The Armstrong had been in ansible communications with the planet Zethes for the past week. The inhabitants were proving to be a friendly and talkative bunch, and a great deal of personal chatter was being exchanged between the planet and the ship. It was nice to encounter a people who were looking forward to meeting with them for once.

The Captain sat at the desk in her office, smiling into the small holoscreen sitting atop it. It was currently showing an image of Galen Myron, Professor of Xeno-Studies at Three Sisters University.

"I had moments where I imagined other possibilities. Only a uselessly inflexible mind would fail to consider alternatives. But I never seriously doubted it," said Galen "The evidence was always very compelling and the Theory of Extra-planetary Origins was the only one that explained it all while contradicting none of it. I just never dreamed that we would have conclusive proof that our people first came to this planet by travelling among the stars, at least not in my lifetime."

"We're happy to oblige," said Littlecrow "I've always found the subject of how the lost worlds of humanity dealt with this question fascinating. The knowledge never disappears entirely. Even on planets where the people have lost all the trappings of technology and civilization the memory lives on in their myths and religions."

"The very idea!" laughed Galen "To think that we might be able to study how other worlds have dealt with this same thought, to compare and contrast..." his smile was threatening to burst his whole face "It's like the whole of the galaxy is about to open itself up like a flower to the pollinating insects of scientific inquiry!"

The Captain laughed. She found Galen's enthusiasm infectious.

"I'm needed on the bridge," she said "The Armstrong will be in orbit of your planet within a standard hour. So we will be able to continue this conversation in person. Until then, Galen."

"I look forward to it, Alexandria," replied Galen.

Littlecrow dismissed the holoscreen with a wave of her hand and stood from her chair. Her body was stiff from having sat there so long. The door connecting her office to the bridge opened in response to her presence and she walked through.

Commander Gibson rose from the command throne as soon as he saw the Captain, and gave her a nod of acknowledgement. He moved to one side and sat in his own chair.

"Thank you, Commander," said Captain Littlecrow "Anything to report?"

"We've maintained course and speed," said the Commander "We should be able to achieve orbit around Zethes in 47 standards minutes."

"46 now," said Guildenstern.

"Indeed," said Commander Gibson, stiffening with frustration at having been corrected "Time marches on."

"Steady on, then," said the Captain, still smiling to herself as she settled into her throne.

* * *

The Armstrong's relativity drive disengaged and the ship slid out of it's space/time tunnel and into real space, already in a trajectory that would give it a lazy far orbit of Zethes.

"Look at the state of their satellites," said Marceaux, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

The planet did indeed appear to have an unusually large amount of space junk. Not an uncommon problem for people at their particular level of development, and one easily remedied.

"Axis Mundi city is supposed to be on the west coast of the main continent," said the Captain, looking at the ugly little planet that appeared on the view screen "Find it for me."

Marceaux worried his console for a solid five minutes before admitting "I can't find anything."

"The Zethites have cold fusion, quantum computing, and a primitive ansible," said Littlecrow "We should be able to guess where their capital is based on energy emissions alone."

"I agree," said Marceaux "That's all the stuff I'm not detecting."

"Expand your search beyond the west coast," said Littlecrow.

"Captain, I've already expanded it beyond the main continent. I'm not getting any indicators of civilization here, and trust me I'd have seen them by now. The more different scans I'm trying the more obvious the reason why is. This is a dead world. It won't support human life."

"A dead world?" asked the Captain.

"The atmosphere is full of poison, but even if you filtered that the radiation would get you long-term. Every scan I run reveals a horrible new way this planet could kill you," said Marceaux.

"How is that possible?" asked Littlecrow "I last spoke to Professor Myron less than an hour ago. He made no indication that anything was wrong."

"Could something like this happen on a planetary scale in that short amount of time?" asked Commander Gibson.

"I don't know," said the Captain.