 By following clues given in Interstel announcements and through contact with alien races in space , the crew discovers an Old Empire starship adrift in space . An endlessly repeating distress call has been transmitting from the ship for over a thousand years . Before the fall of the Old Empire , a scientific expedition known as the Noah 9 left Earth in search of Heaven , a paradise world to which humans could immigrate . The expedition never arrived , leaving a fleet of <unk> ships forever waiting for their arrival . Once their coded questions are answered correctly , the <unk> assume that the crew is , in fact , the long @-@ awaited Noah 9 . Further investigation leads the crew to Earth , the home world of the Old Empire . The planet lies in ruins and is devoid of all life , but contains information about the history of Old Empire and its fate . 
