CHAPTER 1: Return to Earth
Earth’s old observation file was reopened at the Federation’s scientific centers. Another visit to the planet was being considered under the research program that examined inhabited worlds at regular intervals. Billions of people had been living there at the time of the last survey. Humans had spread across most of the planet, built cities, and accelerated their technological development.
The planet was not one of the worlds where the Federation intervened directly. Its civilization had been allowed to continue developing on its own, and the planet remained among the worlds monitored only from a distance. Human technology had not yet reached a level that the Federation considered to require open intervention from outside the planet.
Eren, a civilization researcher, checked the date of the last visit and compared the technological development data in the old records. A long time had passed. The scientific centers wanted the new survey to establish how far humans had advanced during that interval. If development had continued in the same direction, the civilization might have expanded farther beyond its planet.
Planetary scientists, biologists, civilization researchers, and specialists in the technological development of human societies gathered aboard the Federation research ship prepared for the mission. Planetary scientist Boran, biologist Duru, and technology specialist Aral were also on the team. Eren checked the files with the specialists transferring Earth’s old observation records into the ship’s system.
Eren opened the final pages of the observation file. For the comparison the scientific centers wanted, he first needed to distinguish which data actually came from the earlier visit. The planet’s population, the spread of settlements, and the technology records were in the same file, but these were not findings obtained during the new voyage. As the specialists working on preparations transferred the files to the ship, he determined which part of the survey would use each group.
“Let’s not overwrite these records with the new scan,” he said. “We need to be able to see the two periods separately.”
Aral opened the communications and technology files. The direction of human development could be traced. However, the file contained no definite information about what humans had done since the last observation. The study Eren was preparing was intended to examine that interval.
“They’re expected to have expanded beyond the planet,” Aral said.
“That’s an expectation,” Eren replied. “We’ll establish how far they’ve advanced when we get there. We can’t reach a conclusion by assuming their earlier rate of development stayed the same.”
Boran set aside the star system records for comparison. Duru would use the old population information alongside the scans for life. Before the ship had even departed, it became clear how the same file would be read in different fields. The planet’s position and environmental conditions mattered to Boran, the distribution of life to Duru, and technological traces to Aral. Eren would assess their findings alongside the civilization’s earlier condition. The mission was prepared to examine the missing years through new observation rather than fill them with assumptions.
After the long voyage, the research ship reached the star system. Boran began the first scans and compared the planets’ positions with the old Federation records.
“There are no major changes in their positions,” he said.
The planet was where it should have been as well. As the ship approached Earth, Aral examined the communications data. A planet with billions of inhabitants, communications satellites, and extensive communications networks should have produced numerous artificial signals. The expected volume was absent from the bands the system was scanning.
The expected signals did not arrive.
“Could they have changed their communications methods?” Eren asked.
“They may be using a method that isn’t in the old records,” Aral replied. He began scanning every known electromagnetic band. He examined the results one by one to test the team’s initial assessment.
Aral checked the bands covered by the first scan again. An apparently empty band did not mean all communication had stopped. That was why the team needed to consider the possibility of a new method. As he broadened the scan, Eren kept the old communications data open beside him. The volume they expected was not a signal that should have come from a single source. It was the combined activity of a vast population using cities and satellites.
“If we only look for the old transmissions, we could miss a system that has changed,” Aral said.
“We’ll compare again once every known band has been covered,” Eren said.
Duru watched the results without joining the conversation. They had not yet found communications; the scans for life also required more detailed observation. At this stage, they could not use one set of results in place of the other. It was certain that humans had been alive in the old records, but whether they were alive today was a separate question for investigation.
As the ship approached, Boran continued comparing the new position data with the old system file. The planet’s presence did not explain the absence of communications. Each specialist would complete their own scan and pass the results to the others. Eren left the gap open in his file without attaching a conclusion to it. By the time Aral received the broader scan’s results, work on the bridge had shifted from old observation records to current data.
The result did not change. At the end of the scan, Aral separated the weak automated signals from the other data. They did not resemble the communications of a large civilization. There were no active communications networks, heavy satellite traffic, or continuous data flows between cities.
“Some systems are still operating. We can’t find a society’s communications,” he said.
As the ship continued approaching Earth, the research team reopened the old records. It was certain that billions of people had lived on the planet at the time of the last survey. Now no communications indicating their presence were being received from it.
