Across a Billion Years
Reviewed date: 2025 Mar 20
Rating: 4
249 pages
This is a fantastic book. Young Tom Rice ships out to Higby V to do some archaeology. Specifically, the team is studying artifacts leave behind by the High Ones, an ancient space-faring civilization that reached its zenith 900 million years ago.
The dig goes well. They uncover an artifact which turns out to be a projector. The group watch vivid and varied scenes from the High Ones civilization. One scene shows a robot being sealed into a cave in an asteroid. The group wonders…is that robot still there?
By carefully identifying the stars in the scene, and adjusting for nearly a billion years of star movement, they identify the location of the robot. The archaeological dig has now become a galactic treasure hunt. Ignoring all else, they charter a spaceship and zip across the galaxy to a remote and uncharted star system.
After combing an asteroid field they find the robot and communicate with it. The robot directs them to a nearby High Ones planet, where they find a planet-spanning city, fully functional, automatic, and populated by efficient robots--but no live High Ones. The High Ones are mysteriously gone.
They do discover, however, that the High Ones have recently (as in, only a few million years ago) enclosed their sun in a Dyson Sphere. So the group heads that direction, enters the Dyson Sphere, and makes contact with the High Ones.
There are only a few left. Dying. The energy and vitality has gone out of the High Ones. All that is left are their artifacts, which belong now to the new, upcoming races. Chiefly humans.
Oh, also there is telepathy (TP) and Tom has a telepathic paralyzed sister. And the High Ones have TP amplifiers, so now everyone can become a TP. Yay.