The Mystery of Bacco

[Deranged Nasat]

A thought that recently occurred to me; as one of those happy serendipities of navigating in a shared universe, a detail in Watching the Clock takes on new significance given the events of The Fall. In the former, we learn that many who know of the temporal detection grid suspect that Bacco must have implemented the original plan, that she was one of the more likely candidates due to her charisma, and her leadership during what was arguably the Federation's most trying period - the Borg Invasion and its aftermath, the rise of the Typhon Pact, the secession of Andor. But given what happened in The Fall, it would now seem that there's another reason for her semi-mythic status uptime: no-one knows much about what she was thinking or doing behind the scenes in those troubled years. She never wrote her memoirs. She never appeared on episodes of Illuminating the City of Light in the years or decades following her terms in office, to explain her insights. She doesn't have years of post-presidency to mine for clues. She was there, the pin holding the Federation together for a handful of years that were almost certainly its most trying, and then she was gone. (Okay, she was alive for many decades before she became president, but that's of limited relevance to what she learned, became privy to and achieved while in office). She must be one of later history's most illusive figures. No wonder she attracts those investigating other mysteries.

I think that worked out pretty nicely.

 

[ryan123450]

Great point, Nasat. You are such a deep thinker. Almost everything you bring up I would have never pieced together on my own.

 

[Enterprise1701]

She must be one of later history's most illusive figures. No wonder she attracts those investigating other mysteries.

I think you mean *elusive* there, Nasat.

Woah. I never thought of that before. Cool insight.

 

[Christopher]

But given what happened in The Fall, it would now seem that there's another reason for her semi-mythic status uptime: no-one knows much about what she was thinking or doing behind the scenes in those troubled years. She never wrote her memoirs. She never appeared on episodes of Illuminating the City of Light in the years or decades following her terms in office, to explain her insights. She doesn't have years of post-presidency to mine for clues. She was there, the pin holding the Federation together for a handful of years that were almost certainly its most trying, and then she was gone. (Okay, she was alive for many decades before she became president, but that's of limited relevance to what she learned, became privy to and achieved while in office). She must be one of later history's most illusive figures. No wonder she attracts those investigating other mysteries.

Err... yeah. I meant to do that all along! Yeah, that's the ticket!

I think you mean *elusive* there, Nasat.

Yup. There is such a word as "illusive," but it's a synonym for "illusory," unreal. That throws a lot of people off. It helps to remember that "elusive" is related to "elude."

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I think you mean *elusive* there, Nasat.

Yup. There is such a word as "illusive," but it's a synonym for "illusory," unreal. That throws a lot of people off. It helps to remember that "elusive" is related to "elude."

I was, er, testing you all. Yes.

Well done, you both, er, passed the test...

(Seriously: D'oh! Thanks for the correction)

 

[SpaceCadetJuan]

I think you mean *elusive* there, Nasat.

Woah. I never thought of that before. Cool insight.

Heh. Love that you corrected "elusive" and then misspelled "whoa" in the very next sentence.

 

[rahullak]

But isn't "whoa" a sound (onomatopoeia??) and therefore is allowed to have multiple spellings?

 

[Sci]

I'm fairly certain there's no standardized spelling for "whoa."

I'm not entirely sure if I agree with the idea that Bacco would be seen as such a mystery by uptime historians. I mean, JFK was assassinated before he could complete his memoirs, but he's not seen as a giant historical question mark. Same thing for Lincoln. Add to this the fact that memoirs are often less about accurately recording one's decisions than about spinning them, and the fact that Bacco apparently regularly gave very frank press briefings (such as the one seen after the formation of the Typhon Pact in A Singular Destiny).

But mostly, I just don't think the idea that a Federation President could be responsible for the temporal detection grid is itself all that plausible. It would be extremely difficult to conceal such a thing from uptime historians, because a head of state's schedule is so extensively full and documented. It would be exceedingly difficult to develop the concept of a temporal detection grid without leaving any evidence for uptime historians to find, especially since presidents would naturally be heavily scrutinized.

 

[Enterprise1701]

But isn't "whoa" a sound (onomatopoeia??) and therefore is allowed to have multiple spellings?

I found a few sources which say that "whoa" is standard American, and "woah" is standard British. But as English has no regulatory body, take it with a grain of salt.

But mostly, I just don't think the idea that a Federation President could be responsible for the temporal detection grid is itself all that plausible. It would be extremely difficult to conceal such a thing from uptime historians, because a head of state's schedule is so extensively full and documented. It would be exceedingly difficult to develop the concept of a temporal detection grid without leaving any evidence for uptime historians to find, especially since presidents would naturally be heavily scrutinized.

Well, Min Zife and his crew came close with the Tezwa affair.

 

[Idran]

Well, Min Zife and his crew came close with the Tezwa affair.

Came close to concealing it in the present. Even if no one had discovered it now, I can't imagine that uptime historians wouldn't have found out. Especially if they did some in-person investigating.

 

[Sci]

Well, Min Zife and his crew came close with the Tezwa affair.

Came close to concealing it in the present. Even if no one had discovered it now, I can't imagine that uptime historians wouldn't have found out. Especially if they did some in-person investigating.

Exactly. I'm not saying that I find it hard to imagine a classified operation could be undertaken and kept secret from the public. I'm saying I find it hard to imagine that kind of secrecy about a head of state's actions at a particular moment in time in a democratic polity could be maintained over the course of several centuries.