“They don’t have what I have. And getting out is, frighteningly enough, easier than getting back in. Besides, this system matters. All of it. Not just the people.”
“I know Grentix was talking about how the galaxy needs what the supernova will create. But it’s a big galaxy. What’s one system lost?”
“It’s not just ‘one system’ at all. It’s more than that.”
“How so?”
Sighed. “This system is the Cradle of Life.”
“Isn’t that in Africa?”
“For Earth? Yes. I’d imagine that’s where most of the meteor spaceships hit. Probably when all the continents were one big landmass. The meteor spaceships may be what broke up the big landmass into the continents. That would be my guess, anyway.”
The Kristie-Bot shook her head. “Sorry, you need to explain that.”
My music changed to “Alien” by Lifehouse. Had no idea what Algar was going for. “It’s like this—the system, the original one whose star blew up so many tens of millions of years ago, that was the system that sent out the meteor spaceships.”
“Right. And one hit Earth, with the Mykali in it.”
“Yes, more than one. But I think there were two types of meteor spaceships sent out. In Titan A.E., the Earth is under attack. They send space shuttles off the planet, filled with people. Some make it, some don’t. But they also sent the Titan, a different kind of spaceship, one that has the DNA for all of life on Earth. So it can create a new Earth.” Good old Planet Bob.
“I haven’t seen it, but okay.”
“It’s a good movie. And I think whoever wrote it got the idea from an ancestral memory about how to escape and have your species, all of them, survive when your sun is going to die or your planet is going to be blown up.”
“I totally do not follow you.”
“That system was the original Cradle of Life. Eden, if a Biblical reference is easier. It was for me when I first joined this business we call keeping the galaxy together. So, Eden is where life, all life, forms, for the first time. It’s just the right place for it, for whatever reason.” My music changed to “Aliens Exist” by blink-182. Still had no idea what Algar was going for, other than possibly a reminder that there were other worlds with people on them. But I had the answer for that.
“Okay. So?”
“So, the people there became very advanced, and they realized that their star wasn’t going to last. So they created ships that would send their people away. But not just their people. Ships can get destroyed or lost, right? So, in addition to their people, they sent out their DNA. My bet is that they sent the DNA first, just in case. If it didn’t make it, oh well, they haven’t lost their living people.”
“Wait . . . so you think they, what, seeded the galaxy?”
“Yeah, I do. I think that, based on what you guys all saw on Helix Noblora and what I’ve seen here pictorially, that’s what happened. Sending vials of DNA in a spaceship is a lot safer than sending a living person. And everything’s represented on Helix Noblora.”
“Well, the shape-shifters aren’t,” the Kristie-Bot pointed out.
“True enough. Because the DNA, when it landed, landed on a different planet. Many different planets. And, if the meteor spaceship opened right, it seeded that world. And the DNA adapted to that world. To all the worlds. It probably didn’t take everywhere, probably some of the DNA was more adaptable than another type depending on the world, but it took in a lot of places. Some places, like Earth, it all took. Some places, like Cradus, only some survived. And all the DNA that survived adapted to its world.”
“What about the ships that didn’t make it?”
“If a meteor spaceship was, say, hit by a real meteor or comet or whatever, if the DNA got into or onto that, then it landed wherever that body landed. And presumably did the same thing.” My music changed to “My Alien” by Simple Plan. Unless Algar was trying to tell me that Jeff needed me, was still coming up very short in the figuring out the clues department. Seemed to be my theme for this portion of the intergalactic road trip.
“Okay, I understand why that first system was so important. But why does this system matter?”
“Because of what, or rather who, is here. One of their first attempts at sending living people was the Mykali. They sent them across the galaxy to a planet that had a lot of water, which the Mykali need. But it was a long way away and their sun wasn’t getting any younger or less unstable. So they had to hurry up. I figure they found a system that was closer. Maybe it moved and that made it more desirable, maybe they’d just missed it, maybe it wasn’t quite as good as Earth but would do in a pinch.”
“So they, what? Tossed everyone in spaceships, aimed them this way, and hoped for the best?”
“Yeah. They’d seeded the galaxy already, so they knew their races and way of life would go on. And most of those spaceships made it. And they had the pure DNA added into their spaceships, too, Just in case.”
The Kristie-Bot looked around, specifically at the tapestries. “But not all the spaceships made it to the world they’d aimed for.”
“Right. Not all. Some landed on other planets. Some probably fell short or went too far. Most landed on Helix Noblora. And some landed here. I’d assume that once this world discovered they weren’t alone, they reached out to the other planets. Either they were ignored, the messages never arrived, or the people on the other planets weren’t interested in helping for whatever reason.”
“Ixtha said that they consider this world to be evil. Her people have been afraid of this world for as long as their history shows. They think it’s where bad people go when they die.”
“Makes sense. They think they’re on New Eden and that makes this Hell World. Fitting. Wrong, but fitting. I mean, they had to have had contact somewhere along the line—they both call the sun Helix Prime, right?”
“Ixtha does, yes.”
“So that means they had to have agreed on the name, long ago.”
“Maybe it was agreed to before they left,” she suggested. “That would be why they both call their planets Helix Whatever, too, right? Or maybe their original sun was called Helix.”
“Right and either theory makes sense.” Heaved a big sigh. “But that’s why this all matters. This system contains the descendants of the original Cradle of Life for, most likely, our entire galaxy. Losing it to the Deep Black not only seems wrong, but I’m willing to bet that it’ll be dangerous for our galaxy, too. Galaxy-ending, most likely, for whatever reason.”
“No more DNA that’s in the stars and the planets and all of us would be my guess,” the Kristie-Bot said. “Or no replenishment of the DNA or something like that. Or maybe a galaxy dies if it loses its Cradle of Life.”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?” Lee Press-On And The Nails were now singing “Hidden” for me. Had a feeling Algar thought I was crazy, but in the wrong way right now.