Across the Sea of Suns
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Cover of first edition (hardcover)
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| Author | Gregory Benford |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Original uncredited; John Dismukes (1994 reprint) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Galactic Center Saga |
| Genre | Hard science fiction |
| Published | 1984 (Timescape Books/Simon & Schuster) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 399 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 9852812 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3552.E542 A65 1984 |
| Preceded by | In the Ocean of Night |
| Followed by | Great Sky River |
Across the Sea of Suns is a 1984 hard science fiction novel by American writer Gregory Benford. It is the second novel in his Galactic Center Saga, and continues to follow the scientist Nigel Walmsley, who encountered a machine extraterrestrial in the previous book, In the Ocean of Night, aboard an expeditionary spaceflight to find other life. Eventually Nigel discovers evidence of the major conflict in the galaxy.
In 2021, radio astronomy on the Moon reveals the presence of life by a nearby red dwarf, on a tide-locked planet. To investigate, Earth's governments convert a space colony into Lancer, a Bussard ramjet powered interstellar ship based on the design of a crashed alien ship discovered in the Mare Marginis. In 2061, it arrives and discovers a primitive race of nomads, broadcasting using organs adapted to emit and receive electromagnetic radiation. A curious satellite is discovered in orbit, at least a million years old, roughly when a meteor shower destroyed the EMs' civilization.
On Earth, international commerce is brought to a standstill when mysterious spaceships drop sea creatures dubbed "Swarmers" and "Skimmers" (for their behaviour; Swarmers swarm ships and head-butt them until they sink, and Skimmers simply jump and skim around like dolphins). They begin multiplying and the Swarmers begin attacking humans and all their works on the seas.
The expedition's first contacts go poorly. The attempt to enter one of the two satellites prompts a massive retaliation that kills most of the crew. Meanwhile, their attempt to contact the EMs in person confuses them, as the aliens expected a reply directly from Earth. The EMs' attempt to communicate with the messenger via radar accidentally cooks him alive. The standby team misinterprets the accident as a deliberate attack and massacres the EMs.
Nigel works with mathematicians and other experts to interpret the EMs' transmission. His analysis reveals that their technologically advanced civilization had attracted the attention of machines, who attacked with orbital bombardments that levelled the EMs' cities and cracked open the crust of the planet, permanently altering the ecosphere. The EMs used genetic engineering to adapt their bodies to use silicon and transistors for a nervous system. As the satellite is programmed to react only to high technology, not inbuilt features of organisms, the EMs are able to broadcast their message to other biological races undetected.
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