According to protocol Ziirkaa mutters, "As we suspected,the system is a red dwarf system. There appears to be at least one gas giant. The signals are coming from very close to the star itself, it is possible that they are coming from a planet. Don't think I can get any more without going "Active""
"At least now I can get more information about the signal. Still don't have a clue to it's purpose, but do you see this section here? It's repeating... there's a 1.48 second burst of high amplitude, then a 4.44 second dead spot. Then two 1.48 second bursts of high amplitude separated by 1.48 seconds of dead amplitude. Then there's an 8.88 second dead spot, followed by three 1.48 second bursts of high amplitude separated by 1.48 seconds of dead amplitude. Then the signal begins rapidly fluctuating, most likely containing data of some sort for 4.23 minutes. Then there's 8.88 seconds of dead space, and the pattern starts over again."
Ziirkaa looks up. Still no sign of anything imperial about it.
"A reaping signal, could it be a distress or landing beacon Agge?"
Annara asks once show it
"Certainly, It could be; but it could be almost anything. It could be cosmic performance art or a signal for an entire species to shave their tentacles in unison." Doctor Ziirkaa spins in his chair, You would swear that he has modified his station to give off the most ominous under-lighting possible for his face to increase the drama of his pronouncements from the sciences station. "I shall... monitor the signal, we may not know what it means, but we can catch if it changes from the established pattern."
She looks over at the others,
"Well there you have it, looks like we need to go closer. Could we send a drone, do a fly past passive with it. And look at what it finds"
"Let us see if we can't crack the code first. Check if it transmits exactly the same signal each time - then it might be a proper beacon. Active communication on the other hand should have a constant carrier and start-stop signals, but different messages. Let us assume it is deliberate to start with..."
Ceres tries to focus trough the worst of the nausea and remember more from her EW courses.
Ziirkaa leans back in his acceleration couch. "We do still have the option of an active sweep of the system. It seems more reasonable to do it from near the jump point so we can get away if we find anything dangerous."
The signal repeats exactly every time.
Holt checks the signal readings as annotated by Dr. Ziirkaa, and adds "The messages are awfully regular. That makes me think first to automation. It's hard to tell what it might be though without the proper protocol. We might be able to brute force it until something... that seems correct comes out, but that could take quite a while. What do you think Captain?"
Annara looks at Aggy,
"I think that's not a good tactical idea from a military stand point Aggy, if they pick our scan up, we would be a really nice location beacon for the jump point that leads home. Scan yes but do it from a place we have a chance to miss direct from. Its way I like the probes. Right now our only risk is that they spotted up come into system, I would think keeping that risk level low would be best. If you see what I mean "
she looks over at Ophelia and the captain, as she seems to this it's the same as her, something mechanical and automated.
"Also from a military point of view, there is another potability, it could be, a manned our automated systems defiance platform. Possibly more than one. The signal could be a simple warning, keep out Intruders , our system not your ,come close, we shoot to kill etc. remember that interstellar war going on. This could be part of it. Auto weapons platforms locking up possibly tactically back root or useful systems. From a military point of view would be logical. Using manned fixed or automated weapons platforms. Say with large solar arrays for power collection, close into the sun to max power. I don't mean to worry you or scare you but It's what I would do. This is why I think a probe is a better idea then us running around scanning, simply less risk. Sent one, if it gets shot at, we will know what's waiting. Down there. If not and it gets back good intel then we also know what's there. I'm all for speed but prudence is better when you on a war footing like this."
She waits to see what the others say to her comments.
Vathan wanders onto the bridge listening to geek speak. "If it's regular, it's a beacon." And continues to add something useful to aid the discussion.
"Let's give the signal a good bashing before we make ourselves known."
Holt, seeing everyone so interested, says "Ok, why don't we pull up a communal projection and we can annotate from our consoles. Maybe we'll inspire each other?"
It takes 3 days for the probe to make a close pass by the planet, then another 3 days for it to slingshot around the sun and back out to transmit.
The planet has very few transmission sources, and is very cold. It picked up visuals of primitive looking satellites in orbit. On the dark side, it picked up one light source near the equator.
"Now that is interesting, Could this be another lost colony this one with survivors?"
She asks as the look over the data.
"Hmm. It seems unlikely - but it could be perhaps a "lost colony" of any other species? Those shown in the original Lost Colony protocol should have shown up as *known* not 110% foreign. But there was supposed to be others out there ..."
She smiles in wonder. This might actually be something real! But then a thought crosses her mind and her visage darkens.
"If this is another *lost colony* of some flavour, they seem to be worse off then even us. And that also means this is clearly not a part of civilized or frequently trafficated part - a dead end for our quest. They might need help - but can we afford that? Can we, on this ship, make that call?"
"I agree, we are not here to make help a back water, we need high level tech and knowledge. Back home and kit out a science team to study this place someday but right now, if its lower tech then us. Its of little or now use, unless. It has old high tech hidden in there, or resources we could use. If they are miners we may have a trading post option here. But again, do we do that now and slow out search. I think it comes down to going and having a look, we could fly close passive and see. Aggy can we do that and get any good intel?"
"We won't know what we can see until we see Annara. Captain, It's not a dead end, we don't know what we don't know about this place. Knowledge demands we take a closer look. This is the first contact we have had with another species for centuries. We Must take advantage of it."
Holt nods at Ziirkaa and adds "Besides, any allies would be beneficial. At the least they may be able to help us resupply should we need it... Assuming it isn't a plant of killer robots and the signal is the only thing keeping them in stasis and our presence causes it to stop." with a grin.
"Ready on an active sensor sweep of the system, Captain Ceres." Doctor Ziirkaa sips some tea. Light from his console framing his face like some sort of old time movie villain. "If they are primitive enough, they may not notice it. I will do what I can to minimize interference in the EM bands they appear to be using... but even that will not be... stealthy."
Primary : Red Dwarf, 4350K
Orbit 0 : 6400km diameter, 0.375g, thin atmosphere, Rotation Period 63.57 standard days, 50% hydrosphere, Average Temperature -25.3C
Orbit 3 : 8000km diameter, 0.475g, trace atmosphere, Rotation Period 7.23 hours, 0% hydrosphere
Orbit 7 : 8000km diameter, 0.625g, no atmosphere, Rotation Period 10.12 hours
Orbit 12 : Gas Giant (Large)
Orbit 14 : Gas Giant (Super)
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
Artificial power generation systems detected plant 1. Fission Reactors detected. Detect 14 point sources. Radio transmissions detected. Orbital satellites detected. Tech Level 7 technology. Unidentified technology, no match in database. Radio transmissions unidentified, no match in database. Fission Reactors detected, unidentified, no match in database.
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT!
Active biosphere detected on planet 1, orbit 0, current system. Planet unidentified, no match in database.
"Contact."
"Indeed" the Captain notes, her voice quivering with barley contained excitement.
"TL7 - and they have fission plants. They might have access to nukes, so we will have to exercise some caution. Having an alien ship suddenly swing by might feel *threatening*!"
Today's largest understatement ... I obviously technological aliens would show up on my doorstep - and I haven't met any other life - I'd be terrified!
"Continue to monitor their radio - see if anything is being deliberately sent our way. And see if we can find anything besides that beacon. Perhaps something to compare it with or use as a key..."
"Captain, I dont suppose you will take comfort in the fact that the real issue with a nuclear weapon at this tech level will be an accurate delivery system?"
"They might try and make up for quality with quantity. Then there is blind dumb luck... And they have shown themselves capable of putting *something* in orbit."
"So eight days for them to get a good aim, if they picked us up there will be world wide panic buy the time we get there if they are a lost colony. But they may not be lost, they may be an outpost and that may make for some interesting talks"
"Let us not rule out that they may be native, and wait a minute... where are we?"
"Don't forget though that we don't know their signals, so they may not know ours either. And they're a little low for space tech. It is possible that while they may know that something happened, that they may have no idea what... I'm not sure if that makes things better or worse, but I thought it was worth mentioning."
"Based on what we have seen, and the fact that we have no record of this system, how different the technology and communication protocols are; it is completely possible that this is a native species with no previous interstellar contact, and not just a lost Imperial colony. he finishes with the childlike glee that no one on the homeworld would believe Ziirkaa capable of expressing, but you have seen far too often, How exciting!"
"Most likely. Indeed!" the Captain nods eagerly in response to the Doctors conclusions. To the Diplomat she replies "As long as we don't get too close we should be able to blow any missiles out of the sky before they strike us - or simply outrun them. And as Holt pointed out - they might have missed us or at the very least lack the technology to track and detect us."
Checking the databanks, as well as legal knowledge, and the diplomat...
There are no specific laws on first contact. There's been agitation for it since mankind hit the stars, especially a 'prime directive' type. But given the amount of profit potential, lobbying has always kept that from occuring.
There are protocols for contacting people who are TL 5 or less, lesser protocols for 6, and even fewer for 7.
With regards to TL 7, no tech transfers beyond TL 7 and 8. Other than that, it's pretty open. There are a myriad of laws around what can and can't be traded with civilizations at TL 7 and below. Beyond that, it's mostly left up to the desires of the people doing the contacting.
Your world has no rules about it, having never thought about it. So you are basically making policy up as you go along.
"Well we can basically tell them where here to enslave them for the greater good of the empire and king, or we greet them as fellow comrades into to the grate socialist revaluation., or we ltell them were traders out to make profits for the all powerful corporation or we tell them where explorers from a civilization with out money ot want, the one thing we do not tell them is the truth. Not right now where a lost colony looking to tool up for a war with some one thing we don't know any thing about, would you like to join us in the fight" compelling yes but there all ready going to be as parinode as hell with out us adding in a 3ed party. Best thing keep it simple, where traders, hi what ya got we can buy, and then we hit a whole new problem. There going to ask for knowledge and tech, I would wouldn't you, and last thing we want is to aim the guys next door, most of a
All if they have designs on an empire. They may even try to take the ship, I would, nice bit of high tech comes your way with some aliens saying you can't have this, but we thought we would show it to you so you can see just how good the stuff is you can't have. we don't even know how to talk to them, they seem to have nothing we need! Right now, yes ok Agge you get another PhD or two from the anthropological papers your going to publish,, but realy from a tactical view point, nothing we need right now. if this gos bad and the chances are it will, then we'll end up doing gun boat diplomacy with the best ship in the feet for nothing we NEED right now. I still say again the best thing to do here is walk away. Let a dedicated team from back home deal with this and get back on mission whitch is finding high tech and info we can use in a fight. Our job is not to help some other poor sod do the same. Fly past scan them for risk assessment, If you must drop off a note, friendy aliens just passing, your not alone, nice to meet you bye then let them think on that for a generation or two. That's my recommendation Captian"
Annara unusahaly seems quit adamant this is not a good idea.
Holt furrows her brow at Annara, and says "Just because the computer algorithm placed them as less advanced than us, doesn't mean that they're like that in all fields. For all we know they may have disease cures that we've never heard of, or some form of advanced biology knowledge, or maybe tech hidden underground that our scanners can't detect. We just won't know unless we check it out."
She stays quiet for a moment before continuing "Besides, we don't have to leave them completely empty handed. Or we could just let them know that we would have to return to our government/council/leaders before we can agree to give them anything substantial. Surely, if they were organized enough to be either a threat or an ally, they would understand that concept."
Ziirkaa gapes at Annara with utter disdain. "If that is our guiding principle, we might as well go home now. You are suggesting that we only want to make contact with cultures that we can exploit for a war we are not yet a part of?" he closes his eyes and shakes his head, "We don't know anything about these people, we don't know what their cultural level of paranoia is... none of your assertions about their behavior is justified beyond it is what YOU WOULD DO!"
An evil smile spreads across Ziirkaa's face...
"Suppose they have mastered the psionic arts rather than sciences, is there nothing we could learn from them in that case? That would never show up on these scans. Neither would information about other races that may have visited here and left no advanced technology behind. Our planet would have looked like a similar sort of technological backwater just a few years ago.
"And finally I MUST point out that XENOANTHROPOLGY is a completely different discipline than ANTHROPOLOGY!!!! and he trails off with a muttering and you are really underestimating me if you think I can only get three papers out of this, I bet I could make a dozen..."
She is not angry when she talks but she is just trying to get her points over
"Look I fully expected you two to place scientific considerations before tactical ones. For you this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am deeply sorry I have to stand here and argue agents you two, I really am. But I have to. To be clear I am not saying our world should not make contact with this one. What I am saying it should not be us. Look place all the What ifs aside, look at the facts. From our scans this AI says this world is lower tech then ours. That means we have to hold back our tech, The cultural unrest or damage handing it over may destabilise a world we want stable. Why? because If where going to use this system as part of our traffic root where going to need it stable. To do that we are going to need a dedicated team down their, once that may be there for years. Look them just knowing there not alone and not the only life in the cosmos may destabilise them. Hard to be the chousen by your gods when others show up with better tech and say hi where just the tip of the ice burg. Last thing we need to do is drop into that say Hi then go away, it's not a good idea at all, we need in place here a team to hand off to and some means to protect ourselves before we make contact. That means going home, getting a defecated team and coming back. Sorry but it dos. If we are NOT going to use this system then we still have to report back and ask for a team to spend the time needed her to make diplomatic relations. I don't think you fully understand the kind of commitment needed by a Dip team to build trust. Also do you really want to spend the next five or ten years here doing that? I know what HQ will say back home. Your our best team in our best ship, get back on mission and let others do the dog work. Right now we can jump back, restock, come back with a team, cover them going in and then get on with our real task in under say 6 mouths. That's what we should do, that's the smart play. Jumping in alone with no back up and no exit Strategy is the dumb play, not making and OCP* for this world. I am sorry but I am surprised at you Agge for not thinking this through fully. Don't let excitement of discovery cloud your thinking here. Sometime you HAVE to take the safe path."
Outside Context Problem
An Outside Context Problem (OCP), the kind of problem "most civilizations would encounter just once, and which they tended to encounter rather in the same way a sentence encountered a full stop."
This is a problem that is "outside the context" as it is generally not considered until it occurs, and the capacity to actually conceive of or consider the OCP in the first place may not be possible or very limited (i.e., the majority of the group's population may not have the knowledge or ability to realize that the OCP can arise, or assume it is extremely unlikely). An example of OCP is an event in which a civilization does not consider the possibility that a much more technologically advanced society can exist,
An OCP is described as follows:
The usual example given to illustrate an Outside Context Problem is imagining you were a tribe on a largish, fertile island; you'd tamed the land, invented the wheel or writing or whatever, the neighbors were cooperative or enslaved but at any rate peaceful and you were busy raising temples to yourself with all the excess productive capacity you had, you were in a position of near-absolute power and control which your hallowed ancestors could hardly have dreamed of and the whole situation was just running along nicely like a canoe on wet grass... when suddenly this bristling lump of iron appears sailless and trailing steam in the bay and these guys carrying long funny-looking sticks come ashore and announce you've just been discovered, you're all subjects of the Emperor now, he's keen on presents called tax and these bright-eyed holy men would like a word with your priests.
one of the inspirations for the concept of the 'Outside Context Problem' specifically compares this to having a high tech Civilization battleship arrive while a lower tech one is still using wooden sailing ships.
Holt, looking confused, says "Then under what conditions are we going to make contact with someone? Because if someone with lower tech is too dangerous, then someone with higher tech definitely will be?"
"They are different points, My point about danger here is the danger of getting sidelined into wast time on what will be us hand holding a lower tech world into acceptance. Also the risk we have no back up and doing more harm the good. Blasting missile out of the sky only to then and run away, because can't stay, food, fuel mission needs you name it. As I said, do you wish to spend the time here needed building trust?. Do you really think we are going to land on there kings front yard and say "take us to your leader" lets make a deal and that's all. The risk I am talking about here, the danger is this. Think about contact, we fly past, they shoot, we shoot there missile down. It becomes apparent to them we are more advanced and they stand utterly vulnerable before us. We land we talk and it becomes apparent they stand utterly vulnerable before us. Now do you think that's going to build trust for fear Ophelia?. Think how a whole world would feel at that point. The danger that would spawn. We all just fight in the wars to get past that kind of fear on our own world. Remember it, fear can make a whole word fall apart. Those that would Kill to place the truth back in the bottle will and do. lost Out post, stand alone civilisation you name it, We show up their world view changes. The very real risk here is that we poison a whole world to us in oue 1st act of contact."
She looks at you all.
"I'm a trained diplomat, this is what I would do, get a dedicated team to sit out here days away and work at making contact v radio, years working out language, than calling then up down there, set up a contact time and place. Building trust and allaying fears all the wile. Then make contact once you know they can deal with it."
She sits back.
"This is nothing like us showing up in a higher tech system, for is we know of higher tech is out there. We just don't know how to make it any more. We have shared history with others, For us and anyone talking to us, where is no stand alone culture, where just a lost one looking for a way back home. Not the same at all. No OCP for us. The danger comes form the war we know about. That we just have to risk. We need to get back what was lost in the long dark. Nothing new just forgotten, but the poor souls down there, by all accounts have clawed there way up to tch 7 the hard way. Let not make this any harder on them by being insensitive, hard booted and ill prepared going in. I know how bad you want this, but think, would it not be best to have backup?"
As is often the case, Ziirkaa smiles at Doctor Holt with admiration for her incisive mind. "Captain, You know where I stand on this. More information is always better than less. In order to be more constructive than arguing, I am going to start working on decryption and translation problems. Making contact is moot if we can't talk to them. And the communication problem is more interesting than this conversation."
Once he settles into his chair and takes a breath...
"humn... without talking to them, we have no way to know if they have had contact in the past. We could try contact them using Meson communication on a standard Imperial frequency and see if they respond. If they have never had contact with the larger galaxy, they should not be able to pick that up or understand it. If they do respond, they have at least a passing familiarity with the... Confederation... and we can pass ourselves off as a trading vessel."
Soon as Aggys back is turned to them Annara winks at the Viktoria
"Eight days to work out a unknown language and how to communicant to a whole world, come on Aggy you would have to be some kind of real genius to do that."
Wile she talks she moves her head at Ophelia indirecting at Aggys back.
she moths silently to her with a smile
"Go on Help him"
She then gets up and walks over to get more coffee, holding her mug and says with a knowing smile at Viktoria she says wile sipping coffee.
"Nope can't see it happening, captain seeing how some think they can fix this, I will hold off any recommendation to abort contact until such time as it become apparent they have failed."
She takes takes one last sip of her coffee before heading off to check something that dos not need to be checked.
That means going home, getting a defecated team and coming back.