The Beacon: Hard Science Fiction by Brandon Morris (red white and royal blue hardcover TXT) 📕

thousand light-years in the direction of the galactic center. But you have stars in—at most—fifty light-years distance. And then two artificial signals? That simply contradicts all experience.”

“But what else could it be?”

“A previously unknown physical phenomenon?”

“But that doesn’t fit with the sudden disappearance of the stars.”

“Why? That fits very well! After all, it could be a symptom of this disappearance.”

“No, Thomas. After all, the signal apparently only occurs with the stars that haven’t disappeared.”

“With all of them?”

“No, a few of them are missing it, like the object we measured second.”

“That then argues against a connection to the disappearance.”

“But what if all the stars missing the signal will eventually disappear? From the WENSS project data, none of the ‘disappeared’ stars can be assigned a radio source.”

“To say that definitively, one of the stars that doesn’t put out a signal would have to disappear right before our eyes. But why are you so worried about that, anyway?”

“One of those stars is the sun. If my theory is correct, our home star will at some point just go out.”

“Even if you’re right, Peter, remember that on cosmic scales, everything takes a long time. The sun will also eventually turn into a red giant. We don’t need to be afraid of that today.”

“But the stars we’re talking about were still observable in the sky twenty years ago!”

Peter was sitting on the sofa, as he always did at eight o’clock on the dot when the evening news was about to start. Franziska was always busy, and always a few minutes late. But today she hadn’t shown up at all, and the TV screen was black.

He drank from the beer bottle. Beer did not taste good to him, so he rarely drank it. But at least this way he was not all alone. Maybe he should get a pet? A dog would be too much trouble, but a cat might fit the bill. If Franziska returned, she wouldn’t mind. She liked cats. She was one herself. If you treated her wrong, she arched her back and scratched you.

What would happen now? If only he knew! Franziska expected him to fight for their relationship. But what about the sun? If he was right, Earth was threatened. Without the sun’s light, civilization, every living creature would die—Franziska, their children, and even the cat he wanted to get. Better not to get a pet, after all.

He had to fight for the sun. How pathetic that was, making him sound like a madman. If he was right, he was virtually obligated to give everything to prevent such an end. But that was what all crazy people thought of themselves. Should he have his head examined? He could ask the school psychologist, a good man and sworn to secrecy.

Peter sighed, and the sound of his breathing echoed. This was impossible. If he sat there much longer, he really would go crazy.

He got up and walked up to his second-floor study.

“Dear Dr. Koser,” he began his e-mail. “I’m afraid I have to bother you again. Unfortunately, I don’t know any expert in stellar physics who could answer my question. But in your magazine, researchers regularly answer readers’ questions, so I hope you can once again forward my question to the right person.

It is very short, and reads, ‘Is there a natural explanation for a peak at 418 megahertz in the radio spectrum of a main-sequence yellow dwarf of about one solar mass?’ I attach a graph of what this peak looks like. The data was obtained using the Effelsberg radio observatory. I suspect that my question is too specific for publication, but I still hope to get an answer. In return, I will remain a SPACE subscriber for life.”

He added salutations and sent the message.

And now? Based on the time, the news had just finished. In the past, he would be watching some romantic comedy with Franziska right now. She loved funny movies, insisting that life was serious enough. If the regular broadcast lineup didn’t have anything she wanted to watch, they might stream a travel documentary. He would have to reorganize his evenings. Unfortunately, tonight was cloudy, so he wouldn’t be able to get behind his telescope.

The astral projector! The device also had an entertainment mode. You could use the control app to download tours that took you through the entire universe. Some only showed the most exciting objects, while others also had an integrated storyline. Mostly it was about exploring something entirely new.

Peter stood up and walked downstairs. How many times had he used the stairs today? He should go out for a walk once in a while. It would be better for his health. But today he didn’t feel like doing anything. He was stuck in limbo, and he was at a crossroads. His life was going to change, and change big time. But today, all of that was still hiding beyond the horizon. And he could jump all he wanted—he couldn’t get any closer to a clear view of it.

Peter waved his hand to turn on the device. It would always be in the middle of the living room now, because no one would demand that he put it away. Revolution! He smiled even though no one could see him, something that he rarely did. Circumstances so often insisted upon a smile that he usually didn’t have a leftover one for when he was alone. But he hadn’t seen another person for days, so his supply was slowly increasing.

The astral projector howled. He’d forgotten to switch off the light. The device noticed that its projections could not be seen and increased its power. However, this made the room even brighter, and it had to keep upping its own brightness. Peter quickly turned off the living room light, which he didn’t even remembered turning on.

On his way back to the center of the room, Peter held a hand in front of his face to prevent a stray laser beam from accidentally hitting him in the