ALL VOLUNTEERS
Planet HB22147-C, Standard Orbit
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
Stardate 2358.51.7 - 07:58 hrs
Holographic displays and scrolling graphics on the transparent monitor constituted complete information overload to anyone in the room who didn't have a lucid, computer-like intellect. Such little difference it made, though, since those not technically savvy enough to understand the displays were not required to understand it anyway. Everyone knew this was a scientific briefing, so the unofficial protocols of a Federation starship prompted a seating arrangement to reflect this reality: the UESPA planetology team--all of them civilians and all but two of them actually graduate students--dominated most of the first row, while the cartography and astrophysics sections dominated the remainder of this and the second row. The entire left flank of the room consisted of a cluster of communications officers with Lieutenant Uhura as center of gravity, with Ensign Sulu on the opposite wing, holding court with a score of sharply dressed navigators and shuttle pilots. The assorted rifraff down the middle had no particular arrangements, since they were he least relevant to this briefing; a half dozen security officers and phaser room specialists, a few curious junior engineers, a token representative from the Starfleet Press Corps, and Doctor McCoy--in the geometric center of the auditorium--acting as the sole representative of the medical department.
The senior most officers held court near the front of the room, facing all others, in a position to either conduct part of the briefing themselves or prompt input from the "audience" of officers gathered around. These eight men and women represented the operating nucleus of this particular mission, and these all orbited around the personal authority of Captan James T. Kirk. "Everyone take your seats," the Captain announced, for the benefit of the three or four people still standing at the moment. The graphics in the holoscreen froze for a moment, snapping back to the beginning of the pre-arranged presentation programmed by Spock and Marcus for the occasion. "This briefing is primarily for the science teams and the communications sections. Tactical Section department heads, you should be taking notes too."
"Excuse me, Captain," Ensign Sulu spoke up from his territory of the briefing room, "First question, on notes. Is there any reason to expect combat action resulting from this survey?"
"Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"
One of the shuttle pilots, two seats behind and to the right of Sulu, spoke up, "I'm wondering if we'll be doing anymore dustoff-type missions. That terrain looks pretty hostile up close."
"Hold your questions for now. This is... well, it's a complicated situation."
"I'll say..." Muttered McCoy, loud enough to be heard but quiet enough not to rate serious recognition.
Kirk handed over the podium to the ship's Chief Irritant, the one member of the UESPA team anointed with the title "Doctor" Carolyn Marcus, who took her place as if the entire universe had been waiting for her to speak. "Good morning, everyone, thank you for your patience," she began in that infuriatingly smug manner of hers, as if the meeting could finally begin for real now that she it was her turn to speak, "First a little background to set the stage. As most of you are no doubt aware, the planet below was identified by the USS Constellation during its colonization study. This one is noteworthy for being unknown to Federation telescopes until very recently, which is unusual considering its proximity to the Vulcan system." The first of several images appeared on the twin holoscreens, orthographic views of the Constellation on the left and the first orbital visuals of the planet on the right. From his seat near the front of the room, Captain Kirk noted with satisfaction that both images looked deceptively familiar; Constellation because it resembled an older and somewhat smaller version of the Enterprise, and the planet because even at a glance its shorelines and color patterns were nearly identical to those of Earth. Captain Decker had since been ordered elsewhere to resume his survey route, but the planet--and the mysteries it held--remained for the Enterprise.
"As you can see," Marcus went on, "Constellation's initial observations raised eyebrows throughout the Federation. Apart from the visual evidence here," the left screen changed to a sensor readout, a pair of spectral analysis charts of the planet's atmosphere and lithosphere respectively, "early scans confirmed an atmosphere with ninety five percent commonality to that of Earth, with a crust and mantle structure of ninety nine percent commonality. It has nearly identical mass and dimensions as Earth, though a somewhat higher density in the upper core. The main differences are the planet's orbital characteristics: it completes one orbit in three hundred and two days, although its rotational period is no more than ten seconds slower than that of Earth."
Here Marcus paused, a silent cue for Commander Spock to pick up the pace on behalf of his own department that did was responsible for Enterprise' first assessments on the scene. For the sake of expedience, Spock omitted the parts of his report that confirmed Constellation' findings and skipped to the parts that Enterprise had found for itself since arriving here six weeks ago. "Constellation's initial scans identified various signs of civilization on the surface, including scattered but indeterminate life signs. Our first task on the scene was to evaluate type, intelligence and sophistication of the inhabitants of the planet. Not knowing what to expect, we began with an assumption that the population may also have been a copy in some way of Earth inhabitants and attempted contact on that basis. The results..." the right screen changed to a set of aerial photographs, changing in five second intervals, apparently showing every major city on Earth, "...were quite fascinating." A choice of words that reflected the fact that every one of these photographs showed a major Terran population center lying in ruins, its buildings either imploded or knocked on their sides, bridges collapsed, roads and lots overgrown with wild vegetation no one had bothered to tame in generations.
"Our first assessment showed the cities to have been abandoned for approximately three centuries," Spock went on, "based on the rate of growth of the vegetation and the pattern of decay in the surviving structures. This estimate was confirmed by the technological remnants within the cities, consistent with roughly mid 20th century Earth development. As for the reason for abandonment, early hypothesis included some type of planetwide cataclysm, likely a viral infection or bacteriological contaminant. The lack of widespread devastation ruled out nuclear holocaust or other similar scenarios--"
"Pardon me for interrupting your bill of goods, Mister Spock," Doctor McCoy snarled from his perch in the center of the room, strategically placed, it turned out, since at this moment he was speaking for almost the entire crew, "But aren't we missing the big picture here? Anything could've destroyed the population of the planet, but we still don't have a clue what created it in the first place!"
Doctor Marcus answered gently, "On what basis do you assume this planet was created, doctor?"
"You don't have to be a Vulcan to see that's the only logical explanation! What are the odds that another M-Class planet exactly like Earth would just happen to pop up in a totally alien solar system all by itself? And besides, last week the geological team found that both of the moons have a different composition from Luna, which means they didn't form from a primordial impact against this planet. That means we've got two identical planets with two completely different histories. So, again, what are the odds?"
"Probability is not causation, Doctor," Spock chided, though at the same time conceding, "Although your statement is logically valid. There is no natural phenomenon that could explain the existence of this planet, similarities and all. Hence our second hypothesis as to the calamity that devastated its population: that which created this planet in its present condition may also have precipitated its demise."
This seemed to take Doctor Marcus by surprise, though not--apparently--because her theory was any different. Actually, Kirk thought she seemed gratified that another expert on the ship had also come to that same conclusion. "In the end," Marcus took over, "This may lead us to a clue as to who or what created this world, and for what purpose. The possibilities are endless, as are the mysteries. But not to get distracted..."
"Indeed." Spock moved to the next set of slides, replacing both screens neatly. This one showed a life-energy astral pattern superimposed over an orbital photograph of the devastated Gaza Strip. "Global surveys of all local population centers found the destruction was not entirely uniform. As expected, certain areas apparently weathered the cataclysm better than others, and this lead to the discovery of pockets of survivors in isolated areas. This initially lead to a support of the viral hypothesis, since the surviving populations were in areas that--as of 1990s Earth--were economically and industrially under-developed and lacked regular connection to the outside world. Our most promising areas included the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in North America, the Gaza Strip under Israeli occupation, rural areas in Indochina and the Malay Archipelago, Cuba, Haiti, and certain African regions undergoing civil war. The pattern in these regions was for less ubiquitous destruction of population centers, however..." and Spock almost cringed at the thought, "... the survivors demonstrated a marked regression towards animalistic behaviors. Primitive social skills, little or no linguistic capacity, extremely limited intelligence and an elevated aggressive response. Physical abnormalities in these populations were common, but phenotypically consistent, suggesting an evolutionary mutation into a type of bipedal apex predator." The two slides changed now to orthographic views of two such specimens. The first, showed a tricorder scan of a scronny, clearly malnourished and totally nude male with shaggy overgrown body hair, the quintessential "cave man" of anthropological lore. The second, though, was a curiosity: only vaguely human, entirely hairless, with brown and grey spotted skin; its head was a flattened brick that housed a pair of small beady eyes and one gigantic nostril, smashed into a meaty torso between two beach-ball-sized shoulders at the base of huge powerful arms that ended in a set of disproportionately long fingers.
No one but Doctor Marcus and a handful of Spock's science teams had even seen this image. It sent waves through the audience, and set the security men stirring. The communications sections breathed a collective sigh of disappointment, since there was no indication that such a monster would have any desire to communicate with them.
Mister Scott made his first contribution from behind the Captain's seat, "That beastie's not from any Earth I'd remember!"
"Quite right, Mister Scott," Spock said, "This, then, leads to the current state of our investigation. A thorough search of the remaining population centers shows only Gaza, the Congo Region and mountainous inland of Cuba and Haiti are still populated, in this case only by the two creatures you see here, with the latter in far greater numbers and appearing to dominate the former."
One of the communications officers--a dark-haired Orion woman who until now had been taking extremely thorough notes on a palmcomp--asked, "Is there any evidence that sapient life forms did exist here? I mean, for all we know this planet was created as a hunting ground for some kind of carnivorous creatures."
Spock raised a brow, "A curious question, considering the existence of the ruins cannot be explained by anything other than sapient life forms..."
"I think Ensign Ayala is referring to indigenous life forms," Lieutenant Uhura added, "I mean... well... to the extent that any organism here could be considered indigenous."
"I understand." Spock folded his arms and thought it over, "In the six weeks we have been exploring this planet we have seen indications that some type of civilization did exist here as early as three hundred years ago. Admittedly this evidence is largely circumstantial, based on carbon dating of the ruins and the variation of ages of construction..."
"That doesn't mean anything," Lieutenant Sulu said, "For all we know, this could be some kind of gigantic ant farm."
Spock stood up straighter, "I'm unfamiliar with that field of agriculture, Ensign."
"It's... uh... sort of an aquarium, Sir. Usually two flat panes of glass with sand between them... and they have... well, not real, but little plastic farmhouses for the ants..."
"The point is," Kirk rescued Sulu from his own stumbling, "The signs of civilization may have been placed here for the amusement of those predators. Like a castle in an aquarium or something like that."
Spock frowned, "That would seem to be a highly illogical use of time and energy, constructing the facade of an entire civilization simply for the... amusement... of primitive carnivores."
Doctor Marcus shared his frustration, but not his conclusion. "Until we know something about the intelligence that created this planet, we can't really assume anything. For all we know, it's a cosmic practical joke."
Doctor McCoy snorted, "Somebody out there's a got a hell of a sense of humor."
"In either case, that does not explain the presence of the caveman organisms," Spock said, "Or their relationship with the larger organisms, what the away teams have begun to call the Reavers."
"What relationship?" Kirk asked. This was news to him.
"They are genetically similar in most respects, in fact more similar to each other than humans are to chimpanzees. Furthermore, they are locally coincident and belong to the same social groupings."
Kirk stood up slowly, "Then the Reavers aren't hunting the cave men?"
"Based on observed behavior," Spock confirmed, "They seem to view one another as the same species, though the cavemen demonstrate a remarkably sedentary lifestyle. For confirmation we are still awaiting direct or indirect evidence of interbreeding between the two phenotypes. There is also Ensign Chekov's theory that the difference may simply be a matter of sexual dimorphism."
Doctor Marcus turned an accusing eye towards Chekov, sitting quietly behind Sulu, trying not to be noticed. "You think the Reavers are the female of the species, Ensign?"
"Uh... um... yes, Ma'am."
"Based on what?"
Chekov shrugged, "In my experience, Doctor, the female of most predator species tend to be larger and more aggressive."
Spock raised a brow, "That would seem to suggest genetic tampering with this species, whatever their original form. The mutation may depend on the influence of a Y-chromosome."
"Or a passive X-chromosome that became dominant somehow," McCoy said, "In some isolated populations, certain suppressed traits have a tendency to resurface. If those traits have an evolutionary advantage, they can actually overwhelm the dominant gene."
"Gentlemen," Kirk stood up, feeling the briefing beginning to derail, "This is all fine speculation, but what we lack here is information. There are a few basic questions we're still no closer to answering."
"Indeed," Spock nodded, "The question of who manufactured this planet, and why."
"Most importantly, how," Marcus said, "at least, that's what the Federation Council wants to know. Needless to say, the ability to construct entire planets to a specific design is far beyond Federation technology."
"For now, though," Kirk said, "we need to narrow down our priorities, solve one or two problems at a time. This planet has enough mysteries to occupy Starfleet for generations, but they didn't send us here to solve all of them."
Spock nodded, "In fact, the specific priorities of our mission include an examination of whatever intelligence might remain on this planet, as well as a search for the intelligence responsible for its creation."
McCoy snarled from his spot in the center of the action, "And how do you propose we do that? Go down there and start asking the locals?"
Spock stared at McCoy, then almost as an afterthought back at Kirk, "I propose we should do exactly that, Captain."
"They don't seem very talkative to me, Spock."
"No, Sir, they don't. However," and he raised his voice to make sure the rest of the department heads could hear, "on the assumption that some remnant of intelligent life may still exist on this planet, it should be our priority to identify and preserve such intelligence for any clues as to the history of this world and its origins. A living specimen would be ideal, of course, but written or digital records would also be of value."
Kirk nodded, though he sensed something in Spock's voice that told him there was probably an away mission and a considerable amount of danger in the works some time in the next twenty four hours. "What's your plan, Spock?"
The Vulcan simply nodded, as if confirming that Kirk had guessed his intentions correctly. "Flyby scans of the Gaza Strip area show a relatively large population density of the caveman-type organisms co-mingling with a smaller group of active reavers..."
"All males, Sir," Chekov added, still partially hiding behind Sulu, "I checked the readings myself. No females of the caveman wariety."
"... which, if Chekov is correct, may indicate disproportionality in that particular population. If the changes are the result of viral influence or mass mutation, a pre-cataclysm population may still exist there."
Kirk scratched his chin, "I dunno, Spock, Gaza was a pretty rough place in the 1990s... in fact wasn't it known for having an extremely high population density?"
"In fact, it was known for having one of the highest population densities on the planet, coupled with perpetual guerilla combat against neighboring partisans and a proliferation of militant ideology. It is my belief that the high population density, coupled with the presence of armed reactionary elements and the availability of firearms may have delayed whatever fate consumed the rest of this world."
"That's a hell of a belief, Spock... almost a leap of faith."
Spock raised a brow, "Faith is illogical, Captain... however, in this case, it may be all we have left."
"I see." Kirk turned to the department heads gathered in the room, and as he did, saw the looks of dread spread across their faces, "I know how you all feel... I won't order anyone to go, but I will ask for volunteers. First team to find what we're looking for might just earn themselves a nice fat promotion."
The looks of dread faded a bit as various officers weighed the the risk of dismemberment by reavers--or having their heads bashed in by snarling ape-men--against the possibility of a jump in rank. The senior officers recognized this as an invitation to pass the offer on to the ambitious upstarts in their own departments, while the junior officers--including Chekov and Sulu--mulled it quietly in their own heads.
"All qualified volunteers should report to the Engineering Ready Room at eighteen hundred hours tomorrow," Spock announced, "Be advised, this will be a prolonged away mission deep in the heart of potentially hostile territory. A degree of danger is to be expected."
This is terrific stuff, and the level of detail with which you imbue your writing captures the imagination.
And welcome to the Fanfic board.
I’ll be interested to see if Spock and McCoy will conspire in some fashion to bolster Kirk’s reputation with the denizens of the lower decks.
