The Watcher

Prologue

The twin moons sat low in the evening sky as the two girls walked to the Yundho Academy. "Hurry Kunglun, I want to get a front seat," Sukeen called as she ran up the white stone steps. At the entrance, a stern-faced administrator in grey robes blocked their way. "Walk. Remember, you are guests in this place of learning." The girls walked slowly into the building, breaking into a run once they had turned a corner. They paused at the entrance to the lecture theatre. A thousand seats descended towards a large stage. The room was alive with excited chatter. An image of their galaxy filled the stage; hovering in the centre were the words "Yundho Academy Lecture: The search for life".

"There," she said pointing to two empty seats in the front row. The girls made to run when a hand touched Sukeen's left shoulder. She turned to face another Academy administrator. This one had a softer face. "Your enthusiasm is commendable, but please walk to your seats. If you go this way," he pointed to his left, "you will get to those seats quickly." The girls bowed and followed his direction. They settled into their seats and waited.

The room silenced as a man dressed in white robes walked onto the stage. "Good evening and welcome to the Yundho Academy. I am senior researcher Ahaan from the Life Search Project. I'll talk today about the planets we have been studying, what we have found and our plans for the future."

He paused, studying his audience, remembering how a similar talk long ago inspired him. The theatre was silent. His audience full of young eager faces. He could almost feel their questions trying to burst out. As he looked around he wondered if any of his audience had the abilities they sought for the work they were now planning.

The lights dimmed. To his right, an image formed and grew to fill half the stage. A series of excited whispers rippled across the room.

"Our planet." He waited for the last of the whispers to silence before continuing. "Ever since the new beginning," referring to the rebuilding of their society after a war devastated their planet three thousand years ago, "we have sought to build a society based on peace, compassion and learning. Throughout our development there was one question which we sought to answer: are we alone in this universe?" The image of their planet shrank; images their twin moons appeared, orbiting the planet. "We first explored our moons. Then we looked further, eventually discovering this: the first planet thought likely to support life."

The image changed to show a planet with dark red clouds partially covering its surface. Between the clouds were areas of dark land and black seas. "This is a geologically active planet but has a stable atmosphere. We sent a probe to study the planet. It found plant and primitive animal life." New images hovered on the stage showing dark brown shrubs and small insect-like creatures scurrying along the ground. "These are among the first images we received. Over five hundred years ago, a research mission landed." Images appeared of two researchers in red environment suits stooping near brown vegetation. "The planet's atmosphere is hostile to us so we need to wear protective suits. Here you see the team collecting samples." In the background was the team's vessel. "The samples collected were brought back for study. We hold these samples here. You will have the chance to visit our exhibition after this lecture. The second mission suffered tragedy. Sadly, as I'm sure you know, all five explorers died when an earthquake struck the landing site. This Academy is named after the expedition leader."

There was silence as images of those who died appeared over the stage. All in the audience knew this story and revered those killed as pioneers of exploration.

He continued to describe the exploration of three other planets. "We established small research colonies on two of these planets. Here are some images from the planets where we found life." A series of images appeared showing plants and animals. He summarised what they had learned, concluding with, "In all our exploration we have not found intelligent life or a planet where we could survive without protective suits. That is," he paused for a second, "until now." An excited buzz rippled across the audience.