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ANTARES PASSAGE


A Novel By


Michael McCollum

Sci Fi – Arizona, Inc.

Third Millennium Publishing

An Online Cooperative of Writers and Resources




PROLOGUE: THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF
A STAR

The star was a relative newcomer to the galactic scene. It had begun life as a vast cloud of interstellar
hydrogen which over the millennia had collapsed in upon itself, pulled together by gravitational attraction.
As the cloud coalesced, the gas at its center grew hotter. After awhile, the interior began to glow with a
visible light. Then one day, the temperature at the cloud's center reached the level where hydrogen fuses
into helium. On that day, a new star blazed forth to illuminate the blackness of the interstellar night.

For millions of years the star shone with a luminosity equal to that of several thousand of its lesser
brethren. Indeed, the star's radiance made it a beacon visible across the length of the galaxy. However,
such profligacy is not without its costs. Where smaller suns took as long as 10 billion years to consume
their available supplies of fusible hydrogen, the giant star managed the same feat in less than a single
gigayear. About the time the first apelike prehumans ventured forth onto the savannas of Africa, the star
ran low on hydrogen fuel, and as quickly as it had flamed alight, the nuclear fire at its heart was snuffed
out.

The end of fusion brought with it a resumption of the contraction that had molded the primordial cloud.
As the core fell inward, its temperature rose precipitously. Within seconds, the temperature at the star's
center reached the point where helium fuses into carbon. The nuclear fire flamed anew, this time powered
by the helium ash of the previous cycle. Since the new fire was hotter than the old, the star wasted energy
even more lavishly than before. It expanded as well, providing a larger surface area from which to radiate
the vigorous new energy to surrounding space. Along with the expansion came cooling of the star's
outermost layers, and a change in color. Where before the star had radiated a brilliant blue-white light, its
visible surface was now a bright yellow-green color.
The star continued on the quick burning helium-carbon cycle until the time when the first agricultural
settlements began to appear on Earth. Then, having depleted its supply of helium, the inner fire failed,
triggering yet another cycle of contraction and heating. This time it was the turn of the carbon atoms to
provide the star's new source of energy. Once again, the new fuel produced more energy than previously,
forcing the star's surface to expand to provide sufficient area to radiate the heat. By the time the star
stabilized at 400 solar diameters, its hue had shaded down from yellow-green to a deep red-orange.

The star was well into its dotage when the first human telescopes were turned its way. The first starships