Microcosm

by Robert Zimmerman

pretty small - barely bigger than me.”

  “They’d find it. The beacons are designed to land in areas ripe for population, remember. They look for habitable temperatures, some place on land but near an ocean. They also try to search out the infrared, looking for signs of industrial activity or any kind of heat generation. Odds are very good any reasonably intelligent beings would find the beacon.”

  “Maybe they just haven’t used it yet? Or haven’t figured it out?” Lila asked.

  “No, I hate to discourage you, Lila, but no intelligent species would find the beacon and ignore it. The markings on it are designed to be obvious, easy to understand. All you need to do is open it and point it at the star combination etched in the side. There’s no way any sentient being with a basic sense of curiosity would fail to activate it. Even if they couldn’t figure the star pattern out, as long as they had a decent view of Camora we’d probably see the signal.” Rala realized how old she sounded. Lila was young and curious - Rala shouldn’t shatter her hopes so bluntly.

  “But they last a long time right? A few thousand years?” Lila asked.

  “That’s true, but mostly that’s stored energy for the interstellar signal. But if there isn’t intelligent life on the planet when the beacon arrives, well, it’s not likely that it will evolve in a few thousand years.” Rala saw Lila’s eyes sulk and tried to think of something encouraging to say. “But, don’t give up hope. You might still get a chance to travel. New beacons arrive at new worlds every year or so. You might travel farther than any of us one day.”

  “And what about the worlds without intelligent life? Or the ones that don’t call back, if there are any? Will we ever travel to those worlds?”

  “Those are sad and lonely places, I’d imagine. Who would want to go there?”