Project Hail Mary

by Andy Weir

“Yeah,” Hatch said. “They accelerate at five hundred g’s until they reach a cruising speed of 0.93 c. It’ll take over twelve years to get back to Earth, but all told the little guys will only experience about twenty months. Do you believe in God? I know it’s a personal question. I do. And I think He was pretty awesome to make relativity a thing, don’t you? The faster you go, the less time you experience. It’s like He’s inviting us to explore the universe, you know?” He fell silent and stared at me. “Well,” I said. “This is really impressive. Good work.” “Thanks!” he said. “So can I have some Astrophage to test it?” “Sure,” I said. “How much you want?” “How about a hundred milligrams?” I drew back. “Easy there, cowboy. That’s a lot of energy.” “All right, all right. Can’t blame a guy for trying. How about one milligram?” “Yeah, I can swing that.” He clapped. “Hell yeah! Astrophage comin’ my way!” He leaned forward to me. “Isn’t it amazing? Astrophage, I mean? It’s like…the coolest thing ever! Again, God’s just handing us the future!”