The Invader

A rogue planet is speeding its way towards the inner solar system, destined to become a hot Jupiter. It is a scenario that has played out countless times throughout the galaxy, and the result is always that the rocky inner planets are flung into the deep freeze of interstellar space, taking their inhabitants with them.

The people in the story are compelled by their character, culture, history, and beliefs to choose a particular path and they have little conscious choice in the matter. Moral and spiritual dilemmas, and emotional conflicts abound.

The chief engineer of the leading aerospace contractor convinces the company's CEO to fund a crash project to send astronauts to resettle on another planet. It is imperative to choose a planet that is proven to be habitable, that is, with life already established. There is no time to terraform another planet and in addition, such large engineering efforts are uncertain, difficult to fine tune, and prone to unanticipated runaway effects. A hand-picked team of astronauts and the exploration project engineering team have a tight, unalterable deadline to design, adapt, test, prepare for and launch new space habitats toward their exoplanet targets before the inevitable panic destroys their facilities and resources.

Robots and artificial intelligence must play a key role, enhanced and extended well beyond current capabilities. This technology has its own dangers and limitations. Is success even possible?

As catastrophe nears, people's motivations change. Work, education, and careers offer fewer incentives while family becomes more important. Law and order gradually break down. Government leaders react to both the emergency and people's response to it. Demagogues and cult leaders spring up right and left with appealing messages for the desperate and susceptible. Society is forcibly altered.