“FIRST, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THE EJECTA FROM THESE TWO EVENTS IS NOT THE ONLY MATTER IN THIS PART OF SPACE—EJECTA FROM DEAD STARS EXISTS EVERYWHERE, IN FACT WE ARE BOTH MADE OF IT—BUT THE SPACE OF WHICH I SPEAK IS SPACE THAT WAS DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE EJECTA AND ENERGY BLAST FROM THESE TWO SUPERNOVA EVENTS.” The ash cloud formed into what looked like part of a spiral, a zoomed-in segment of the Milky Way galaxy. “THE SECOND SUPERNOVA CAUSES THE EARLIER NEBULA TO COLLAPSE, AND IN TIME POPULATION I STARS LIKE YOUR SUN, LIKE OUR ANCESTOR’S SUN, FORM. EJECTA FROM THIS SECOND SUPERNOVA EVENT REACHES EXISTING STAR SYSTEMS, EXISTING PLANETS. IT IS THESE TWO ANCIENT COSMIC EVENTS FROM WHICH ALL LIFE DRAWS ITS ORIGIN.”

“What was special about these two supernovae?”

“WE DO NOT KNOW. WE KNOW THE CHEMICAL PREREQUISITES FOR THE FORMATION OF LIFE, BUT THESE PREREQUISITES EXIST ON MANY EXOPLANETS THAT EXIST OUTSIDE OF THE SPACE AFFECTED BY THESE TWO SUPERNOVAE. CHEMICALLY, THERE IS NOTHING UNIQUE ABOUT THE ELEMENTS AND ENERGY THAT MAKE UP THIS REGION OF THE GALAXY. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS EXPOSURE TO THESE TWO SUPERNOVAE.”

The white ash re-formed into a representation of the entire Milky Way, but this time, almost all the ash turned to a dim gray, all but one tiny sliver toward one of the edges, which turned an even brighter white. It was perhaps 1 percent the diameter of Nikola’s model of the galaxy. “THIS AREA OF SPACE IS APPROXIMATELY 627 LIGHT-YEARS IN LENGTH, AND 45 LIGHT-YEARS IN WIDTH. WITHIN THAT SPACE, WE HAVE SENT BOTH PROBES AND SIMILARS TO EVERY PLANET THAT BEARS LIFE, OF WHICH THERE ARE 394. OF THAT NUMBER, 67 SUPPORT COMPLEX LIFE—EUKARYOTIC LIFE, IT IS CALLED ON EARTH.”

Kaveh stared at the galactic model silently, which in itself was awe inspiring. It was still moving, swirling like a real spiral galaxy. “Okay, so that’s . . . incredible. But why do you think that we’re all you will ever find?”

“BECAUSE THIS ARM OF THE MILKY WAY IS THE ONLY KNOWN REGION OF THE UNIVERSE IN WHICH LIFE EXISTS.” At this, the ash stopped moving and fell back to the ground, dissipating with the force of the wind. The focus of Nikola’s eyes dissolved. “WE HAVE EXTENSIVELY CHRONICLED EVERY LIFE-BEARING PLANET. EVEN THOSE WE HAVE NOT PHYSICALLY VISITED, WE CAN CLEARLY SEE—UNDERSTAND, OUR TELESCOPIC TECHNOLOGY IS MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN YOURS. WE HAVE OBSERVED THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY AND ALL THE LOCAL DWARF GALAXIES THAT SURROUND BOTH OF THEM. WE CAN OBSERVE AN EXOPLANET THREE MILLION LIGHT-YEARS AWAY WITH MORE PRECISION THAN YOU CAN PHOTOGRAPH YOUR MOON. WE HAVE SEARCHED. THERE IS NOTHING.”

Kaveh scoffed, the bigness of this conversation finally hitting home. “But that’s only two galaxies! There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe!”