Probability Moon

Abstract

Probability Moon is part of Nancy Kress’s “Probability” trilogy. The narrative is set on a galaxy which has been heavily colonised by humanity, something that happens due to the so-called space tunnels, which allow faster-than-light travel and are basically warp gates. It is speculated that this means of transportation has been conceived by a fallen precursor race which is also the ancestor of the Terrans – those originating from planet Earth – and of many other humanoid alien species which are similar to Terrans. The tunnels allow objects of a certain mass to pass through them, as others run the risk of exploding, something calculated by the Schwarzschild radius. Despite explanations stemming from the field of quantum physics, nobody seems to understand how the tunnels really work. The novel follows a team of Terrans who are exploring the galaxy, and land on planet World. The team consists of Ahmed Bazargan (the team leader), Ann Sikorski (a xenobiologist), David Allen III (a xenology student), and Dieter Gruber (a geologist). While their mission on World seems to be to know more about this planet – which is inhabited by humanoids with limited technological skills when compared to Terrans –, the mission is revealed to be fictitious, as its true purpose is to study Orbital Object #7, one of World’s moons, in a mission led by the retired colonel and physicist Dr. Syree Johnson. It is suspected that this moon might have been created by the precursor race, and that it might possess properties that allow it to be used as a powerful weapon. Tests are conducted, and the moon is shown to affect materials, as those higher than the atomic number 75 turn radioactive, which happens due to the manipulation of a nuclear force. During this expedition, a spaceship from the warlike and hostile alien race called Fallers emerges from a space tunnel and, while the Terrans try to engage in combat with them using particle beam weaponry, the Fallers are shown to be resistant to it. At the same time, the decision is made to push the moon inside that same tunnel and, if this would destroy it, World could be affected in a negative way, which in fact happens. This creates a destabilizing wave that destroys the Terrans’ and Fallers’ spaceships and affects World. However, by the end of the novel, it is revealed that World is actually left unaffected by the wave, for unknown reasons. With new insights originating from their research, the team is rescued by Terran forces some days after the incidents.