I had just returned from a conference concerning the fate of a small rocky world that had been developing nicely on its own. However, sensors showed that it was directly in the path of a rogue planet heading straight for it. The creator gods and other conference attendees had to decide whether to let the collision happen and allow the catastrophic results to play out naturally, or whether to nudge the encroaching planet aside.

  It’s not as easy as it sounds to push a rogue planet into a new path. The technology exists, but it takes precise calculations to move it exactly. The new path has to be planned perfectly all the way across the universe. Otherwise, we can’t be sure that the planet being nudged won’t hit a new target. After all, we can’t stop one catastrophe just to set up a new one.

  And yes, I could tell you stories about close calls and even collisions after rogue planets have been redirected and not properly tracked. Once the calculations have been approved, technicians in the redirect department will not look at the projected path again. Local computer monitoring systems tracking galaxywide trajectories should be noticing any course problems as the planet moves through space.

  The conference attendees decided that the first step would be for me to gather information by physically visiting the threatened planet. Much of their decision would depend on whether there was anything unique to the planet. If there was nothing outstanding, it would be allowed to be destroyed as the long-term forecasts projected. Only an actual visit would give enough solid information to make a decision.

  I traveled to the unpopulated and never before visited planet, circling it in my personal sky runabout to record some preliminary data before landing.

  The planet was mostly ocean, and the landmasses showed as simple granite rocks. The sensor sweep did not show any chlorophyll and oxygen in the atmosphere. That meant there would be no plants on the surface and therefore no animal life either.

  I named the isolated and desolate planet Little Gray Rock in my reports, simply because the name amused me.

  The bare rocks looked a little shimmery, which puzzled me, but perhaps there was some kind of refraction from the atmosphere. The oceans formed 90% of the surface and gave no hints as to whether life might be forming there. I would carefully check once I finished surface observations.

  I placed myself within a sterile space pod that was large enough to hold me and all of my various measuring instruments. The pod would allow me to easily float close to the planet’s surface. I glided out of the runabout, ready to make notes and gather samples.

  I was so oblivious, manipulating all of my handheld computers and sensors and surveying instruments, that at first I didn’t make sense of the shimmer I was seeing. What was there? I squinted a bit.

  The shimmery rocks were actually clear plants, swaying slightly in a breeze! The most visible part of the plants were thin silvery veins contained within stems and leaves. My gloved fingers were easily visible behind the plants.

  There was a variety of small clear plants growing among the gray boulders. Not a single plant had color. They were somewhat similar to traditional plant species in form, looking like mosses, tiny ferns, and violets, but they were all completely clear except for the silvery veins.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The plants were happily growing in an anaerobic atmosphere with poisonous traces of ammonia, ozone and other chemicals. How could these plants be alive?

  I gathered my thoughts and got on with my scientific work. I puzzled over how any vegetation could survive, as I assembled samples of plants, atmosphere and soils. I worked quickly because I wanted to get out of the poisonous atmosphere before it started dissolving my safety pod.

  I submerged my pod into the gray ocean next. The ocean floor sloped gently with good visibility. There were aquatic, seemingly impossible plants here too. Small clear algaes and seagrasses grew in the shallows, and seaweeds grew in the deeper ocean. I quickly took my samples, then ascended back to my sky runabout.

  A quick look into my microscope showed that none of the plants contained chlorophyll. I checked my databases and could not find similar species of clear plants. Could the original plants and even the planet itself have broken off from a larger planet in some uncharted universe? That was something I wouldn’t be able to determine with my few instruments here in the runabout.

  However, I knew some gnomes and a fairy who would be quite interested in the mystery. I invited my plant specialist wife Jaal and my two scientist daughters Liveta and Rinja to see the amazing plant life on Little Gray Rock. I didn’t need to invite the fairy. Phyler, her fairy senses sharpened by her ongoing security work, detected that something was going on and arrived too, just to make sure we were safe.

  They were all suitably impressed with the barely visible beginnings of life on this strange world. I could already tell that Liveta would be angling to be part of the team set up to analyze its unique plants.

  However, that’s only partly why I invited them. I wanted to set up a simulation of how the plants would continue to evolve naturally on Little Gray Rock if the planet was not destroyed. I knew they would enjoy this time travel project.

  Wrapped within sterile travel pods, we instantly transported to the little planet a million years in the future. Seeing the changes was so interesting.

  The gray rocks were worn down quite a bit, so now the planet had pebbles on flat areas and even sand on the beaches. The plants were still completely clear, but they were much larger and more advanced now. I especially enjoyed the tiger lilies growing in rock crevices, with their leaves and blooms reaching out to the sun. The lily forms were so perfectly shaped that it was like the entire planet was set up as a stage just to show off the subtle, graceful forms.

  We saw only small and primitive animal life on the planet’s surface. There were colonies of some kind of clear bacteria and some small, silvery earthworms. Apparently, it’s extremely difficult for complex life to evolve with no oxygen in the atmosphere. It will be a fascinating area for Liveta to study.

  As we moved into the oceans, we saw life there, too. Brine shrimp, jellyfish and tiny nematodes were surviving in the salty waters. We were all quite emotional at seeing the new life all around us.

  Clearly, our conference of creator gods and other interested parties will vote to push the rogue planet off course and save this amazing little world. I marvel at the unique life on it, and I also realize that if the planet had been much smaller our group would not have bothered checking it at all. It almost makes me ill to know that the amazing life forms on Little Gray Rock could have been destroyed without us ever knowing they were there. That is something to think about for the future.

  Phyler had been darting around Little Gray Rock in her own travel pod and absolutely fell in love with the planet. After all, why wouldn’t she? Fairies are silvery and nearly invisible as they move, and are also mysterious and ethereal. I don’t think Phyler has ever seen a planet that matches fairy personalities so well.

  Phyler has been making plans for her flutter of fairies to take over guardianship of the planet. They will keep a watch on it and make sure no beings alter its development. I am sure they will change the name Little Gray Rock to something more graceful and elegant in their fairy language.