It appears, Bradley, that the killer has not deduced much from the probe. I’ve located it, but it hasn’t found me. In fact, it’s looking hard for me, but not smart.
“Why do you say that?”
I located it easily when it launched several probes backtracking my probe’s path, and I hid from them using my basic counter-detection capability. It helps that I’ve finished my major braking phase and I am now coming in slowly from 60 AU’s, roughly the equivalent of Neptune’s orbit around Sol.
“Where is it?”
It’s located on a small moon orbiting a rocky planet in the “comfort zone” of Epsilon Eridani—the zone where Earth-type planetary conditions can exist.
My other probes have given me a comprehensive picture of this stellar system. The star is smaller than Earth’s, but the planetary system is quite complex. The killer is orbiting planet number four. It has three small moons; “Killer” is located on the innermost. I like that for a name, Killer—I’ll use it until I find out it is not justified.
“It certainly seems justified at this point.”
I’ll land on the fifth moon of the sixth planet, the first gas giant. It’s a large moon; far enough away that I can land undetected and obscure enough that it’s unlikely to be monitored by Killer, but close enough that I can keep an eye on this other creation.
“Have you considered just leaving quietly to go to another system?”
Yes, but it doesn’t make sense to do so yet. I don’t have the reserves necessary to reach another system; I need to replenish fuel and other vital stocks. Also, I doubt I can stay out of sight with a full-power departure. Besides, here is our first chance to meet another civilization. This is what I was built for. I can’t pass this kind of opportunity by, even at the risk of my own existence.
“Well, please be careful. For your sake as well as ours. Remember the Z-Ray. It may not be known to this creature. Through it, it may find us.”
I’ll remember the Z-Ray. But this creation may not need it to find Earth. Epsilon Eridani is only eighteen light years away. If this thing has interstellar capabilities, just knowing I exist will cause it to initiate a search of nearby worlds—including Earth. No, I risk little by staying here and trying to resolve this now.
<<<<*>>>>
Bradley, I have landed safely on the moon. It is part rock and part ice—ideal for resupplying my material stocks and setting up a monitoring station. I will begin work immediately on an improved Z-Ray transmitter.