"I was thinking about intelligent life," Fred said.
"I'll bet," the girl added, "you were thinking I wouldn't have a job because, as usual, we won't find it. But we're bound to, eventually, so why not now?"
He had to smile; her attitude was infectious. "Matter of fact, I was thinking we'd miss. I even wonder what we're doing out here—"
Charlesworth's voice, on the intercom, broke in: "Attention, please. We have come out of hyperspace in the constellation Taurus. As you know, nothing has been said about our destination; this is done to avoid prejudicing you. I'll now play the recorded instructions from General Anderson."
A new voice took over, sounding even more mechanical. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are making history. Whatever you do will make history, United States' history—"
Fred, the only member who'd been out before, said, "They always begin that way. You'd think—"
Jo shooshed him, and they continued listening. "This expedition is one of the many under the administration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and coordinated by the joint armed forces. You are aboard the Exploration Frigate DLE 560, also known as USS Taurus. The general volume of space around you is the Taurus moving cluster, a roughly globular group of 100 stars. Your destination is the Hyades open cluster, specifically Gamma Tauri.
"Your primary mission is, as always, to find and contact intelligent life. However, secondarily, you may be able to shed some light on the phenomenon we call 'moving clusters.' These are ill-defined groups of stars, all in parallel motion.
"Taurus is moving away from us at 28.5 miles per second. Now 130 light years away, the group was closest to us—some 65 light years—only 800 thousand years ago...."
Fred stopped listening. Why, that long ago, man was already differentiated. In another half-million years, more or less, the gang around the old juke box in Java would be using fire ... only he wouldn't really be man, just an unreasonable facsimile. Man? He wouldn't show up for another 450 millennia—too soon, too soon. Something's got to be done about our theories: in 25,000 years, we appeared as a clever savage, developed to our present state. What were we doing in all the years the lower hominids were evolving? Where were we?