Exeter Symposium (Part 11)

Posted on 04 Mar 2016 @ 8:37am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Duval & Nevedno Lož
Edited on on 04 Mar 2016 @ 8:39am

3,221 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: Jupiter Station - Deck 75, Auditorium 4
Timeline: MD 82 - 1450 hrs

Previously, on Exeter Symposium (Part 10)...

She stood once more, looking out to the crowd. "But I did not come here today to draw a line, or offer an answer, or even to spark a debate. I simply wanted to remind everyone here, that the question must be asked. And that the answer you find, might not be the one you expected." She stood for a moment there, silent. Nodding at the commander, she started towards the exit once more.

"A final question?" Wintrow had missed most of the symposium but he had wanted to hear his roommate speak. "What...if the child doesn't know any better? What if the child doesn't know that what is done is wrong and should be reported? If no-one tells the child it is wrong?"

Marika scanned the crowd nearby until her eyes fell on Wintrow's familiar face. She smiled to him warmly, her eyes reflecting her affection for him. "Exactly, sweet prince." It was obvious she understood all too well his question. Her eyes conveyed an understanding, her smile offering that, perhaps, this is what her talk had been all about. She opened her mouth to say more, but in a rare moment of wisdom, she opted not too and simply walked off.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

The loud mingling voices of the Exeter symposium permeated throughout the lunch room and into the surrounding hallways and corridors. The second recess was beginning to wrap up which meant all manner of Starfleet and civilian audiences were slowly making their way back to their seats and filing back into the large auditorium.

So far, Lirha had been very pleased with her crew's topics and presentation style. Each one of them had brought forth interesting and engaging matters for the scientific community, and she was excited to watch what the final five would contribute. The two tiny babies in her belly meant that she once again found herself at the food table, this time with a grilled cheese sandwich on her plate with a side of potato crisps.

The audible two-minute advisory sounded over the intercom, prompting her to mosey her way backstage and prepare for last segment of presentations.

Duval lifted his glass to his lips before finishing his drink. 'Time to go back to my seat.' he thought to himself before he turned and began making his way there.

Voices faded in from the door as the security personnel re entered the auditorium. "I understand why you wrote him a ticket for littering, but I don't think you actually had to lecture him....for ten minutes straight." Mack mentioned to Greg.

"He was five feet, FIVE, away from a garbage disposal. The least he could have done was use it. For crying out loud. Who the hell throws a banana peel on the floor anymore? What is this, Looney Toons?" Greg asked.

"You know the Commander is going to here about this." Mack stated.

"I really don't care at this point. We are leaving this station not long after this wraps up. Let's just get through the rest of the day." The gentlemen returned to their stations.


1450 hours; Loz, Nevedno; Presentation: Planetary Transplants (Transplanets)

This presentation was going to be one of many firsts for Nevedno. While getting settled down with the particulars of having this new family of his he had gone through the procedures required to isolate, identify, adjust, and suppress his pheromones and the phase of adjusting to the after effects was not going easily. He had skipped his dosages many times so that he could feel Ramuran again and though most of the antics that followed were harmless, there was still a part of him that felt he was messing with peoples' minds. Making them forget certain instances of meeting him. His transgressions had begun to grow farther between.

It was strange, these aliens knowing him. It was certainly a relief for his newborn daughter and the mother of his child, but the relief was bittersweet for him. It was just so odd to be remembered by those around him. Like he himself had almost forgotten what it was like to be remembered.

And now here he was, ready to make a presentation in front of a whole auditorium of people who would remember. In just a half hour's time his presence and utterances would leave the seed of memory that would be cultivated throughout the galaxy. Sure, the sproutlings would be small and far between, but this one moment would push him into the limelight of greater existence. Strange then, that his presentation had nothing to do with this pivotal moment or the nature of his being.

He wasn't the greatest of scientists, but when he applied himself he could certainly come up with daring ideas. With little more than an idea, a stack of calculations, and sporadic notations of here-says and incomplete investigations from other scientists he had managed to concoct an idea worthy of presentation.

Everyone was staring at him. Recording.

Here we go.

“Survival and preservation of our individual and collective peoples has been the center of all our civilizations' motives since time immemorial. It has taken precedence over all other motives whenever the continuation of our species has been threatened and it will continue to do so until the unforgiving hands of the universe finally strangle the life from us all.

“But as preservation of life becomes easier and easier, preservation of home becomes an afterthought. Planet threatened with destruction? Just pack your bags and move. With faster than light travel we have completely lost motivation to preserve the very places where we were created.

“But what if we didn't have warp? What if we knew, as we actually do know for many all of our systems, that the eventuality of their deaths is as inevitable as our own? Wouldn't we want to preserve our home at all costs? Well, given a bit of technology, a whole lot of collective patience, and an agonizingly long period of time, it is highly possible that species can, and probably have, preserved their homes far beyond the expected lifecycles of the systems that they occupied.

“There are many ideas that come to mind, but there is one that grabbed my attention and fascinated me more than all the others. It is simultaneously more simple from a technological perspective than the others yet at the same time much more complicated in terms of scope and time.

“We all know of the slingshot effect and the effects of gravity on just about every scale imaginable, but for the most part we barely use these effects to their fullest. Well, it is thought by some that at least one civilization could have used these effects to carry out a plan to save their planet on a scope that would have made the great physicist Rewenrian proud.

“There is a world located in a quiet part of space orbiting star SAO 44724 and despite orbiting a star not worthy of a name yet, the specific world in question is one of great potential. Located not long ago, it had two defining features that drew many scientists to its location.

“First, it was home to an advanced civilization at some point. When exactly they died off is a matter of contention, but it is fact that this civilization's existence ended long ago. Second, and arguably more important, is the fact that the planet exhibits none of the characteristics of the rest of the worlds in the system. Drastically different orbit. Different composition. It didn't take long for theories to be proposed.

“The most likely scenario is that this planet was actually a rogue planet at one point, one which was actually captured by the system it now occupies. So now one has to ask, how did a once occupied rogue planet just happen to be captured by another star system or even become rogue in the first place? The odds are just too astronomical. I will confess that there is always the randomness of the universe that could be the reason for just about any occurrence, but what I along with some other scientists believe increases the odds of such an event happening drastically.

“It was deliberate, a transplant brought about by literal eons of planning and effort. Though we cannot find what system the planet originated from we can say that this is most likely because the planet's original system fell victim to its star going super nova at some point. Dust in the wind. There are a few likely candidates for this planet's original coordinates, but nothing has been confirmed yet. All conjecture. But it all had to happen somehow. So let me lay one scenario for you.

“Ages ago there was a civilization much like many of ours orbiting a star with an obviously finite lifespan. It was calculated by these people that the star would go supernova and that, though it would happen way beyond perhaps even the scope of their civilization, plans needed to be made in the eventuality that they would be around when this catastrophic event happened.

“So time goes by. Technology progresses. Their sole goal becomes to save their planet from destruction. An overriding imperative to all other motivations. After all options are weighed there is only one that will guarantee their survival. They would have to leave their star system and, being that all creatures yearn for the homeworld, they would take the world with them.

“How? A planetary ejection system. Transplanting a planet from one star system to another. Silly sounding, of course, but actually quite simple. A well thought out series of slingshots curated over many millennia. Waiting. Adjusting. More waiting. Given even basic technology this can be achieved with time and since we are assuming this species was very patient I would like to think they would have waited for the right situation to present itself before making their move. So without further adieu, let me illustrate to you one possibility, one of the more interesting ones, in how this species could have moved their planet from one system to another without the use of far flung future tech or one in a trillion space anomalies.

“The chief needs of achieving the goal of moving a planet is a proper place to call home and the gravitational forces required to move such a massive object. The tools: a whole bunch of asteroids and a body much more massive than the home planet. With enough asteroids the escape could be timed according to the civilization's needs. More asteroids passing over a shorter period of time would speed up the process more than less asteroids and less frequent passes. Escape could be sped up by using another planet as a method of ejection as well, using another massive body to guide the planet outside of its system as another method of steering if needed. I would even like to think that they would have waited for a nearby star to come by and disturb their system's outer asteroid cloud, sending many asteroids there way with just slight changes of course. Send undesirable asteroids plummeting into other planets and keep the desired number of asteroids cruising by their world, transferring energy from a more massive planet to their own.

“With proper asteroid timing and guidance past the large planet the ejected world could be aimed for capture by the next nearest suitable system which would pass by many ages after launch. Many more millennia of waiting and then, to finally finish up the process, the planet is captured by its new home star. Perhaps it sheds a moon or two it carried with it along the way to help stabilize itself in the process. Would these have been deliberately constructed, or a price payed for saving their world, shedding some of it's original satellites?

“However they did it I find it most astounding, though in a tragic way, that they actually succeeded, though not quite as intended. Their civilization was preserved, kept intact for study by other civilizations, but they themselves died out long ago, most likely during their journey through the great space in between. The tragic fate of their race, how such a long lasting species could perish in the void after countless centuries and mellinnia of planning could fail in their survival, is probably the biggest mystery of all.

“But nonetheless we can learn from them. They were able to preserve their planet past its star system's death without needing a veritable act of God or as of yet undiscovered technologies to do so. Just carefully directed energy, precise planning, and unimaginable patience. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from them and with any luck with the help of Starfleet's archaeologists, scientists, and curious minds we will...

...

“So... so that's it I guess. Planet goes from one system to another.”

It was the end of the presentation. Now it was question time, but as his nervousness and self-doubt began to set in Nevedno started asking the questions to himself and answering them aloud. “Though I suppose it does stretch the imagination to think of an eons old species without warp travel. They're nowhere else in the galaxy after all. And a civilization to last that long? Well... Archaeologists will probably give us an answer at some point as to if the planet really is that old. Still... Or to actually conceive of the idea that they could die of poor planning?” He couldn't help but let out a stifled chuckle.

It was as though he was now presenting to himself. Everyone could hear him, but he was not addressing them. Then, he went silent. The blathering had gone on for... It didn't matter. He wanted to be forgotten, but he couldn't. In the mad world of ironies the one man who had been cursed with and finally cured of never ending obscurity now wanted nothing more than to disappear into the darkness behind him. It felt so unstructured. So chaotic. Did it even make any sense? Did he forget anything? He stood there, frozen, waiting for the moderator or, oh God, someone from the audience? All he could imagine was being ridiculed. 'At no point in your rambling, incoherent presentation were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought,' he could almost imagine someone saying.

“Oh, and uh, here are some animations.” The simulated animations he had forgotten to play during the presentation began running behind him. “Any questions,” he asked with a defeated sigh.

Allyndra now could sit in the audience and she listened to the presentation with interest. Her own world faced such a problem but it would not be as simple as moving the world.

She stood, "Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim, have there been indications of a civilization instead of moving a planet, rejuvenating their star instead? Could one draw off the spent fuel that leads to stellar death and infuse with new material to maintain a star?"

“An excellent question,” Nevedno replied with a smile. “You're suggesting that a civilization could not only preserve their home planet, but their whole star system? Spent fuel would not be of much use, but adding new fuel could help. The technologies needed for that would be increased slightly, probably only needing warp, but at that point with enough objects of mass you could theoretically divert a gas giant or brown dwarf in the direction of the aging star. This would probably require even more precise planning as you're essentially aiming very large objects at your own star system, but it could help.

“Unfortunately, this would not be indefinite though. Thousands or even millions of years of added age, sure, but the problem would then become the increasing levels of helium and other matter. After a time the star would simply become too massive to be sustained by adding hydrogen, at which point it would die.

“But fear not. That is what science is for! Just because we can't remove helium and other elements from a star now doesn't mean we can't at some point in the future. Again, this is a game of patience. I would like to think it highly likely that we could pull off such feats in the not so distant future.

“Oh, and uhh, to answer the other part,” he began to add sheepishly after his moment of excitement. “There hasn't been any evidence of this being done, either. But I would like to think this to be more indicative of how as societies progress they no longer as concerned with their homeworlds and not so much because it simply can't be done. Maybe no species has bothered to try it yet.”

Allyndra nodded. "Thank you, it is most thought provoking. An excellent presentation by the way." She sat down. How much longer the Twins had was still a way in the future. The fact that sometime in the past that the A'ksu had not managed to modify worlds enough for successful colonies was something that left a question. If Fold Ships could be done why had they failed or had they, perhaps they had just turned too quickly one on the other.

It was time to send assistants into the archives and begin to dig into the history of what was known and not. She made a mental noted to do just that.

"Thank you," Nevedno smiled with a gracious nod. Somehow he had not foreseen that the first question asked to him would actually have relieved his tension, but now here he was ready for more.

"Anyone else," he asked with only half-hope now that it would soon be over.

When no more questions came the unforgettable man breathed a heavy sigh of relief. It had gone better than expected, but there was still more cause to celebrate in the fact that he could get his feet off the stage than in actually making a decent presentation. He was finally free of his obligations for the time being. He moved off the stage to make way for the next presenter, no doubt someone who would assist in overshadowing his own presentation.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Min Nicholas
Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

PO2 Eva Mercy
Propulsion Specialist
USS Galileo
[PNPC Min Nicholas]

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Yeoman to Captain Holiday
USS Galileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Nevedno Loz
Science Technician
USS Galileo
PNPC played by Jynn

PO3 Veri
Surgical Nurse
USS Galileo
[NPCed By Gyce]

Lt. j.g. Naois Mercy
Counsellor
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
pnpc Tyrion

Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USSGalileo
as herself and some temp NPCS

Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

EMH Mk X-b
Emergency Medical Hologram
USS Galileo
[PNPC Holliday]

...and other assorted Galileans

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