Table of Contents
Foreword by Robert E. Hampson, PhD
Burn the Boats by Sarah A. Hoyt
Bridging by William Ledbetter
The Future of Intelligent Life in the Cosmos by Martin Rees
Stella Infantes by Kacey Ezell and Philip Wohlrab
Maintaining Crew Health and Mission Performance in Ventures Beyond Near-Earth Space by Mark Shelhamer
At the Bottom of the White by Todd McCaffrey
Pageants of Humanity by Brent Roeder
Homo Stellaris—Working Track Report from the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop by Robert E. Hampson and Les Johnson
Time Flies by Kevin J. Anderson
Our Worldship Broke! by Jim Beall
Nanny by Les Johnson
Those Left Behind by Robert E. Hampson
Securing the Stars by Mike Massa
The Smallest of Things by Catherine L. Smith
Biological and Medical Challenges of the Transition to Homo Stellaris by Nikhil Rao, MD
Exodus by Daniel M. Hoyt
Afterword by Les Johnson
Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop
STELLARIS:
People of the Stars
Edited by
Les Johnson & Robert E. Hampson
Stellaris: People of the Stars
Edited by Les Johnson & Robert E. Hampson
NEW STORIES AND ESSAYS FROM TOP AUTHORS AND EXPERT SCIENTISTS. Explorations of how interstellar travel may affect humanity by best-selling authors and scientists.
The stars will change us.
STELLARIS: PEOPLE OF THE STARS is a collection of original science fiction stories and nonfiction essays speculating about humanity’s far-term expansion into the universe beyond the limits of our solar system—with an emphasis on the changes humans will undergo as a species as we make this happen. Is interstellar travel so far beyond our current imaginings that it will take a fundamental transformation of humanity in order to make it possible? And, if so, will we remain Homo sapiens or become a new and unique species—Homo stellaris (the People of the Stars)?
Herein are original science fiction stories by award-winning authors such as Kevin J. Anderson, William Ledbetter, Todd McCaffrey and Sarah A. Hoyt, supplemented by accessible nonfiction essays describing the science behind the fiction from people who should know—Sir Martin Rees (Astronomer Royal of the United Kingdom), Mark Shelhamer (Chief Scientist for the NASA’s Human Research Program), and more.
This collection of original stories and essays was inspired by a gathering of scientists, science fiction authors, and futurists at a series of annual meetings held by the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop. Let their speculations, imaginations and boundless sense of what’s possible take your own journey beyond the edge of the solar system in STELLARIS: PEOPLE OF THE STARS!
Stories and Provocative Speculation from
Sir Martin Rees
Kevin J. Anderson
Sarah A. Hoyt
Mike Massa
William Ledbetter
Todd McCaffrey
Kacey Ezell and Philip Wohlrab
Dan Hoyt
Les Johnson
Robert E. Hampson
Mark Shelhamer
Brent Roeder
Jim Beall
Cathe Smith
BAEN BOOKS by Les Johnson
Mission to Methone
WITH BEN BOVA
Rescue Mode
WITH TRAVIS S. TAYLOR
Back to the Moon
On to the Asteroid
EDITED BY LES JOHNSON AND JACK MCDEVITT
Going Interstellar
EDITED BY LES JOHNSON AND ROBERT E. HAMPSON
Stellaris: People of the Stars
STELLARIS:
People of the Stars
Edited by
Les Johnson & Robert E. Hampson
Stellaris: People of the Stars
This work contains fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in those portions of this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
“Foreword,” © 2019 Robert E. Hampson; “Burn the Boats,” © 2019 Sarah A. Hoyt; “Bridging,” © 2019 William Ledbetter; “The Future of Intelligent Life in the Cosmos,” © 2019 Martin Rees; “Stella Infantes,” © 2019 Kacey Ezell and Philip Wohlrab; “Maintaining Crew Health and Mission Performance in Ventures Beyond Near-Earth Space,” © 2019 Mark Shelhamer; “At the Bottom of the White,” © 2019 Todd McCaffrey; “Pageants of Humanity,” © 2019 Brent Roeder; “Home Stellaris—Working Track Report from the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop,” © 2019 Robert E. Hampson and Les Johnson; “Time Flies,” © 2019 Kevin J. Anderson; “Our Worldship Broke!” © 2019 Jim Beall; “Nanny,” © 2019 Les Johnson; “Those Left Behind,” © 2019 Robert E. Hampson; “Securing the Stars: The Security Implications of Human Culture During Interstellar Flight,” © 2019 Mike Massa; “The Smallest of Things,” © 2019 Catherine L. Smith; “Biological and Medical Challenges of the Transition to Homo Stellaris,” © 2019 Nikhil Rao, MD; “Exodus,” © 2019 Daniel M. Hoyt; “Afterword,” © 2019 Les Johnson; “Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop,” © 2019 Joe Meany, Edward E. Montgomery, and John Preston
All other content copyright © 2019 Les Johnson and Robert E. Hampson
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8425-1
eISBN: 978-1-62579-735-3
Cover art by Sam Kennedy.
TVIW logo created by Debbie Hughes and used with the permission of the TVIW.
First printing, September 2019
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Johnson, Les (Charles Les), editor. | Hampson, Robert E., editor.
Title: Stellaris : people of the stars / edited by Les Johnson and Robert E. Hampson.
Description: Riverdale, NY : Baen, [2019]
Identifiers: LCCN 2019020168 | ISBN 9781481484251 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Science fiction, American. | Interstellar travel—Fiction. |
Interstellar travel. | Future, The. | Forecasting. | BISAC: FICTION /
Science Fiction / High Tech. | FICTION / Science Fiction / Short Stories.
| SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution.
Classification: LCC PS648.S3 S74 2019 | DDC 813/.0876208—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019020168
Printed in the United States of America
Electronic Version by Baen Books
www.baen.com
To those who have served on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW). These volunteer visionaries took an ill-formed idea and crafted it into one of the most successful private interstellar-focused space advocacy groups in the world: Martha Knowles, Ken Roy, John Preston, Robert Kennedy, David Fields, Yohon Lo, Doug Loss, Sandy Montgomery, Jim Moore, Marc Millis, Joe Meany, and Paul Gilster. Ad astra indeed!
To the dreamers…
Foreword
Becoming the People of the Stars
This volume has its origins in the March 2016 Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop (TVIW) Symposium held at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel in Chattanooga, TN. The TVIW “working tracks” from each symposium provide an opportunity to have extended conversations about some of the “big issues” inv
olved in making the transition to interstellar exploration and colonization. In 2016, one of the working tracks was entitled “Homo Stellaris” and the participants were charged with examining the transition of society, society’s mindset, and the human body to a life among the stars. A more complete report from that event is included later in this book (see “Homo Stellaris—Working Track Report from the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop 2016”). One of the more intriguing questions to come out of the working track was, “Will the interstellar explorers be human as we define it?” In other words, will the inevitable changes to our society—not to mention the necessary changes to physiology and psychology—change those explorers to something other than Homo sapiens? If so, how then will those explorers preserve their essential humanity, rather than simply becoming what amounts to biological robotic probes?
HUMANS IN SPACE
The original Apollo program was extremely lucky to lose only three astronauts to spacecraft complications (Apollo 1) and that incident occurred on the ground. The only (publicized) potential loss-of-life incident in space was Apollo 13 and it was resolved successfully. On the other hand, two complete crews were lost to space shuttle accidents, and, each time, missions resumed only after extensive hand-wringing and finger-pointing.
If humans are to eventually go to the stars, they will first have to go out into space, beyond the ISS, beyond the Moon, even beyond Mars. To do that, people not only have to want to go, they have to do so in the face of risk and loss. There is hope, however, and that hope comes from science fiction (SF). The more society questions and thinks about not only the problems but also uses their imaginations to create solutions, the better prepared humans will be to adapt and overcome the risks of living, working, and thriving in space.
Early SF didn’t worry too much about adapting humans to space or other planets—mainly because so little was known about the differences humans would encounter once they left the surface of Earth. Space was still “the ether” and either just like the atmosphere (only thinner) or simply ignored. Hence, we had images of airborne ships “sailing” to the Moon, astronauts riding on the outside of rocket ships, and giant cannons that simply fired projectiles to the Moon where they would be greeted by outlandish beings who breathed air and lived on human-style food. Once it was generally accepted that space was a vacuum, and that both space and other planetary environments held many hazards to human health, SF turned to the idea that humans would naturally take their environment with them and re-create it on other worlds.
One of the most common book-cover images from SF is the space-suited astronaut on a hill looking over a valley of domes. This graphic image fits most perceptions of initial planetary habitats. Given what we now know about the air, soil, and radiation conditions on the Moon, Mars, and Venus, those assumptions are generally correct. In fact, most extraterrestrial communities will need to be underground (or inside rocky asteroids) for maximum protection from radiation, and they will thus seek to become as self-sustaining as possible. Breathable air will probably be generated artificially, then filtered and refreshed by plants. Likewise, water will be recycled and perhaps refreshed by mining asteroids. These are habitats in which humans can live without adaptation, much as a spacesuit captures a small volume of terrestrial life support and keeps a human from being exposed to the hazards of space.
But would it be possible to adapt humans to their environment, instead of the environment to humans?
It is important to note that simply providing a sheltering terrestrial environment will not prevent humans from adapting to the novel aspects of their new habitats. For example, research has shown that low-gravity environments result in a reduction of bone and muscle mass as well as changes in vision and heart function. While these are short-term adaptations which rely on adaptive mechanisms and not evolution of the human form, would it be possible to intentionally alter humans for space?
SF has already been there, in stories ranging from simple genetic improvement of human health, to wholesale alteration of the human body into completely alien forms. While this level of gene editing is still well outside of current capabilities, the field of tissue engineering is rapidly developing, as shown by the recent announcements of lab-created simple human organs such as the bladder, human ears grown on the backs of laboratory mice ears, sprayable skin cells for burn repair, and efforts to “3-D print” liver and kidney cells.
What other types of gene engineering might be desirable to adapt humans to space? For this question, we need look no further than our own oceans. Fish and marine mammals provide examples of adaptation such as pressure tolerance, maneuverability in a fluid/weightless environment, temperature extremes, oxygen extremes, sulfur-dependent organisms, alterations of circadian rhythm, and independence from sleep. “Natural antifreeze” copied from Arctic cod may make the difference in adapting or engineering humans to cryogenic stasis during long-duration spaceflights. While we may never reach the state of total freedom to choose alternate bodies, many examples—not to mention source materials—for engineering humans for life in space are already right here on Earth.
At the same time, we must ensure that human society has the will to tolerate the extreme risks of long-duration space exploration. Our society has become decidedly risk-averse and has difficulty making (and funding) long-range and long-term investments in social projects and technology. For some, this is compounded by an attitude that “there are too many problems at home to waste money in space!” It is a common theme in SF that space is a frontier, and in many ways only a small subset of society will embrace the necessity as well as the attraction of that frontier. Space may very well be colonized by the misfits, by those for whom it is no longer possible to fit into Earthbound society, or by individuals who decide to balance significant risk with even greater reward. For these reasons, the societies we build in space may be totally unlike our current experience.
SHAPING THE FUTURE
What better way to explore these concepts than through SF? It is a playground, a sandbox in which we can experiment with ideas and concepts that are beyond current capabilities. Perhaps through fiction we can encourage people to think about these issues, and begin to make the adaptations and accommodations to lessen the shock that such changes will produce. As we consider whether (or how) to adapt humans to new environments or adapt those environments to better suit humans, we also need to examine the science behind human experiences in space. In this anthology we have combined nonfiction essays and SF short stories to examine the motivations, the hazards, and the adaptations that will be encountered as humans move into a permanent presence in space and become Homo Stellaris—the People of the Stars.
Robert E. Hampson, PhD
Kernersville, NC, October 2018
Burn the Boats
Sarah A. Hoyt
Sarah A. Hoyt has published over thirty novels (don’t make her count!) in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical, and they-say-it’s-romance. Also, over one hundred short stories (really don’t make her count. We’ll be here all day) in magazines like Analog and Asimov’s, Weird Tales, and others, as well as a whole bunch of anthologies. However, since she broke into her aunt’s house (really don’t make her explain) at age six to watch the Moon landing, her first and last love has been science fiction. She’s cleverly managed to guide one son into medicine and one into engineering, for the sole purpose of using them as sources to supply her own pitiful knowledge of the subjects. Thus armed, she hopes to be able to spend imaginary time in space, even if she’ll never live there. Oh, yeah: She was born in Portugal, writes in her third language (if you ask her to say “moose and squirrel” you can’t be her friend anymore), has won the Prometheus Award for her novel DarkShip Thieves, etc., etc. But mostly she’s just happy to be writing science fiction.
They’d swept a path on the green-blue ice, so that it looked like a road, from the landing site to the village. On either side of it, the snowflakes crusted, gilded a pale orange by the light from
Proxima Virginis.
Martha swallowed hard and bowed to the two waiting…men—she would have to remember to think of them as men—who stood on either side of the path as what? Guards? Escorts?
Their skin was too pale, they had no noses that she thought of as noses and they looked, for lack of a better term, slimy. She breathed through her mouth, so as not to detect what her nose insisted was a distinctly fish odor, and she squared her shoulders in her temperature-controlled suit. The men wore what looked like harem pants in a fabric that looked as if they’d skinned a fish and not cured the skin. And she had a feeling that was just a concession to the new arrivals, despite the cold making the skin of her own face go numb and her eyes sting.
They bowed to the survivors of Gloriana with a sort of fluid elegance that made all the alarm bells go off at the back of Martha’s head. There was something here like the uncanny valley effect that had made androids a rare thing back on Earth because they looked just enough like men but weren’t to set off subconscious alarm. Perhaps if Martha hadn’t known these were humans, the same seed of Earth as her own people, this would be easier.
There wasn’t much to the swept path. After half a mile, and cresting a rise that looked artificial, they came upon a village of clear igloos. They had obviously purified the water, making the bricks of the persistent blue-green algae. The igloos sparkled gold under the sun, but were too small to be habitations. Which was fine. The scouts and ambassadors who had arranged this deal for her people had told her they weren’t habitations so much as covers over greenhouses, both to increase the concentration of oxygen and to keep the plants warm enough to grow. Below that were the actual houses, in ice caves, and below that still, the waters where these amphibian-adapted humans farmed the crabs and fish that provided the protein in their diets.
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