5th Millennium — George O. Bancroft

Seventeen Entire Planetary Civilization Just Disappeared? How's that possible? Why hasn't it been reported before this? Why hasn't the military been sent to investigate?" “It has. All the way up to the parliament. But no one will act. No one takes the reports seriously." “There's a big problem here," Arnie pulled out a vidviewer and clicked it on. A flat picture spread out on the table. "See the stars marked in red. Those are the ones that have been affected. It's seems it's a straight-line progression, and it's coming toward the central core of old-line planets. It hasn't reached any yet, but Nik's theory is that whatever it is has been experimenting on the colonists, and now it's about ready to hit the core." "Any idea what's doing this?" "None. The planets were completely void of any evidence that humans had ever lived on them." "What about structures? I can't believe that there weren't any structures, or at least rubble that could be reconstructed by an archeological team." "Nothing remained. Not a single trace.” "Phil is going to mount an exploratory mission to find a planet that is being attacked. He needs some people to go with him. I thought you might be a good candidate. Your planet, Burgress is right in the path. I'd say you have somewhere between five and ten years before it's hit. Then it will become a barren planet, devoid of any human life." There was deathly silence between the two. Finally Hank spoke, "How do I get in touch with this Philip Bender?" And that's how it all started.