“It’s approximately forty-six light-years across. They’re old stars, most of them almost as old as the universe. A lot are Class G dwarfs, like the sun. That’s because whatever other types of stars were in there weren’t as stable and they’re all pretty much gone by now.”

“Pity we’re not going there. That looks as if it would be a spectacular view if we got inside it. Would it ever get dark in there?”

“I doubt it. Maybe when we get past all this stay-at-home nonsense, we could come back and visit the place.”

“Why are you so interested?” asked Ken.

It wasn’t clear to whom the question was directed. But Derek responded: “They’ve been around so long. The suns are ancient and stable. That raises the possibility of advanced life. There’ll be planetary systems so close to one another that it’s hard to believe they haven’t been in touch. There’s no place anywhere more likely to have a high level of development than a cluster. They could even manage without a star drive.”

Hutch had never thought about that kind of possibility. “How close would they be to each other?” she asked.

“If they were evenly distributed, they’d only be about a light-year apart.”

“But they aren’t?”

“No. Toward the center, they’re thickly grouped.”

“I wonder,” Ken said, “what kind of civilization would develop on a world that never got dark.”

Hutch glanced at the receiver. She wanted to hear something from Wally. Something good.

“Who’s Wasserman?” Ken asked.

Derek couldn’t resist a reaction that suggested it was hard to believe that a historian wouldn’t recognize the name. “Lawrence Wasserman. He was a twenty-first-century astronomer. Did a lot of work with asteroids.”

“I wonder,” said Hutch, “if he were here, whether he wouldn’t want to go into the cluster and look around.”

•  •  •

Wally had been working for about a half hour when he reported back. “It’s okay. It was just a short in the auxiliary power converter. Fortunately, we have a spare on board. I’ll need an hour. I’m going to stay with it for a while, make sure I’ve got everything. Then we should be all right.”

Derek looked relieved. They all did. “Couldn’t have picked a better place to break down,” he said.

Hutch angled the ship so the passenger cabin got a good view of the Wasserman. They all rearranged their chairs and watched it through the long window. It was dazzling, a sky overwhelmed with stars.

“It’s incredible,” said Beth. “We’re not talking about going into that thing, are we?”

“There’s plenty of space for us,” said Derek. “There wouldn’t be anything to worry about.”

Ken cleared his throat. “Why does that sound like something that gets engraved on a tombstone?”