FROM: Hong Su Ling, Survey Team Coordinator
TO: Ignacio Campos, Head of Research, DCD
EARTH DATE: 30 October 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Classified Top Secret
We’ve now conducted analyses of the air, soil, and water on all 24 quarantined worlds. A detailed report is appended, but here is the bottom line: As long as there are other alternatives, we would not recommend sending Humans back to any of these planets. Two of them are still so toxic that any imported fauna would be dead within hours. Four of them are devoid of all plant life, and the viral strain that caused the devastation appears to have gone dormant. We can’t predict whether it would stay that way if flora were to be reintroduced, and a colony that cannot safely begin producing its own food will almost certainly starve within six months.
Of the remaining eighteen planets, twelve have environments that I would describe as challenging. The Angel of Death virus is still present, but precautions can be taken against it, giving Humans on these worlds a 75-85% chance of surviving their first year there.
The last six worlds I would characterize as hostile. Settling permanently there would be out of the question. Even with appropriate safeguards in place, Humans would have no more than a fifty percent chance of surviving for any length of time.
The captain and crew of the Vasco da Gama have been extremely helpful on this project. I just wish the results could be more encouraging. We’re on our way back to Earth now, at best speed. Wish Andrew good luck for us when he presents our findings to the High Council.
~
FROM: Andrew Linderhuis, Executive Director, DCD
TO: Patricia Chen, Chair, Earth High Council
EARTH DATE: 6 November 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Classified Top Secret
The final report from the survey teams deployed to assess the 24 quarantined planets is appended. The ultimate decision is yours, of course. However, to the team coordinator’s remarks I would like to add my own recommendation that the plan you outlined to me back in May be considered as a last resort only. It would be like escaping from a fire by jumping out a tenth story window.
~
FROM: Rhys Amis, Supreme Adjudicator for Greater Europe
TO: Patricia Chen, Chair of the Governing Committee, Relocation Authority
EARTH DATE: 15 November 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Classified Highly Sensitive
In accordance with your request, I just finished reading the report from the survey teams deployed by the DCD. I know that you share my desire to keep to a minimum the number of Humans we send to alien-controlled worlds. Accordingly, I have the following comments to make:
While the maximum initial population for reestablishing a colony has been pegged by the experts at 50,000, I believe that figure to be overly conservative. Colonies that remained untouched by Angel of Death are now reportedly thriving and have grown to between 200,000 and 300,000 residents. If we can evacuate 250,000 refugees to each of the dozen worlds identified by the DCD teams as having a 75 to 85% probability of success, we’ll have saved a total of three million souls.
As for the remaining half-dozen planets with a fifty percent chance of viability: This may sound harsh, but we live in desperate times, and a fifty percent chance of survival is better than none. We have so far excluded from the evacuation program those Humans currently incarcerated in the detention centers. I suggest that we put them and their families (if they have any) aboard Fleet ships and relocate them to those half-dozen worlds. At the very least, it will permit us to convert their cells into living space for identified evacuee families traveling from the Industrial Zones to the urban districts for processing.
~
FROM: Patricia Chen, Chair of the Governing Committee, Relocation Authority
TO: Rhys Amis, Supreme Adjudicator for Greater Europe
EARTH DATE: 16 November 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Highly sensitive
May sound harsh? The fact that you would even think I’d be receptive to such a suggestion shows how low you believe I’ve sunk in this job. If we both survive the next eleven months, I’ll be calling for your resignation.
~
FROM: Patricia Chen, Chair of the Governing Committee, Relocation Authority
TO: Eugene Weldon, Head of Corrections, Planetary Security
EARTH DATE: 19 November 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Highly sensitive
Be advised that I have instructed the Relocation Authority to add to its list of potential colonists the names of all detainees currently confined to correctional facilities worldwide. These individuals are to be held in custody until such time as a notification of relocation has been generated. They are then to be transported to the nearest processing center, where they will be reunited with their families for the voyage to form a new colony in alien-controlled space.
~
FROM: Admiral Bryce McPherson, Commander in Chief, Fleet Command
TO: Admiral Harlan Tang, Commander, Fleet Control
EARTH DATE: 19 November 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Highly sensitive
With the recent addition of one hundred alien vessels to Earth’s evacuation effort, I am ordering the withdrawal of an equal number of Fleet ships to form the core of an elite military defense wing. Selection and training of pilots will begin immediately, as outlined in the appended schedule, with an emphasis on evasive and space combat maneuvers.
That being said, the latest reports from SIS indicate that our standard weapons and tactics, good though they are, will be insufficient by themselves to withstand a Corvou attack on Earth. I have therefore recommended to Earth’s High Council that we reach out to one of the alien military commands for advice and support as we expand our pilots’ fighting skills. Should the Council turn down that suggestion, a more forceful (or less direct) course of action may become necessary. If recent intel is to be believed, there could be as many as five alien fleets defending Earth space at Daisy Hub. It would be shameful if our own Fleet were absent from the battle, but even more tragic if we arrived unprepared and became a liability to our allies. In any case, I’ll keep you apprised.
~
FROM: Patricia Chen, Chair, Earth High Council
TO: General George Bascomb, Commander in Chief, Planetary Security
EARTH DATE: 19 November 2401
SECURITY STATUS: Highly sensitive
Your assumption is correct. Under the current circumstances, I am empowered to reclassify as a military asset any scientific experiment that could enhance our defensive capabilities.
I agree with your assessment that Daisy Hub’s value as an experiment in segregated deep space living is overshadowed by its strategic location in the war with the Corvou. The appropriate agency to control this asset is Space Installation Security, not Planetary Security. However, if you can persuade the SIS High Command to go along with your plan and put you in charge of it, then I am prepared to overlook the irregularity.