Chapter Text
“Grace working on something, question?” Rocky asks as he rolls into the lab. “Thought work on Tuameba was done?”
Grace looks up from his computer.
“Yeah, it is. This is something else.” Grace says.
“What is it, question?” Rocky asks again as he rolls up, pulling out his viewing gun.
“I’ve been thinking about a conversation we had. About how we’re the only two out here because our species are the only ones in the technological range to need to come or have the ability to come.” Grace says, leaning forward on the desk as he looks at the notes on his screen.
“Yes. Rocky remembers conversation.”
“Well, I was thinking on it, and I think there are some variables we missed.” Grace says. Rocky tilts to one side.
“For starters, our star got infected long after yours did. You were already here when we first discovered the Solar system’s Patrova line. Earth’s technology was at a completely different place when you left than it than it was when I left. And I think we can both agree that technology can move pretty fast when the whole world is on the line. And there are plenty of stars in our local cluster that got infected after ours did. Ones further away from Tau-Ceti. For all we know, other ships could be on their way.”
Grace stands and starts walking around the lab, hanging his reading glasses down around his chin.
“And that got me thinking, if another ship shows up after we left, they would think they were the only ones here too. They’d have no idea we were already here.” He stops abruptly, turning to Rocky.
“And what if they show up, and they’re in a situation like we were in? We wouldn’t have been able to get the Taumeba alone.”
They’re both quiet for a moment. Sometimes, when Rocky is sleeping, Grace can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Rocky hadn’t been here. It’s not a fun reality to ponder. While part of him gives a weak assurance that he would have figured something out, he knows that isn’t true. Because Rocky is his reason to figure something out.
Then his mind flips the script. What if Grace had never shown up? Rocky would have been out here, alone. A single Eridian on a big ship, with no one to watch him sleep.
And just when he’s about to sooth his mind with the fact that neither of those things came to pass, a new scenario sprouts unbidden from his mind. What if someone else arrives after Rocky and him leave?
What if they get here, and they’re all alone.
“Grace thinks too much, makes up things to worry about. Still might not even be others coming.” Rocky hums.
“Sure, sure, but I think there’s something we could do for them. If they exist.” Grace says, sitting back down. “I still have an extra laptop. I’m going to put a copy of all our notes on it. All the information about how to get the Taumeba, how to breed it to resist different atmospheres, all of it. And a copy of the Wealth of Human Knowledge database for good measure. Put it in a container with a radio beacon on it. That way, if someone else does come, they’ll know what they have to do.”
“Grace very selfless. Always thinks of others.” Rocky says before hopping up. Grace isn’t sure he agrees.
“I don’t think it’s that. I just don’t want the thought to keep me up at night.” Grace says with a chuckle. Rocky moves his body in the Eridian equivalent of an eye roll.
“Stupid. Worry for others is selfless. Your human brain is just breaking words.” He huffs before he starts to roll away.
“Rocky leave notes too! And build container! Should not leave in human box.”
Over the next few days, they pack up a large xenonite cylinder that kinda looks like a jumbo version of blip-b. They slip the computer into a pouch on the flat bottom, which has a pictorial set of instructions for how to use it hooked on. There was much debate over the best way to leave such instructions for a hypothetical third alien. In the end, they just made the sheet double sided, one with Grace’s version and the other with Rocky’s. In a second pouch, Rocky stored some printed tablets containing instructions for how to make his fishing gear and the breeding chambers.
Putting together the little capsule is actually pretty fun. It keeps Grace’s mind off their impending goodbyes, and the long flight back to Earth alone. Without both Erid and Earth’s fate on the line, the little project is a lot of fun. Neither of them are stressed about the outcome. After all, Rocky is probably right. No one else is coming. This thing will probably float around until some explorer for Earth or Erid revisits Tau-Ceti a thousand years from now. But hey, maybe they’ll put it in a museum when they find it.
The thought gives Grace pause. He hasn’t thought much about what the legacy of this mission will be, beyond saving the world. Looking over at Rocky, who is affixing one of the pouches, he smiles.
“Hey, Rocky.”
Rocky chirps.
“I hope that the next time a Human and Eridian visit Tau-Ceti, they come on the same ship.”
Rocky tilts his body up towards him.
“Why would Human and Eridian be on same ship to Tau-Ceti, question?” Rocky asks. Grace shrugs.
“Because they’re friends.”
“But why they go to Tau-Ceti, question?” Rocky pushes.
“I don’t know!” Grace scoffs. “I was just being sentimental.”
Rocky finishes attaching the pouch.
“Hmm, Rocky agrees. Hopes Humans and Eridians are friends in future. Just like Grace and Rocky!”
On a whim, Grace includes the golden tablet depicting the Hail Mary and Earth’s location. Eager to match the gesture, Rocky put the matching tablet from Blip-A in next to it. Seeing the two attached to the same wall makes Grace smile. Soon, they’re going to part ways. But here in this little container, the Hail Mary and Blip-A will always be flying side by side.
After one last test of the radio beacon, they seal the cylinder up.
“Name, question?” Rocky asks.
“What? You want to name it?” Grace asks.
“Yes! You pick name!” Rocky says, wobbling back and forth excitedly. Grace thinks for a moment.
“Seed.”
Rocky stops moving.
“Rocky does not understand this name.”
“There’s a saying back on Earth. Something like ‘plant the seeds of trees you will never sit in the shade in’.”
Rocky doesn’t move, so Grace explains further.
“It’s about doing things that will benefit others when you’re gone. That’s what we’re doing here, right? This is the seed.” Grace hesitates. “Too corny?”
Rocky goes back to wobbling in excitement.
“No! Rocky likes name! It’s good name! Where do we put Seed now, question?”
“I’m going to get a gravity assist from Adrian when I leave. I was thinking of leaving it in orbit there. They’ll need to go to Adrian anyways, might as well have the beacon lead them there.”
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Erid - 50 years later.
Even after traveling to Tau-Ceti and back, Rocky never really held any great interest in stars or astronomy. Grace had liked them. Apparently they look beautiful to human eyes. But even with special displays, they’re still just little dots on the screen to him. It wasn’t until after Grace passed that Rocky started ‘star gazing’. It was really just checking the satellite data as it came in. Usually, he finds Sol, and then Tau-Ceti. It makes him feel better when he was missing Grace.
Today is one of those days, and Rocky finds himself sitting on the beach of Graceland, scrolling through the newest data as the rumble of Earth’s alien ocean gently soothing his senses. His claws rest on his display, running over the little collection of dots that is Sol. All bright and happy. Good job Grace.
He scrolls about, seeking out Tau-Ceti when he pauses. With a few quick taps he scrolls back the other direction. One of the stars is more prominent than it was during the last reading. Thinking back to an astronomy class Grace had taught, he recognizes it as Procyon. It was one of the stars effected by the astrophage. And now it’s getting brighter. Exiting out of the current dataset, he pulls up past data on the star.
It’s the same change in brightness that Epsilon Eridani and Sol had after they brought back the Taumeba. For a moment, Rocky just sits there. Then, he drops the tablet and runs up the beach, calling for Adrian.
Over the next forty-odd years, six more stars infected by astrophage regain their brightness. Every time an infected star is seen recovering, it sends a wave of excitement through the people of Erid. Proposals on how to make contact, speculation on the life that existed there, and all sorts of research into the universe beyond Erid takes place. Then, ten years later, news about what the Humans are thinking about the newly recovered star finally reaches them through the Earth-Erid information highway and ignites the excitement all over again.
Curious as ever, the humans decide to send a probe back to Tau-Ceti to do more research on Adrian. And, like the good neighbors they are, they take the time to transmit the data to Erid. Despite all the amazing and scientific information the probe had collected, Rocky is only interested in a single image the probe sends back. It’s of Seed, now fitted with a variety of new pods made of different materials.
Rocky thinks it looks very much like a tree.