Fame & Fortune
26 Jan 2021Elkyri
Explorer's Anchorage3307.01.26
"Hey, Sis!" Hick's called out as he found me having coffee at the starport's lounge. "I was just over at the Cartographics office. They tell me you've been racking up quite a score."
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said. "It's not really very hard here. What with systems less than three light-years apart everyone else has been skipping over a dozen or more of them with each jump they make, leaving them for me to find. I've tagged lots of previously unreported worlds that would be extremely valuable if they weren't so far from civilization."
"What do you mean 'would be'? What makes you think they aren't now?"
"Take this terraformable water world I found less than twenty light-years from here. Very valuable resource real close by, eh? But only close by to Explorer's Anchorage -- it's twenty-five thousand light years from anything else. Who is going to come out here and develop it when there are so many other candidates within easy reach of the bubble?
"I gotta tell you, Hicks, I get why the scientists are interested in this survey data but I just don't see the economic interest in it. It has me wondering why there is this much interest in exploring these distant areas instead of more thoroughly surveying the fringes of the bubble."
"Don't you want to get your name written across the stars?" He made a wide arc in the air with his arm. "Some of these guys do it just for the fame, to have their name on the charts."
"I've heard some of them say that but let me ask you this -- have you ever been to the crystal gardens?"
"Sure have, several times," he said. "What of it?"
"And you open up your system map display to plot the final leg of the course?" I asked.
"Of course. What's your point?" He was beginning to sound annoyed.
"Okay, whose name is on the map as the explorer who first discovered and mapped that planet?" I paused to let the question sink in before hitting it home. "You've seen it many times, eh? So certainly you remember who that famous pilot was."
"Well... uh... actually..."
"That's my point," I interrupted his hemming and hawing. "None of us remembers. Even now when I jump into a previously reported system and see the explorer's name there the only thing that registers is that the system has already been surveyed and that I should just keep moving. I don't for one moment take note of who it was that surveyed it. I'm guessing you don't either. So I'm not seeing any point in that being my name there that everyone is ignoring. It can't really be about any idea of being famous, can it?"
"Okay," he said. "Point granted. So if you don't think it's commercially valuable and you're not doing it for the fame then why are you doing it? Why are you even out here?"
"Aside from the good company you mean?" I hoped that would lighten the mood a little. "I guess I'm attracted to the idea of finding something that's actually new and unique. Something that no one has ever before discovered. I'm not talking about yet another terraformable metal planet or even another Earth-like world. I'm talking about discovering another alien civilization or maybe a new form of vacuum life; something truly different from what we already know. Not for the fame but for the adventure of it."
We were both silent for a moment, him mulling that over and me waiting for his reaction.
"That would be grand," he finally said.
"Yeah, and I won't find it if I don't look for it."
"So you're going all-in on this exploration deal then?"
"I'm still not sure yet, Hicks." I shook my head. "This expedition has made clear to me it's a big commitment as far as time goes, and it pretty much cuts off doing anything else for the duration. In any case, there is still something I want to take care of back in the bubble before I consider setting off on anything long term."
I decided to change the subject. "So, tell me about your visit to the mother of all blackholes."
Hicks grew more and more animated as he went into glorious detail describing his reaction to seeing the wonder that lies at the center of our galaxy. It was a joy to see his excitement. I was happy for him as it dawned on me that this was his calling, his "thing," and realized there is a very good chance he is going to be the one who makes the next big discovery.