New Earth

Base Camp

“I’m proud of you, Bran,” said Jordan. “You’ve become a leader.”

Brandon smiled shyly. “With your help, Jordy. With your help.”

The two brothers were walking alone through the white mounds of their camp’s bubble tents, beneath a darkening sky. The first few stars were appearing in the gathering twilight. Jordan knew that Earth’s Sun would be visible once the night became fully dark. It would appear as a faint yellowish star, undistinguished and terribly far away.

“I wish there were some way we could convince Harmon that Adri’s people mean us no harm,” Jordan said.

Brandon huffed. “Meek’s a lost cause. He’s scared out of his wits. He’ll never be able to adapt to this situation.”

They walked along slowly, out toward the periphery of their camp. The forest trees sighed in the soft night breeze. Jordan thought of Aditi, back in the city, waiting for him, waiting for the people from Earth to make up their minds.

Turning toward his brother, Jordan said, “Bran, we’ve got to present a united front back home. We can’t have a divided team, we can’t have Harmon giving them a dissenting minority report.”

Brandon nodded. “That’d give the naysayers a reason to deny everything we have to tell them.”

Jordan thought of other times, earlier crises that had been worsened by inaction. World War II. The American Civil War. We might have avoided the greenhouse floods if we’d acted early enough, strongly enough, he said to himself.

Strangely, Brandon began to chuckle softly.

“Something funny?”

“I was just thinking about the Neanderthals.”

“What in the—”

“I was picturing a council of Neanderthals sitting in their cave around a fire, debating what they should do about global warming.”

“You have a weird sense of humor, Bran.”

“No, Jordy. Imagine it. Here they are, beautifully adapted to the Ice Age. But the climate’s warming up. The glaciers are melting away. And they’re squatting around their fire, wondering what to do.”

“There wasn’t much they could do,” said Jordan.

“They could have adapted. They could have changed their ways and adapted to the warmer climate.”

“Could they?” Jordan wondered. “As you say, they were physically adapted for the Ice Age climate.”

“They were intelligent, Jordy. As intelligent as we are. They had larger brains than we do, actually.”

“But—”

“Some of them lived in the Middle East, you know. They could have adapted to a warmer climate.”

Jordan pointed out, “Some of them interbred with our ancestors, actually. We carry a few Neanderthal genes in our DNA.”

“We absorbed them.”

“Which is what Harmon fears that Adri’s people want to do to us.”

Brandon snorted a bitter laugh. “Yeah, their few thousand are going to absorb our twenty billion.”

“He’s still afraid of the possibility.”

With a dismissive shake of his head, Brandon continued, “Most of the Neanderthals didn’t get absorbed. They didn’t adapt. They must’ve had a guy like Meek telling them that the warming is all a fake, a temporary anomaly, nothing to worry about.”

Jordan got the point. “So they didn’t change.”

“And they went extinct.”

“Just as we will.”

“If we don’t change our ways, Jordy. If we don’t change our ways.”

“Can we?” Jordan asked. “Will we?”

“There’ll be plenty of people back on Earth who won’t want to believe what we have to tell them. People who’ll deny it all, claim we’ve been hoodwinked by scheming aliens.”

“Just like Harmon.”

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do about him, Bran?”

In the lengthening shadows, Jordan couldn’t make out the expression on his brother’s face. But he heard the undertone of anger in Brandon’s voice. “Personally, I’d like to stuff him back in a cryosleep capsule and keep him there permanently.”

“Not an altogether bad idea,” Jordan said lightly, “but it’s rather impractical, don’t you think?”

“I just don’t understand him, Jordy. He’s supposed to be a scientist, but he’s not thinking logically at all. He hasn’t done a lick of work since we arrived here.”

“He’s frightened.”

They had reached the edge of the camp. Brandon stood in silence for several long moments, fists on his hips, head turned skyward.

“You’re right, Jordy,” he said at last. “If we can’t convince Meek that Adri’s people are being honest with us, we won’t have a chance in hell of convincing the powers-that-be back on Earth.”

“So what do you propose to do?” Jordan repeated.

“I’m supposed to be our fearless leader, right?”

“You are the team’s leader,” Jordan agreed.

“So I’m going to do what a leader’s supposed to do,” Brandon said. “When facing a really tough job, fob it off on somebody else.”

“What do you mean?”

Stepping closer to Jordan, Brandon placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and said, “Jordy, I’m giving you the task of bringing Meek around. I just don’t get along with the pompous ass, but you get along with everybody. The job is yours … if you’ll accept it.”

Surprised, Jordan actually staggered back a step. “You want me…?”

“To get Meek to see the light. You’re a trained diplomat. If I try to convince him I’ll wind up socking him in the nose.”

“But—”

“No buts, Jordy. I need you to do this. We all need it. If you can bring Meek around, Longyear and the others will fall in line.”

Jordan stared at his brother. His first thought was, Bran’s evading his responsibilities again, just as he’s done since we were children. He wants to be recognized as our leader but he can’t face up to doing the work.

But then he realized, Wait. Maybe Bran’s really taking his job of leadership seriously. Maybe he’s thought this out, after all. A real leader delegates authority. A good leader picks the best people for the tasks that have to be done.

He gazed into his brother’s questioning eyes with new respect. Placing his hand on Brandon’s shoulder, in imitation of his brother’s gesture, Jordan replied, “I’ll do it, Bran. I don’t know if I’ll be successful, but I’ll talk to Harmon, one on one.”

Brandon nodded. “I knew I could count on you, Jordy.”

“I don’t know if I can bring him around,” Jordan warned again.

“If you can’t, nobody can,” Brandon said, with absolute certainty.

One on One

Jordan went to his cubicle, sat on the springy cot, and phoned Aditi. He always felt a little awkward speaking to her from the cubicle; its two-meter-high partitions didn’t allow much privacy. He kept his voice low, but his eyes focused on Aditi’s alert, vivacious features.

He couldn’t tell her about Brandon’s request; he might be overheard. Instead he asked her about her day, and they chatted about inconsequential matters.

Until he said, “I’d really like to get back to the city as soon as I can.”

“Tomorrow?” she chirped.

With an unhappy smile, Jordan answered, “I don’t think so. I have a lot to do here.”

“I’ll come there, then.”

Jordan shook his head. “No. That would be … a problem. Let me work out what I have to do here and then I’ll call you.”

“I miss you, Jordan.”

Almost whispering, he replied, “I miss you, too.”

They said reluctant good-byes, then Jordan clicked his phone shut. Maybe Bran has the right idea, he thought. Maybe stuffing Harmon into a cryosleep capsule is the answer to our problem.

He dreamt that night of Miriam: happy, laughing, in the healthy bloom of youth when he had first met her. And in his dream she morphed into Aditi, happy, laughing, young.

He woke and sat up on the cot, thinking, How lucky you are, Jordan Kell. To find another woman who loves you. You had to travel more than eight light-years to find her, but find her you did.

For long moments he sat there and watched the dawn brightening the dome of the bubble tent. At last he told himself, Now you’ve got to do what’s necessary to keep her.

And that means convincing Harmon to accept Adri and all he had told them.

A pang of memory assailed him as he shaved: Miriam’s last agonized days. But then he realized that the memory was his subconscious mind’s way of showing him a way to solve his problem.

Dressed in slacks and an open-necked shirt, Jordan found Meek in the dining area, his breakfast laid out on the table before him as precisely as a military formation. Longyear was sitting beside him, the two of them leaning their heads together in intense conversation.

Jordan filled a tray with juice, buttered toast, and a steaming mug of coffee, then went to their table and sat down facing the astrobiologist.

“Good morning, all,” Jordan said cheerily. “May I join you?”

“Of course,” said Meek. Longyear nodded.

De Falla came up and started unloading his tray opposite Jordan. “Good morning,” he said as he sat down.

Meek nodded at the geologist, said nothing as he reached for his glass of juice.

“I’m going back to the city this morning,” Jordan said as he lifted his own juice glass. “Anyone want to come along with me?”

“I’m busy with the geological mapping,” said de Falla. “Adri’s people have promised to send me a detailed profile of the planet’s interior.”

“It must be fascinating,” Jordan said, “working out how they constructed this planet.”

De Falla nodded warily. “It’s hard to believe, constructing a whole planet. But it’s true. That’s what they did.”

“That’s what they claim they did,” Longyear objected.

“No, Paul,” said de Falla, “they did it. This planet’s been built around a hollow shell. We’re standing on fourteen kilometers of dirt and rocks. Then there’s the metal shell, and inside it nothing but an energy generator that creates the gravitational field we feel.”

Longyear glanced at Meek, who said nothing, busily slicing the omelet on his plate.

“Thornberry’s working up the specifications of their grav generator,” de Falla went on. “He says it could make a tremendous weapon, handling all that energy.”

“A planet wrecker,” Longyear muttered.

Jordan said, “Perhaps it would be best if we didn’t bring that level of technology back to Earth.”

Meek’s brows rose. “Will they let us return to Earth?”

“Yes, Harmon,” Jordan replied. “I’m sure they will.”

“When?”

“When we’re ready to leave, I should imagine.”

“I thought you said we were their prisoners,” Meek said.

“Adri won’t keep us here against our will. His whole approach to dealing with us has been to answer our questions, honestly and forthrightly.”

“But not completely.”

Patiently, Jordan said, “Harmon, we’re like schoolchildren, compared to Adri’s people. We have a lot to learn, and they’re being very patient with us.”

“But you think they’ll allow us to leave?” Longyear asked.

“When we’re ready to, yes.”

“I wonder.”

“Come into the city with me and ask Adri yourself, Paul.”

Longyear seemed to think it over for a heartbeat, then he said, “All right, I’ll do that.” He hesitated, then added, “I’ve been thinking about taking them up on their offer to teach me what they know about biology.”

Meek looked up from his plate, startled, a forkful of omelet in midair.

“I mean, Mitch has learned a helluva lot about physics from them. I’d like to learn what they know about biology.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” said Meek.

“It’s damned tempting,” Longyear said.

“So was the apple that Eve gave to Adam.”

“You think we’re going to damn ourselves?” Longyear challenged.

“I think we’re in over our heads,” said Meek.

Jordan smiled and said, “Harmon, if we are in over our heads, wouldn’t education be a good way to get our heads above water?”

“Education or mind manipulation?”

“Does Mitchell seem different to you? Manipulated?”

Meek stared at Jordan for a wordless moment, then turned his attention back to the remains of his omelet.

As gently as he could, Jordan said, “Harmon, I’ve got to let Nara examine me. Would you go with me?”

“Examine you? What for? Are you ill?”

“It’s just a routine exam. I picked up a bug before we left Earth and she wants to keep an eye on it.”

His eyes narrowing with suspicion, Meek asked, “And why do you want me to accompany you? Are you afraid she’s going to stick you with a needle?”

Longyear suppressed a laugh; de Falla grinned openly.

“Not exactly,” said Jordan. “But I’d appreciate it if you came along with me.”

Meek said nothing, clearly wondering what was behind Jordan’s request.

“Of course,” Jordan said easily, “if you have something more important scheduled for this morning…”

“No,” Meek confessed. “My schedule is rather clear.”

“Then come along with me,” Jordan coaxed. “Please.”

With an exaggerated sigh, Meek said, “Oh very well. If it will make you happy.”

“It might make you happy, too, Harmon,” said Jordan.

By Their Fruits

Nara Yamaguchi looked surprised when Jordan and Meek entered her infirmary. It was in the same tent as the dining area and kitchen, a placement that seemed amusing to several of the team.

Tanya Verishkova joked about the efficiency of having medical help so conveniently close to the robotic cooks in the kitchen. “Potential poisoners,” she called the robots.

Yamaguchi was sitting at her desk, studying medical records, when Jordan and Meek came in. The infirmary was small: her desk was tucked into one corner. Most of the space was taken up by the examination table and the compact array of diagnostic sensors built into an arch over the table.

Looking up from her display screen, she asked, “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like a checkup,” said Jordan.

Clearly puzzled, Yamaguchi said, “Now?”

“Now,” Jordan answered. “And then I’d like you to show Harmon my medical record.”

Her round face took on a troubled frown. “Medical records are private, Jordan. You know that.”

“But you can allow Harmon to see my record if I request it.”

“I suppose so.” Reluctantly.

Nodding toward the examination table, Jordan said, “Let’s do a scan first.”

Meek seemed totally baffled as Jordan removed his shoes, belt, and pocketphone, then lay back on the table for a full-body scan. The astrobiologist folded his arms across his narrow chest and watched, almost suspiciously, as the instruments arching above the table hummed and beeped.

Yamaguchi gestured toward her display screen. “Clean as a whistle, same as the last two times.”

Jordan nodded and said, “Now will you kindly show Harmon my earlier scans?”

“Why do you want this?” Yamaguchi asked.

With a wintry smile, Jordan replied, “To show Harmon the truth.”

There was no other chair in Yamaguchi’s office, so she got up and offered Meek her own. He looked across at Jordan, then folded his lanky body into the little wheeled chair. It rolled slightly away from the desk and Meek reached out his long arms, grasped the edge of the desk, and pulled himself back.

“What am I supposed to be looking for?” he asked Yamaguchi. “I’m an astrobiologist, not a physician.”

“Tell him,” Jordan said, as the image of his first examination, the day they all were revived from cryosleep, appeared on the screen.

Her brows knit in misgiving, Yamaguchi told Meek, “Jordan carried a genetically engineered virus in his lower abdominal tract.” Pointing to the image on the screen, “There it is, false-colored red.”

Meek peered at the screen. “Genetically engineered?”

“I picked it up in Kashmir,” Jordan explained. “During the biowar.”

Startled, Meek exclaimed, “You mean this was one of their killer viruses?”

“A man-made plague. They killed millions with it.” Including my wife, he added silently.

“And you…”

“It was dormant,” Jordan said. “It couldn’t be removed without chopping out half my intestines, it was so completely nestled inside me. The mission medical team decided it would remain dormant, so they cleared me for the trip. They thought that my time in cryosleep might even kill it.”

“But it didn’t,” said Yamaguchi.

“It’s still dormant?” Meek asked, clearly worried.

“It’s dead,” Jordan said. “Dead and gone.”

“How did that happen?”

Jordan nodded to Yamaguchi. She smiled slowly, finally understanding. “The aliens killed it.”

“Adri’s people?”

“Aditi, to be specific,” said Jordan. “When I submitted to a physical exam in the city, she found the virus and destroyed it.”

“Destroyed it? How?”

Yamaguchi was beaming now. “I’ve been talking to their medical staff about that. Apparently they have instrumentation that can detect the molecular vibrational modes of individual strands of DNA. Once they pin down the frequency, they hit the virus with a narrow ultrasound beam of the same frequency. That breaks up the virus and the body’s natural waste removal system flushes it out.”

Meek was gaping now. “An ultrasound beam of one particular frequency? Like a laser, but with sound waves?”

“Exactly,” Yamaguchi said. “This could revolutionize medical practice. It could replace surgery!”

“And it’s ordinary, everyday, routine practice for them,” Jordan added.

Meek looked from Jordan to Yamaguchi and back again, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide. Suddenly he shot up from the little chair and bolted out of the infirmary.

Yamaguchi looked shocked. Without another word to her, Jordan dashed out of the infirmary and raced after Meek.

The lanky astrobiologist was running past the camp’s tents, out across the open grassy glade, heading for the stately tall trees of the forest. Jordan ran after him. Meek’s long legs galloped across the grass. Jordan was puffing hard, trying to keep up with him. Nobody else seemed to be in sight; everyone else was indoors. Good thing, Jordan thought as he ran after the fleeing Meek. We must look like a pair of buffoons. Or lunatics.

At last Meek reached the trees, slowed down, and finally stopped, gasping as he leaned against one of the tall, straight trunks.

Jordan’s lungs were burning. I haven’t sweated this much in a long time, he realized. He slowed to a trot as he approached Meek.

The astrobiologist looked awful: his face sheened with perspiration, gasping for breath, his eyes haunted.

“Harmon,” Jordan puffed out as he came up to Meek. “What … why did you…”

Meek sank down onto the grass, his back sliding down the tree’s bark. Jordan dropped to his knees beside him, then leaned back into a sitting position.

“Are you … all right, Harmon?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The aliens simply destroyed your virus, just like that.” He snapped his fingers.

“That’s right.”

Meek shook his head.

“Don’t you see, Harmon? It’s like Thornberry said, by their fruits you shall know them. They’ve been nothing but helpful to us. They’re not scheming against us. They want to help us!”

“I know,” said Meek, so low that Jordan barely heard him.

“You do?”

“I’m not an idiot,” Meek said, his voice stronger. “I can see what’s going on.”

Jordan pulled out a tissue and mopped at his face. “Then you understand that they’re not a danger to us. That we—”

“They’re a danger to me. To me!”

“I don’t understand.”

Pulling up his long legs and dropping his head to his knees, Meek burst out, “Don’t you see? Don’t you understand?” He broke into racking sobs.

“Harmon, what is it? What’s wrong?”

“I’m an astrobiologist,” Meek choked out. “I’ve traveled eight light-years to be the first astrobiologist to study an exoplanet’s biosphere.”

“Yes?”

“And what do we find? Human beings! A completely Earthlike biosphere. There’s nothing for me to do here! Longyear’s doing all the biology work. De Falla’s mapping the planet. And what do I have? Nothing! I’ve come all this way for nothing! When we get back to Earth I’ll be laughed at! Forgotten! It’s all been for nothing.”

Great god in heaven, Jordan thought. So it comes down to this. His ego. His prissy monumental ego. But as he looked at the sobbing astrobiologist, Jordan thought, He’s disappointed. Crushed. To come all this way and find that your journey has been in vain. To sacrifice nearly two centuries over nothing. Who wouldn’t be crushed? Who wouldn’t be hurt and angered and furious at the aliens who’ve made a mockery of your hopes?

As gently as he could, Jordan said, “Perhaps it hasn’t been for nothing, Harmon. Perhaps—”

Meek’s head snapped up. “Don’t patronize me, diplomat!”

Jordan smiled at him. “Why, yes, I’m a diplomat by training and experience. And perhaps I can see a way out of your dilemma. A way to make this mission worthwhile for you.”

Aliens

“What do you mean?” asked Meek, his long bony face streaked with tears.

“Come to the city with me,” Jordan said.

“No.”

“Yes. Come to the city. Just as the aliens took care of my virus, I think they can take care of your problem.”

“If you think I’m going to let them manipulate my mind, use their so-called education machine to turn me into a happy zombie, think again.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Jordan coaxed. “Just come with me. Come and talk with Adri.”

“I don’t see what good it would do.”

“It won’t do any harm. You’ll be no worse off than you are now if you simply talk with Adri a bit.”

Clearly suspicious, but also wondering what Jordan was up to, Meek got shakily to his feet. Jordan stood up too and, grasping Meek’s arm by the elbow, they started walking back into the camp.

“I ought to get cleaned up first,” Meek muttered.

“Certainly,” said Jordan. “Me too. That was quite a run you led me on.”

They returned to the barracks tent, washed up, and changed into clean clothes. Jordan never let Meek far out of his sight. Together they went to Brandon, who was in the geology lab with de Falla, and told him they were going to the city.

“Really?” Brandon looked surprised. “May I ask why?”

“An astrobiology conference,” Jordan replied. “With Adri.”

They took one of the buggies, Jordan driving with Meek sitting beside him, long legs poking up uncomfortably.

Just as Jordan expected, Adri was waiting at the city’s perimeter walkway, in his usual blue-gray robe. No sign of his little pet. Aditi hurried up and stood beside him.

“Welcome, friends,” said Adri.

Jordan murmured a hello, his attention on Aditi. She was wearing a ruby red blouse, tan shorts, and a happy smile. He clasped both her hands; they felt warm as she gripped his hands tightly.

Jordan helped Aditi into the second row of the buggy, as Adri went around the other side and climbed in unassisted. Jordan started the vehicle’s quiet electrical motor, and they drove up the city’s main thoroughfare.

Adri asked, “To what do we owe this visit, Dr. Meek?”

Almost testily, Meek replied, “Ask Mr. Kell, here. This is his idea, not mine.”

Over his shoulder, Jordan said to Adri, “I thought that you and Dr. Meek might have a useful discussion of alien biospheres.”

Adri asked, “You mean the alien societies that our Predecessors have encountered?”

Jordon nodded.

“Alien societies?” Meek blurted. “You mean you’ve encountered other aliens?”

“Not we,” said Adri. “We have never been off this planet. But our Predecessors have found many intelligent civilizations scattered among the stars. And many more planets that bear life, but not intelligence.”

Meek swallowed hard before asking, “And you have records of these encounters?”

“Of course. All sorts of data: biological, geological, social … complete and detailed files.”

“Can I … may I see them? Inspect them?”

“To your heart’s content, sir.”

Meek broke into an ear-to-ear grin. Jordan had never seen him look so happy.

Once they parked in the heart of the city, Meek went off with Adri, leaving Jordan alone with Aditi.

“You’ll stay here tonight?” she asked, as they climbed the stairs of the administrative building.

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away—not even Meek could.” And he pulled her to him and kissed her. A pair of young men coming down the steps grinned at them, but Jordan paid them scant attention.

Once they resumed climbing the stairs, Aditi asked, “Didn’t Dr. Meek know that our Predecessors have found many life-bearing planets?”

“He heard it, I’m sure, but it never really registered in his mind. His attention was focused on … personal problems,” Jordan explained.

“Strange,” Aditi murmured.

“The strange thing is that I didn’t realize what was making Harmon so bitter. I should have tumbled to his problem much earlier.”

She smiled at him. “You tend to take responsibility for other people’s problems, you know.”

“That’s my job,” he answered.

They walked through the administration building and out to the tree-lined courtyard behind it, heading for the dormitory.

“I presume the suite I’ve used before is still there for me,” Jordan said.

“For us,” Aditi corrected.

“For us, of course. Yes, certainly, for us.”

She smiled naughtily. “You’ve never seen my room, Jordan. Suppose we go there, instead.”

“Now?”

With an elfin shrug, Aditi said, “We have plenty of time before dinner.”

As he lay in Aditi’s bed, with her warm and lovely body curled next to his, Jordan watched a tiny green lizard hanging upside down from the ceiling. It seemed asleep. Good idea, he said to himself, yawning. A nap would be—

His phone chirped. Frowning, Jordan disengaged from Aditi and slipped out of the bed. She stirred and murmured something drowsily.

He reached his shirt, slung over the back of an elaborately carved chair, and yanked out the damned phone.

Meek’s scowling face filled the tiny screen. “Jordan, where on earth are you? I’ve been pounding on your door for at least ten minutes.”

“I’ve been busy,” Jordan replied in a hushed voice. “What do you want?”

“Want? Why, it’s nearly dinner time and Adri and I thought you’d like to see some of his files about exoplanet biospheres before we went to the dining hall.”

Jordan glanced at Aditi. She was half sitting up in bed, nodding at him.

To Meek, he said, “Give me fifteen minutes or so. Where are you?”

“Where am I?” Meek looked surprised at the question, almost insulted. “Why, I’m in Adri’s office, up on the top floor of the administration building. Jordan, you simply have to see what they’ve got here! Dozens of exoplanets. A handful of intelligent civilizations! None of them have reached a stage of high technology, of course, but they’re intelligent, with languages and writing and even the beginnings of cities! I tell you, it’s a treasure trove, an absolute treasure trove. Why, I could—”

“Give me fifteen minutes, Harmon,” Jordan interrupted. “I’ll see you there.” And he clicked the phone shut.

Aditi giggled from the bed. “You’d better shower by yourself, love. You don’t have time for wet games.”

Reconciliation

When Jordan got to Adri’s office, the walls were covered with images, graphs, star charts, alphanumerical data files.

It was like stepping into a kaleidoscope; the displays shifted and changed as Jordan walked from the door to the couch where Meek and Adri were sitting side by side.

“The next set is depressing, very sad,” Adri said, while gesturing Jordan to sit with them. “When the Predecessors reached this planet, their civilization had been dead for only a few centuries. The Predecessors got there too late to help them.”

Jordan sat next to Meek, who was staring transfixed at the images of an empty, decaying city, collapsed buildings, monuments coated with dust and guano. One camera view zoomed in dizzyingly until he saw a deserted city street lined with statues of strange shapes, windblown clumps of vegetation tumbling by, debris from the crumbling structures littering everywhere. And in the middle of it all, a slithering snakelike creature, clearly stalking some prey that Jordan could not see.

“Of course, not all life on the planet was destroyed,” said Adri. “Perhaps intelligence will arise there again, in time.”

Jordan stared, transfixed. The ruins looked so much like an ancient city of Earth. Pompeii, almost. He thought of Angkor Wat, Chichen Itza, all the petrified remains of dead civilizations. But this was a whole world, an entire population of intelligent creatures—gone. Extinct.

“What happened to them?” Meek asked, his voice hushed, awed.

Adri shrugged. “We don’t know. Our Predecessors were focused on finding living intelligences, they had scant interest in extinct ones.”

“But that’s wrong,” Meek flared. “It’s stupid!”

Adri tilted his head. “You see, our Predecessors do not have human curiosity. They have a single goal, implanted in them by their organic progenitors. They are driven to find living intelligent species and help them to survive. The task is so huge that they have neither the time nor the energy to delve into the histories of extinct species.”

“But we do,” Meek said firmly. “We have the interest, and the time, and the energy.”

“Yes,” Jordan agreed.

“You would go to this dead world, to study its lost people?”

“Yes,” Meek and Jordan said simultaneously.

Adri smiled. “Very well. We will give you all the help we can.”

Meek looked like a man who had just seen a vision of paradise.

The wall screens darkened and then went blank. Jordan saw through the room’s windows that it was fully night outside.

Adri got to his feet. “You must be hungry. Let’s go to dinner.”

Standing up, Jordan said, “I’ll get Aditi.”

“Oh, she’ll meet us at the dining hall,” said Adri.

And Jordan thought, I’ve got to get one of their communicators implanted into my head. It’s much better than a phone.

Meek stood up also, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You know, there’s a lifetime of work for me to do. A long, long lifetime of work.”

Adri nodded and said, “We can help you to live a long and productive life, Dr. Meek.”

“Harmon. Call me Harmon, please.”

Jordan said, “Adri, you’re right. I’m rather famished. Let’s get to dinner.”

But Adri held up a slender-fingered hand. “I’ve taken the liberty of inviting the rest of your team to join us at dinner. Including the three persons from your orbiting spaceship.”

“You have?” Jordan replied, surprised. “And they all accepted?”

“Yes, of course.” Adri’s expression became slightly guilty. “I’m afraid I told them that we’re holding this dinner in Dr. Meek … er, in Harmon’s honor.”

Meek’s shaggy brows shot up. “My honor?”

“Why, yes,” Adri replied. “Today is your birthday, isn’t it?”

“No, my birth—” Meek’s face eased into a knowing grin. “Yes, it is my birthday, of a sort. I’ve come to life today, haven’t I?”

And the three of them headed down to the dining hall.

It was a long, boisterous dinner, with real wine and lots of laughter. Jordan looked over the faces of the team: Brandon, Hazzard, Longyear, and all the others. All the suspicions were gone. All the fears. Adri relaxed enough to dig heartily into a spicy roast. Aditi sat next to Jordan, beaming at him.

“It’s done,” she said into his ear. “You’re going to help us.”

“And you’re going to help us,” he said.

Then he got to his feet and tapped his wineglass with a spoon. All the conversations stopped. Every face along the table turned toward Jordan. Even people at other tables looked toward him, their faces filled with curiosity and hope.

“It was a countryman of mine,” Jordan began, “who said: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”

“Come on, Jordy,” Brandon groused.

Yamaguchi said, “We’re not going to war, are we?”

“In a sense,” Jordan said, “we will be going to war. War against the human race’s ancient enemies: ignorance, fear, and the ultimate enemy—death.”

The entire dining hall fell absolutely quiet.

“We’ve got to convince the people of Earth that they’re in mortal danger. And once we’ve done that—”

“Assuming we can,” Hazzard said.

“I assume that we can and we will. And once we do, we have to search out other intelligent species and protect them from the gamma burst that’s spreading across the galaxy.”

“We must help them to survive,” Elyse said.

“That is our task,” said Jordan. “That is our mission. Are we up to the challenge?”

“Damned right we are,” Brandon snapped.

Longyear broke into a crooked grin and said, “We few, we happy few.”

Adri, seated across the table from Jordan, slowly rose to his feet. “To continue in the vein that Jordan started with, let each of us therefore brace himself—and herself—to our duty.”

Jordan finished, “And so bear ourselves that if the human race lasts a billion years, our descendents will still say, This was their finest hour.”

Everyone in the dining hall broke into applause.

Jordan sat down, and Aditi squeezed his arm. “I’m proud of you, Jordan.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he said.

“Of course you could have. And you would have. But I’m happy that I’m here beside you.”

“It’s a huge task that we have ahead of us,” said Jordan. “It won’t be easy to convince the people of Earth that they’re in danger.”

“And others are in danger, too,” Aditi said. “The people of Earth can help them to survive.”

Jordan nodded. “We struggle against the inevitable.”

“Nothing is inevitable, Jordan.”

He grasped her hand tightly. “Not as long as you’re with me.”

“I will be, wherever you go.”

Adri raised his voice to be heard over the laughter and talk of the others.

“Long life to you, Jordan Kell. Long life and happiness to you all.”

Jordan dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “Happiness is working hard at a task worth doing.” Then he turned to Aditi and added, “With the woman you love at your side.”