The Searcher

Here's one of the very few fictional pieces I ever did.

THE SEARCHER
“This planet you call ‘E Pluribus Unum’ has never sustained advanced, sentient life forms. That metallic disc encased in the ancient strata could have been left here by any one of a number of races visiting this part of this average galaxy 200 million year cycles ago,” replied Kurac to Quire.

The exploration ship orbiting the planet was immense, nearly 3,000 feet long and home to 405 Skribs. It was not so much full of equipment and scientific gear. That had long ago been reduced in size to a point that would have allowed for a vessel with all of her thought activated machines housed in one-third its dimensions. The Skribs utilized it communicating mentally but found that vocally doing so was more interpersonally pleasurable on the long exploration voyages. No, the great volume was for artifacts, plant life and animals that would be returned to Skribna for study and display.

The ample size of the vessel did allow spacious living quarters and diversionary areas that kept the crew from feeling pent up on those long missions. Inside and out the ship was pleasing to the eye without detracting from its utilitarian purpose. Compared to more practical mining vessels, which often followed exploration ships, it was quite attractive. Its flowing contours were pleasing to the eye. In their ancient language the name of the ship meant “Searcher.”

Kurac was Searcher’s captain and responsible for her schedule of travel exploration of the backwater solar system in this remote galaxy. He was middle-aged, some 450 year cycles old. The Captain stood a foot taller than the average, extinct male species that unknowingly dominated the world below long ago. He was a scientist that only believed in hard facts from deduced scientific research. He was not in the least speculative and little imagination. His many voyages had been relatively boring and his wanderlust had long been quenched. He longed for a scientific post on one of Skribna’s prestigious institutes. He had certainly earned it after 107 year cycles of lonely, uninspiring exploration.

The Skribs had begun inter-stellar travel some 800,000 year cycles earlier and had found life throughout the universe in many forms. Some planets had pre-life microbe building blocks that could perhaps, under fortunate conditions, produce intelligent future life. Many had vegetation and lower animal life forms. This was wide spread in the innumerable planets they’d seen. But sentient beings with advanced technological civilizations were rare. Only twelve had ever been encountered and they physically resembled Skribs. They were generally tall with long slender limbs and appendages plus craniums housing 3,100 cubic centimeter brains.

Quire, at 306 year cycles of age, was the energetic, youthful head of Searcher’s archeological activities on the planets visited and believed the theory that many worlds had seen intelligent life develop, reach a zenith and then disappear. It was the grail he sought evidence for. His travels on exploration vessels had begun just eight years earlier and he was still enthusiastic and optimistic. There just had to more than twelve civilizations in the universe.

Kurac, on the other hand, held that the theory that once a world reached a certain technological turning point its inhabitant’s intelligence would propagate it to ultimate heights in an accelerated fashion as had happened on their planet Skribna. Other races on other worlds had done the same and many had evolved for millions of year cycles once a state of technology had been reached. Skribna was, in fact, one of the younger races. The debate of evolution continued.

“This planet is a nothing, Quire,” sneered Kurac. “It is half the size of Skribna and is inhabited by diverse life, yes, but large-sized animals with relatively small brains roam its surface. True your findings have uncovered fossils, but of the same type of animals from ages ago. Some ingest plant material and some consume meat. Predators and prey from small to megalithic size, but none with sentience. No evidence of technological evolution is apparent. The waters are home to equally archaic beasts. We have seen this repeated many times in our travels. These animals have ruled this planet for over half a billion year cycles and never progressed. This place is an evolutionary dead end.”

“I believe that a technological people once rose and then perished for some unknown reason leaving this world ripe for the re-evolution, if you will, of the primal beasts we see today,” countered Quire. “Somewhere in between beings, like us perhaps, advanced their world to at least the level of Skribna when we first took to space. Some cataclysm could have destroyed them. This planet is in the process of re-evolution.”

“To believe that something destroyed all the sentient beings is incredible,” continued Kurac. “What, an asteroid or comet struck this place? Perhaps tribal conflict is to blame. How absurd! No intelligent race with technology could allow that to happen. Diversity of racial culture is something that all worlds embrace. It points out that while there are evident differences a people is all one, united. They had no global defense mechanisms against errant special bodies on a collision course? The primary focus of advanced beings has proven on other planets that those factors are quickly overcome once they have become self-aware as beings of the cosmos.”

Quire now logically presented his scientific findings. The small metallic disc that was found in strata 135 million year cycles old he believed was native to the planet’s extinct race. The section of flat, asphalt material of similar age was uncovered. And the fossil of the hand-like appendage he felt was that of a sentient and were all connected somehow, he reasoned.

“Look,” began Quire, “this tiny, pristine disc was produced by intelligent, technological beings from materials native to this world. On one side is clearly a face in profile with hair on its skull. Perhaps it represents one of these people’s heroes. It took a skilled, technological process to engrave it. No, we haven’t deciphered the markings yet, but we will, “he said pointing to the enlargement on the visual display.

“IN GOD WE TRUST and LIBERTY are words and we believe the 1999 with the small B symbol beneath it are repetitive numeric symbols. On the reverse side is clearly a representation of a structure with the word MONTECELLO below it with FIVE CENTS under that. It may be the name of this world’s capital. I deduct that EPLURIBUS UNUM is the name of this planet. I am not certain what UNITED STATES OF AMERICA could yet be.”

“That disc is probably alien to this world, left by a visitor like the ancient Xenotians,” interrupted Kurac. “They traveled this area in that time. Their ancient records may not show this thing, but remember they lost much of their historical archive long ago when their once unstable star pulsed a large spike erasing all their primitive, ancient recordings in magnetic format. And the metal it is made of is found everywhere in the universe,” Kurac shrugged.

“Fine, but the blackened section of material we unearthed was 100 times the length of a Skrib foot and as thick as the width of your hand,” continued Quire. “It was crumbled and deteriorated, certainly, but there remains a small section of its length having a straight edge. This could have been similar to our ancient form of walking conveyance we once called a road.”

A bit impatient, Kurac glared at Quire saying, “This thin material could have formed naturally from the materials present in this planet’s soil. You have many segments of it that can be assembled to appear as a “road” would have only because you wish it to be so. These pieces could be assembled to make anything. That straight edge is a simply freak of nature, not sentient-made. You see an ancient road. I see remnants of volcanic activity interacting with other minerals.

“How often have we observed things that appeared to be sentient-made and then discovered they were only natural phenomena? Remember that “face” we observed from orbit sixty cycles ago on that icy planet and how excited you were? Upon firsthand inspection it was a revealed to be trick of light refraction on topography, nothing more. Yes, we have been mistaken on other planets where natural formations
at first seemed purposefully made. Why would technological sentients construct such a thing as this? To pilot some fanciful vehicle of locomotion around the planet’s surface in two dimensions when they could use the third dimension to convey themselves through the lower atmosphere with ease? Next you’ll have me looking on that dead, rocky satellite for ancient alien exploration vehicles, I suppose. Your conclusion is fancifully speculative at best,” sneered Kurac, adding, “perhaps there are “people” living in that large gas planet’s poisonous atmosphere farther out there as well,” motioned Kurac with his long finger at the solar system projection on the screen.

“People like us would even prosper on that small red, fourth orb from this star,” added Kurac, “but you have found nothing there either.”

“But the hand,” implored Quire, “is that of a sentient. It is fully articulated with an opposable digit. It is the obvious culmination of evolution structured like those of we Skribs’. This hand could have made beautiful structures, artwork and marvelous machines that plied these roads possibly before lower atmosphere transport vehicles were invented.”

Quire stared at the visual display and imagined a vast population of beings doing wondrous alien things long ago on this alien world. Kurac soon disrupted his reverie.

“These small, stubby digits are half the length of ours,” Kurac forcefully interjected. “How could you imagine they could produce such wonders? They need voluminous cerebrums besides mechanical limbs. There’s no evidence for that. All the known technological races are similar physically and mentally to us. It is the One Makers’ blueprint for superiority over animals,” added Kurac in his best creationist theory scorn. “Look at the brutish, hair-covered hominid creature in zoological chamber ninety-two. Its hand is similar to your fossil but his cerebrum is half our size and not capable of complex, cognitive thought. It is an animal. The fossil is probably an ancient ancestor of it.”

“Perhaps if I had more time than just three day cycles here…” began Quire.

“Perhaps you would be happier on Captain Heroc’s ship Quest on your next voyage. The Council of Exploration would approve it, I’m sure. Heroc has many of your naïve notions on life in the universe and you would make a fine pair! Or perhaps you could return when our mining fleet harvests this sector during the next extraction cycle. This rock does have some mineral wealth that can be easily extracted for our uses. But for us, all this planet deserves is a cursory examination.” Kurac added.

The Captain turned away from Quire and transmitted his thoughts to the crew still on the surface of the planet. “You will complete transport of the example “Reptilipod’ creatures without delay. Searcher is bound for home.”

Quire was utterly disappointed with the Captain. Perhaps he would sign on with Heroc and return to this segment of the universe one day to further search this world or travel back on a utilitarian mining ship. One thing was certain, all of this galaxy’s segments were not yet explored and Quire sensed that unique beings might still inhabit strange new parts of it.

Little did he know how close he was when he found that “road.” The Searcher’s probe could not discern the metallic deposit in the rock strata ninety feet below due to sensor fluctuation. The coming miners specialized probes would detect them better and would glean it soon enough. It appeared to be simply another one of the planet’s many metallic ore deposits and not an archeological object. If it had Quire could have easily raised it with Searcher’s equipment and found the primordial road conveyance machine encased therein.

Then he could have pondered the beings that constructed the strange and exciting “CHEVROLET.”