Chapter 5

April said, "Some of them. There are many more dry planets than wet. I know of several that are wet but have no seas."

"No seas?" Vee asked.

"Rains like a sonofabitch," April said. "The ground reached saturation a million years ago ... it rains ... the water runs off into gullies that end in caves and those caves run perilously close to the core and turn to steam ... the steam vents ... the altitude condenses it ... it rains. Over and over again."

"That won't work..." Vee said, "How about oceans?"

"Sure ... but ... some of those are really dangerous ... the safe ones are fresh water only ... some lakes that would qualify as oceans but no salt water."

"Just fresh water? Life?"

"Nope ... they're missing at least one of the essential elements that combine to make life. Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous and Sulphur. Those six are easily combined by natural processes and are the building blocks of life as you know it."

"Amino acid?" There's twelve or sixteen different Amino Acids. They're mostly based on the first four elements. Those four are abundant but the conditions are wrong ... all six are necessary for life.

"A couple of the freshwater oceans are loaded with silicates. There's weird protozoa in the water but they shatter like glass. And they're dangerous simply because they break."

"Glass? Living glass?"

"Uh huh. This Local Galaxy has been part of the Mothership ... oops."

"What? What Mothership?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing's ass," Vee said. "Mothership ... lemmesee ... April ... seamless intelligent construct ... or is she? Maybe seamless intelligent biological ... Rather than constructed ... born? Does that fit, April?"

"Damn it all, Vee. You're a whole lot smarter than the average. Where are you going with this?"

"Lessee here. April has a brother ... a younger brother ... does April have a Mother? Am I getting close?"

"I can't say," April said.

"Can't or won't?" Vee asked. It wasn't really a question.

"I guess I should ask. Don't run off."

"April. Take us with you."

Gary said, "April ... it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

"I guess ... this local intergalactic group has been a bust."

"What do you mean?"

"You want Type G2 suns with at least one planet approximately 93 million miles from the primary ... give to take a million miles and it needs to be uninhabited but have the necessary for supporting life. Isn't that right?"

"Yes ... not to hot and not too cold ... like the Three Bears porridge it needs to be just right."

"How about gravity?" April asked.

"Science is telling us that 7 percent either way is the most human bodies can handle without human forming ... like terraforming but people instead of planets."

April took a visible breath and began, "There are 5 trillion stars in this local galactic group of galaxies; about .5 percent are G2 suns, 1 percent of those G2 suns have planetary systems. One tenth of 1 percent of those systems have Goldilocks planets. 235 of those are inhabited. Several of those are busy eliminating their occupants through wars and pollution and the rest are of the opinion that they are the culmination of life, there are no other sentient races and you don't want to go there. Two of the uninhabited are recovering from their last occupants and will be ready for recolonization in 22 thousand years. The rest are unsustainable. So ... we have to go outside this local galactic group and visit ... explore ... the Virgo Super Cluster," April said. "Let's go."

"Gosh!" Vee exclaimed. "She's big."