The Wreed lifespan is so short that, by the time they reached Earth, their children would have been dead. To Hollus, abortion is not a moral quandary because with infallible birth-control methods no woman should ever have an unplanned, or unwanted pregnancy. Contrast Tom's decision-making process with that of the Richard Dreyfuss Character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind . Tom Jericho seems to waver in his scientific convictions as he faces his own mortality. Contrast Jericho's feelings with those of the renowned atheist scientist Carl Sagan, who publicly maintained his rationalism until his death.
Sawyer predicts that the corporeal lifespan of a technological race is very short.
Inside a computer you never have to age, fall ill, or become senile.