"To the heirs I shall never know: an unknown species, far away in the future, I hereby bequeath the knowledge and history of a doomed world."
Yes, that is all that remains to be said. A fitting statement to introduce the contents of this time capsule. I shall encode it as my final contribution. There is just enuf room in the last spindle.
It is done. Now I a shall seal the outer shell. It remains only to tilt the capsule onto the carrier, and prepare for its launch.
Aha! There he is, that pompous egotist. That decrepit old mud-sucker who dwells within the ring of volcanoes. I knew he would chose this valley, even before my spies confirmed that he had hauled his silly contraption all the way thru the tunnel.
We arrived just in time. He seems to be sealing up the capsule. Good. Now he cannot stop us without also foiling his own plans to send that idiotic thing.
I must admit, it is an impressive vehicle. And the guidance is more elaborate than any we could have devised. His machine appears to have the strength to survive the journey, as well as the accuracy to arrive at the right place and time. All we have to do is piggy-bak our payload onto his; there is sufficient of room inside.
His kind is more dexterous than ours, even tho they have neither the traits nor the will to survive. (Nor the right.)
Our glorious mission will ride to the future, along with his stupid cyinders. When the trigger releases his useless records, our machines will activate as well, and we shall then achieve true immortatlity. That day shall come, and on it the heavens shall descend to conjoin with the world, as heaven and earth finally become one.
Good. He is retreating from his device and preparing to launch. Now, I need only give the command and send our troops on their way. I have just enuf time to address them and prepare them for their sacrifice.
"Soldiers:
Your moment of glory has arrived.
The four of you have been well-prepared for this
There is no way to know what sort of creatures will receive this gift. I must wait for the timer. There are a few moments left for thought, before I can take the final step.
Many, many eons will pass -- probably more time than it takes for light to travel between the farthest stars -- but someday, this vessel shall find a place where conditions are right and and its capsule shall reach another sentient life form that will be able to extract and decode the data within. First, the vessel will reach a place where conditions are right for intelligent life to arise. Then, it will lay dormant until there is evidence that some species has achieved a sufficient level of technology to make use of the information. When the signs are detected (vibrations that indicate rapid travel, synthesis of important chemical compounds, fission or fusion to escape dependence on fossil fuels and magma, and so forth)
If it survives the passage and all goes well, then st least the history of my species will be known. Beyond that, the lessons and knowledge herein may help some new creatures survive the dangers of a harsh universe, live more productively, and shape a better future for their descendants -- with these gifts from a race that shall have none. If so, then that will constitute the immortality of a doomed species on a dying world.
In the shelter, I am protected from the inferno but I can feel the mounting vibrations as I watch the fires erupt and seemingly consume the vessel.
Suddenly, from above, there is movement. Borne by a device that hovers above the vessel, there is a party of four others carrying something that appears to be another capsule. They are lowering it inside, just as the hull is closing itself!
Fools! They will be burned alive. They cannot escape. It is ghastly. The flames that engulf the vessel are reaching up and now the others seem to be expanding and, at the same time, turning into black smoke, which thins out and drifts away in all directions from where they had been only a moment before. My own stomach seems ready to explode, as well.
With a devastating final rumble more felt than heard, more sensed than felt, the vessel, with both payloads within, disappeared completely from view in the smoke and fire, and began together their long journey that was intended for the one.
Damn them! This horrible act was obviously committed by "The Survivors". Damn their hides! They may have jeopardized everything with their foolish vanity. They had no right!"
They laked the will and the skill to build their own launcher, so instead they have attached their evil mechanisms onto my capsule. I should have heeded the warnings, but I never thought they would do something as overt this. And those poor soldiers! How do they manage to convince their recruits to throw away their lives? And in such a horrible way.
I might still be able stop them, but that would end my only chance to launch my own capsule. There is nothing to be done. If I stop the process, and remove the stowaway packet, then there would be no time to repeat the preparations and send my capsule alone.
After making some quick measurments and quickly repeating the calculations with a new value for mass, I realized -- with both happiness and sadness -- that the ++++++++++=
Damn their hides! They knew that. They knew I would do nothing to stop their foul +++. ( It is too late to change the future I shall never know. The die has been cast. etc. ) The capsule will go forth, with its information intact, but accompanied by the poisonous schemes of "The Survivors".
[+++ a lesson here: ] New knowledge carries with it both blessing and curse. There should be enuf knowledge in the capsule for my heirs to defeat the "Survivor" machines - if they can detect them in time - or at least to protect themselves. I just hope the recipients will be worthy and that their wisdom will allow them to reap the benefits while remaining wary of the dangers. It is well that, in addition to technology and science, the capsule also includes the history of our doomed world. I included it only to preserve our memory, but now it might help bolster the wisdom of our heirs and provide examples +++
There is nothing more. Nothing to do. My life's work is ended, just in time for me to prepare myself for the end of all life as we know it. I wait in peach, now, for my own end and the end of my world.
Shivering, nearly starving, he emerged from the end of the tunnel and spent his final hours working on mathematical proofs that would never be published.