20090611

Author Note 4

It's been three months since the last posting and really a little hard to believe. I have a few stories waiting in the wings but I wanted to fill out the back story a little. I also had a bit of a creative block that I feel I have worked through. Look to see a few new stories in the coming weeks. Then I will start on the major thrust of the Abandoned Worlds. The story that I've wanted to tell from the beginning that I tentatively titled The Guardian of the Graveyard Empire.

20090312

Investigation

Weekly Report to the Derelict Oversight Committee on Current Exploration Operations

October 12, 2031

Director of Derelict Exploration Operations: Taylor Garrett - Civilian Contractor, RAF

The previous week saw progress of only 20 meters in the primary corridor named "Grand Central." Robotic and human teams have been hampered by larger than expected amounts of debris as well as the cramped conditions in the branching corridors "Broadway" and "Main". Overall current exploration operations are at an estimated 45 percent of the Derelict thus far. Keeping safety in mind, and not wishing to destroy important artifacts, progress has been slow.

Derelict reconstruction with missing Chinese segment.

Of note is the discovery of a possible control mechanism for what we suspect is a gravity manipulation system. The devices were attached to a large bulkhead that had been dislodged presumably by the Catastrophic Event [CE]. The mechanism is in a fair state of preservation due to the lack of atmosphere and extreme cold temperatures and appears to have been connected to the primary power circulation grid.

Clues to the cause of the CE are still forthcoming, however, the study teams in the heavily damaged rear areas have reported scoring and melt to some of the superstructure that suggests there was a high-temperature event. What could have caused such damage is unclear as we have had little success with our own attempts to melt the carbon matrix. Sections of the damaged corridors reveal a material that is strong, yet light. Chemical analysis suggests it is a form of crystallized carbon matrix with a melting point above 6500 °F and an organic structure akin to that found in plants or trees. Further study, including tests to the materials, will be required to understand the properties of the derelict's structure and how it reacts to stresses and heat. It has become increasingly clear that the construction methods on the derelict were far beyond anything humans have yet achieved.

In the coming week the team expects to clear and catalog enough debris to reach a void hinted at by scans two weeks ago. The space appears larger than earlier cataloged spaces. Additionally, we are still hoping to find an area of uncontaminated atmosphere sealed at the time of the CE. No further bodies of crew members have been discovered beyond those found in the first days of the investigation. However, there is still a considerable volume of the ship to be explored and we still have not found apparent sleeping or recreational areas.


We have yet to reach any section of the ship that would give a clue to the lifestyle of the crew. Until now, all we have been able to uncover are workstation-like terminals and narrow corridors. The term "spartan" has best described the environment inside.

Some of my colleagues have speculated recently that the derelict may have been a type of warship. I wish to say at this time that there is no clear evidence to support this assertion. No team has found weapons on the ship nor is there evidence of any guns or cannons as we would understand them. My colleagues claims that the lack of amenities for the crew support their thesis, are unfounded and require further study. Other speculations on the exterior appearance and massive power circulation systems are also premature. We simply do not know how much energy was needed to power the vessel and propel it across light years of space. Presumably those sections lay in Chinese hands and any information from them and the Far Side Lunar Laboratory are not forthcoming.

20090304

Author's Note 3

Right now there are three stories floating around in my head about this time period that need to be developed. As you can see, I have taken a detour from the time line writing to fill out the period when the Derelict arrived. There are a few pieces I want to include to show how humanity dealt with the arrival and how we're taking the next steps.

I'm still "painting" with broad strokes but every now and then I like to bring the focus down to a personal level. After all, science fiction has very much to do with how regular people deal with extraordinary circumstances.

Of course there will be more art to come, including a good detailed look at the Derelict.

20090224

Memorial: Journal Entry of Patrick Teller


September 29, 2031

I've been at Lagrange Point 2 (LP2) for only a month and already I've managed to make an enemy of General Hajicek - only the most powerful person overseeing the Derelict Program.

Being hired to study the six alien bodies on the derelict, as chiché as it sounds, is the opportunity of a lifetime. Only five years ago, as a graduate student, I had serious doubts about xenobiology as a career path. We were still speculating about the best place to find life on Mars when the Derelict arrived. Suddenly xenobiology is the hottest field in academic study. It makes one feel a bit like a very lucky fortune teller.

My first impressions of the alien mummies was that they were big lizards but their physiology was fascinating. Their body style is not too far removed from ours with bilateral symmetry but all their vital organs are encased in a tortoise like shell with fascinating silica-like properties. And they even have blue blood! Chemical differences aside, it is clear that they were intelligent. They made use of technology that enhanced their bodies, had a symbolic language of some kind and, in the opinion of at least one of my colleagues, may have maintained ritual superstitions.

Spend any time with them and it becomes clear that the old movies never really did extraterrestrials justice. The stories were always so one-sided. Alien comes to earth, eats someone, destroys something, kills people, et cetera. These beings were of little threat to us, aside from maybe catching some exotic virus or germ frozen dormant for the last 10,000 years. Their lives were extinguished in some accident or catastrophe that their technology couldn't save them from which makes them seem as fragile as us.

I can't help wondering if there was someone they left behind on their world. Is there some planet where their history records that this vessel was presumed lost like some Greek trading ship on the ancient Mediterranean Sea? Does their history even remember them? They say that it is important not to anthropomorphize when doing this sort of studywork but it is hard to separate oneself from those kinds of thoughts when lab work gets tedious.

The General, on several occasions, has remarked that it is important to "know our enemy" when asked what our studies hope to accomplish. Some think he is just using a military metaphor to get a point across. My feeling is that it is something deeper and more primitive. After all, there's a good number of people who are afraid that we're looking extermination in the face. Some of the military minds around here have speculated aloud that the ship just "looks" like something military. But you'd think that after 10,000 years somebody would have come to claim it. The fearful seem to think that because the aliens are more technologically advanced, they would want to wipe us out. It's more of that movie-thinking coming into play.

I realized that these were once thinking, feeling, beings and they deserved some sort of respect. Some way to acknowledge that they were intelligent beings and not simply experiments to be studied.

I brought up the subject at a recent staff meeting. The General, in his famous Texas drawl explained the situation very bluntly.

"Son," he bellowed, "do you think I'm running an E.T. funeral home here? I'm not havin' a memorial for a bunch of dead aliens. Hell, I don't even know if they were religious!"

He addressed the rest of the room for effect and to ensure my embarrassment was complete, "Our job here, for anyone who is unclear, is to learn as much about these critters as we can. Learn where they came from, why they are here, how to use their tech and, if necessary, how to defend ourselves should the time come."

After the meeting I plodded to the examination lab and began the long biohazard suit-up and coms check process. I proceeded through the pressure doors to the main lab and silently moved to where the six extraterrestrials were lined up for the day's rounds of tests. Our executive team and the various techs were gathered listening to the morning briefing but I wasn't getting any audio on the open channel.

"What's going on?" I said and someone signaled for me to switch to the lab-only channel. I heard the familiar voice of our xenobiology lead speaking.

"-launched themselves across the galaxy and found their end far from home." she said, "Their influence will have a profound effect on the inhabitants of our world for centuries to come. Though they are lost to their home they have been found here. Now let's recognize their sacrifice with a moment of silence."

The channel became quiet and a few heads bowed around me in contemplation. Then in a less reverent tone she continued, "Just because some people can't see past the end of their medal-covered uniforms doesn't mean we can't privately pay respects to fellow explorers." I saw her eyes fix on me with a grin, "Now let's get back to work, folks."

20090219

Origins 6

In late 2028 the derelict arrived at earth and a coalition of governments including the E.U., Japan, and the United States formed a team to study it. Fears of unleashing an alien pandemic on the world population prompted the creation of a laboratory at an Earth-Moon Lagrange point. There, the derelict would float, poised between two opposing forces, where the moon and earth's gravity balanced each other.

Unsurprisingly, the first teams aboard found the ship devoid of life. However, there were few members of the crew left. Most had been lost to the depths of space or to whatever disaster struck the derelict. The bodies that remained appeared, in the words of one team member, to be "glass lizard-bugs" a mix of reptile, insect and inorganic crystal.

An unfortunate crew member in a tangle of conduits.

China officially protested what they called the "commandeering" of a vessel under Chinese control. The country unsuccessfully petitioned to have the derelict turned over to an international team of their choosing. However, the world community was not convinced of China's good intentions. The perception was furthered by China's growing influence in world politics and the increasing need for resources which put it at odds with the other major powers. Any technologies China could derive from the alien derelict would surely be used to press a financial and military advantage on a steadily shrinking globe. China would have to be satisfied with what it could learn from its own section of the derelict.

Within five years, a small space-going city formed at the Lagrange Point filled with scientists and engineers eager to understand the ship's secrets. The aliens were able to cross vast interstellar distances suggesting a "hyperdrive" technology as well as hints at advanced techniques for manipulating gravity and the electromagnetic force. The aliens also appeared able to engineer their ships to grow themselves while integrating the necessary structures to make space travel possible. At least one study team published a paper suggesting the derelict might have been alive in some basic way.

A dark and undamaged corridor on the alien ship.

Effects from altering our environment pushed many countries into direct competition, and sometimes conflict, over the changing map of earth and its resources. The arrival of the derelict gave us new technologies that touched every aspect of human life. It also afforded the means to leave our planet far more easily than had ever been accomplished before. Explorers and entrepreneurs soon began to launch themselves into space. Some to seek greater riches and new worlds to conquer. Others to ensure that when we might finally met living aliens we were not at a disadvantage.

As with all major undertakings, exploration and colonization would not prove to be easy.

20090204

Origins 5

The Chinese mission arrived at the derelict first in hopes of staking a claim to salvage rights. The U.S. Expedition arrived just days later and took up a parallel course 100 kilometers away to observe. Mission Commander Ronald Levingson (Colonel, U.S. Air Force) transmitted his impressions of this amazing vehicle back to a global audience on earth.

"It's probably about the size of an aircraft carrier." He commented, "Light gray with irregular protrusions along the course of the hull. I'm not sure which end is forward but if I had to guess, I'd say it's the back end that is torn off. And not cleanly by any estimation."

"Aside from that it seems to be fairly intact. It resembles a giant sea animal, the hull plating reminds me of a lobster. We've had no indication that it's powered or controlled or that it is responding to our presence. I'm guessing the Chinese 'delegation' would have noticed something by now, anyway. (Mission Specialist Takahiro) Tanaka is getting ready to launch the probes to get a closer look but from this vantage, if the Chinese can't get it slowed, I think we've got a good shot at it ourselves."

Robotic probes launched to study the derelict closer revealed a slowly tumbling, battered hulk more than 300 meters long. One end had been severely damaged and sections of its interior structure were visible. The exposed tangle of conduits and passages resembled the entrails of something once alive. Along its hull were occasional meteor punctures and radiation damage. Clearly, it had been in space a very long time-perhaps even longer than 10,000 years.


The Chinese expedition had prepared a trio of robotic rocket packs to attempt to slow the derelict. Unfortunately, it seemed that they would claim the prize and the U.S. Expedition would have to be content to escort the victors back to earth. However, as the Chinese expedition began their operation, only one of the three thrusters functioned properly. At best the Chinese would only be able to cease the tumbling. Then a second thruster exploded violently forcing the Chinese to retreat to a safe distance. Once they were out of the way, robots from the U.S. expedition initiated a risky move to discard the malfunctioning packs and attach their own.

Victory was brief, however. The robots had succeeded in halting the tumbling and even nearly slowing the derelict but the forces necessary to alter it's orbit placed stress on the fragile hull. A 100 meter section broke away and the Chinese expedition moved rapidly to claim their consolation prize.

20090120

Origins 4

With the realization that something extraterrestrial was about to swing by earth came the knowledge that humans were not alone in the universe. But, while some countries debated the merits of announcing our presence, one country was determined to make the most of their maturing space program to make first contact.

The People's Republic of China made no secret about their ambitions to land and colonize the moon. As a result, other space-faring countries raced to stake their own claims. India, Japan and the European Union all diverted resources to join their American and Russian counterparts in space ventures. In addition, there was the perception that the world's most populous country might become a dangerous force given its recent posturing and increasing military strength. Now it appeared that the Chinese government was determined to represent earth and perhaps stake a claim on whatever technologies might be gleaned from the derelict, a prospect that did not sit well with the other countries of the world.

The laws of physics also conspired against human efforts. After the derelict made it's close approach to earth it was headed for a close encounter with the largest planet in the solar system. With it's massive gravity, Jupiter held special reign over the inner solar system. Objects passing within Jupiter's influence could be thrown into the sun or at the inner planets or catapulted from the solar system entirely. When the derelict made it's close pass it would be launched into a longer orbit or perhaps banished from humanity forever.

The opportunity to learn from an alien civilization on our own doorstep meant throwing every resource earth had at retrieving the derelict before it reached Jupiter. Having just returned to the moon, the United States had both the technology and budget to make a leap for the derelict. Additionally, the EU, Japan, and a few private firms had signed on as partners to offset costs and to share in the benefits. Their primary rival, China, would go alone confident in their ability and unwilling to divide the spoils.

In late 2024, after significant effort and engineering, eight humans-five from the US coalition and three from China-were on their way to intercept the derelict. The only questions revolved around who would arrive first and what they would encounter when they got there.

Origins 3

From the dark depths of the solar system something hurtled toward the sun and had caught the attention of a few inhabitants of earth. Graduate student Cassandra Bradley, despite her regular work cataloging outer solar system debris for NASA, had taken an interest in the strange properties of the object. Against the advice of her colleagues she was able to secure some study time using a telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Her results were stunning to say the least.

"The results that came through were worth all the trouble to get them. Granted the resolution wasn't great, but the thing didn't look like an asteroid or a comet. Not much in space has perfectly straight edges unless it's artificial. And the size was larger than anything humans had ever launched into space!" Dr. Bradley later commented.


"Orbital simulations couldn't resolve the issue of its speed or how it got into the orbit it had if it were human-made. We had to be looking at something extra-terrestrial and very old. The intriguing thing was that its orbital perihelion brought it just inside earth's orbit. Many of my colleagues argued that this was a dead giveaway that the object was from earth. But the heart of the matter is that its orbit was 10,000 years long and wasn't heading out, it was on its way back!"

As it came closer and more measurements and imagery were possible, even the naysayers in the scientific community came to realize that this might be what humanity was waiting for. By 2024 there was no escaping the truth that a massive spaceship was heading for earth. However, there was no sign that it was powered beyond residual energy fluctuations and an occasional bust of electromagnetic static. It appeared to be some alien civilization's discarded space junk.

When the world learned of the derelict, the widespread panic depicted by popular science fiction never materialized. Indeed, the topic of what to do about the ship became commonplace in schools, bars, people's living rooms, and on the nets. Some expressed the belief that the ship would bring all the beings of earth into a new age of prosperity. Others feared that the object was only the first of an advanced guard sent to enslave or even destroy humanity.

Few could have dreamed that this first contact with an extraterrestrial society would launch one of the greatest space races since humans landed on the moon.

20090116

Author's Note 2

I was all ready to make a post two days ago but when I started writing I realized that I needed to make another illustration for the imagery I was getting in my head. The next post should be out in a couple of days and will pick up where the last left off. I've already got one image ready and I thought that would be enough.

Thanks for following and I hope you've been enjoying the story so far. I feel like I'm laying the groundwork for the Universe so there seems to be a considerable amount of back story to go through. Please keep in mind that the primary time period for my stories takes place around the 2070s - 2080s.

Let me know what you think.

20090106

Origins 2

In 2017 the expanded spacewatch began making detailed surveys for objects beyond the orbit of Jupiter. In it's first year of operation it managed to locate small asteroids and comets missed by earlier surveys and even a few lost spacecraft. There were, of course, some mysterious objects but perhaps the most unusual, designated 2019JC3, received very little immediate scrutiny. Spectral observations of 2019JC3 suggested high amounts of carbon, titanium, and aluminum on the surface of the object.

It was large, highly reflective, and tumbling through a 10,000 year orbit. No known celestial bodies matched this profile and no human devices should be where this object was. Even more strange was that it moved with the speed of a comet and was headed for the inner solar system.

Then, in the late fall of 2020, astronomers with the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) detected a strange faint signal almost lost in the background. Triangulation studies suggested the object was within the solar system and so it was dismissed as yet another piece of human space junk. The story would have ended there were it not for the curiosity of a young graduate student.

In 2022 Cassandra Bradley was conducting a survey of interplanetary spacecraft debris when she came across the 2019JC3 data. When she cross referenced her data with several other archives including SETI, she noticed some unusual properties.

"2019JC3 was putting out a signal....Dead rockets never signal home!" she wrote in her autobiography, "I got a strange feeling about this debris. So many things about it did not add up. It was too far out to be a regular rocket body, it seemed too large to be a lost probe, and the orbit was all wrong. I knew I was going to need to make some direct observations to confirm what this thing really was. The tricky part would be getting some instrument time for what some of my colleagues were calling 'Cassie's Caper'"

The clues were adding up to an amazing conclusion and a dangerous confrontation.

20090101

Origins 1

In the year 2024 life on earth changed forever. Until then, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence was an academic exercise conducted by scientists and billionaires. But a string of events led to the most amazing discovery ever made and one which confirmed that we as a species were not alone in the cosmos.

Almost everyone remembers or saw photos of the close flyby of comet Patterson in 2014. So close, in fact that some respected scientists believed it might impact the earth. Fortunately, all we experienced were a few nights of fantastic views and an amazing meteor shower that lasted a week. Astronomers were quick to point out that the comet had surprised all of us. And had it not been for the efforts of a few dedicated amateur astronomers, we would have had no warning of the comet at all.

The scientists and their blazing example in the daytime sky were more than enough to loosen the political gridlock in the United States Capital. Facing an over-budget and behind-schedule space program, most space-friendly initiatives were quietly dealt with. However, in short order the American Congress passed legislation authorizing generous funding for an expanded space watch program to great fanfare. Finding and dealing with space rocks that could end human life as we knew it was good for business.

The stage was now set for one of the greatest discoveries in human history and it would change our course forever.

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