Sphinx or Robot

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by Leena Krohn

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Hale Bopp's Companion

Hale Bopp's Companion

  401

"Do you remember that comet that we saw with Dr. Siirak's telescope?" Father asked.

  402

Of course Lydia remembered it. Using her best crayons, she was drawing Sphinxes and pyramids. She also drew in the picture a little door, which in fact she hadn't seen. It was between the Sphinx's paws and led to the chamber where all ancient knowledge was kept.

  403

"Now another comet is on its way to the solar system. They come and go, but this comet is different from the others," Father said.

  404

"Different how?" Lydia asked, selecting a blue crayon. She colored the door blue and also drew a doorbell on it.

  405

"Not in itself, but it has a companion," Father said. "A huge companion. It is four times the size of Earth."

  406

Lydia remembered the Prophet and began to feel scared. "Will it crash into the earth?" she asked. "Or will both of them?"

  407

"I doubt it," Father said.

  408

"But can't we be sure?"

  409

"How can we?"

  410

Now this didn't greatly comfort Lydia. "Can you see it through a telescope?"

  411

"Some have seen it," Father said. "Otherwise we would know nothing about it. Photographs have been taken of it. But it's a strange object. Sometimes it can be seen, sometimes not. It isn't always there. And when it shows, it appears to cast its own light."

  412

"What does that mean? Can it be a sun?"

  413

"Many researchers do claim that it's a star and that the photographs have been wrongly interpreted. But a star would always be visible. The sun doesn't wander here and there, as you know."

  414

"But we don't see it at night," Lydia said.

  415

"No, not our own. At night we see only other suns."

  416

"Well, what is it, then, if it isn't a star?"

  417

"Other people claim that it's some kind of vehicle."

  418

Now Lydia left off coloring altogether. "That can't be true, can it?" she said. "Why couldn't it be?"

  419

"Because such a vehicle doesn't exist."

  420

"Not here," Father said. "But space is very large. From what we have seen we can't conclude much of anything. How can we know what is impossible and what isn't?"

  421

"You believe those other people, don't you?" Lydia asked. "You always believe people who say that impossible things are possible."

  422

"Preferably so," said Father, laughing.

  423

"But if it's a vehicle, is someone driving it?"

  424

"Maybe we'll find out in March."

  425

"What's happening in March?"

  426

"Then we can see it with the naked eye. Why shouldn't there be just as much life out there as on Earth? Or it could also be some kind of robot. There are many possibilities. Maybe it's being remotely controlled."

  427

"From some other solar system?"

  428

"Possibly."

  429

"Why is it coming here?"

  430

"Maybe it isn't really coming here at all. Maybe it's not the least bit interested in us. It is just passing by us and has business somewhere else altogether, much farther away. It just happens to be traveling by way of this remote region."

  431

"Then," Lydia said, "I'm going up to some high place. I might even climb up on the roof of a skyscraper. And then I'll wave to them. Just so they know that we exist too."

  432

"Do that," said Father.

  433

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