Marco Chung is the oldest human in the known universe.
Displaced in time by his job ferrying people and supplies to the extrasolar colonies around the galaxy, Marco finds no semblance of peace or belonging upon his rare returns to an ever-changing Earth. Meanwhile, despite centuries of exploration and settlement, there have been no signs of past or present life anywhere that humans have looked. Whether it is nearby Mars or far away Novissimus, it appears more and more likely that Earth is uniquely filled with life, at least within the Milky Way.
Despite these setbacks, colonization of the stars continues unabated and has even become the epicenter of popular culture. Due to the fanaticism around all things related to the Human Expansion Program, Marco now finds himself an unwitting celebrity in his own right. All he has witnessed is that on these so-called "Earth-like" planets, nature seems to be constantly trying to wipe every living thing off of their surfaces. After participating in so many journeys to the outer reaches and having a hand in helping to implement the occupations of these exoplanets, Marco is starting to wonder: if we are truly alone in the cold emptiness of space, then is life simply a mistake? And if existence was made in error, what should he do about it?
For the record, J.P. Prag is a Pisces. Even though it doesn't mean anything, what is notable is that ten of the eighteen stars in Pisces (that are nowhere near each other) are known to host planets. One of the planets called "GU Pisces b" takes around 80,000 Earth years to circle its sun. It is also worth highlighting that some of the stars in the constellation are not singular balls of plasma at all, but are entire galaxies! Further scientific examination has revealed many other faint galaxies, nebulae, and other stellar objects within the Pisces general area. A couple of those galaxies are on a collision course, so look out for that over the next several hundred million years or so. When not observing stellar objects at the Ladd Observatory, J.P. Prag can be found several blocks away at his home and office in Providence, RI, U.S.A. with his partner Caroline and their many tall ferns and philodendrons, lazy lying down cacti, outside pet squirrels (including Squirrel the Raccoon), and a stuffed sloth named Peeve and his new buddy Skvishy. That's where he wrote this and his other published works that you should add to your reading list right now! For more irreverent details (and perhaps some pertinent ones, too?) and contact information, please visit WWW.JPPRAG.COM.
