Two questions about Known Space

[james_davis_nicoll]

The Pak could build generation ships that could last for many thousands of years. Why didn't they go whole hog on the space habitat thing [1]?

Do we know the Pak only explored the galaxy in the direction of the Sun? Because if they also sent expeditions in other directions, by the time humans contact aliens from the far side of the galaxy, those aliens may have had sufficient experience to recognize humans as a variety of Pak, something that can only end in hilarity.


1: I don't have time to go into it but I don't think they actually built the ringworld I think the Outsiders did, as an easily destroyed lab to study Pak and other lifeforms, like the so-called Martians.

And with that I am off to paint sets.

Comments

[geekosaur]

This was addressed in Protector as being due to several factors:

• Protectors have serious trouble working together, even when childless, unless there's a really strong pressure to do so (hence the mission to Earth only happened as a result of there being a whole bunch of childless Protectors all of a sudden with nothing whatsoever to do);
• Doubt as to whether tree-of-life would grow elsewhere (this was in fact borne out in Protector);
• The lack of any return messages from the original Earth mission was taken as proof of the above and shut down any interest in more such missions.

I recall it going into a fair amount of detail on this when Phssthpok found the records of the original mission.

Arguably, the Pak who remained behind after the Earth mission left could have started more missions, since they had the infrastructure and nothing much else to do; this is in fact the speculation in Ringworld et seq.. But Earth was only chosen as a target because it was the closest planet that appeared to support Pak-type life; apparently breeders aren't very adaptable. Additionally, there's this problem of getting a sufficient number of breeders for colonization without getting an angry Protector or so as part of the package; Protector went into detail on that one, too, IIRC.

In short, when it comes right down to it, Pak are simply not cut out for either galactic exploration or especially colonization, and in addition aren't particularly interested in either one.

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And finally, the problem with encountering aliens on the other side of the Galactic Core is the Core explosion. It would take far too long to detour around it at a safe distance. (Known Space is pretty tiny compared to the size of the galaxy, IIRC. See for example how Louis Wu went outside Known Space and promptly encountered the Trinocs; there's a lot of stuff outside of Known Space but still fairly nearby, never mind getting around the Core to look around.)

[geekosaur]

I should probably point out that the implied fragility of Pak breeders strongly implies that any long term exposure to the radiation hazards of space completely rules out any space habitat that isn't well protected from same (thus again Ringworld; its peculiar translucency to hard radiation accords with the normal radiation environment of the Pak homeworld, IIRC).

I should note that the breeders sent to Earth were frozen; two pretty immediate failure points if you don't keep them suspended, which also point up hazards to Pak space habitats in general, are (a) you're going to be working overtime to build new habitats for all the breeders, who are rather fecund; (b) the lifespan of a space habitat with active breeders would probably be until the first conflict between two Protectors.

[geekosaur]

(Maybe I should have held onto the above before posting....)

Additional detail I just recalled: it takes very little in the way of mutation for a breeder to stop smelling "right" to its Protector, leading to its being very probably killed immediately. So the breeders' fragility may actually be more a social phenomenon.