Chapter Forty-One: A Disturbing Discovery

Bill visits Charles at the Earth reclamation project in Sol and observes the progress of terraforming Earth, the Moon, Venus, and Mars. After a stilted conversation with Charles, Bill tours the lunar settlements with Benny and then seeks out information about a mysterious Homer backup that was allegedly discovered by someone named Gerry, learning that Gerry has disappeared and hasn't been heard from in decades.

Bill arrives at Charles's location in the Sol system to check on the Earth reclamation project, which has made significant progress in the two centuries since nuclear war—over fifty percent of the globe is now ice-free and expected to return to preindustrial temperatures within fifty years. Charles mentions tensor field printers are accelerating their work and they've recovered enough DNA to recreate ninety-eight percent of species. The conversation reveals other terraforming efforts underway: the moon has been sped up to a fifty-hour day using mover plates and now has oceans and a developing magnetic field; Venus has a hundred-hour day; and Mars is also being worked on. Bill notes the terraforming efforts may become less attractive long-term as flying cities and megastructures offer controlled environments independent of planetary conditions. The interaction between Bill and Charles is noticeably reserved and businesslike, lacking their usual rapport. Bill then tours the lunar Mare Humorum with Benny, a terraforming crew member, observing the progress and gradually steering conversation toward his actual purpose. He asks about discoveries while excavating Earth, specifically probing for information about a possible Bob Johannson backup Dr. Landers may have hidden. Benny mentions finding powered-down mining equipment and Rudolf Kazini, but then reveals that a Homer backup was allegedly discovered by someone named Gerry. Bill seeks out the asteroid-mining group to locate Gerry, only to learn that Gerry hasn't been heard from in decades and the Homer backup story is considered an urban myth. Bill concludes he has a different, darker theory about Gerry's fate than simple disappearance.