Ensign Mensah - Fault Lines
Jamie Stewart
((Big Room – Deck 358, Voth Generation Ship Igirni))
Imara glanced around the bustling market once more. Children ran between stalls while merchants negotiated sales and families went about their daily routines. It struck her that, for most of the people here, this wasn't a marvel of engineering or a diplomatic curiosity. It was simply home.
Mensah: Every society has moments that test its assumptions. Who do your people look to for guidance in difficult times? And do your people see the current situation as one of those moments?
Imara was amazed at the way so many of the people around her seemed to be going about their everyday lives. Were they aware of the danger their home was in? Did they seek solace in their philosophies and tradition? Maybe it was religious or spiritual leaders that provided guidance and comfort. She hoped they didn’t mind her running with the topic a little because all these wonderful insights told her a lot about the Voth, how they think and what’s important to them.
Drex: How many of your people are actually aware of the situation your ship is currently in?
Verrla: I am unsure. The council and all senior staff of the various ship’s departments have been informed and there was no gag order that would prevent them from telling anyone. I am fairly confident that everyone in the engineering, navigation and exterior departments know, but there has been no ship wide announcement yet to prevent a panic.
Mensah: oO So it’s subject to gossip then. Oo
Avariswal: No direct gag order doesn’t mean people will spill that kind of news around. But I guess news travels fast on most ships, especially one of this size.
Imara nodded as the diplomatic officer’s line of thinking seemed to echo her own. Council members and senior staff would tell trusted friends and family, who would tell trusted friends and family… Sooner or later, everyone would know something was up. And unless the Voth passed on gossip in a much more careful way than 90% of the species she knew anything meaningful about, then with each re-telling things would subtly change. As if the reality wasn’t already serious enough.
Drex: Thank you. That helps us understand how delicate this situation is.
Letek: Nevertheless, we should be prepared for the worst-case scenario.
Mensah: oO You mean the destruction of this generational ship and the loss of countless lives? Oo
Avariswal: Which makes us wonder what you consider to be the worst-case scenario.
This seemed like a very strange, if well intentioned question. Their ship was being pulled into a black hole. The worst case scenario was fairly obvious and if the Voth hadn’t understood the gravity of it, the distress call would not have been made. Mensah had kept her questions vague enough as to not cause undue alarm to bystanders but with these increasingly pointed questions, she could see more people taking notice and it made her uneasy.
Drex: Do you have any evacuation plan in place? And if so... how is it meant to work?
Verrla: Our plan in the case of ship failure is to have the population escape with the emergency shuttles to the nearest planet or station. It did not take into account a black hole.
That was interesting but not entirely comforting. At least not if this generational ship’s shuttle capacity was anything like the BCS Tanici then there was trouble ahead. The Tanici was one of the first great Bolian interplanetary space cruise liners. She struck an asteroid during the early expansion period. Thousands aboard, but only enough escape craft for a fraction of them. Since then, Bolians have tended to look suspiciously at evacuation plans that require multiple trips. Imara could see the evidence of a class system around her and wondered if the shuttle capacity might have been designed around only saving castes considered ‘worthy’? Or if the order of evacuation would be dependent on class?
She didn’t know if there was a suitable planet nearby as she was not intimately familiar with what had been discovered in the region yet. She also didn’t know what discoveries the Voth might have made that Starfleet was yet to discover. However, it wasn’t much of a leap to assume that if there was a suitable planet nearby then an evacuation would already have started, even if it was just a precautionary measure.
Drex: Your ship has travelled so far to reach this point. Your ancestors must have known the journey would involve dangers and difficult conditions, including the possibility of a major systems failure. And I find it hard to believe they did not plan a way to save their people.
Verrla: The original plan was to allow for the ship to separate into multiple parts. Damaged sections that were a danger to the rest of the ship could be jettisoned to save the rest of the ship. This ship was designed to be modular and parts replaceable. That is no longer the case with the ship as it is currently.
Letek: A decision that probably no one could make lightly as long as there is still hope for another way.
Drex: Response?
Verrla: This ship is not the same ship that left our home planet all those years ago. Things have broken or worn out or could not be replaced with a perfect match and so must instead be replaced with good enough. We have not yet come across replacement parts or materials for the system that allowed the ship to function as many. We have done our best with what we have had available to us.
That made sense. The ship would have been built to be as durable as possible and to the highest spec imaginable but every ship had wear and tear. It was inevitable that unexpected situations would come up, and things would break. Imara wondered what the education system was like. Were jobs passed down? If your dad was chief engineer did that mean you were required to be an engineer? What if you didn’t like engineering? If you are forced to take on a job you aren’t interested in, you might not learn it as deeply or complete the work as thoroughly, so there could be slow attribution in the way things are looked after over time. More generally was the population shrinking, growing or stable and what sort of pressures did it lead to? If there weren’t enough people to do the job, that was a huge problem, but if there are more people then you have more hands and can share the burden but there is also more wear and tear from people using more things. Imara had been here only a few minutes and a million things piqued her interest - and most of them could and should wait until the immediate crisis was over.
Letek: The emergency shuttles you mentioned... I don't suppose there are enough of them to evacuate everyone?
That was an important question and Imara was concerned this wasn’t the right place to be asking for it. She looked around and could see eyes watching them, fingers pointing and gossip being exchanged. As Verrla answered that Imara kept a close eye on the people around them. The wrong answer could very well create a panic. Her sense of unease deepened.
Verrla: Response?
Avariswal: Let’s hope it won’t even come to that. Would it be acceptable to start some premature evacuations? Get some of the children to the Eagle, for example? We can't possibly harbor them all, but we could offer them a safe place. Perhaps allowing you to shut down a few systems to save power?
Imara thought that was a very good attempt at a save, but she could see the after-effects of this conversation rippling through the crowd. A few people started to approach. Then more joined in.
Mensah: We’re drawing a lot of attention. ::Nodding towards the crowd starting to form::
Drex / Verrla: Response?
Imara followed Letek’s gaze, and saw that already the few had turned into a crowd, closing in from all sides. They were now encased in a circle.
Letek: ::Looking at the Voth nearby:: Maybe we should continue this conversation in a quieter place.
Avariswal: I think that’s a wise suggestion. Unless you want to keep this an open debate for your people to follow?
The crowd was becoming louder and more agitated. Heads were shaking. Some of them moved in to intentionally block off escape routes. Things were starting to feel claustrophobic. With all the bodies pressing in ever closer it felt hotter, and she became more aware of their scent.
Menash: With respect, I don't think moving elsewhere solves the problem. These people already know something is wrong.
It looked like they were about to see how much respect the Elder held. Was there simmering class resentment and if there was, how would it present? Would the Elder be transparent with them, or try to placate them and leave?
Letek / Drex / Verrla / Avariswal / : Response?
Mensah: If they're blocking our path, perhaps what they're asking for isn't privacy. Perhaps they're asking for answers.
As if in answer someone started stomping their feet rhythmically. Someone else joined in then in the blink of an eye the entire crow was stamping their feet. The noise was deafening. If someone told her that the stomping could be heard 60 decks away or even 100 she would not have been surprised. The atmosphere was intense and she could feel it deep within her chest and her heart rate quickened. Externally, she maintained her composure. She could see that some individuals were furious or confused, but many more were simply frightened.
Letek / Drex / Verrla / Avariswal / Verra: Response?
Too much had been said, too casually. The time for small talk was over. Imara wasn’t here to dictate to Verrla how to handle the situation. She had no idea if this was something Verrla had dealt with in the past, perhaps over other issues. What she had learned, from long experience and thorough training, was that sometimes the best course of action was to be transparent, even when the truth is going to hurt. If the situation was handled carefully, then perhaps the population could pull together to help collectively solve the issue. It could become a great tale of heroism, and bring everyone closer together. Or it could cause widespread and catastrophic terror, looting and they could destroy themselves before the ship even has a chance to be freed.
Mensah: If they are frightened, secrecy may worsen the situation. You may find that speaking to them now is easier than trying to calm them later.
Letek / Drex / Verrla / Avariswal / Verra: Response?
Ensign Mensah
Counsellor
USS Eagle-A
E240305IM2