My Trip to Investigate Planets

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I am en route to the star Rickelia to investigate two planets, the second and third of the system. Historian Robert Burkwell found references to them while decoding 117,000-year-old computer records, which places the colonization of the two worlds just prior to the trideckia pandemic that wiped out most of the human race throughout the galaxy. It is thought these two distant, self-sufficient ecosystems might have escaped contamination and maintained human populations that survived to the present day.

According to Dr. Burkwell, the planets, which were far from other occupied worlds even at the time they were colonized, were quite attractive to early settlement as they both supported a primitive type of vegetation that had produced an atmosphere with adequate oxygen levels for humans as well as deep soils suitable for growing domestic plants. The similarity of the life on both planets led scientists at the time to speculate that it had started on one planet and spread to the other via an asteroid strike.

The inner, warmer planet was colonized first and was initially used as a preserve for endangered carnivores. Carefully selected plants and trees quickly took over and formed thick jungles around the planet’s equator, into which were introduced animal species, both predator and prey. The experiment was so successful, the planet became a tourist destination, and cities began to spring up outside the jungles.

The outer, cooler planet was colonized later to grow food for the inner planet, and it was much more sparsely inhabited. Only useful plants and a few hardwood trees were brought there, and the only other life forms allowed were insects for pollination; earthworms, microbes and fungi for soil conditioning,...

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...t there is no sign of civilization or agriculture. I set down in a clearing where one of the largest cities used to be. I got out and explored a bit, but could not find any sign of human occupation. I wasn’t prepared to start a dig; that would have to wait for a later mission. The big question is -- what happened to them? Did they not escape the pandemic, or was there another reason they disappeared?

The forest around the clearing was chattering with life – insects, birds, mammals and amphibians all adding to the chorus. As I climbed back into the lander, I thought I heard something growl.

Conclusion: Living on a planet with an environment different from that which produced Homo sapiens would likely invoke selective forces that could have significant effects on modern human morphology and behavior, especially if gene flow to the planet is restricted.

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