The Anomaly

Far beyond the searching eye of any creature, in the darkness and emptiness of space itself, the ship dispatched a capsule. No sooner had it effected this than it vanished among the stars, lost in the outer reaches. Then suddenly the capsule exploded without a sound, without a flash, and a billion captive motes, suddenly free, spread over vast distances in the upper air. Some floated aimlessly; others drifted toward Earth. But the planners knew this would happen. Some, they knew, would survive this day. Few would survive many days. None would survive more than a week—unless...