Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  “Thank you, Captain. I’ll be joining you on the bridge within the hour,” said Trennor.

  The Captain gave a nod in confirmation. “Affirmative, Commander.”

  Commander Trennor then addressed the full crew complement, informing them of the Observatory’s successful passage through the IGT Station, and reiterating once again the unrivalled significance of the expedition on which they had embarked.

  The Observatory was now just six hours away from Andorayan Sanctuarium and would only initiate its deceleration sequence within a light minute’s distance of the planet. Throughout the spacecraft, the atmosphere was one of intense excitement. Every crew member was intrigued to see the splendour of the planet that had for so long eluded them.

  Stellar System 413: Planetary Surveillance Module

  During the Exploration Division’s previous visit to Andorayan Sanctuarium, a Strontarium-series Planetary Surveillance Module (PSM) had been hidden on the surface of the planet’s moon. Even though there was little or no risk of the module ever being found after it was deployed, Division protocol stipulated that it should be undetectable.

  Two-thirds of the module’s diameter was buried underground, while one-third remained exposed. The exposed surface was swathed in light-adaptation solar film, which generated power for the module and also mirrored the light reflection conditions of the surrounding land. The module was effectively invisible from view. Even from a short distance away, from any angle, it camouflaged itself by blending perfectly into its surrounding environment.

  This particular module was the largest of the Strontarium-series. Spherical in shape and 25 metres in diameter, the module contained storage space for over 100 000 years of constant data collection from its host planet. The module released one septillion (1x10^24) Data Collection Spherules (DCSs), each measuring one nanometre across and designed for indefinite use. They had the capability of atomic disassociation, whereby any DCS could fragment into its atomic components should they be at risk of detection, be damaged or malfunction. The dissociated DCSs would be immediately replaced from the module’s surplus store.

  One-third of the DCSs were scattered at varying altitudes throughout the planet’s atmosphere. The second-third were distributed across all of the planet’s land formations, including both continents and islands. The final-third were submerged in the planet’s oceans. Their purpose was to monitor the planet’s well-being and evolution by collecting innumerable data, such as: atmospheric composition; weather patterns; air, surface and water temperatures; sea level fluctuations; radiation levels; terrainquake and volcanic activity; species distribution and migration; species counts and behaviour; resource abundance and usage; and much more.

  All the information collected by the DCSs was transmitted back to the module via a sub-space frequency, where the data was stored indefinitely and also transmitted directly to the IGT Station via a more powerful sub-space frequency, which would be undetectable by anything other than a super-intelligent race.

  Due to the inoperability of the IGT Station, the information had been received by the station, but not relayed on to the Galactic Exploration Division’s Headquarters, as had been intended. The Exploration Council knew that data was being collected throughout their period of absence, but since it could not be retrieved, they remained frustratingly ignorant of the content.

  Stellar System 413: Observatory Spacecraft

  Once Commander Trennor was satisfied that all was in order after the hypershunt through the IGT Stations, he swiped the glide surface in front of him. This removed the chamber’s wall display and collapsed the hologram back into the orb. The Councillors’ conversation then continued from where it had been paused.

  Not two minutes later, their meeting was interrupted for a second time, when another notification tone sounded gently – this time Commander Trennor’s personal call alert. He indicated for the Councillors to continue with the meeting, while he read through the alert on the glide surface. He frowned slightly, stood up and excused himself temporarily from the meeting. The Councillors went quiet, not used to being interrupted in this way during a Council meeting, but they continued after a brief pause once the Commander had exited the chamber.

  Trennor stood in the corridor and hailed a capsule. Similar to a taxi in function, it consisted of a reclined seat surrounded by an ovoid pod. It was there within a second and took him directly to the Communications Centre. There he was greeted by the Communications Department leader, Lieutenant Reklan.

  “Apologies for the interruption, Commander, but Captain Parenton requested that I inform you immediately of a startling finding.”

  “Go ahead, Lieutenant,” said the Commander.

  “Commander, we picked up the sub-space frequency of our Planetary Surveillance Module immediately after passing through the IGT Station. But, what is of particular interest, is that this is not the only frequency we are receiving. We have intercepted a multitude of other normal-space radio transmission frequencies that are being simultaneously emitted from the star’s inner planetary system … more specifically, Andorayan Sanctuarium.”

  Trennor concealed his alarm. This could mean only one thing … that there was some form of intelligent life on Andorayan Sanctuarium. He acted quickly but calmly, knowing the critical importance of this revelation. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I want you to monitor all of these radio transmissions that we’re receiving. Decipher them immediately and get your team to start investigating their content. I want feedback within 10 minutes.”

  Reklan replied, “Understood, Commander.”

  Trennor returned to the capsule and left the Communications Centre. He contacted Captain Parenton via the Interlink Comms system. “Captain, I’m on my way to the bridge – but right now I want a safety status update.”

  Parenton responded, “Commander, our current safety status is uncompromised. We have detected no immediate threats within the stellar system, but are proceeding with caution nonetheless. I have placed the Observatory’s defence instruments and anti-detection systems on standby. On final approach to Andorayan Sanctuarium, the optical illusion membrane will be activated as a precautionary measure.”

  “Thank you, Captain. Your initiative is appreciated. Since we have no idea what we’re dealing with here, we must ensure that we’re as prepared as possible for any surprises. Once we arrive at Andorayan Sanctuarium, we can position ourselves in a suitable orbit and reassess the situation. I will be on the bridge within the next minute,” said Trennor.

  “Affirmative, Commander,” replied the Captain.

  Observatory Spacecraft: Revelation

  Commander Trennor’s capsule took him directly to the Observatory’s bridge, where he alighted and strode across the floor towards Captain Parenton. “Captain, how are things looking?” he asked.

  “Commander, I’ve just received an update from Lieutenant Reklan confirming that the radio transmissions are originating from numerous points on Andorayan Sanctuarium’s surface. There are also a number of other transmissions being received from various locations across the stellar system; these appear to be communicating directly with the planet,” said Parenton.

  “Your thoughts, Captain?” asked Trennor.

  “Commander, these radio transmissions confirm the presence of intelligent life on Andorayan Sanctuarium. Just how intelligent this life is – we cannot say at this stage,” said Parenton, confirming Trennor’s own thoughts.

  It was an extraordinary and potentially very worrying reality. Trennor walked over to the bridge’s inclined, surround-crescent glide surface, where he entered a brief command. A moment later, the nine Councillors seated in the Council Chamber appeared on the glide surface’s display. Trennor proceeded to inform them of the findings. All the Councillors were visibly unsettled by the news. None of them had expected anything of the sort.

  The Council meeting was immediately adjourned in light of the astounding development. Trennor requested the Councillors to return to their respective departments and
be available to provide any assistance that might be required. They hastily made their way to nine capsules that emerged from the chamber’s surrounding wall and stepped into them. From there they were transported directly to their department offices.

  This was a truly unexpected turn of events and the expedition would likely have to abandon its meticulously planned research itinerary. The unforeseen presence of intelligent life on Andorayan Sanctuarium would require a whole new modus operandi.

  Observatory Spacecraft: Approach

  The Observatory passed through the stellar system’s outer planetary orbits. As it did so, the radio transmissions being broadcast from the planet surged into the spacecraft’s Quantumputer master system. Over 20 million independently identified radio transmissions were being simultaneously captured by its Information Collation and Interpretation System.

  Trennor broke the unusual silence on the bridge. “Captain, please retract the Hyper-travel Protection Shields for surround viewing.”

  Large protection doors were retracted around the bridge’s full perimeter windows. The digital images on the windows faded away and were replaced with the real panoramic view of the stellar system and galactic background that encircled them. The Observatory swept past the system’s second largest planet, a beige gaseous giant encircled by a staggering array of dust rings. Even Commander Trennor, who in his lifetime had seen thousands of other ringed planets, was suitably impressed by this one. A host of factors had to fall in a very precise range for rings of this density and magnitude to form around a planet’s rotational perimeter and when they did, the results were visually spectacular.

  An hour and a quarter later, an inconspicuous dot began to emerge from the starlit background of space. The dot slowly increased in size as the spacecraft approached and a beautiful blue hue with streaks of white became apparent. The legendary magnificence of the Miracle Planet was beginning to reveal itself to the crew. It was like a tiny remote island, floating alone through the bleak enormity of space, providing safe and tranquil sanctuary to millions of unique species that had the exclusive and enviable privilege of living on it. But there was an extremely serious problem. The information being received from the PSM was showing that the planet’s incomparable diversity of life was under threat, but the exact details of the threat were still unknown.

  Observatory Spacecraft: Magnificence

  As the Observatory drifted into the gravitational wake of Andorayan Sanctuarium, Commander Trennor found himself in awe of the planet’s mesmeric beauty. The sheer sight of it had exceeded his wildest expectations. Few things had moved him in his life but the direct view of the splendid planet stirred emotions deep within him. This startling anomaly of creation was surely the most beautiful sight to behold in the entire galaxy. He maintained his composure, trying to hold back his welling feeling of exhilaration. Finally, his lifelong dream had been realised.

  The crew too, was finding it difficult to draw their eyes away from the incredible manifestation that stood before them. It was truly amazing, like nothing they had ever witnessed throughout their many years of galactic exploration. Even having seen images taken 50 000 years before, could not have prepared them for the superlative first-hand sight of the real thing. Andorayan Sanctuarium was even more glorious than any of them could ever have imagined. The planet’s predominantly azure surface was broken only by white swirling wisps of cloud and land formations. The rarity of oceans and land, both occurring on one planet, was a sight that very few planetary researchers from around the galaxy had had the privilege of witnessing.

  The Captain broke the Commander’s trance. “Commander, the optical illusion membrane has now been activated and we are now effectively invisible to all but gravitational detection.”

  Trennor responded, “Thank you, Captain. Please give me a progress update on the Planetary Surveillance Module’s data transfer progress.”

  The Captain answered, “Yes, Commander. Information is streaming in and is currently at 62%. Transfer completion is expected within the hour. The Planetary Surveillance Module is still functioning as designed and appears not to have registered any errors. It’s captured over 50 000 years’ worth of data – equivalent to 877 yottabytes.”

  Trennor considered the sharp contrast between the Planetary Surveillance Module’s operational success and the IGT Station’s notorious failure, until he was hailed by Lieutenant Reklan via the Intra-Link system.

  “Proceed, Lieutenant,” said Trennor.

  Reklan spoke, “Commander, from the data received thus far, we’ve ascertained that the radio transmissions being transmitted from the planet started about a century ago; very basic at first, then escalating exponentially up to this point in time.” He went on to summarise the decryption progress and stated that it would not be long before everything could be fully interpreted.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant. Every detail at this stage will help us to build a picture of what has unfolded here.”

  Observatory Spacecraft: Titanica

  The Observatory’s Quantumputer master system had been named Titanica and was referred to as ‘the Titan’. It was the Galactic Federation’s latest and most innovative generation of computing technology. All the best and most advanced technologies from the 12 super-intelligent civilisations across the galaxy had been collated, scrutinised and then merged to maximise computing performance while adhering to rigorous reliability standards*.

  [* It was an incredible feat of intra-galactic technological cooperation. At the heart of the Titan was the Tyagro Instant Access Data Vault, which, together with its Micro-bionic Infinity-series motherboard processors, was able to facilitate any information request within a nanosecond. Its storage capability and processing power was revolutionary and unmatched on any existing spacecraft in the Galactic Federation’s extensive fleet.]

  Presently, the Titan had dedicated half of its processing power to downloading all the historical data from the PSM, and the other half to synchronising with the intelligent species’ data and communications networks. The Information Collation and Interpretation System was busy recording, deciphering, filtering and organising all the captured information into draft data folders, which were available for preliminary review by authorised master system users.

  Only once the download and synchronisation assignments were complete, could the data folders be finalised and uploaded into the Titan’s virtual data library, known as the Knowledge Catalogue. From there they could be conveniently accessed for research and investigation.

  Observatory Spacecraft: Andorayan Sanctuarium Under Threat

  In the meantime, pandemonium had engulfed all the departments within the Observatory’s massive hull. Alarms were sounding, both on the bridge and in the research department, as devastating planetary information began populating the numerous screens and holograms. The crew was in a state of disbelief that there could be some form of intelligent life on the planet that was potentially wreaking this havoc. The situation had thrown their normal scope of responsibilities into a state of turmoil.

  Commander Trennor addressed Reklan, “Lieutenant, it’s now obvious to us that this planet’s environment is on the brink of collapse and from this point onwards I will assume full responsibility for our expedition status updates. Once we have a better understanding of the situation, the Council and I will prepare an update for dispatch directly to the Galacian Senate. That will hopefully be within the next six hours. Until then, all communication with the Federation is to be fully restricted.”

  “Understood, Commander,” said Reklan.

  The Commander looked over towards Parenton. “Captain, manoeuvre the Observatory into an equatorial retrograde orbit around Andorayan Sanctuarium. Set our orbital radius to give us an orbital synodic period of six hours. We can conduct operations optimally from that vantage point.”

  “Yes, Commander. Right away,” said Parenton.

  The Titan’s preliminary environmental statistics were now being distributed across the bridge’s panor
amic display, and what Trennor saw was deeply disturbing. He immediately summoned his nine Councillors back to the Council Chamber, and within minutes, the Council had reconvened. The 10 of them were all still in a state of bewilderment as they took their seats.

  Updated environmental information streamed around the wall display. Whenever any of them saw something of interest, they retrieved it and placed it onto the glide surface in front of them for further scrutiny. They all knew that the reasons for this rapidly unfolding disaster would need to be quickly established and understood.

  Commander Trennor opened the session, “As we can all see, the situation on Andorayan Sanctuarium is critical. The planet is fast approaching its environmental implosion point, which will lead to irreversible environmental collapse. Further to this, there is radio transmission evidence of intelligent life on the planet and the environmental changes appear to have been orchestrated. The carbon dioxide and methane readings, for instance, have grown steadily over the last 3 000 years and have suddenly spiked exponentially in the last 200 years. This seemingly intentional atmospheric manipulation is a disaster-in-the-making for all indigenous life on this planet.”

  He then addressed his Councillor of Planetary Research directly, “Councillor Korren, what’s the latest?”

  Korren responded, “Commander, at this stage there is nothing to suggest that the planet has experienced a recent natural catastrophic event. Most of the evidence supports a theory that an invasive, non-indigenous species – or ‘rogue’ species as we refer to it – has arrived here during our absence and commandeered the planet with the intention of colonising it for themselves. This rogue species is currently in the process of terraforming the planet’s atmosphere and environment to suit its own habitation requirements. But this theory fails to explain one key element: the radio transmissions started just 100 years ago, leading us to assume that this is when the rogue species arrived on the planet, however, the large scale environmental manipulation started over 250 years ago, suggesting that they arrived then.”