shrunken remnants, planet-sized white dwarfs. Most were double stars, as in this system; it was hypothesized that the novae were caused by the expansion of one star’s atmosphere, launching a torrent of gases on the companion star and triggering a detonation, which either tore away the first star’s substance or triggered a second explosion in turn.
That much, at least, was known about novae.
There was one mystery, though, that had dogged the subject for centuries, almost since the beginning of astronomy as a technical science. Novae should be more or less evenly distributed across the entire sky, with a slight clumping, perhaps, along the path of the Milky Way where the concentration of stars was thicker. Instead, a disproportionate number of stars had exploded all in the same general region of the heavens, toward the Earth-sky constellations of Aquila, Cygnus, Scutum, Serpens, Ophiuchus, coreward from Sol and slightly to spinward in the great wheel of the Galaxy.
This was far more than any statistical fluke. During one brief forty-year period early in the twentieth century, twenty-five percent of all of the novae seen on Earth had appeared in roughly two percent of the sky. Two of the brightest novae ever recorded had blazed forth in the same year—1936—and the nova of 1918 in Aquila had been the brightest ordinary nova ever recorded.
In the six centuries since, the percentage had fallen and the area of sky expanded, but the records still showed something like ten percent of all novae occurring in about five percent of the sky. The chances of that kind of clustering occurring randomly were in this case literally astronomical.
And here was possible proof that that apparent clumping was not an accident of statistics… but the result of deliberate and intelligent action.
What kind of intelligence would destroy a star?
What need would drive them to destruction on such a massive scale?
“Are there planets in this system?” he asked suddenly. If this star had once possessed worlds, even life…
“We need your help to determine that, » DEVCAMERON «, ” the host replied. “You will need to guide our Perceivers.”
“Link me in.…”
The DalRiss had evolved with a very different set of senses and perceptions than humans. Their primary sense was one that felt the shape of electrochemical fields generated by living tissue. They “saw” life, while inorganic matter was a kind of emptiness, a void they were aware of only by its shape. The DalRiss had engineered other life forms to extend the range and clarity of their visual perception. “Perceivers” were small artificial creatures that were eye and brain and little else. When connected to the interwoven nervous systems of several DalRiss, they provided a kind of sight.
But little understanding. That was one reason the DalRiss had invited » DEVCAMERON « to join them, after he’d lost his body. » DEVCAMERON’S « brain had evolved the ability to make sense of his surroundings through light-sensitive organs. The DalRiss fleet, numbering eighty of the huge living ships, was as dependent on Dev for his knowledge of what a star was as it was on the Perceivers who actually saw its light.
» DEVCAMERON « extended his optical senses, enhanced by the sensitive organic optics of the Perceivers. If this double star had been the center of a planetary system two thousand years ago, those worlds would be remote indeed from the tiny, planet-sized white dwarfs that circled one another today. Scored by nova’s heat, then left to freeze in the icy wastes far beyond the reach of those wan dwarfs, if those worlds had ever been touched by life, they were dead now.
He searched for long minutes, sensing only emptiness beyond the wan light of the suns. That proved nothing, for any worlds out there would be dimly lit indeed. Leaving several Perceivers to continue an automatic search, he turned his attention back to the Device.
“How would such a thing work?” the
That much, at least, was known about novae.
There was one mystery, though, that had dogged the subject for centuries, almost since the beginning of astronomy as a technical science. Novae should be more or less evenly distributed across the entire sky, with a slight clumping, perhaps, along the path of the Milky Way where the concentration of stars was thicker. Instead, a disproportionate number of stars had exploded all in the same general region of the heavens, toward the Earth-sky constellations of Aquila, Cygnus, Scutum, Serpens, Ophiuchus, coreward from Sol and slightly to spinward in the great wheel of the Galaxy.
This was far more than any statistical fluke. During one brief forty-year period early in the twentieth century, twenty-five percent of all of the novae seen on Earth had appeared in roughly two percent of the sky. Two of the brightest novae ever recorded had blazed forth in the same year—1936—and the nova of 1918 in Aquila had been the brightest ordinary nova ever recorded.
In the six centuries since, the percentage had fallen and the area of sky expanded, but the records still showed something like ten percent of all novae occurring in about five percent of the sky. The chances of that kind of clustering occurring randomly were in this case literally astronomical.
And here was possible proof that that apparent clumping was not an accident of statistics… but the result of deliberate and intelligent action.
What kind of intelligence would destroy a star?
What need would drive them to destruction on such a massive scale?
“Are there planets in this system?” he asked suddenly. If this star had once possessed worlds, even life…
“We need your help to determine that, » DEVCAMERON «, ” the host replied. “You will need to guide our Perceivers.”
“Link me in.…”
The DalRiss had evolved with a very different set of senses and perceptions than humans. Their primary sense was one that felt the shape of electrochemical fields generated by living tissue. They “saw” life, while inorganic matter was a kind of emptiness, a void they were aware of only by its shape. The DalRiss had engineered other life forms to extend the range and clarity of their visual perception. “Perceivers” were small artificial creatures that were eye and brain and little else. When connected to the interwoven nervous systems of several DalRiss, they provided a kind of sight.
But little understanding. That was one reason the DalRiss had invited » DEVCAMERON « to join them, after he’d lost his body. » DEVCAMERON’S « brain had evolved the ability to make sense of his surroundings through light-sensitive organs. The DalRiss fleet, numbering eighty of the huge living ships, was as dependent on Dev for his knowledge of what a star was as it was on the Perceivers who actually saw its light.
» DEVCAMERON « extended his optical senses, enhanced by the sensitive organic optics of the Perceivers. If this double star had been the center of a planetary system two thousand years ago, those worlds would be remote indeed from the tiny, planet-sized white dwarfs that circled one another today. Scored by nova’s heat, then left to freeze in the icy wastes far beyond the reach of those wan dwarfs, if those worlds had ever been touched by life, they were dead now.
He searched for long minutes, sensing only emptiness beyond the wan light of the suns. That proved nothing, for any worlds out there would be dimly lit indeed. Leaving several Perceivers to continue an automatic search, he turned his attention back to the Device.
“How would such a thing work?” the
Similar Books
