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In May 126 AI, the colony on Epsilon Eridani 2 had been in existence for 12 years, and after the initial rush of activity of the first decade the colony was preparing to expand off planet. An observatory was built in orbit, based on an extension of part of the frame of the original Mayflower. Its purpose was to carry out general astronomical work as well as a detailed survey of all the orbiting bodies in the solar system. The survey was mostly complete when, to the consternation of the observatory scientists, one of the trailing Trojan asteroids disappeared without a trace.
Various theories were proposed for the disappearance. Maybe the asteroid had disintegrated, but there were no extra fragments in the vicinity. Perhaps it had been occluded by something with a very low albedo, but it would have been expected to emerge from the shadow and as the days passed this theory also looked unlikely. The inevitable 'stolen by space aliens' theory was put forward, as well as the suggestion that the original sighting had been a mistake caused by a speck of dust on the main observatory mirror. However, none of these theories could be substantiated, although a regular watch was kept on that section of space.
As a result, recording devices were pointing in the correct direction to pick up the short, wide spectrum burst of electromagnetic radiation which heralded another anomaly. This occurred 30 months later, and this time was the appearance of an asteroid, a different one, size, shape and trajectory. Something very bizarre was happening in that region of space.
An automated probe was dispatched to the scene. As it moved into position it vanished as well. More probes and eventually a manned mission were dispatched, and as a result the first stable wormhole was discovered, linking Epsilon Eridani to the AC+58 25001 system.
Of course, these days the mechanics of wormhole travel are well understood by the man on the street, even if the theory is not. But imagine the surprise it must have been to those early colonists to discover an instantaneous way of travelling 16.67 light years, when they had only just spent nearly 2 centuries travelling 10.73!
Wormholes had long been a theoretical possibility, since the early 20th century, but this was the first time one had ever been seen. However, it wasn't the last. Unbeknown to the Eridani, 5 other colonies had also discovered wormholes in their systems within a few years of arrival. In all cases what was at the other end of the wormhole was of little scientific or economic value in itself, for example the AC+58 25001 system is a singularly uninspiring binary system with a few chunks of rock in captured orbits. But it was the wormhole itself which was of value. Scientists were able to study the wormhole in action, and by so doing were able to open up huge new areas of physics. Within a few years they had managed to recreate the wormhole effect, along with several other offshoots of technology such as the force field and contra-grav engineering that we now take for granted. Admittedly the first attempts to create artificial wormholes consumed a vast amount of energy, reached only a few thousand kilometres, were a few centimetres across and were stable for only a few microseconds, but this process was soon refined to allow a practical faster than light starship drive. The early wormdrive starships were capable of only a little better than light speed, such that interstellar journeys were still lengthy affairs, but a least measured in years rather than centuries.
Contact vessels spread out from Epsilon Eridani. Although not built as warships, the reality of the situation was that they were a quantum leap ahead of the in-system vessels being used by the colonies they visited. As a result those visited were eager to form alliances, and hence the Eridani Republic was born, an expanding sphere of colonies centred on Eridani. Republic Members were accepted as equals, sent representatives to the Republic Council on a population pro-rata basis, and received technological assistance. Soon a thriving interstellar community existed, with 22 member planets, becoming more and more closely integrated as subsequent wormdrive designs cut down the travel time between stars. These were the golden years of the Republic, peaceful and prosperous.
But what of the other five colonies that had discovered wormholes in their home systems?
They too had made breakthroughs in physics as a result.
They too had built wormdrive starships.
They too had set out to visit their neighbours.
But their history is bloodier.
Read the history of the others in chapter 4.