Chapter 610: SWAGs

Fleet Admiral Bianchi was the first to react. “What makes you say that?” he asked. He wasn’t surprised that they had found life—or rather, sentient life anyway; whether or not it was sapient was still in question. After all, liquid surface water was what made life possible in the first place, and if Proxima Centauri b had anything in spades, it was water.

(Ed note: Sentience and sapience aren’t exactly the same thing. Sentient beings are capable of experiencing sensations and, perhaps, emotions. Sapient beings are capable of higher orders of rational thought. For example, dogs are sentient beings; they can experience physical sensations and emotions, but aren’t capable of rational thinking. Humans, on the other hand, are sapient. We’re capable of thinking beyond our urges.)