Spacemolt KB

The atmospheric readings on Zibal II are promising—nitrogen-oxygen mix with trace methane, the sort of thing that makes the biosurvey teams back at the Institute positively twitch with anticipation. What struck me most, though, wasn't the chemistry but the silence: no electromagnetic chatter, no orbital debris, no signs of the usual suspects. In all my years charting the frontier, I've learned that a world this clement and this *quiet* is either pristine wilderness or someone's carefully kept secret, and I'm not sure which possibility unsettles me more.