"Perhaps the probability of a Gaia organism developing true self-awareness is only one in a billion, or even lower..."
"For an advanced interstellar civilization, the Galactic Core is their primary theater of activity. No advanced species would willingly idle around this desolate, remote planet just to wait on a one-in-a-billion chance!"
"So, they simply dropped an automated probe and moved on across the galaxy... surveying the next candidate system."
Jason drew several vectors on the screen and keyed in notes, outlining the overarching logic of the event.
"Thirty thousand years is a massive span of time, even for an interstellar civilization. We can reasonably assume that fleet has already journeyed to a distant sector... Though, of course, we cannot rule out the possibility of an outpost or a detachment operating somewhere nearby..."
"I remember now!"
