The faint rays of light coming from the sun roused the miniscule probe from an ancient sleep. After thousands of years in stasis, ancient lines of code flashed into action. Although the ones who created it had long ago withered to dust, the drone began its long awaited task as though it were just given.

Desperately low on power, the probe checked how efficient the sails would be if deployed. The photons peppering the surface of the ship had risen from an occasional blip to a rhythmic beat. Once it reached a predetermined tempo, the probe triggered the deceleration procedure.

The incoming photons allowed the almost microscopic machine to begin running startup diagnostics. Using the minute amount of power the solar panels coating its surface could produce, it began charging the onboard batteries and verify the integrity of stored data. Simultaneously, the device initiated the active-braking system.

The compact shell surrounding the probe began an automatic deployment of the energy collectors. Acting as both brake and fuel scoop, the solar cells covering the ships surface began to unfold like a petal. The intricate origami allowed the small plates to unfold into a massive photovoltaic net hundreds of times wider across than they began.

The composite solar sail made micro adjustments as the craft approached the star. As the ship shot through the interstellar void, even the smallest adjustment translated into a course change in the range of millions of kilometers. Using advanced algorithms, the onboard quantum computer calculated the adjustments needed at rates scientists once thought impossible.

The sail also acted as a camera, providing a high-resolution images of the solar neighborhood. A series of planets and two asteroid belts came into view. The onboard computer began using the information to calculate the chances of each solar body possessing life.

As the probe careened into the system and past the outermost planet, the resistance from the solar winds began providing a noticeable slowing effect. The molecule-thin sail flexed at close to the theoretical maximum force it could sustain. Micro vibrations began threatening the structural stability until the material reached a point where it could self-dampen and provide additional heat energy.

The heat produced by the friction of slowing was deflected like an afterburner. The ship used the angular momentum to correct course as it entered the systems gravity well. The closer to the center the probe approached, the more pressure the solar winds provided and the more efficient the sail became.

By the time the probe passed the second planet in the system it had enough energy to begin surveying the area. It began looking for somewhere to land and begin work. The survey returned a detailed map of mass in the system. The onboard computing made several calculations to determine which potential home was ideal as it continued slowing down.

Going from ten percent the speed of light to less than one percent of one percent was a brutal ordeal. For close to one hundred hours by the onboard timer the pressure was high enough to threaten the structural stability of the ship. It took another hundred hours to slow enough to allow the computer to engage the higher demand functions without melting the ship.

But in that time the probe was able to take a detailed inventory of the system. In addition to the two planets it had already passed there were an additional five bodies. Most were ineligible for potential life but the system studied and documented them with equal care.

Two small, rocky planets hugged the interior of the system. They sat just shy of a billion kilometers from the sun. The gravity of the white giant warped the celestial orbs into massive eggs. Their tidally locked surfaces blisteringly hot on one side and bitterly cold on the other.

Two more planets sat on either side of an asteroid belt, circling it in an intricate double helix. Each was a gas giant caught in the belts gravity like leftover moons. The two gas giants acted like a blender, shredding everything between them as they danced around the asteroid belt.  

The final planet sat between the asteroids and the tidally locked pair. It was rich in nitrogen, oxygen, methane and liquid water. Several captured asteroids hung above the planet like tiny moons. Some were massive and hung almost motionless while smaller ones zipped and zoomed around the planet every few hours. Together, they provided enough stability to offset the tidal swells associated with the gas giants.

This provided enough stability for humanity to live and even thrive. The gravity was slightly higher than that of Earth due to having more mass but not by much. As the probe did its calculations, it became evident that the probe had found an ideal spot for colonization. One final round of checks ensured that the initial reports were correct.

The ship flexed the solar sail to direct itself towards the massive moist rock. But it didn’t plan to land on the surface of the planet. Instead it fell towards one of the small asteroids dangling precariously above the world. Large enough to house a forward operating base and close enough to the planet to have breathable air, the asteroid/micro moon was perfect.

To top it all off, the asteroid sat in a LaGrange point. The forces of the universe combined to ensure that the outpost would hover safely above the planet for centuries. A key selling point was the fact that the probe wouldn’t have to create a atmosphere although it did have to prepare for intense weather fluctuations.

As the probe made its final approach it retracted the solar sails and prepared for touchdown. The ship flattened itself on approach, increasing its surface area without risking damage to the solar collectors. The additional drag created as the probe slammed into the upper atmosphere slowed it enough to avoid vaporizing on reentry.

A high-pitched screech began to swell around the probe as it entered upper levels of the atmosphere. It tracked it’s flight-path as is screeched to the surface. The resistance swelled as the air thickened around the probe as the asteroid peaked into view over the horizon.

The dark blotch swelled before the ship as it approached the island in the sky. The wail of air compressing around the ship came to a sudden and gentle end. The impact was muted as the soft soil compressed. Although solid, the ground near the impact rippled in the same way a raindrop falling on a perfectly still pond does.

The impact also marked the end of a journey. A journey inspired by a dream, lasting longer than any lifetime, spanning the infinite void of space finally culminated in a triumphant but almost imperceptible thud. The jettison of dust thrown up from the impact rose hundreds of times taller than the vessel itself.

The surface of the asteroid was baked dry over the billions of years it had bathed in solar and planetary radiation. But just below the surface was enough water for the probe to begin the painstaking process ahead. Using the energy stored up to this point, the ship deployed the sails once again.

Petals of photovoltaic cells unfolded in a perfect display of seamless design. The photons from the nearby star began flooding in. Where once there was a peppering, the collectors found themselves in a photon deluge. Sunlight flooded the collector and the probe rearranged itself into a new configuration.

When the sail was fully deployed, all systems activated. The probe finished unfolding itself on the desolate surface and began gathering the material for its next phase. It started with the debris falling back onto it from the impact. Besides being extremely local, it ensured the solar energy continued to pour in.

Once the probe finished with the debris on the sails, it moved on to the nearby topography. The asteroid was rich in iron, boron and neodymium and other elements. Using atmospheric condensers, the probe could easily produce water if more was needed. The probe began by using the onboard printer to begin manufacturing a bigger printer.  

The going was slow but the probe didn’t mind. It had waited so long to begin that it was a pleasure to be doing something. As it processed the raw materials coming in, it began the long process of building. Beginning with basic tools and containers, the system began replicating the equipment stored in its memory.

As the ship built, it slowly improved its own capabilities. Initially by creating larger collectors and later by increasing its processing power. As the power and processing increased, it also allowed for faster expansion. It didn’t take long for the micrometer-long probe to build a kilometer long facility.

As the facility took shape, it gained new abilities. Buildings seemed to grow from nothing as swarms of drones whisked fresh materials to it like so many bees building a nest. Only these bees were built of aluminum and propelled by jets of compressed hydrogen instead of wings.

Just like bees, they expanded the colony according to ingrained programming. Following simple rules covering a wide range of possibilities, a habitat capable of supporting human life slowly grew out of the landscape. Once the habitat was complete, the probe knew it was time to contact home.

A giant radio telescope crowned the silent jewel of a city in the sky. The probe directed it at the dark void it had come from. The thick atmosphere of the planet hid the point of light the telescope was pointed at. The lifeless complex swelled with activity as automatons rushed about, given purpose and directed by the probe.

It would take several years for the signal to reach home. A blip of energy rushed across the universe at the speed of light, designed to alert humanity of their new home. The signal surged unerringly towards the tiny blue planet that had launched the probe so many eons ago. When it reached the planet, it bathed the world in its promise for the future.

But the signal initially fell on deaf ears. The original machines designed to hear the signal had long since dissolved into nothingness. The fleshy creatures that designed them nothing more than shadows burned into walls of caves.

But something was listening. Spurred into action by the signal, another station constructed atop an asteroid fired its maneuvering thrusters. Once lined up, it fired a return signal. In addition to simply responding, the signal contained the DNA of billions of humans. When the return signal finally reached the probe it began to fulfill its final purpose of giving humanity another chance.