Perjantaiessee: Is there anybody out there?

Beep

Beep

Beep

The woman slouching in her chair seemed to be ignoring the monotone beeping coming from the control panel in front of her. She fidgeted with the sleeve of her Starfleet Science Officer uniform, deep in thought. She and her crew were on a mission, trying to find intelligent life. 

The lab was dimly lit and almost empty. She had volunteered to take the ”night” shift, and the others were currently fast asleep. For the sake of maintaining some normalcy, the ship would artificially replicate the day-night cycle on Earth, but someone had to stay awake, in the case that their radars caught something. 

She knew it was mathematically improbable, almost impossible, that she and her crew would be the ones to receive a signal. Humans were the only known species to have the technology to build communication devices, let alone travel in space. It was hard for life to develop, even on Earth. The conditions had to be just right, and it seemed like a miracle that humanity was able to evolve. 

She also knew that considering the grand scheme of things, it was also almost impossible, that there was no one else out there. There had to be life, in some form, out there. It might look different, and maybe they wouldn’t even recognise it as life at first, but there had to be something! Right?

Beep

Beep

Nevertheless, there was a certain comfort in not knowing, she thought. There was a certain beauty to it. Since the dawn of time, humankind had looked to the stars with curiosity and empathy. Ancient civilisations had assigned meaning and power to the stars above, finding purpose and comfort in them. When they had the means, they had sent satellites and signals to the vast emptiness of space, attaching messages and greetings full of life. Even if her ship failed its task, the search would continue. As long as there were people around, they would call to the stars: 

”Is there anybody out there? You are not alone.” 

Teksti: Aada