Randoms by David Liss Read Free Book Online

said, “but random participants often become not simply a part of the team, but major contributors.”
    â€œI get it,” I said, having had enough of the pep talk. I was the resident loser. That’s how it was, so time to move on. “Where exactly are we going?”
    â€œAh,” said Dr. Roop, sitting taller in his chair now that we’d moved beyond my protests. “You will be based for the year on Confederation Central, a massive space station more or less in the center of our territory, and the capital city of our civilization. It is the seat of government, home to several of our finest universities, and has some of the best museums in the galaxy. Approximatelytwelve million beings are aboard at any given time.”
    â€œSo it’s like Babylon 5 ,” I said.
    â€œYes and no,” Dr. Roop said without missing a beat. “The station was not built for the purpose it currently serves. In fact, we did not build it at all, but rather inherited it from a species of beings who lived long before us. We call them the Formers.”
    â€œSo the station is like the Citadel from Mass Effect , and these Formers are like the Protheans?”
    â€œBest foot forward,” Miss Price said, clearly irritated by my dorking out.
    Dr. Roop held up a hand. “No, no, Ms. Price. As I explained, these narratives are, in part, the result of our influence, and Zeke’s familiarity with them may prove a genuine advantage.” He turned to me. “I feel certain you must have noticed that my appearance is similar to a creature from your own planet. I am said to resemble a gorilla, yes?”
    â€œGiraffe,” I corrected.
    â€œThat’s right. You are the one who resembles the gorilla. But you must think it rather an odd coincidence that I should so closely resemble an Earth creature.”
    â€œYes, but given everything else that’s going on, I didn’t see the point in bringing it up.” I had read, and been disappointed to learn, that most scientists believed any alien intelligence we might encounter would be so different that communication would likely be impossible. It was the height of self-absorption and fantasy, such theories said, to presume other planets would evolve species that were more or less the same as us. I guess they got that wrong.
    â€œThere are hundreds of planets in the Confederation, but thousands upon thousands of inhabited planets in our galaxy,” Dr.Roop said. “We believe that most, if not all, of these worlds—indeed, the systems in which the worlds are located—were partially or entirely altered by the Formers so that they could sustain life. These planets are all approximately the same size and have similar rotation cycles, atmospheres, climate types, and so on. More than that, the same seed stock of genetic material was deposited on each of these planets.”
    Here I could have mentioned the Preservers from Star Trek or the Ancients from Stargate . Come to think of it, I could have mentioned my father’s show, Colony Alpha , which also featured a mysterious precursor race that had left behind valuable technology. Much of the show revolved around the two warring factions’ efforts to find and understand ancient artifacts while the last of Earth’s population, located on an isolated colony planet, found itself in the middle. I demonstrated wisdom and restraint by holding my tongue.
    â€œLife develops in somewhat similar patterns on many different worlds,” Dr. Roop continued. “You will see dozens of alien species on Confederation Central, a majority of them bipeds of approximately four to eight feet in height. This seems to be the direction in which the Formers wished us to evolve. You will see sentient races that look like animals from your world. On some worlds there are likely animals that look like human beings.”
    â€œLet’s not belabor this point,” Ms. Price said, moving her hand in