Since their first discovery, mankind has used the “Alephs” without learning much of their scientific nature. Alephs - wormholes to some - have long been a part of the scientific theory. Critics once considered them part of scientific “metaphysics” instead, until their surprising - and quiet accidental - discovery in 2125. Are these Alephs the means - the only means - for man to colonize outside his system? What are the Alephs - are they as safe as we wish to believe? In attempting to answer these questions, let's first take a look back at a brief history surrounding these mysterious gateways:

• August, 2125: The first Aleph is discovered by a military scout ship. The ship inadvertently stumbles into the wormhole and ends up in orbit around a fiery, molten world nicknamed “Hades”.
• January, 2130: Rival corporate security forces mass near the Aleph, turning it into an armed camp.
• December, 2131: GigaCorp scouts discover He³ on the other side of the Aleph.
• January, 2132: GigaCorp forces launch a crippling attack on military positions near the Aleph, capturing it.
• March, 2132: Coalition forces move in and seize the Aleph in a surprise attack.
• 2135: Most corporations and governments launch missions through the Aleph, with Coalition supervision.
• January, 2139: Scientists launch scout craft at near-light speeds beyond the boundaries of the solar system, discovering that there are, in fact, a number of Aleph routes.
• December, 2139: Scientists determine that duplicating the Aleph jump is not possible except for short-range, short-duration hops. This technology (called “ripcording”) is incorporated into most spacecraft as a safety measure.
• December, 2141: Virtually every faction has launched missions through the Aleph. Small mining facilities begin refining He³ in several star systems.

Of course, much has transpired concerning the Alephs since. Strategically used in daily battles between the factions, mankind threatens to take these portals for granted, their scientific mysteries overshadowed by the immediate realities of war. Aside from crossing sectors, many pilots only know of Aleph technology when ripcording home.

However, with the arrival of the Rixian Unity, new research is being conducted on the Alephs. Until actual corroboration takes place (which must include independent research to take place in the Rixians' home sector of space), everything reported by the Rixian Unity and its human defectors is strictly hearsay. Yet - the implications behind their reports are incredible.

Issa's Arm, one of the human defectors, had this to say:

“According to the Rixian Code - a combination of religious, scientific and historical contexts - the Unity discovered the first Aleph in their system approximately 10,000 years ago. At the time, the first Rixians who entered the Aleph emerged “changed”. Evolved, in a sense, beyond what their race's best scientists had even thought possible.

“Afterwards, it was discovered that not all Rixians who used the Alephs would evolve. No discernable factors could be determined as to why this only occurred for some of the Rixians. Those who did not evolve, who in a sense “remained behind”, felt it their duty to educate all others species of the chance for spiritual enlightenment - through the use of the Alephs as well as adherence to the Rixian Code.”

When the Rixian Unity first arrived and knowledge of their culture was learned about, many believed that evolved Rixians had created the Alephs. And yet, these special beings only evolved via the Alephs, meaning the portals were already there. Contrary to what some believe, then, the Rixians were never ultimately responsible for the Alephs. Which then naturally leads to the question - who is?

Dr. Daniel Grossberg, an independent researcher at the Luna Institute of Technology, believes:

“. . .the Alephs represent a natural progression in the Universe, directly based upon experience surrounding them. Lesser species, without space technology, obviously have zero knowledge of, much less use for, the Alephs. Mankind, with its limited space technologies, has gone so far as to discover them as well as to make use of them for transportation purposes. The Rixians, spacefarers long before man, have not only traveled via the Alephs but, in some reported cases, have been able to advance themselves as a species through them.

“The conclusion can only be thus: that the Alephs are a tool. The more contact and experience with this tool a species has, the more the tool has to offer them. So, we can say, whoever invented this tool must be a life, or energy, form even more advanced than anything we have seen so far. So advanced that they have created a tool that works only in proportion to the need and fundamental knowledge of the species using it. Whoever these ‘tool-makers’ are . . . we can only wonder what else they have enabled the Alephs to do; and, what other tools they have scattered throughout the universe for others to find.”