Existence

(apparently) than all the rest. Far bigger and brighter, and closer than it should have been, at this point in their mission. And somewhere buried within its glare would be a tiny, blue-green twinkle. Homeworld.

As they watched, each of the five blocks broke in half… then divided again… with each smaller chunk separated by more rope that got increasingly slender, with every division, till five long chains trailed behind the vessel. Each of them consisted of a long strand, with small lumps knotted along its length. Through some kind of magnification or refraction, Hamish could tell that the tethers stretched back kilometers now, perhaps much more.

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t look like a weapon,” Professor Noozone pointed out, still in his tweedy, university- teacher mode, almost accent free, like when he had been just a regular associate instructor at Caltech. “Nor does it seem like a way to hasten contact with some planet-born, primitive race.”

Lacey had an observation.

“Notice how one of the strands has deployed to trail directly behind us… while the others fan out above, below, left, and right. It must use an electrostatic charge-

“And see now! How all five of them have branched? Each of them splitting into several sub chains? A total of… a hundred strands! Each terminating in a pair of thicker lumps, one after the other? I believe it has to be antenna array-a detector of some sort-meant to cover as large a volume of space behind us as possible.”

Hamish was still getting used to how strange everything felt, up here near the real universe, where the slender crystal’s curved limitations could be felt by those within. No longer capacious and immense, the impression now seemed cramped, confined. His body-when he pressed closer to the barrier-felt warped. Distended and rounded. Confined.

“Lacey you tend to view everything in terms of telescopes,” commented Jovindra Singh, with evident amusement. “It could just as likely-”

The Sikh biophysicist stopped abruptly and they all stared as the lumps-strung out along the many strands- started to open, expanding like very broad, many-petaled flowers, each of them aiming their concave faces away from the sun.

“Well all right,” Singh admitted. “That looks like some kind of detector array. But it’s aimed ahead of us! Aren’t we most-curious about what is going on behind us, on Earth? Whether civilization survived? Whether the big laser is still being used?”

M’m por’lock commented:

“This device was never meant for us to use in that way, checking on our point of origin. It may have been intended to look ahead, during our final approach toward the destination system. To help perfect our ideal trajectory, optimizing arrival at the target planet.”

Courier of Caution disagreed.

“Upon approaching the destination, our type of light-craft always turns around to enter the new solar system aft-end first, with the sail using sunlight to help decelerate. Hence, these mirrors would be aimed away-”

Hamish interrupted.

“Aren’t you all forgetting something? None of those flower mirrors can see a damned thing that’s in front of our ship. There’s something blocking the way!”

He gestured toward the bow of their crystal vessel and Birdwoman squawked, now in spoken English.

“The sail! Sail. Big light-pail!”

It covered a whole third of the sky, warping the starscape with reflections, cutting off any view ahead.

“But… then… if the sail is in the way…” Lacey mused, staring at the curved boundary of the gigantic, reflective surface. “What could all those smaller mirrors be looking at…”

Her eyes widened.

Then Lacey Donaldson let out a cry of realization and joy.

“It’s all…

“… we’re all part of ONE big telescope!”

96.

FOCUS

The group drifted “down” to a nearby fractal layer where it was just barely possible to forge instrumentalities with their minds, yet still have a clear view outside. By concentrating together, they managed to create some image magnifiers to peer beyond the artifact-ship at the two hundred or so flower-mirrors that lay strung behind it, along five trees of branching tethers. Many of the kilometer-wide diaphanous blossoms were still unfolding.

How did all of that fit in a one-meter box? They reminded Hamish of filmy jellyfish- swarms of which had conquered Earth’s great ocean.

Courier of Caution presented a schematic, adding-“Of course, nothing is to scale.”

“So the big sail acts as a giant telescope mirror,” Jovindra pondered, “collecting and reflecting light upon two hundred smaller mirrors, spread around the maximum possible volume… smaller mirrors which then focus on our crystal craft… which can then analyze the images…”

“… since we can also draw power from that concentrated energy,” added Courier, clearly excited.

“So then, can we use this array to look at Earth?” asked a nervous Emily.

Hamish nodded. “With such an instrument, at this small distance, we’d detect even the slightest sign of civilization. Or its destruction.”

“Maybe I don’t want to know.” Emily dropped her gaze.

Hamish turned. “What d’you think, Lacey? Can this big scope gaze Earthward and-”

Looking around, he finally spotted Lacey, Profnoo, and Birdwoman. Each of them now about as tall as his ankle, perched on a miniature platform just a little below this one, surrounded by more sophisticated machinery and computer-like displays. Tornadoes of numbers swirled around Birdwoman-again feathered-who squawked, danced, and pecked at the maelstrom. A data processing task worthy of her savant talents.

Hamish crouched down. Peering at the other miniature woman, whose expression now seemed more perplexed than jubilant as she argued with Professor Noozone, fists provocatively planted on her hips, casually tossing back lustrous brown hair with a single gray streak. For some reason, this perspective made Lacey seem not just “cute” but even more alluring-sexy to Hamish, rousing another flare of curiosity in some primitive corner of his mind.

The tru-vus replied with an answer he never consciously asked for.

L. Donaldson’s body image: 95 percent accurate re-creation of her true self at age forty- two.

Hamish blinked.

Damn, she was a babe!

And why must I be saddled with realistic, male, scatterbrained visual reactions? I thought we’d be above all that, in here.

Shaking his head for focus, Hamish bent closer and repeated his question louder, interrupting Lacey’s intense labor with the autistic savant and the Jamaican science-maestro.

“Things aren’t so simple,” she answered in a diminuated voice, looking up at Hamish. “Remember, the big sail’s main job was to reflect photons for propulsion, like on old-time sea ship. A telescope mirror needs a different curvature.”

“But its shape is adjustable to many purposes.” Courier joined Hamish kneeling at the boundary. “And it can reconfigure later for propulsion, when they send another laser boost.”

When? Don’t you mean if? But Hamish kept it to himself.

“That may be,” commented the Oldest Member without stooping or bending. “But of what use is such a device? To stare back at the solar system you came from? How could news from home affect your chance of a successful mission? Especially a mission that will fail without more laser pushes.” Clearly, Om didn’t