Another answer given to the Fermi paradox was that perhaps it was the nature of all life to destroy itself in the end. When we went into space, we found worlds ready to be inhabited, far more than we ever expected. What our governments didn’t publish was that many showed signs of terraforming, and the ruins of dead civilizations were not rare. We saw on those planets our future, and that was why we signed the Lunar Treaty and all of its descendents.
I served on the Indian light cruiser Wind of Autumn for three months during The War. American Indian, not Indian Indian. She was beautiful, one of the last ships finished by Yosemite Yards before the Shang blew it all over the American West. And the Lakota Sioux idea of discipline is way different than the USMC’s. Not that I learned USMC discipline very well mind you. But that was a real relaxing tour, when we weren’t getting shot at. I’d do it again real fast.
Pacifica is a world dominated by a single huge ocean. I explore under water, usually with other scientists, sometimes alone. It’s nice not having to be worried about drowning. Sometimes I just visit the Arnam who live there now. Often they help us explore. With the Arnam, I have visited ancient underwater ruins that have never been noted by any publication. Humans used to live on Pacifica, long ago. One day, I want to know who they were.
Robin Hanson answered the Fermi paradox by suggesting that there was a “Great Filter” that kept intelligent life from existing. He suggested a list of nine possibilities; from life-bearing worlds being rarer than we think, to advanced races inevitably suffering a deadly catastrophe. We found living worlds when we explored, all empty of intelligent life. We wondered if a catastrophe was ahead or behind us. Then the Peloran made Contact and we knew we were not alone.
In the tenth year of The War I served on the USS Independence, a newly built and fresh-crewed American Fleet Carrier. It was good to be home again, but seeing all those smartly dressed and drilled academy graduates thinking they were ready for war was real hard. I always think of them on Independence Day now. That and so many other days. We’re alive and free because men and women like them signed their lives on the doted line. Because they still do. Never Forget.
The Martian Affair on Amazon
Forge of War on Amazon
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