In the Wind

First published as part of the anthology "Tomorrow Today".
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Studies in exobiology include characterizing hypothetical planetary environments, the native life which might exist in such alien ecologies, and how such life might be observed, directly or indirectly. But short of actually traveling to the planets of other solar systems, the only life which we might be able to detect at a distance around other stars is intelligent life. Drawing on background from astrophysics, exobiology, planetary composition, Glen Cook creates an alien environment inhabited by intelligent life vastly different from us. And in what is also an exciting adventure story, he manages to raise serious ethical dilemmas about our possible relationship to such intelligences.