34p.
..So it was that with the apocalypse looming—possibly caused by an alien life-form—I stood in front of a bunch of kids and taught them basic science. Because what‘s the point of even having a world if you‘re not going to pass it on to the next generation? - P-1
45p.
..It‘s a mission crest. I‘ve seen enough NASA documentaries to know one when I see one. The circular crest has an outer ring of blue with white text. The text reads HAIL MARY across the top and EARTH across the bottom. The name and "port of call" for this vessel.
..I didn‘t think the ship came from somewhere other than Earth, but okay. Anyway, I guess I finally know the name of this ship I‘m on.
..I‘m aboard the Hail Mary. - P-1
115p.
..I clench my teeth. I clench my fists. I clench my butt. I clench every part of me that I know how to clench. It gives me a feeling of control. I‘m doing something by aggressively doing nothing. - P-1
123p.
...Interesting that they have the same propulsion tech as we do. But considering it‘s the best energy-storage medium possible, that‘s not a surprise. When European mariners first came across Asian mariners, no one was surprised they both used sails. - P-1
157p.
..Their move is taking a long time and I‘m getting bored.
..Wow. I‘m sitting here in a spaceship in the Tau Ceti system waiting for the intelligent aliens I just met to continue our conversation… and I‘m bored. Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal. - P-1
234p.
..Lokken cleared her throat. "I heard there were tornadoes in Europe?"
.."Yes," he said. "And they‘re happening more and more often. European languages didn‘t even have a word for tornado until Spanish conquistadors saw them in North America. Now they‘re happening in Italy, Spain, and Greece." - P-1
253p.
.."You sleep alone, question?"
.."Yes."
.."I also sleep alone many times. Sad sad sad."
..He just doesn‘t get it. A fear of sleeping alone is probably hardwired in his brain. Interesting… that might have been the beginning of their pack instinct. And a pack instinct is required for a species to become intelligent. That weird (to me) sleep pattern could be the reason I‘m talking to Rocky right now! - P-1
337p.
..I rub my eyes. Between the pain from my burns and the dopiness from the painkillers, it‘s hard to concentrate. And I‘m tired. One thing I learned back in my graduate school days: When you‘re stupid tired, accept that you‘re stupid tired. Don‘t try to solve things right then.... - P-1
349p.
.."That is sound of predator approaching you. That is sound of prey running away. Sound of object touching object very important. Evolve to hear."
.."Ah! Yes."
..It‘s obvious now that he points it out. Voices, instruments, birdcalls, whatever—they can all be wildly different sounds. But the sound of objects colliding isn‘t going to have much variance from planet to planet. If I bang two rocks together on Earth, they‘re going to make the same noise as if I bang them together on Erid. So we‘re all selected-for by being able to hear it. - P-1
350p.
.."Our intelligence is based on the animals‘ intelligences. So what is animal intelligence based on? How smart do animals have to be?"
.."Smart enough to identify threat or prey in time to act."
.."Yes, exactly!" I say. "But how long is that time? How long does an animal have to react? How long will the threat or prey take to kill the animal or escape? I think it‘s based on gravity."
.."Gravity, question?" He sets the device down entirely. I‘ve got his undivided attention.
.."Yeah! Think about it. Gravity is what determines how fast an animal can run. Higher gravity, more time spent in contact with the ground. Faster movement. I think animal intelligence, ultimately, has to be faster than gravity." - P-1
398p.
..He‘s completely right, of course. I‘m risking my life and maybe the structural integrity of the Hail Mary. But I can‘t just sit around for eleven days when there‘s so much work to do. How do I explain "impatience" to someone who lives seven hundred years?
.."Human thing," I say.
.."Understand. Not actually understand, but… understand." - P-1
448p.
..We tend to think of solid materials as magical barriers. But at the molecular scale they‘re not. They‘re strands of molecules or lattices of atoms or both. When you get down to the teeny, tiny realm, solid objects are more like thick jungles than brick walls. - P-1
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