Book 5: Chapter 24:Arachnophobia
Icarus
August 2321
Wormhole Network
Another day, another exploration. It was hard not to think of this process as tedious, despite the utterly breathtaking brilliance of the whole experience. It felt like every day was Christmas, but in both a good way and a bad way. Each new wormhole brought new planets, new vistas—not always surprises but certainly spectacles. It was like being on one of those European cruises where you visit a new country every day.
But the downside was that the constant excitement could eventually make you numb. Seeing a planet covered with floating, domed cities and muttering “meh” was a warning sign for sure. I admit I was being at least a little self-mocking, but the idea that I’d start dismissing each new experience with a shrug left me profoundly disappointed in myself.
By this point, we’d seen civilizations belonging to what had to be dozens of different species. Their urban philosophies ran the gamut, from skyscrapers to urban sprawl, to underground ant-like networks. And although most were in good shape, some were less so, ranging from encroaching decay all the way to total collapse. Dae had commented that the last group had probably turned off the maintenance systems, which might mean they didn’t plan on coming back. Or didn’t expect to.
“Notice everything’s inhabited?” Dae said into the silence.
“What?” I looked up from my video window, which had been showing the front view from a drone doing a flyby of the current planet.
“Every system we’ve investigated has been more or less Sol-like. No Trappist systems, no systems with hot Jupiters, no supergiant suns, no real planetary weirdness. None of the stuff that early exoplanet searches were constantly turning up.”