UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver, Earth, Sol system
February 21, 2033, 18:55 SST (Sol Standard Time)
The voice of a well-spoken man echoed throughout a crowded lecture hall within the confines of UBC. Foster entered the hall and kept her footsteps silent and her appearance low-key, no need to draw attention away from the eager students as she wore her IESA casual uniform. The young generation of students looked at the man who stood front and center before a series of holographic pictures depicting star clusters and planetary objects. Her father would have been proud to see how far humanity had come when it came to astrophysics.
Gone were the days were students learned about science based on scientific knowledge discovered by humans. Now students studied knowledge that was given to the human race by the Radiance Union, such as the information that was being disclosed in the lecture by acclaimed astrophysicist Doctor Travis Pierce. All of the breathtaking stills from the holographic presentation were planets and star systems discovered and explored by the Radiance Union.
Travis Pierce was a tall man with light brown hair slowly turning grey. He dressed in a professional manner as he waved his hand about to interact with the holograms around him. He spoke about the hundreds of Earthlike planets in the galaxy and how the evolution of life there differed slightly between each world. Students tapped the touch screens of their data pads as they took notes and saved its contents onto data crystals for future study.
“And that concludes all binary systems that we know of with life carrying planets around them,” Pierce said as he waved his hand in a circular motion, the holograms around him faded away.
A student placed their hand up to ask a question, Pierce nodded to them. “Don’t you mean what Radiance knows?”
“True, most of what I presented today is all based on knowledge Radiance has shared with us.” Pierce said. “Human exploration beyond Sol is limited to Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri.”
“But even then, the only reason humans exist there was because Radiance helped them escape the invasion, right?” asked another student.
Pierce folded his hands together and smiled at the student. “That’s correct, nevertheless, that is the limit so far as human exploration goes. Outside of that, everything we know about the cosmos has been studied with telescopes here in Sol or shared with us via the Radiance database. This is why it’s important we start exploring the cosmos on our own, with our own ships, so that we can discover for ourselves what’s out there.” Pierce looked at his holo watch as the minutes forced the new hour to arrive. “Well our time is almost up, are there any other questions?”
Another student lifted a hand up to ask. “Sorry, I got a bit of a stupid question,” they said.
“Now, now, there are no bad questions,” said Pierce. “If every brilliant mind throughout human history thought their question was stupid we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
“What’s your take on the Dogon and Sirius?”
“Ah, a hot topic as of late,” Pierce said as his face began to flush. “Before we go on, how many of you are aware of the legend of the Dogon?” Three hands rose up amongst the sea of bodies. “Well, long story short, an indigenous tribe in western Africa known as the Dogon believed that thousands of years ago they were visited by extraterrestrial visitors who called themselves the Nommo. The visitors allegedly informed the Dogon about space, the planets, and that Sirius, the system they claimed to have come from, was not one system but a trinary system.”
“But didn’t your presentation say that Sirius is a binary system?”
“Yes, that’s because our observations only discovered the two stars as well as long-range ones Radiance had made as well. Needless to say, the legend has been debunked for a number of reasons. Those that read my book about the Sirius mystery know that the arrival of Radiance and the Hashmedai proves that life and interstellar travel exists beyond Sol. There are some people out there that argue that perhaps there was some truth to the legends. Now to answer your question, I think its bullshit.”
Laughter erupted in unison from the hundreds that were in attendance.
“Think about it,” Pierce said. “The Nommo were described as being half fish half man.”
“Like mermaids and mermen?”
“Precisely, how can a species that lives underwater with no legs build ships and explore planets?”
Pierce wrapped up the lecture, sending a trove of students carrying data pads out into the hallways where Foster had entered. She moved her way down toward Pierce as he began to gather his computers, data pads, and notes. Pierce looked up and saw Foster approach, her uniform caused his face to wince as he laid eyes on it.
“Dr. Travis Pierce,” she said to him.
“That’s me, how may I help you?”
“I’m Captain Rebecca Foster of the IESA.”
“Ah.” He looked away and continued to gather his belongings in a large leather sack.
“I’ve been appointed to the command of the ESRS Carl Sagan and—”
“Sorry, I’m not with IESA anymore.”
“And you ain’t tellin’ those kids what you really think about Sirius either,” Foster said. “Pretty sure years ago you were saying the opposite about your belief about the Dogon.”
“I wrote that book from an objective stance, my personal thoughts from social media were not included in the final copy. Besides those were different times, back when I had the chance to explore space.”
“I’m giving you that chance now,” she said while taking a step closer to him. “I’m putting together a crew; I’d like you to be a part of it.”
Pierce placed the strap of his bag around his shoulders and fixed his eyes on the exit. “I think I’m fine where I am.”
“Are you? From my point of view, you’re takin’ back your beliefs, I reckon it’s to make yourself look good to keep getting work like this.”
“I got appointments I gotta go to today.”
“That’s fine. But if you change your mind let me know, I need a science officer and IESA will be more than happy to reinstate your commission.”
EXOTIC RESORT
Manila, Earth, Sol system
February 25, 2033, 17:29 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Hot humid air covered Foster’s body as she made her way into a tropical forested clearing. She seldom paid attention to the cup of latte in her hands, it was far too hot to be drinking a warm beverage in this weather, but the caffeine was too important to pass up. Large palm trees bestowed shade on a gathering of people engaged in complex yoga moves as they stood above mats on the fresh green grass. Foster did a double take when she realized at least half of the yoga students were of the Hashmedai race. She did another double take to learn that her informant was indeed correct, the brilliant engineer Foster came to speak to, Jasmine Rivera, was indeed a yoga instructor.
Rivera was a young woman, no older than twenty-five by her exotic Filipina looks, a combination of Hispanic, Asian, and Caucasian background. Her long golden-brown hair was tied in a pony tail while she held a pose that would have made Foster groan in pain. Her human and Hashmedai students gracefully followed suit. The Hashmedai were dripping wet in sweat more so than their human counter parts. It was understandable as the Hashmedai race did not fare well with Earth temperatures, especially in regions like the Philippines.