"Blue Shift" is a novelette that appears in Stephen Baxter's collection of linked stories anthology novel '' Vacuum Diagrams''. "Blue Shift" was originally published in ''

Writers of the Future Writers and Illustrators of the Future is a science fiction and fantasy story and art contest that was established by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 as Writers of the Future. A sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, was launched in 1988 and presen ...

'' volume 5 in 1989.

Plot summary

Set in A.D. 5406, the story begins on an

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

that has been occupied by the Qax, an

amorphous In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is a characteristic of a crystal. The terms "glass" and "glassy solid" are sometimes used synonymousl ...

lifeform that profits from information and technology trade, for four centuries. Jim Bolder, a space pilot on the run from creditors, accepts an assignment from the Qax through a human intermediary to determine just what the Xeelee are constructing at the center of the

local supercluster The Local Supercluster (LSC or LS), or Virgo Supercluster is a formerly defined supercluster containing the Virgo Cluster and Local Group, which itself contains the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, as well as others. At least 100 galaxy groups a ...

. Bolder is provided with a Xeelee nightfighter that can travel faster than light. As Bolder in the nightfighter approaches the

Great Attractor The Great Attractor is a region of gravitational attraction in intergalactic space and the apparent central gravitational point of the Laniakea Supercluster of galaxies that includes the Milky Way galaxy, as well as about 100,000 other galaxi ...

, he discovers the Xeelee are constructing a massive ring from its matter, which they intend to use to flee the universe itself. The gravity from the ring pulled galaxies from all over the universe, and their light is blue-shifted, hence the title. But the Qax will not allow this information to be released, intending to keep it—and a possible defense against the Xeelee—for their own profit. Bolder dodges the Qax and launches a "starbreaker" that will gradually cause the Qax homeworld's sun to go

nova A nova ( novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. All observed novae involve white ...

, requiring them to divert their resources from the occupation of Earth, liberating the planet.

References

1989 short stories Short stories by Stephen Baxter {{1980s-sf-story-stub