[ IP ] The reason we have n't heard from aliens .

Our echoes reverberated throughout the cosmos. It was dark, it was quiet, and we were alone. Like someone stranded in a foreign place, the first moments of realization were fraught with panic and we stupidly screamed into the night, begging for help and companionship. 
 
 As the shouts fled into the darkness and no replies came, we realized that this dark place in which we had been thrust was not a safe one. And our voices could be traced back to our home. 
 
 So we left. 
 
 Fleeing the world that had kept us safe and warm for millenia was not an easy decision. Some wanted to stay. And so they did, and they continued to spew their words and sounds into the darkness. For the multitudes that left, the beacon that was Earth provided a welcome distraction. 
 
 And now we sail the gulf, silent and swift; between the carrion worlds that have been ravaged by the lions and tigers and bears that lurk the void. And we endure the screams and pleas of our brethren that remained on Earth, their eradication echoing across the deep. And we glide past the fledgling worlds that brazenly declare their presence to all of the dark things, unknowing. Often we warn them of their folly, and often are we driven away. 
 
 Often, as we sail away, we hear their screams, too
