Hunt had faced one more small perplexity when the Shapieron was finally brought back to Thurien. After the Jevlenese destroyed the locator beacons, Eesyan had pointed out that even if a probe projected from Thurien should, against all probability, find them, there could be no guaranteeing that it would be a probe from "their" Thurien. Countless other versions of the reality they had come from would be trying the same thing, and a probe that happened to hit on the universe they were in could have come from any.
But Hunt had allowed for such an eventuality during the earlier tests and set up means by which he could tell. Before departing, he had loaded into his compad a randomized mathematical function that could be compared against a master that he had left lodged in VISAR. If the two matched, it would mean that they had returned to the identical reality that they had departed from. If not, even though the difference might be trivial, they would have come back somewhere else.
For days after returning, he had agonized inwardly over the check and its implications. In all that time, though he had searched and watched for any inconsistency, he had found none. By every measure and criterion he could devise, he was home. Finally, he had confided his dilemma to Danchekker. Danchekker had opined that if one couldn't tell a difference, there was no difference. Hunt told VISAR to delete the function unread. Chris was right. It didn't matter. Some things were best left alone.
A few rows ahead in the cabin, people were leaning toward the windows and pointing. Hunt sat forward to peer out and up. A pearl of light was crossing the sky against the starry background. "I think it's the Thurien starship," he heard someone say.
He wondered if they would one day meet the culture that existed somewhere, developed from the humans and the Thuriens who had met long ago. What kind of world would they have created by now, that might make even VISAR and Thurien seem quaint and antiquated in comparison? After the things he had seen in just five short years, Hunt had a feeling that life still held much in store yet that would be new and exciting.
As the edge of Earth's dark side crept slowly into view ahead, the Ishtar moved away and diminished, finally disappearing below the horizon.
THE GIANTS CHRONOLOGY
Compiled by Dr. Attila Torkos Szeged, Hungary
20.09.2001
Send comments to: torky@freemail.hu
Appr. 4.6 billion years ago
Birth of the Solar System. At its birth the Solar System consists of nine planets which are the following in order of growing distance from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Minerva, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
25 million years ago
The evolution of a species, the Giants, results in the emergence of intelligence on Minerva. Rise of the civilization of the Giants. Later the CO2 content of Minerva's air begins to rise thanks to plate tectonics. The Giants set out to normalize the situation. In order to achieve this the crew of the starship Shapieron performs experiments on the star Iscaris. The experiments go wrong, Iscaris goes nova, and the fleeing Giants suffer a relativistic time shift on board the malfunctioning Shapieron which throws them 25 million years into the future. Learning about the failure at Iscaris, the Minervan Giants import animals (proto-humans among them) and plants from Earth to Minerva and successfully isolate their gene which is responsible for their CO2 tolerance. They plan to insert this gene into their own genome, but finally give up the plan, fearing its consequences. As they find no other solution to the CO2 problem, the Giants move to planet Thurien orbiting Giants' Star. During the evacuation one of their starships crashes on Ganymede. Terran life conquers Minerva, reaching a new ecologic equilibrium. The Thurien giants observe the changes on Minerva via relays left on the planet.
Appr. 4 million years ago
Rise of Australopithecines on Earth.
Appr. 2.5 million years ago
Homo habilis evolves on Earth.
Appr. 2 million years ago
Homo ergaster appears on Earth.
Appr. 1.6 million years ago
Appearance of Homo erectus on Earth.
Appr. 150,000 years ago
Homo neanderthalensis evolves on Earth.
Date unknown
The evolution of hominids with altered gene set leads to Homo sapiens on Minerva.
Date unknown
Along with the rise of human civilization an ice age begins on Minerva threatening to destroy civilization. Mankind starts to develop space travel to flee the planet.
Appr. 50,200 years ago [Note: later reduced to 50,020. See p. 274]
Imares Broghuilio and his generals appear from the future with five starships. They land on Minerva unnoticed and soon unite the peoples of the continent Lambia in a military regime. Lambians start to arm against the other continent, Cerios, with the aim that only Lambians should escape the ice age. The states of Cerios are forced to arm themselves.
50,000 years ago
The race for space leads to total nuclear warfare between Cerios and Lambia at the dawn of space travel. The war involves the surface of Minerva's moon, too, where Cerians built a base. The nuclear catastrophe shatters Minerva to pieces: a major fragment becomes the planet Pluto, the rest scatter to form the Asteroid Belt. Upon their request, Thuriens observing the war transport the moon's Cerian survivors to Earth and leave them to their fate. Lambian survivors are settled on planet Jevlen in Thurien's neighborhood and are slowly integrated into Thurien society. The moon, freed of Minerva's gravitic grip, is later arrested by Earth's gravity well and Minerva's onetime moon becomes Earth's Moon. The Moon arriving to Earth orbit causes upheavals and floods on Earth, almost wiping out the Cerian survivors, throwing them back into barbarism. In a race to stay alive they soon wipe out the Neanderthals who until now ruled the Earth. Homo sapiens spreads on Earth and starts his second ascension toward civilization.
Date unknown
On Jevlen the Thuriens set up JEVEX, a supercomputer modelled after their VISAR. Later, Jevlenese secretly transport JEVEX to planet Uttan and set out to extend it so that it should reach and eventually top VISAR's performance. Unbeknownst to the designers, a universe later named Entoverse evolves in the growing JEVEX. Its intelligent inhabitants, the Ents, sometimes manage to transfer to the world outside JEVEX by invading Jevlenese minds. Such obsessed Jevlenese (the so-called ayatollahs) sometimes create religious-mystic cults around themselves. The existence of Entoverse remains unknown.
Date unknown
Upon their request, Jevlenese are trusted by the Thuriens to conduct the observation of Earth. Driven by vengeance, Jevlenese leaders spread religions and superstitious beliefs on Earth via agents in order to hinder the development of civilization.
1831
A newly obsessed ayatollah, Sykha founds the Spiral of Awakening cult.
Nineteenth century
Seeing that Earth's civilization grows in spite of their meddling, Jevlenese help develop certain areas of science to provoke arming and global, self-destroying wars on Earth.
1914
Beginning of World War I on Earth.
1939
Beginning of World War II which, according to Jevlenese plans, should lead to nuclear disaster. Earth, however, avoids nuclear warfare.