by Neely Dobbs
* * *
After coordinating with the Wasp's crew on preparations for its orbital insertion, Kyell had managed to get a couple of hours sleep. That left him physically more prepared, but there seemed to be a lack of urgency, with the Wasp’s threat past. He had to push past his lethargy to get himself to think about the SDs.
OK, start with the last one first— Chad. Unlike all previous disappearances, only the planet was taken. All earlier cases….
As he mulled over these problems, his long strides quickly carried him to the plotting room. An AIDD acknowledged his entrance, and Kyell issued a command. The room darkened and the displays began to play out across the entire upper portion of the domed room. Stellar objects would acquire a faint glow, indicating the site of impending action. Display time was compressed; the system disappearances of the previous thirteen years were shown in less than an hour. A system would acquire a violet haze, become enveloped by it, then vanish. The scene would then shift to the next SD event.
Although the visuals clearly should have detected any alien ships, nothing even remotely like the Colossus— in fact, no aggressors of any description— could be seen. He reviewed his notes, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, deep in thought.
Somewhere in all our information, there has to be an answer! An invader has to use some form of communication. But no transmissions have ever been detected. Wouldn't an invader initiate contact, at least to gloat or make some demands? Even if only to ask for our surrender in exchange for ending the hostilities? It's hard to imagine an intruder who would continue to attack without communicating something, even if it’s just to lord it over us about their power.
It's still inconceivable that entire systems can vanish without a trace! If the systems were actually destroyed, wouldn't there be some remains left behind? It's as if all the matter in the systems had ceased to exist. But that can't be! That violates all the laws of physics. Was the mass of the systems transformed to energy? No sign of it. Could the intruder have somehow drained all the energy away? Not without at least some trace sign of it!
Could the systems have been transported? But where…and why? Do those missing systems still exist, somewhere in the Nine Creations? Is it possible that any— or virtually all— of our six billion lost people could still be alive?
