton, adjourning the meeting.

That night, Stockton engaged in a lengthy discussion with Griggs-Snyder and Cardoso in the ship’s mess, imbibing more than a few beers, trying to better understand the orbital mechanics and other oddities of the system they’d found. Astrodynamics had not been Stockton’s best course during his training, to say the least, and having the third beer certainly didn’t help him understand all the details Greggs-Snyder was so valiantly trying to explain. In the course of their discussion, several of the crew drifted in and then quickly out—likely because they were not conversant in the mathematical detail, but he and Cardoso persisted. Cardoso, true to form, said little. Stockton enjoyed the interaction and realized that when he was with Griggs-Snyder, he felt like he did when he spent long hours talking to Erin. He hoped that Erin’s captain had spent similar time with her.

The discussion, and the beers, helped Stockton get a good night’s sleep.

The Alligator had been in orbit around Nyanga 2 for almost a day before Stockton called his officers together again in the CIC to review what they’d learned. John Paul once again appeared among them, as usual wearing his virtual EDF uniform. Stockton noticed that John Paul was using his empathetic algorithms in selecting his appearance. The uniform he wore appeared to be well-worn and in need of a trip to the ship’s laundry for washing and pressing.

“Nyanga 2 has a mass nearly identical to Earth or Venus, has similar atmospheric composition to Nyanga, a strong magnetic field, and is teeming with life—mostly aquatic. Though the planet is mostly covered by water, unlike Nyanga, its dry land is almost completely covered with ice and snow. The planet is in the middle of an ice age. Were it not for the temperature, humans would find it to be every bit as hospitable at Nyanga—or Earth, for that matter.”

“Any signs of intelligent life?” asked Stockton.

“Yes, but not currently. Its atmosphere has some of the same trace chemicals that I detected at Nyanga. At some time in the past, there was considerable industrial-scale activity on the planet. So far, the telescopes and other sensors have not detected anything we would recognize as intelligent life.”

“What about the stability of the planetary orbits? Do you have any new data that could shed light on how they are remaining stable?”

John Paul managed to look perplexed and apologetic at the same time, even running his virtual hands through his virtual hair to emphasize his point, “I do have one bit of additional data. The mass of the gas giant is much larger than one would expect for a planet its size. The planet’s volume is roughly comparable to Jupiter but its mass is much higher, making it about four times denser—comparable to the density of the Earth. There are various ways to account for this, so it is not impossible. Just improbable.”

Stockton turned from John Paul and fixed his gaze on Lieutenant Griggs-Snyder.

“Lieutenant, I’m sure you’ve been looking at the same data as John Paul regarding the planets’ orbits. We’ve heard the data. What does your gut say?” Stockton had had his ship evade danger on more than one occasion by allowing his navigator to do the math, plot the possible trajectories, and then trust her gut to choose the best one. Her gut usually found the right path and he hoped it would help lead them to some sort of answer in this case as well.

“My gut says the answer lies at the gas giant.”

“Then that’s our next destination. How long before we arrive?” asked Stockton.

“At full speed, about three days,” replied Griggs-Snyder.

“Let’s get started then.”

The next three days were largely uneventful with John Paul compiling yet more information about the star system and its immediate neighborhood. Once again, Stockton conducted a few drills and simulations, to keep the crew busy and occupied, if nothing else.

They arrived and entered orbit three days later.

The view was amazing and few aboard the Alligator ever grew weary of gazing upon a new world. Each was unique. The planet they circled was a giant bluish ball, reminiscent of Neptune. The atmosphere was rapidly churning, with multiple storms such as Jupiter’s Great Red Spot or Neptune’s Great Dark Spot dotting its hemispheres. Unlike its solar system counterparts, and most gas and ice giants discovered thus far, there was no ring system and, most startling, no moons. John Paul told the crew that the lack of rings and moons was mostly likely due to the gravitational effects of the co-orbiting terrestrial planets they had just visited, though he could not explain why those same gravitational anomalies had long ago not flung those same terrestrial planets elsewhere. Why would gravity prevent the formation of moons and rings, but not also affect them? Was it connected to the absence of large asteroids and comets? The mystery deepened.

Four hours after arriving and near the end of the day shift, John Paul appeared on the bridge. Though he could create a holoimage of himself anytime, John Paul preferred to do so only when he had something important to say or when he was to be involved in some sort of discussion.

“Captain, I’m having to use the ship’s thrusters far more often than I should in order to maintain our orbit. The planet’s gravitational pull is dynamic and we cannot maintain a passive circular orbit,” said John Paul.

“Dynamic? What the hell does that mean?” asked Stockton, looking away from John Paul and toward Griggs-Snyder.

Lieutenant Griggs-Snyder cleared her throat and replied, “Gravity is caused by mass and, thankfully, for most applications anyway, we can approximate its effects by assuming that the mass of an object acts the same as if all its mass were located at the object’s center point. In other words, how the mass is distributed doesn’t usually affect how we model it. Now there are some notable contrary examples, such as Earth’s moon which has been pelted over the eons by asteroids and comets, some containing iron ore. The regions rich in iron ore have a much higher density, which tends to disrupt what would otherwise be a perfectly spherical gravity field and causes orbiting ships to make trajectory adjustments periodically to compensate for the areas of higher gravity. Once such a gravity field is mapped, its effects can be modeled and predicted. They are stable. Not dynamic.”

“And what we have here is some sort of asymmetry, like the Moon, but it is changing?” asked Stockton.

“Yes, sir. That’s exactly correct. Its like something very large and massive is rolling around inside the planet, moving from side to side, causing the unequal gravitational attraction to move all around inside the sphere. This is causing a constant disturbance to our orbit and most likely the reason the atmosphere of the planet is so energetic. Take a look at the latest images of the planet and tell me what you see,” she said as she projected an image of the planet from when they first arrived next to the image of what they were seeing currently.

To Stockton, the images were very similar. The blue gas of the planet’s atmosphere was swirling and numerous giant black spots, which he knew were hurricanes larger than the Earth, churning through the chaos. The spots, however, were now different. Some were larger, some smaller, and some were simply no longer there.

“The storms have changed,” said Stockton.

“And they shouldn’t have changed so much in the few hours we’ve been here. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is essentially a hurricane. A hurricane that has been blowing for all of recorded human history. Neptune’s Great Dark Spots are not as long lived, but they don’t change as rapidly as every few hours,” she said.

“So, whatever is causing our orbital ‘dynamic’ gravity anomaly is also causing all this upheaval in the planet’s atmosphere?”

“I don’t see how it could be otherwise,” she said as John Paul nodded his virtual head in affirmation.

“And the cause, whatever it is, is also likely the reason the three planets remain in a stable orbit together,” said Griggs-Snyder. “The oscillating gravity field may be what’s compensating for the inherent instability of the planetary system. The varying gravity is constantly adjusting the orbits of the two terrestrial planets, keeping them stable.”

“Stable for millions of years?” asked Stockton.

“I can’t say for sure, but it is possible, especially considering John Paul’s growing list of impossibilities and improbabilities,” she replied. “To know for sure, I’ll need more data. Mostly likely we’ll need for Earth to send some of the gravity wave sensors here to take more precise measurements. All I’ve got to go on are the perturbations to our orbit and the weather on the planet below. I could be wrong.”

“Are we in any danger from the changing gravity? Can you compensate with the thrusters?” asked Stockton.

“We should be fine. The changes are not so rapid that we can’t adjust for them,” said Griggs-Snyder.

“Very well, let’s get as much data as we can before we move on. The survey ships will have a lot to investigate when they arrive and I want to know as much as we can so they can bring the equipment they need to better understand this phenomenon,” said Stockton as he rose from his chair, allowing Achebe to sit. “I’ll be in my cabin if you need me. Your ideas and John Paul’s growling list have given me a lot to think about.”

Three days later, the Alligator broke orbit and headed back to the outer part of the stellar system and for the jump home. It was that night, again over libations in the officer’s mess, that Dr. Cardoso joined Griggs-Snyder, Stockton, and Achebe for beers and popcorn. It was clear Cardoso had something to say, but it took two dark beers to get him to talk.

“Captain, have you ever heard of Nikolai Kardashev? He was an old Earth astronomer, alive in the middle of the twentieth century.”

“Maybe. The name sounds familiar but I couldn’t tell you anything about him. Why?”

“He came up with a scale for measuring a civilization’s level of technological achievement based on the amount of energy it is able to use. Others have tweaked the scale over the years to add fidelity, but I still prefer the original. I learned about it when I took my astronomy elective back in college. He called those civilizations that can harness all the energy that falls on their home planet from their parent star a Type I Civilization. For reference, we only achieved Type I status a few years ago when the space solar power stations and fusion plants finally came online,” said Cardoso.

“That’s interesting, but how does it relate to what we have here?” asked Stockton.

“I think we are seeing something created and maintained by a Kardashev Type II civilization. That’s one that can use and control the all the energy radiated by its own star. To alter the orbit of planets and keep them stable would require energies beyond anything we can currently contemplate. They built up these planets by using the excess raw material left over after the formation of the system, turning all the leftover asteroids, comets, planetary moons, and rings, whatever they could find, into the triplanetary system. What we found was constructed by intelligence, not nature.”

“That fits the data, sir,” chimed Griggs-Snyder. “I’ve done some calculations and I think the varying gravity we are seeing could be caused by oscillating, super-dense masses at the center of the gas giant.”

“When you say, ‘super-dense masses,’ do you mean black holes?” asked Stockton.

“Not necessarily. They would have to be very small black holes, micro black holes, but that’s unlikely. Theories say they aren’t stable for long periods of time and would long ago have either swallowed the mass of the planet or evaporated. It could be masses with the density of neutron stars. It could be anything. But it probably is not natural. To balance the forces just enough to keep the system stable for such a long time would require forethought and active control.”

“If that’s the case, then we are in a first contact scenario beyond anything we can imagine,” said Stockton. He had long ago come to the private conclusion that planetary system they were studying was artificial but had not wanted to say anything before he had more data. He had also contemplated what that meant should they encounter its creators. It scared him.

“My imagination can be rather fertile,” said Cardoso. “It’s possible that any beings able to harness this much power might be so far beyond us that we might not even notice them or vice versa. How often do you pay attention to the bacteria growing on your skin? You don’t. There are thousands of species just living there and they don’t pose any serious risk unless your system gets out of whack. Then we use antibiotics, bacteriophages, and UV sterilizers to kill those causing the problem. The same might be true here.”

“Lucas, in your analogy, we’re the bacteria and whoever created this system might decide that we need to be sterilized,” said Stockton.

“Yes, sir. All we did was fly by, stay for a few orbits, and now we are on our way. But those that follow will likely be here for months or years. And they will almost certainly go to the surface of the two terrestrial planets to explore. I think they need to be cautious and don’t draw the wrong kind of attention to themselves. I’d hate for whomever is here to think we aren’t so benign and decide to scrub us away.”

“You think they, whoever ‘they’ are, are still here?” asked Stockton.

“I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t appear so. Any civilization capable of doing what we see here would be hard to miss. Why would they go to the trouble to move entire planets, create a self-sustaining triple planetary system, and then disappear? It is also difficult to imagine that they would modify this star system and not do something similar, or equally miraculous, elsewhere. Yet so far at least, we’ve seen nothing else that even comes close.”

“And if they did go somewhere, where would that be?” asked Achebe.

Staring at the head of his beer, watching the bubbles of gas form new foam and then disappear, Stockton took another sip and replied, “Where indeed?”


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