Derek and Hutch boarded the lander and started down. They descended slowly through the crimson-toned skies, drifted for a half hour, and finally spotted a village. With inhabitants. They were bipeds. Their bodies were covered with light fur. They wore animal skins, basically the same material from which their tents appeared to be made. Their ears were large and they had tails. Some carried spears.

It was midafternoon. The giant sun occupied most of the western sky. The villagers appeared not to notice as the lander passed overhead. Derek took photos.

They were floating about a hundred meters over the village when one of the natives finally looked up and saw them. They began screaming and running for cover. Most disappeared into the tents. Others got under trees. A few waved spears in an apparent effort to intimidate the visitors. Hutch, reluctantly but serving at Derek’s directions, went lower, while a small group gathered in the middle of the village. They seemed to be issuing a challenge: Come down if you dare.

“I feel sorry for them,” said Hutch. “It’s not much of a life.”

“Yeah.” Derek grumbled something else. Then: “Let’s go back to the ship.”

One of the natives, a small one, probably a child, ran out of a tent. He looked up at the lander at the same moment as another one came out after him. He waved at the vehicle, but then was seized and carried to safety.

•  •  •

Everybody was waiting as they emerged from the cargo hold.

“Hi, guys,” said Ken. “Barry has something for you.”

“That is correct,” said the AI. “You probably won’t care all that much, but I’ve found two more planets. Makes a total of four.”

“Okay.” Derek wanted details.

“Both are about the same size as the one with the tents and well outside the habitable zone. There is something odd about one of them. Its orbit is tilted at about sixty degrees from the rest of the system.”

“That is strange. Sounds like a rogue planet.”

“Which means what?” asked Beth.

“It didn’t originate in this system. It got pulled out of its original location by a passing star or something. And eventually got picked up by the red giant.”

“We ready to start home yet?” asked Wally. He’d been showing an increasing inclination to wind everything down and head back.

Derek stared at Hutch, his brow creased. “It rings a bell.”

“How do you mean?”

“How about before we do anything else, let’s go back to where we were. The area where Calliope should have been.”

Derek Blanchard, Extract from Notebook, Intended for Autobiography

We have a rogue planet, a star that’s gone missing, and two markers that are out of place. What the hell is going on out here?