I see a point of light flare briefly, and settle into the form of a new star in the area of sky I know to be the Orion nebula. I am aware, however, it is more sinister than that.
“So, what did they do to deserve the birth of a new star in the immediate neighbourhood of their home planet?” I ask my companion, as he gazes lovingly at the site of the catastrophic impact of gas and dust that wiped out an entire species of only-recently space-capable aliens.
He smiles, just a little. It’s barely noticeable, but I can see the mirth, or perhaps something else, tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Defy.” he says, quietly, almost to himself. “They believed in an all-knowing, benevolent god, and steadfastly refused to submit to the rule of the Enlightened.”
Enlightened. That’s what we call ourselves. Enlightened to the point where we can decide an entire races fate, and with our enlightened technology shift so much nebulous mass into a space so small that it ignites to form a new star, engulfing the tiny home planet of our savage neighbours.
“What were they?” I ask, curious about our fated foes.
“Some sort of gaseous clouds. They were large, and slow, but intelligent enough to pose a potential future threat. They had nukes, and space warping engines, as well as religious fervour. They were convinced that the stars were what happened when too many of them got together. Well, I guess they were kind of right.”
He chuckles to himself. I roll my eyes and turn away, heading back to the house.
“Well, look,” he says, “if you think it’s so terrible, why do you still do it?”
“Tough times, man, and work is work. Besides,” I wink at him, “who else do you know who goes hunting with suns?”
No comments:
Post a Comment