Theoretically, his ship was safe fromthe terra-formers since it was made of an alloy that the nanitesweren’t programmed to break down.
That was only a theory, however. Oncethe terra-formers were sent out to do their job, no one landed onthe target colony until the terra-forming was completed and thecycle of breaking down suitable materials for terra-forming andaccelerated evolution was terminated. In other words, it hadn’tactually been put to the test.
Secondly, he’d been in such a rush toget out and actually see the planet that he hadn’t thought to grabhis equipment to record what he might find.
And third, even he could see this was adead world. If any higher life-forms had evolved they’d long sincevanished.
The sinking feeling that he was goingto find the same thing on all three planets hit him like a wreckingball and visions of incarceration for his actions, to say nothingof the death of his career, filled his mind.
There were still two more worlds tocheck! Since there were no visible signs of higher life on theplanet he’d landed on and he didn’t think he had the time to lookfor more subtle signs, he scrambled back into the ship and, after avery little thought, programmed the ship to head directly for thethird planet from the sun since it sat in the most desirable orbitaround its parent star. The other two, he told himself, had alwaysbeen the least likely since they both sat at the outer edges ofwhat was considered the habitable zone—at least for life-formssimilar to what could be found on his own world and thereforeeasily recognizable as life-forms.
Aidan wasn’t technical minded. He knewhow to use the very limited equipment necessary for his work. Heknew how to use the very limited technology he could afford for hishome, but he was no techno geek. For him, technology was a tool,not a toy. He used what he needed, learned what he needed to knowto use what he needed, and otherwise had no interest in theelectronics he depended on. If they broke, he either replaced themas he could afford to, or he sent them out for repairs if that waspossible and more affordable than replacing them.
Like everyone else, however, hedepended completely on the technology that surroundedhim.
He was, therefore,completely taken off guard when his onboard computer suddenlysquawked out the warning ‘imminent collision!’ about a nanosecondbefore the actual impact. He’d been in too big of a rush to get tothe next planet before the terra-formers could begin to destroy theevidence he was seeking to strap his safety harness on and theimpact threw him to the floor of the cockpit. By the time hemanaged to get to his feet, the computer was screaming out thedamage report—distracting to say the least—but he managed tostumble to a port to see what the hell his ship had managed to hitin what should have been open space. All the while his mind was trying tofigure out how the ship had managed to hit anything at all when itwas equipped with sensors from nose to tail that should havedetected and either evaded or deflected whatever the object was andhe struggled with the unhappy, unnerving possibility that thelanding—controlled crash—on the previous planet just might havedamaged a few vital components on the ship.
What he saw now barreling planet-wardfaster than his own ship so stunned him that it was many seconds,maybe as much as minute, before it clicked in his mind what itwas.
The ship hadn’t collided with a roguemeteor as his mind had instantly concluded.
The object racing away from him wasn’ta meteor or a rock of any kind. It wasn’t a natural body that hadbeen orbiting the planet that his ship’s sensors had failed todetect and deflect.
It was artificial. It wasmanmade.
And it had been orbiting theplanet.
His breath froze in his chest as theimplications sank in. His heart leapt against his chest wallpainfully.
It took his mind a bit longer to catchup to his body’s instinctual reaction.
This planet didn’t justharbor higher life-forms! It was the home of intelligent life-forms with advancedenough technologically that they weren’t planet bound!
“Good gods!” Aidanexclaimed, feeling a momentary high generated by the excitementthat leapt in his veins at that discovery.
The excitement took a nosedive in thenext instant as his vision, instinctively following the object hisship had collided with, took in the blossoming explosions of theterra-formers as they landed.
* * * *
Anya Dupris was tired as she pointedher car toward home, gripping the steering wheel in a death grip asshe negotiated the awful Atlanta traffic. She’d thoroughly enjoyedDragonCon, loved every minute of it. She was glad she’d let hersister talk her into going, but she was just as anxious at thispoint to get home as she’d been to get to the conference to startwith.
She could see, now, why so many peoplemade the pilgrimage to Atlanta every year to attend.
And maybe she’d make plans to go backnext year, she thought as she finally began to leave Atlantatraffic behind?
It really hadn’t been as bad as she’dexpected it would be when she’d thought about the headache ofnegotiating Atlanta traffic to find her hotel—mostly because onceshe’d reached the hotel and parked her car in the parking garage,she hadn’t left it, by car, again, hadn’t had to deal with thetraffic. The hotels where the conference took place were connectedby walk bridges. The foot traffic had been horrendous, of course,since upwards of fifty thousand people attended, but that hadn’tbeen stressful or frustrating. Everyone paraded around in all sortsof costumes from the time they arrived until they left and everyonewas in a cheerful, holiday mood. She thought that part had actuallybeen the most fun, getting out to see the costumes. And most ofthem had been simply amazing. Hollywood couldn’t have done anybetter. They didn’t require special camera angles or lighting tomake them seem realistic. They were just that well done.
She was pleasantly exhausted,
