The Eden Project

1.2 : Survey

With every flick of their fingers, and tap on the tablet screen cradled in his arm, angled lines of blue light flashed from their slate that they had placed onto the edge of the table top earlier, down into the table and spidering out a few inches before terminating. The hologram moved through a mountainous valley that had been identified as the ideal landing zone. Tall, round spires stood side to side with rolling bluffs, sheer cliffs, and large hoop-like rock formations.

"Initially we believed the most interesting features of the planet was its colouring. The rock and soil is a dark brown like milk chocolate, and based on spectral analysis the sky would most likely show as purple, instead of a blue or even green. While the planet does not have a breathable atmosphere, I believe the colouration of the sky is due to some effect the surrounding nebula has on the atmospheric gasses in the system."

"So what makes the planet noteworthy, Doctor?" Asked Admiral Burke.

"See Sir, that's the fascinating thing!" Replied Doctor Zelenka, with an excitement that was clearly just starting to ramp up, "As we got closer to the planet, within roughly one AU from SP-137, we began to pick up faint and intermittent energy signatures which grew in strength as we got closer. It seems that the planet continuously emits some form of energy. While it most commonly emits the energy at very low levels with a slightly fluctuating strength, it seems to have massive spikes in strength that often coincide with the sand storms that occur across the planet's surface.

"Even more interesting however, is the nature of the energy. I would be remiss to call it radiation, or classify it in any common sense, as the energy emitted would appear by all of our estimates to be more akin to latent waves of primary energy. Now, the ..."

"Doctor, for those of us at the table without multiple doctorates, please could you explain primary energy in more basic terms? Let's dumb down the terminology for us 'muggles'." This comment from the Admiral received a round of chuckles, even from the scientists, though Doctor Zelenka sported a slight flush to their cheeks while doing so.

"Of course, Admiral. Primary energy is what we call the base form of energy that has not been manipulated by some sort of process. Think of it as the raw energy held within fuels, or within some stellar bodies. You could even think of it akin to the energy that we have in our bodies! Basically, these energy emissions are more similar to raw power than something we are more experienced with handling, such as infrared radiation, kinetic energy, or heat. We are operating off the assumption that our initial detections of this energy were from the large spikes, and we simply were unable to perceive the lower emissivity until we closed in further to the planet. Any human standing on the surface of this planet would not experience any effects of this energy in most cases. It would be the same level of energy as standing near an infrared bulb, or standing on earth out in a field."

"And what about these radiation spikes? Your teams have assured me that there is no danger to human life or systems."

"Well, it's not radiation first and fore... oh I am so sorry Admiral!" Spluttered Zelenka as they recognized how they had just spoken to the Admiral. "Yes, the energy emissions during the spikes are strong, and may cause some electrical equipment to act up slightly, may, these events are spaced between one to four weeks apart on average, and we have been able to collect enough data that we can predict the events' occurrences between twenty-four and forty-eight hours before hand. The energy may be dangerous, but we will have ample warning!"

The Admiral turned to one of the scientists next to the nearly-vibrating Doctor Zelenka, a Chinese man by the name of Doctor Zheng Máo, and asked a question of them. "Doctor Máo, you are our leading radiology and nuclear physics expert, what kind of danger is the good Doctor Zelenka avoiding mentioning?"

"Thank you Sir," said Doctor Máo as he took a slight step forward and dipped his head to Hannibal before speaking. "If the energy was catalyzed in some way, I estimate that it would have an upwards potential on par with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of nineteen eighty six..."

"But the energy is inert, so we have nothing to worry about!" Chimed in Zelenka, cutting their colleague off mid-answer.

"Doctor Zelenka, please refrain from interrupting myself or your colleagues. Doctor Kimura, what is your opinion on this seemingly cataclysmic threat?"

Thankful for the Admiral's rebuke of the Czech astrophysicist, Shea stepped forward, taking note of the eyes of the INC officer that followed him. "While I do not share my colleague's zeal, or at least lack of worry about the severity of these energy emissions, Zelenka is correct. In its form, the energy will not be able to harm us even during its largest spikes. The electronics may act up just a bit, some crackling on the radios, maybe fuzzing of displays, and those sorts of things, we would be completely safe simply within a vehicle or our lightest hab tents. Even if we were to be outside in just our suits or even less, I do not think there would be any risk to the safety of our crew or equipment.

— — —

After that exchange, the rest of the meeting carried on in relative peace, as each person around the table spoke about their different areas of expertise, from supply transportation, to hab shelter construction, to the transportation of the different pieces of scientific equipment, to the organization of the drop ships themselves. Shea had expected the officer from the INC to say something, but Hannibal spoke for the officer, detailing the INC's plans and involvement for the joint mission. All the while,besides quick glances at the holo and the occasional nod of acknowledgment to the admiral, the officer never took their eyes off Shea.

// originally published April 22, 2022

Author's Notes!

0.2. Please forgive my art! I know it's not the best, but I really wanted to make something cool to hopefully provide a better idea of how the slate would look on the holotable!

4. INC stands for the Interstellar Nordic Council, a Government body comprised of the Scandinavian and Nordic countries of Earth. This includes Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. The INC was originally formed as the International Nordic Council in the first half of the 21st century as a response to increased aggression by the Russian Federation before in the events leading up to the collapse of its current government in during the Ukrainian Conflict. As humanity started expanding to the stars and colonizing other planets in the latter half of the century and beyond, the INC officially renamed itself as the Interstellar Nordic Council as of the first day the council settled a planet of its own.

5. AU: standing for Astronomical Unit, one AU is the distance of space between the Earth and the Sun. It is approximately 150 million kilometres. (Also, I can't actually seem to find the location where I made this note in my google doc, I'll do my best to update it when I do! Haha)