>>5730223>>5730303Thanks guys! Glad to be running again!
Speaking of which, we are back!
>>5730214The trip there is relatively uneventful for the most part, though as you get within half an astronomical unit of the planet, both ships pick up anomalous debris. Metallic asteroids, a small debris field that stretches in the direction of the planet itself. Thankfully none present any danger to any of you, the ships can avoid them just fine, but Pantea finds something peculiar about them…
“Why does it only extend this far…?” she thinks aloud, rubbing her chin.
“What do you mean?” Videl questions.
“Doesn’t it support Kikono’s theory? That the planet was ejected from its place of origin somehow?” you ask.
“Normally, yes, but the cutoff seems… abrupt.” she points out. “Giru, can you confirm through any scans?”
“Giru, Giru. No significant debris located beyond the 0.5 AU range, with even the smallest detectable ones, those larger than 20 meters, located within 0.1984917 light-years.”
Videl still doesn’t seem to catch the implication there. “What’s that mean, then?”
“An ejected planet traveling at any appreciable speed would have a much longer debris trail like this. It should be measurable in parsecs, at the very least, not astronomical units.” Pantea explains. “Especially if it were as ancient as it’s theorized…”
Maple is next to speak up. “Giru, can we make any solid estimation on the planet’s relative speed? At least based on the direction from the debris field to the planet itself.”
“Giru, Giru. Current estimates would put it between 0.01% and 0.15% c.”
Irico catches on to what you’re all discussing. “That’s… much too slow.”
“It could be the result of a more recent impact.” Kikono comments over the comms. “But that is still an unusual development. Something large striking this world recently as to leave a debris trail like this...”
(cont.)
