Wick

Wick fell in love with star-births the very first time they saw one.

"I was so small," Wick likes to say, glow going soft with the memory. "I was drifting past this huge, cold, gray cloud — a nebula — and honestly, it looked like nothing. Just dust and gloom. I almost floated right past it." But something made Wick stop and wait. And wait. For a long, long time, nothing happened — the cloud just hung there, dark and quiet. "I nearly gave up," Wick admits. "I thought, this cloud is never going to do anything."

Then, deep in its heart, a single spark caught — pop! — and the whole dark cloud lit up from the inside, a brand-new star blazing to life. "I have never forgotten how that felt," Wick says. "That a thing so cold and dark and nothing-looking had a whole star waiting patiently inside it. From that day on, I knew my job: to float beside the quiet clouds, and wait, and watch for the spark. Because it always comes, if you're patient enough to stay."

Today, Wick hovered near just such a giant cloud — a wispy gray blanket glittering with specks of space dust. To anyone else it looked like a whole lot of nothing. But Wick knew better: this was a star nursery. A small sprite named Pip drifted up. "Whatcha watching, Wick? Looks empty."

"Not empty," Wick whispered, antennae wiggling. "A star is getting born in there. Watch that lump — see how it's pulling itself together? Almost ready."

Wick tapped the tracker — whirr-click — and a tiny screen lit up, showing the cloud shrinking fast. "Gravity's doing its job," Wick said, pulling out the first card: a big fluffy cloud. "Stage one — a cold gas cloud, a nebula. Gravity pulls it tighter and tighter, and it collapses, squishing in on itself." A second card showed the center glowing red. "The core gets hot from all that squishing — like rubbing your hands together fast." Wick rubbed two tiny gloved hands and a spark flew off. "They get warm, right? Well, the middle of that cloud gets millions of degrees." Wick's own glow brightened. This was the best part. The lump in the nebula pulsed; the tracker beeped loud. "Core temperature: ten million degrees!" chirped a tiny voice. "Hot enough to fuse hydrogen!" Wick breathed. "Time for the spark!" The lump shimmered — a tiny flash burst from its center — POP! — and it began to glow steadily. "YES!" Wick cheered, doing a happy spin, the chunky suit poofing. "Gas collapses; pressure builds; the spark lights! A protostar ignites — it becomes a main-sequence star!" Pip's mouth hung open. "It was in there the whole time?" "The whole time," Wick said. "Just waiting."