The Stars That Beckon

by Kevin J Simington

  “During your sleep, trillions of nanobots will be at work within your body, taking over all of your metabolic processes at the cellular level, making it unnecessary for your heart and many other organs to function at all. Tiny micro-pulse electrodes will also be implanted into all the muscles of your body, so that they receive constant stimulation during your sleep. During the waking process, the nanobots will be removed from your body via magnetic filtering, and all of your natural metabolic processes will be restarted.”

  “We will commence ‘processing’ people, if you will please excuse the term—it sounds like something a chicken farmer would say, doesn’t it? —in two days’ time. We could actually process the entire population in a single day, because the whole procedure is fully automated, but we are in no rush. The day before you are processed you will need to report to the med bay to be given some fast-acting colon-clearing medication. Please do not eat for the remainder of that day. The following morning, please report to the Level 4 Hibernation deck. You will be assigned a pod, you will remove your clothes and place them in the storage compartment beside your pod, you will climb into your pod, and approximately one minute later you will be sound asleep.”

  “You may choose to go to sleep at any time during the next two weeks, after which time we will insist that all those remaining be processed. OK, I think I’ll stop there for questions.” She looked around the audience with raised eyebrows.

  “Will everyone else be able to see me getting undressed?” asked someone near the front.

  “There are privacy screens on each side of your pod, ma’am, so no one else will see you.”

  “That’s a shame,” said another voice, and everyone laughed.

  “Have any pods ever failed?” asked someone else.

  “I won’t lie. In the very early days of cryogenic stasis, there were two incidents where pods failed. Those issues were resolved decades ago, and our pods now have multiple redundancies.”

  Dr Boyle waited a little longer. “Any other questions? No? In that case, thank you for your attention. Sweet dreams and I’ll see you on the other side.”

  The meeting broke up, and conversations started up all around the dining room. The group of friends was all together at what had become their official table, at the rear of the room.

  “When we get there, will there be aliens?” asked Melody.

  “No, just us,” answered Jaz.

  “Aliens don’t exist,” said Keo.

  “How can you be so sure?” asked Kit.

  “The Fermi Paradox,” he answered.

  “You’ll have to explain that one to us, professor,” said Zac.

  “It’s a philosophical argument, first proposed by the astrophysicist Enrico Fermi in 1950. It refers to the apparent contradiction between the high probability estimates for the existence of extra-terrestrial life, and the complete lack of evidence. In essence, the paradox states, ‘Where is everybody?’”

  “Yeh, but just because we haven’t found extra-terrestrial life yet doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” said Kit.

  “Well, Fermi says that it effectively does say that. His argument goes as follows: There are at least 200 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Cosmologists estimate that about 90 percent of those have at least one planet orbiting them.”

  “180 billion,” said Melody.

  “Yes. And over the centuries, we have observed that about one in five of the star systems that have planets include at least one roughly Earth-sized planet orbiting within the habitable zone, where liquid water can exist.”

  “36 billion,” chimed Melody happily.

  “Yes. Now let’s be extremely pessimistic and say that only one in 1,000 of those Earth-like planets will ever develop life of any kind.”

  “36 million.”

  “And let’s be equally pessimistic and suppose that, of those planets that do develop life, only one in 1,000 will go on to develop intelligent life that would eventually be capable of space flight.”

  “36,000 planets left,” said Melody, enjoying her mathematical contribution to the discussion.

  “Yes. So, using very conservative estimates, our galaxy should contain 36,000 planets with space-faring capabilities.”

  “So where are they all?” asked Zac.

  “Precisely,” said Keo. “And the paradox is made even more clear, when you consider that our own sun is a relatively young star, by astronomical standards. Cosmologists estimate that up to 60 percent of stars in our galaxy are millions of years older than our sun. We are relatively new kids on the block. So we can assume that 60 percent of planets which could have developed intelligent life are millions of years older than the Earth.”

  “21,600,” said Melody happily.

  “So here we come to the heart of the paradox,” said Keo. “If our estimates are correct, there should be at least 20,000 intelligent species in our galaxy who achieved interstellar space flight millions of years ago. After all, it has only taken humanity thousands of years to reach that point. If these other species have had interstellar capabilities for thousands and even millions of years longer than we have, they would have spread out across the galaxy long ago. They would be everywhere.”

  “So, where is everybody?” repeated Zac.

  “Yes,” said Keo. “That is precisely the question that Enrico Fermi posed to two fellow cosmologists as they walked to lunch one day in 1950. And no one has been able to answer his question ever since. We have been searching the galaxy for 400 years now, and we’ve found nothing. With the most sophisticated scanning devices and telescopes on the moon and on Mars and at the various Lagrange points in our solar system, we have found not a single trace of intelligent alien life. No transmissions. No spectral or radiation signatures of nuclear or any other form of power generation. Nothing. And to date, we have identified over 600,000 exoplanets.”

  “So, what are you saying?” asked Zac.

  “I think we are alone in the universe. I think we are unique. I also think it shows that life doesn’t just evolve by random natural processes, otherwise it would have happened all over the galaxy. I think it shows that we are a miracle; that we were created.”

  “Wow! I didn’t see that one coming,” said Martinez. “Here comes the religious talk.”

  “Not at all, little sister,” said Keo. “I am not here to shove my beliefs down anyone’s throat. Faith is a unique journey that only you can walk.”

  “I have a question,” said Melody.

  “What is it, little Possum?”

  “Can I have some more ice cream?”

  35

  Zac opened his eyes and wondered where he was. There was an open, transparent lid directly above him, and he could see dark blue curtains on either side. Of course! I’m in a pod. But I should be asleep by now. I closed my eyes briefly a few seconds ago, but I’m still awake! It’s not working! Nothing’s happening! He stepped out of the pod and padded to the entrance to his cubicle, feeling oddly stiff and sore. Peering around the edge of his curtain, he glimpsed the pod next to him. The lid was closed and was translucent, showing the vague outline of a person inside. He peered around the curtain on the opposite side and saw the same thing. Everyone else is asleep! My pod is not working! He was about to start panicking when a calm voice emanated from the side of his pod. “Good morning, Zac. How are you feeling?”

  “Genni?”

  “That is correct.”

  “What’s happened? Why aren’t I asleep?”

  “You were asleep, Zac. But it’s time to wake up. We’ve arrived at the Icarus R-421 system. You’ve been asleep for over 40 years.”

  He looked down at his naked body and noticed small adhesive bandages on his arms, legs and torso where he must have been plugged into the pod. “Is everything OK? Why isn’t everyone else awake?”

  “I have taken the initiative to wake the flight crew and council members 24 hours ahead of the colonists. I suggest you get dressed and go to the dining room first. Please scan your biochip and order
the rejuve juice. You will need to drink several of these over the next few hours before you eat solid food. Please then make your way to the bridge, where I can update everyone on the mission status.”

  Barely 20 minutes later, Zac walked onto the bridge, arriving in the same lift as a number of other crew members. On the huge screen in front of them was a view of a large, bright star, floating in the blackness of space. Prisha was standing to the side, drinking a cup of the pleasantly flavoured rejuve juice. She smiled at Zac when she saw him, and said, “Did you have a nice sleep?”

  “I guess so. I don’t remember a thing.”

  “I see you’re wearing your Hawaiian shirt and not a jumpsuit.”

  “Yep. Thought I’d bring a tropical feel to the proceedings—in honour of our new home.”

  “Nice,” she said.

  Genni announced, “The full complement of crew and council members has now arrived, so I will commence my mission status briefing and handover.”

  “Go ahead,” said Christensen, who was already sitting in the captain’s chair.

  “We have arrived at the Icarus R-421 system. That is the star currently displayed on your viewing screen. Our target planet can be seen to the left of screen.” Genni drew a red circle around a tiny point of light that Zac would not have otherwise differentiated from the stars in that part of the screen. “We are still decelerating as we approach and will achieve high-altitude orbit around the planet in four days, at approximately 1100 hours, ship time.”

  “There’s our new home,” said Carla Zangetti, the astronomer.

  Genni continued, “I must advise you, however, that we encountered a significant anomaly on our journey here. Approximately 10.2 light years into our journey, we encountered a rogue black hole, almost directly in our path. Subsequent calculations indicate that it had a relatively small velocity of 2,800 kilometres per second and a trajectory across the galactic plane that intersected with our own. As you know, black holes are invisible, emitting no visible light or radiation, and can only be detected by their immense gravity. As soon as its gravitational effect was detected, I employed an emergency evasive burn of our main drive, attempting to alter our trajectory so that we bypassed it. Unfortunately, by then we were travelling at 0.51 of light speed, or 152,894 kilometres per second. There was insufficient time to evade the immense gravitational field of the black hole, which I estimate had a mass 2.7 billion times that of the Earth’s sun.

  “We were drawn into orbit around the black hole. Even with our antimatter drive firing at full power, we were unable to break out of the gravity well. For six months I tried various means of boosting our antimatter drive’s capabilities, with robots working continuously on our engines. During that time, we had been holding at a static distance from the black hole’s event horizon, neither gaining nor losing ground. After 187 days I was successful in gaining an additional 1.5 percent power from our main drive. I also instructed our robots to jettison some mass from our vessel. The net result was that we began moving away from the black hole’s event horizon at a rate of 1 meter per second, increasing linearly as we moved further away. After a total of 332 days of gravity capture, we finally broke free of the black hole’s gravity well and were able to resume our journey.”

  “What was the mass that you jettisoned?” asked Lance.

  “The two power generators.”

  “Damn!” said Lance. The generators were two massive fusion reactors, each of which would have provided power for an entire town. They had been manufactured on Mars and had been transferred to Genesis on the first day of Mars orbit.

  “I did not have a choice,” explained Genni. “I needed to divest us of significant mass as quickly as possible. They were the most massive items we had.”

  As Genni paused to allow that information to sink in, Captain Christensen asked, “Why didn’t you wake me or any of the crew?”

  “For three reasons, Captain. Firstly, I was uncertain whether we would survive the encounter. If we didn’t, it was kinder to leave you all asleep. Secondly, waking you would have served no purpose. My logic is infallible, and I have the ability to process data and analyse possible solutions millions of times faster than humans. I was clearly the best entity to be in charge during the crisis. Thirdly, I was constitutionally in command and was under no compulsion to wake you. I hope I haven’t offended you.”

  “Not at all. Your arguments are sound, and it appears that you handled the crisis flawlessly. I assume that this added some time to our journey.”

  “Yes, Captain. Additional time was added, in two senses. Firstly, our journey was lengthened by an additional 535 days: the 332 days locked in the gravity well of the black hole, plus additional time to accelerate to our previous cruising velocity, plus the additional distance this solar system travelled during our encounter. Thus, according to ship time, you spent nearly an additional 18 months in cryogenic stasis.”

  “That’s not too bad,” said Dr Regina Boyle, the head of cryogenics. “That’s only another 27 days of aging, in cryogenic time.”

  Captain Christensen, however, did not look completely relieved. “Genni, you said that additional time was added in two senses. You’ve only spoken of ship-board time. What is the other sense?”

  “You are astute, Captain. Black holes create considerable distortion of the space-time continuum due to their enormous mass and gravity. As a result, a vessel that comes into close proximity with a black hole will experience significant time dilation. This is in accordance with Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Time will progress much slower on board the ship than in the surrounding universe, even though time will seem to progress normally from the perspective of those on board. The closer a ship travels to a black hole’s event horizon, the more severe will be the time dilation. Ship-board time can slow considerably. This means that a small amount of time might seem to pass for those on board the vessel, while a very large amount of time may pass in the external universe.”

  “How much time passed?” asked Christensen.

  “We came relatively close to the event horizon, Captain, and we were trapped in the gravity well for nearly 11 months.”

  “Genni, how much time passed in the outside universe?”

  “3,022 years.”

  There was absolute silence on the bridge. Mouths were agape. Eyes were opened wide in astonishment. Heads were shaking in disbelief. Only Captain Christensen’s face seemed unmoved.

  “How sure are you? How did you calculate that figure?”

  “I am completely certain, Captain. During our encounter with the black hole I was able to observe the movement of stars in nearby space. In particular, I observed several binary star systems with known orbital periods. By counting the number of completed orbits they made around each other, and factoring in their orbital periods, I was able to calculate the passage of time to within several weeks.”

  “So, this is now the year 5379,” said Regina.

  “That is correct, in Earth years.”

  “I guess I won’t be sending any Christmas cards back home then,” said Zac. As soon as he said it, he realised it was probably not the most helpful comment to make, but no one reacted. In fact, everyone seemed completely stunned.

  “Is there anything else we should know?” asked Christensen.

  “Yes, Captain. There is the issue of distance. During the time we were locked in the gravitational pull of the black hole, both the black hole and the Icarus R-421 system continued on their trajectories. During the 3,022 years that we were engaged with the black hole, they travelled 54.8 light years and 56.6 light years respectively. Fortunately, their trajectories are almost parallel, so there was only a minimal increase in the distance we needed to travel once we broke free of the black hole. However, the result is that this star system is now an additional 37.5 light years from Earth. At the start of our journey it was 14.3 light years distant, now it is 51.8 light years distant.”

  “Does that have any direct impact on our mission?” asked C
hristensen.

  “Not directly: only that the pattern of visible stars will have shifted more than we anticipated. Plus, any future travel back to Earth will be significantly longer.”

  “What have your scans revealed of the planet so far?”

  “At this distance I am only able to gather very basic data. There are no transmissions coming from the planet. My spectral analysis of the planet indicates a high probability that the atmosphere retains the same constituent gases from our original probes. But remember, the data we have from those probes is now over 3,000 years old. A lot could have changed in that time period. I therefore advise that we approach the planet with caution and undertake a comprehensive survey of the planet from high-altitude orbit prior to any attempted landings.”

  “I agree,” said Christensen. “Anything else we should know?”

  “All ship systems are optimal, Captain. Handover is now complete. I hereby transfer command of the ship to you.”

  “Acknowledged. Thank you, Genni. You did a good job.” He turned to his crew and issued various orders in preparation for the vessel’s approach to the planet. Then he announced, “Council meeting in the conference room. Grab another rejuve juice, everyone, and we’ll meet there in 10 minutes.”