The Chextigan civilization went into decline and the Earth outpost was abandoned over 4,500 earth years ago.
The Noridians claim to be aware of these events only because they absorbed (conquered, rescued) the Chextigan civilization when it collapsed, and took possession of its records and history. Only recently was there a need to explore the portion of those records that might pertain to earth.
Chapter 11
Dr. Mark Spencer
Word came down the next day that we were leaving; or more precisely, that we should prepare to leave. No one seemed to be sure how many days we had left before we boarded a Noridian spacecraft, only that we needed to be ready.
Everyone was busy making sure the data we’d already collected was secure and, more importantly, accessible on our journey. The Noridians had been unusually vague on exactly how long the journey would take (something about hyper-spatial quantum fluctuations) but nobody wanted to miss out on the chance to continue our studies and review interview video or summaries.
Data storage wasn’t a problem; we’d been provided with the highest technology earth had to offer. I’d actually fallen asleep one evening during dinner listening to our Blue Squad’s IT and CSE expert go on and on… and on about the incredible versatility and memory density of our hardware, the networking/computational capability of our software, and the amazing security of our encryption. Julie had nudged me in the ribs—hard. Apparently the CSE (Computational Science and Engineering) capabilities we were carrying with us would allow us to computer model just about anything we wanted to build (to decide if it was worth building) or possibly reverse engineer things we didn’t understand. All we needed was enough data—we had the computational ability by networking everything from the science team’s specialized equipment, to HQ’s computer core, even to my smartglasses.
Don’t get me wrong, Dr. David Cook was a good guy he just kind of lived in his own electronic world. He wasn’t autistic or anything, but let’s just say I probably wouldn’t be trying to discuss the last Super Bowl with him—unless they finally get around to installing those sensors in the ball, boundaries, and goal line in which case he’d be the perfect guy to talk to (for a while).
Even I had to admit, however, that the smartpads, communication devices, and smartglasses we were issued were incredibly cool—way beyond what was available on the open market.
I hadn’t spent much time in my lab. There were also a handful of other Anthropologists and History professors on the Earth Team (I think our official designation was B Company—which made me wonder whatever happened to A Company but when I’d asked Major Reagan he’d just stared at me). We all shared that one lab but until recently there really hadn’t been much for us to do except read reports and watch interviews, and I could do that anywhere.
I was walking past the Chemical Engineering section (or was it the Material Sciences lab?) when I heard the raised voice of Dr. Tony Decker. This in and of itself wouldn’t be anything unusual but I caught Hiromi’s reflection in the glass of the open door. I decided to pay attention in case Hiromi needed rescuing. Ok, who was I kidding? Hiromi could handle herself just fine but I was curious; so I eavesdropped…
“I don’t care how many are working; I’ve got three atomic absorption spectrometers that aren’t working. These are important pieces of equipment and it’s your job to make sure I have them,” roiled Decker.
Hiromi’s demeanor was always controlled and she had a number of different voices she used depending on the situation; this was her calming voice, “Dr. Decker I know you wanted one of these machines for everyone in the squad but realistically everyone will be busy and will have their own collections and analysis to perform. You are mistaken about it being my job to procure your equipment but I will do everything in my power to obtain replacements before we leave. Please make sure that the four that are working are packed and tagged. You need to contact security and let them know you have equipment ready to be moved to the loading bay.”
She turned and walked out into the hallway while Decker was still trying to say something to her retreating back. I didn’t think she’d known I was there but without missing a step she walked by and said, “Come with me.”
I quickened my pace to keep up when she asked me, “Have you noticed how much equipment everyone is taking?”
I really hadn’t thought about it. Months ago they’d asked us to list everything we wanted to take with us and like all properly indoctrinated scientists that were used to working with government bureaucracies I, and I assume everyone else, had given them a complete wish list—knowing that they’d come back at us with orders to pair it down for financial, weight, or storage capacity reasons. Come to think of it though they’d never come back to us.
“Are you saying,” I asked, “that everyone is being allowed to take everything they wished for?”
“As far as I know, except for a few accidental circumstances like Dr. Decker’s yes,” she said.
“How big is the Noridian ship?” I wondered out loud.
“Mark, HQ has decided that the Noridian’s must have built a new ship just to take us back. We believe that this could explain how patient they’ve been with our questions until now when they’re suddenly ready to leave.”
While I was mulling over how they could possibly build a ship without us noticing, she continued…
“Had you noticed before they yesterday turned off our access to outside media that every program available to us was on a two-hour delay?” she said as we continued walking. “The government didn’t cut our feed because we’re leaving; the rumor is that something happened they don’t want us to know about. I’ve heard that several nuclear bombs were detonated.”
“Are you serious? Where? Why?”
“The only thing I know is that word of us working with the Noridians somehow leaked. The bombs went off in the Middle East or possibly in Europe or Asia close to the Middle East. Take care of everything you need to take care of Mark… by this time tomorrow we’ll be in orbit.”
I asked the only immediate question I had left on my mind… “Are you going to get Decker his replacement equipment?”
Hiromi just looked at me as she turned into a corridor that I didn’t have clearance for.
Chapter 12
Summary
Noridian Interview Blogcast #1879
Security Classification: Ultra Secret Black Diamond
Access Authorization: Broken Star Personnel Only
Operational Priority: Level 1
In Attendance:
For the Noridian’s: Pancet
For Earth Team: Dr. Hilbert Sullivan - M.D., Contagious Diseases, Microbiology
Subject Tags:
Medical
Nanotechnology
Disease
Health
Summary:
Dr. Herbert Sullivan began the interview by identifying 232 common earth-domestic diseases and attempting to correlate to known diseases the Noridian population might suffer from. There were mixed results.
‘Lifestyle Diseases’ such as Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity, and Cirrhosis, for example, are known but not experienced by Noridians.
Likewise, genetic diseases such as Sickle Cell Anemia, Hemophilia, and Huntington’s disease were either unknown or had not been experienced in millennia.
From a disease standpoint, the main threat to the Noridian population came from infectious diseases. Some Viral and Bacterial infections that were domestic to earth had their counterparts but not all. Likewise, the Noridian’s assured us that there were a plethora of bacterial and viral infections that we had never been exposed to.