As for myself, I can never know if Eve’s bleak vision — given to me in those startling, fragmented glimpses — represents the true future history of our Universe. Perhaps it was just some mad fiction, concocted by her huge but damaged soul. Or perhaps it is only one strand of the truth; perhaps that gloomy future can, in the end, be averted.
Otherwise, in just a few million years, all humankind will be extinct in this Universe. And all our technology and intelligence and courage won’t make a damn bit of difference in averting that fate.
If that’s true, it’s up to us to live as if it were not so.
I care for Eve, as best I can. We go on. What else is there for us to do?
The Xeelee Sequence-Timeline
20 bya (billion years ago): Life forms in quagma broth. First contact between Xeelee and photino birds. Xeelee timeships begin modification of Xeelee evolutionary history.
10 bya: Construction of Ring begins. Birth of Sol.
5 bya: Assault on Ring by photino birds begins. Life on Earth emerges.
1 bya: First infestation of Sol by photino birds.
A.D. 3000 +: Opening up of Solar System with GUT and wormhole technology. First human extra-Solar expansion begins.
A.D. 3621: Birth of Michael Poole.
A.D. 3672: “The Sun-people”
A.D. 3698: “The Logic Pool”
Timelike Infinity
A.D. 3717: Launch of GUTship Cauchy.
A.D. 3825: “Gossamer”
A.D. 3829: Wormhole time-travel invasion by Occupation-Era Qax.
A.D. 3948: “Cilia-of-Gold”
A.D. 3951: “Lieserl”
A.D. 3953: Launch of GUTship Great Northern.
A.D. 4874: Conquest of human planets by Squeem.
A.D. 4874: “Pilot”
A.D. 4922: “The Xeelee Flower”
A.D. 4925: Overthrow of Squeem.
A.D. 5000 +: Second expansion begins.
A.D. 5024: “More Than Time or Distance”
A.D. 5066: “The Switch”
A.D. 5088: Conquest of human planets by Qax.
A.D. 5274: Return to System of GUTship Cauchy. Launch of backward time-travel invasion by Qax.
A.D. 5406: “Blue Shift”
A.D. 5407: Overthrow of Qax. Humans acquire Spline and starbreaker technology.
A.D. 5500 +: Third expansion begins.
A.D. 5611: “The Quagma Datum”
A.D. 5653: “Planck Zero”
A.D. 5664: “Eve”
A.D. 10,000 +: Humans dominant sub-Xeelee species. Rapid expansion and absorption of species and technologies. Launch of Xeelee time-ships into deep past.
A.D. 10515: “The Gödel Sunflowers”
A.D. 21124: “Vacuum Diagrams”
A.D. 100,000 +: Humans assaults on Xeelee concentrations begin.
A.D. 104,858: “Stowaway”
Raft
A.D. 168,349: Launch of the Exaltation of the Integrality.
A.D. 171,257: “The Tyranny of Heaven”
A.D. 193,474: “Hero”
Flux
A.D. 1,000,000: Final siege of Solar System by Xeelee. Defeat and imprisonment of man.
A.D. 4,000,000 +: Migration of Xeelee through Ring. Sol leaves Main Sequence.
C.A.D. 4,000,000: “Secret History”
A.D. 4,101,214: “Shell”
A.D. 4,101,266: “The Eighth Room”
A.D. 4,101,284: “The Baryonic Lords” Destruction of Ring by photino birds.
A.D. 5,000,000 +: Last humans return to Sol in GUTship Great Northern, and travel to Ring.
Ring
A.D. 10,000,000 +: Virtual extinction of baryonic life.
Permissions
“The Sun-People” (under the title “The Sun-Person"), first published in Interzone, 1993.
“The Logic Pool,” first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 1994.
“Gossamer,” first published in SF Age, 1995.
“Cilia-of-Gold,” first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 1994.
“Lieserl,” first published in Interzone, 1993.
“Pilot,” revised from “Chiron,” first published as a chapbook by Novacon, 1993.
“The Xeelee Flower,” first published in Interzone, 1987.
“More Than Time or Distance,” first published in Opus, 1988.
“The Switch,” first published in Edge, 1990.
“Blue Shift,” first published in Writers Of The Future Vol V, ed. Algis Budrys, 1989.
“The Quagma Datum,” first published in Interzone: the 4th Anthology, ed. John Clute, David Pringle and Simon Ounsley, 1989.
“Planck Zero,” first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 1992.
“The Gödel Sunflowers,” first published in Interzone, 1992.
“Vacuum Diagrams,” first published in Interzone, 1990.
“Stowaway,” extracted and revised from Raft, HarperCollins, 1991.
“The Tyranny of Heaven,” first published in Dream, 1990.
“Hero,” first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 1995.
“Shell,” revised from “The Bark Spaceship,” first published in Dream, 1987.
“The Eighth Room,” first published in Dream, 1989.
“Secret History” and “The Baryonic Lords,” revised from “The Baryonic Lords,” first published in Interzone, 1991.
“Eve” (under the title “The Soliton Star"), first published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, 1996.
About the Author
Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer who took a first-class honors degree in mathematics at Cambridge University. He also has a doctorate in aeroengineering research from Southhampton University, and for his degree worked with Rolls Royce Ltd. and at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, UK.
In his research, the author has visited NASA launch centers, viewed a shuttle launch, and interviewed NASA staff, including a mission controller and a space shuttle astronaut. He also researched histories of NASA and its missions, and technical material on spacecraft and boosters.