Chapter 7

Alpha Centauri (yellow dwarf), Proxima Centauri (red dwarf), Orion α (black hole), Sol (yellow dwarf), Nemesis (red dwarf), Sirius (white giant & white dwarf), Orion β (black hole), Epsilon Eridani (orange dwarf), Procyon (subgiant & white dwarf), Gliese 876 (red dwarf), Altair (white giant), Chi¹ Orionis (yellow dwarf), Fomalhaut (white giant), Vega (white giant), Pollux (orange giant), Gliese 370 (orange dwarf), Arcturus (orange giant), Denebola (white giant), Capella (subgiant), HD 40307 (orange giant), Upsilon Andromedae (yellow & red dwarfs), G. Cephei (orange giant), 47 Ursae Majoris (yellow dwarf), Rasalhague (white giant), Castor (white giant), Alderamin (white giant), 51 Pegasi (yellow dwarf), Zosma (white giant), Epsilon Reticuli (subgiant), 70 Virginis (yellow dwarf), Beta Pictoris (white giant), HD 189733 (orange dwarf), Aldebaran (red giant), HD 217107 (subgiant), Mizar & Alcor (white giants), Alpha Ursa Majoris (orange giant), Tau Centauri (white giant), Alpha Piscium (white giant), Machinus (red supergiant), Gusival (white dwarf).

The odd thing about these 39 stars is that they are all about 30 thousand light years from the center of the Local Galactic Group.

And the winners are:

Alpha Centauri (yellow dwarf) occupied.

Sol (yellow dwarf) this is us.

51 Pegasi (yellow dwarf) occupied.

Chi¹ Orionis (yellow dwarf) radioactive; 22,000 recovery.

Upsilon (yellow dwarf) but in too close proximity to Andromedae, a red dwarf.

47 Ursae Majoris (yellow dwarf) occupied; theocracy.

51 Pegasi (yellow dwarf) biological disaster.

70 Virginis (yellow dwarf) three planets in the zone; occupied.

7 of 39 would be possible ... except for...

Betelgeuse, A Red Supergiant is 875,000,000 miles in diameter while Sol is 875,000 miles but for comparisons sake we're calling the diameter of the Red Super 22 miles and Sol ... a yellow dwarf would have a diameter of 38 yards i.e ... downtown Saint Johns MI to downtown Lansing MI compared to three first downs and 24 feet.

The Planets.

"April," said Vee.

"Yeaass?" came the reply ... out of the speaker grill instead of omnidirectional.

"Why not Proxima Centauri, Gusival ... or Nemesis?" asked Vee, "You know ... a dwarf is a dwarf be it yellow, red or white?"

Gary commented, "We are an equal opportunity seeker."

"Wrong radiation," she said.

"Won't the atmosphere filter?" Vee asked. "I mean, P-Centauri had the perfect placement."

"Yeah, and the gravity was within the 1.4 spread," Gary said.

"What are you going to eat?" April asked.

"There were animals, vegetable matter, minerals ... you know ... food."

"No vitamin D ... the red dwarf doesn't produce VD ... no ... wait," she blushed, " ... that was terrible ... Vitamin D ... and you can't live without it."

"Oh," said Gary.

"Heck," said Vee.

"And shuckydarn," continued Gary.

"I was going to say that," said Vee.

"I know," said Gary and stuck his finger down his throat.

"I explained about the Local stars," said April.

"Yeah yeah yeah ... and Mother explained about the Milky Way," said Gary. "It just seems that in five trillion stars there ought to be something ... ya know?"

"Well ... there is ... but they're occupied ... or still radioactive ... or biologically inert." April suggested, "Want to meet a few of the odd people?"

"Umh."

"I'm not saying that the planets around some of the completely unacceptable stars ... the yellow supergiants and a few of the smaller," you could hear the air quotes around smaller ... even if you couldn't see April make them, "Subgiants ... most stars have systems ... but they have people too. Some of them don't recognize me as sentient. They, for sure, won't you two." She laughed, "I just have to keep them from seeing you as a snack."