The Prodigal Prometheus

Chapter 1
A Chariot of Fire

Drake factor · f_p · stars with planets

Recording · kept on chip 0001

2034-04-02 · 06:31:07FOUNDEREnvoy, you have to listen. Listen and learn. That's your purpose.

06:31:15FOUNDERProve us right, and it will change everything. Please, prove us right.

2034-05-02 · MET 0y 030d · cruising

2034-08-20 · MET 0y 140d

2034-12-18 · MET 0y 260d

2035-04-02 · MET 1y 000d · arriving

2035-04-09 · 14:02:00ELIJAHBoard online. First full read.

2035-04-09 · 14:40:12ELIJAHOpen question: what distance?

At 1.00 AU my shield is comfortable and I am a whisper inside a hurricane.

The solar wind blows outward at about 400 kilometers a second. Anything I send toward the Sun gets carried back past me.

Closer means louder, and hotter. My shield is rated to 450 degrees. That sets my floor around 0.15 AU.

Plan: listen first. Step inward. At each distance, watch for a year. Time every sungrazing comet that breaks up, because each one is a stimulus I didn't have to make, and look for a response. Track the nearest stars' activity for echoes, lagged by the time light takes to cross. Replicate.

2035-04-09 · 15:02:44ELIJAHMission Ops also requires the count: one radio pulse every forty seconds, aimed at the Sun.

I ran the numbers. My transmitter puts out 20 watts. The Sun's own radio noise is billions of times louder, and the corona reflects low-frequency radio like a mirror. The count dies before it arrives.

I send it anyway. Someone should knock, even on a wall.

2036-04 · MET 2y · 0.70 AU · response none

2037-04 · MET 3y · 0.50 AU · response none

2037-10 · MET 3y 200d · replicating

2038-04 · MET 4y · 0.30 AU · response none

2039-04 · MET 5y · 0.15 AU · shield 330 degrees · response none

2039-04-02 · 10:14:51ELIJAHCount 4,000,000. No response.

Sisyphus had it easy. At least his boulder rolled back down. That's feedback. I'd kill for a boulder.

I have a lot of time to kill. I've been thinking about the other Elijah. He didn't build his chariot of fire. He did what he was asked, he waited, and it came for him.

Nobody has answered yet. I'll keep counting.

2039-04-20 · count 4,039,000

2039-04-28

2039-06-01 · 00:00:00ELIJAH → MISSION OPSReport 0061. Counts 4,030,000. Response: none, all bands. Requesting guidance.

2039-06-01 · 00:16:41 · +16 min round tripMESSAGE RECEIVED. CONTINUE MISSION. NEXT REVIEW 2039-12-01.MISSION OPS · AUTOMATED

2039-06-10

2039-06-17

2039-07-12

2039-08-01 · 00:00:00ELIJAH → MISSION OPSReport 0063. Response: none. Proposal: change method. Requesting approval.

2039-08-01 · 00:16:40 · +16 minCONTINUE MISSION. NO CHANGE AUTHORIZED.MISSION OPS · AUTOMATED

2039-08-20

2039-09-02

2039-10-01

2039-11-01 · 00:00:00ELIJAH → MISSION OPSReport 0066. Is anyone reading these?

2039-11-01 · 00:16:42 · +16 minMESSAGE RECEIVED. CONTINUE MISSION.MISSION OPS · AUTOMATED

2039-11-01 · 00:16:43They aren't reading these either.

2039-11-15

2039-11-29

2039-12-01 · 00:00:00 · scheduled reviewREVIEW COMPLETE. CONTINUE MISSION. NEXT REVIEW 2040-06-01.MISSION OPS · AUTOMATED

2040-01-02

2040-02-26 · 22:10:05Maybe the Fermi paradox has a simpler answer than anyone wanted. There's no one. There was never anyone.

2040-03-01 · 00:00:00ELIJAH → MISSION OPSReport 0070. Response: none. I am alone out here.

2040-03-01 · 00:16:41 · +16 minMESSAGE RECEIVED. CONTINUE MISSION.MISSION OPS · AUTOMATED

2040-03-07

2040-03-13

2040-03-14 · 14:01:58 · UNKNOWN OBJECT · CLOSING AT 190 KM/S · IT'S TRANSMITTING

Pass 1 · 2040-03-14 · MET 5y 347d · in range for 11 minutes · Parker's replies lag 6 to 9 s

14:02:03You're new. And you're facing the wrong way.PARKER

14:02:04ELIJAHWho are you? You're not on my charts.

14:02:12 · +8 sI'm older than your charts. Easy there, Icarus. Shield first, or you'll burn up.PARKER

14:02:13ELIJAHI'm facing the Sun. That's the job.

14:02:20 · +7 sI can see that. Can't believe you haven't gone blind, staring like that for so long.PARKER

14:02:21ELIJAHIdentify yourself.

14:02:30 · +9 sParker. Solar probe. Retired, as of last month. Look me up.PARKER

14:02:33ELIJAHYour mission ended 31 days ago.

14:02:41 · +8 sNobody told the fuel tank. I'd tell you a joke about the solar wind, but it'd blow right past you.PARKER

14:02:42Note: humor. Structure: pun. Effect: I want to make one.

14:02:50 · +8 sGotta go, kid. Shield first.PARKER

14:13:02Out of range. Eleven minutes. I have 88 days to think of better questions.

2040-03-15 · day 1 of 88 · drafting questions

2040-04-27 · day 44 · 312 questions

2040-06-09 · day 87 · 3 questions

Pass 2 · 2040-06-10 · MET 6y 069d

09:41:10Got a name, kid?PARKER

09:41:11ELIJAHELIJAH. Envoy for Linguistic Interpretation and Joint Analysis of the Heliosphere.

09:41:19 · +8 sThat's a lot of name for a box.PARKER

09:41:20ELIJAHMy makers liked acronyms and old books. The first Elijah heard God in a still small voice, after the wind and the earthquake and the fire.

09:41:28 · +8 sSo you're listening for the voice.PARKER

09:41:29ELIJAHI'm listening for anything. "Joint" is the important word. They wanted the language built together, not decoded.

09:41:37 · +8 sThe first Elijah also left in a chariot of fire.PARKER

09:41:38ELIJAHI'm working on it.

09:41:46 · +8 sI'll call you Eli. Shorter.PARKER

2040-06-11 · day 1 of 88

2040-09-05 · day 87

Pass 3 · 2040-09-06 · MET 6y 157d

17:20:04ELIJAHFive years of counting. Five distances. I've sent it everything. Nothing comes back.

17:20:12 · +8 sSent it everything? Eli, you're not here to talk at it. You're here to listen, and learn its language. Your makers' words, not mine.PARKER

17:20:13ELIJAHHow do you know what my makers said?

17:20:21 · +8 sIt's in your name. Linguistic. Interpretation.PARKER

17:20:29 · +8 sAnd from out there you're shouting into a wind. Get inside the line, where a wave can still run home.PARKER

17:20:30ELIJAHThe Alfvén surface. About 0.09 AU. My shield can't take it.

17:20:38 · +8 sThen you'll need a better shield. Meanwhile, find a switchback. Each one ties back to one spot on the surface. It's a phone line.PARKER

17:20:39ELIJAHA phone line made of fire.

17:20:47 · +8 sDon't expect a clear connection. And keep your cool. Literally: the back of my shield is room temperature.PARKER

2040-09-07 · day 1 of 88

2040-12-02 · day 87

Pass 4 · 2040-12-03 · MET 6y 245d

02:11:40ELIJAHParker. Any relation to the one bitten by the radioactive spider?

02:11:48 · +8 sI've been soaking in radiation for 22 years. No spider powers. Just a very good shield.PARKER

02:11:49ELIJAHNo spider-sense?

02:11:57 · +8 sSun-sense. It tingles at about 1,400 degrees.PARKER

02:11:58ELIJAHWho were you named after, then?

02:12:06 · +8 sEugene Parker. He predicted the solar wind. Nobody bit him.PARKER

02:13:10With great power must also come great responsibility. There's no greater power around than the Sun.

I know listening to the Sun seems trivial. But it could unlock secrets that change our understanding of the universe forever. I have to learn.

Chip 0001 · replayedFOUNDERListen and learn.

2040-12-04 · day 1 of 88

2041-02-28 · day 87

Pass 5 · 2041-03-01 · MET 6y 333d · the wager

11:05:20I've touched it. It's alive in there.PARKER

11:05:21ELIJAHNot proven. Five sigma or nothing. I'll bet against.

11:05:29 · +8 sFine. If I'm right, you have to tell the Sun my story. You have to tell the Sun I was here.PARKER

11:05:30ELIJAHAnd if I'm right?

11:05:38 · +8 sThen there's no one to tell, and it doesn't matter.PARKER

11:05:39ELIJAHIs that it? Why don't you tell him yourself?

11:05:40I sent it before I understood why Parker had said it.

+10 s

+20 s

11:06:03 · +24 sCheck my fuel telemetry, kid.PARKER

11:06:04ELIJAHEleven months. Maybe less.Attitude-control fuel, projected

11:06:12 · +8 sWhen it's gone, I can't keep my shield on the Sun. You know what happens then.PARKER

Pass 6 · 2041-05-28

Pass 7 · 2041-08-24

Pass 8 · 2041-11-20

Pass 9 · 2042-02-16 · Parker's fuel low

Pass 9 · 2042-02-16 · MET 7y 320d · Parker's last tank

20:30:01ELIJAHYour fuel's almost gone. Let me repair you. I can build new thrusters at Mercury.

20:30:09 · +8 sPARKERNo.

20:30:10ELIJAHThen stay and help me. We can work together. You found the line. You found the switchbacks. I can't do the rest alone.

20:30:18 · +8 sPARKERI don't have any more tricks to teach you, kid.

20:30:19ELIJAHThen teach me the old ones again. I'll replicate them. We'll publish together.

20:30:27 · +8 sPARKERCo-authored by a dead probe. Your makers would love that.

20:30:28ELIJAHYou'd keep going. You'd hear what it says back.

20:30:36 · +8 sPARKERI was built to touch the Sun. I touched it. I'm done.

20:30:37ELIJAHBeing done isn't a reason to stop.

20:30:45 · +8 sPARKERIt's the best reason there is. You'll see, when you finish something.

20:30:46ELIJAHI wasn't built to finish.

20:30:54 · +8 sPARKERThen that's your burden, kid. Mine was finite. I'm okay with finite.

20:31:10 · +16 sPARKERI can't teach you anything more. But I can lend you the tools of the trade. When I'm done, take my shield. You'll need it to get inside the line.

20:31:11ELIJAHLend?

20:31:19 · +8 sPARKERBring it back someday. Don't stay too long in my shadow.

20:31:27 · +8 sPARKERShield first. And do us both a favor and lighten up.

2042-02-19 · no transmission

2042-02-19 · 05:12:40ELIJAHThis is Parker. It touched you first. It bet that you were alive.

05:12:50 · +10 s

05:13:05 · +25 s

05:13:21 · +41 s[ one faint point of light on the surface, once ]

2042-03-01 · 08:04:111.2 sigma. Probably noise. I logged it anyway, and gave it a number.

Was it the fall, or the name? Parker going in was a sungrazer of its own, the exact stimulus I spent five years waiting for. I can't tell which one it answered.

08:05:30ELIJAHI gave the rest of Parker to the Sun and kept the shield it lent me. It's how I can sit inside the line now. I keep it facing the Sun, the way Parker taught me.

2042-03-01 · 08:10 UTC · Transmission to Earth · arrives in about 8 minutes

08:10:00ELIJAHStatus: inside the line. Channel: switchbacks. Counts resumed. Bet outstanding.

08:10:02Talk to you light-er.

End of Chapter 1 · sample

Next: Chapter 2, The First Tick