Thoss World
The Confederal Senate
Vs'Kssh City

The two artifacts appeared so innocuous that Senator HvHuss had simply removed them from the crimson trunk and returned with them to his hideaway in the outboard ring of the Senate rotunda. Books are best hidden in libraries, and the senator's personal retreat was a museum of curiosities and artifacts where the small globes would melt into the background.

Upon inspection, the globes were pre-photonic renditions of Thoss World as it had been charted by the early explorers. Fashioned of lomassa oak, they were perhaps seven inches in diameter and set in angled mounts. They were book ends. HvHuss held one in his scaled hand, his elbow planted on the desk in front of him. He slowly spun the globe on its axis, viewing the land masses as the Thrynn had first perceived them, before the advent of flight or sophisticated optical equipment. It was in many respects unremarkable save the scale ring that circled the globe.

It was on that scale ring, among archaic navigational annotation, that a few phrases of the old imperial language were legible—english? Yes, it was called english. HvHuss had knowledge of the language only to the extent that it informed a great deal of the Arthenean dialect.

Their words build upon themselves in myriad combinations and layered meanings, and yet they use it to seek absolutes—and then sacrifice everything for them. It seemed to him a form of madness and yet somehow he understood it was a chasm his mind had to span. The Elowan sought truth with obsessive energy and were accordingly weak, or so the logic went. But the Humans are a furnace of potential energy, leaking power almost palpably—and here they speak their own tortured version of the Elowan word. HvHuss looked at the old imperial script, so seemingly alien over the green orb of Thoss, and picked from it such words as he could. "From the constellation of the hill-bound sea…"

Deep Space
Aboard ISS Belfast Windfall

The insectoid Veloxi tromped into the lab facilities and Arella clicked on the translator before standing to say, "hello, Commander Grix, wonderful to see you again."

"And you as well, Miss Arella," replied Grx'bzzgah. "What's this trouble you're having with the artifact?" They walked over to one of the analysis benches where the permalite imprint sat in a transparent container. Arella explained the pieces of data she had gathered so far. "The airlessness is fairly consistent," said the Grix. "If you're doing navigational work based on stellar formations, the best place to do it is in open space. The second best place is on an airless world—less atmospheric interference is always better."

"What's the advantage of putting something like this planetside?" Arella asked, pulling up some information on the computer screen.

"It gives you a frame of reference. The planet or moon might be spinning on its axis and moving along an orbital path," chirped the bug. "So the given view can change depending upon when exactly you make observations. On the other hand, planets and moons—unless they're crystal," he noted, "tend to persist for some time, tethered to a relatively stationary host star. Now, if you float something in orbit or set up an independent platform or station, a meteor shower or a gust of solar wind can knock you out of business."

"Right, and space rocks like your average airless world don't suffer from erosion which is equally damaging over the long term," Arella said, considering some other angles. "Of course, worlds without atmospheres don't offer anything in the way of protection from impact damage." She thought for a moment. "Old then," she said. "We're looking for a rock rolling around an old star—the older the better. Nice and calm, not a lot of debris left floating around and hopefully not much geological activity."

"A stasis world," said the commander. "All the better to preserve something vital. So what's important enough to etch in stone and leave on an airless world?"

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Next: "Terra Infirma"

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