Human Time line
FAQ
Q: "A couple of questions. Wouldn't it be possible
for the SSS to travel back to the Battle of Existence and send out a distant
warning about the Gateway Catastrophe to the surviving humans?"
A: The SSS are the final evolution of Humans from
the alternative history timeline. When the Vale Gateway experiment ended
in catastrophe, the clock of the real time & space universe reset itself
to 1945. Everything after that date was no more. The SSS survived only
because they were absent from the real time & space universe. Do note,
however, if they try to crossover from the Elysium universe after 1945
they no longer exist - their atoms are reset to what the atoms would have
been in 1945.
Due to the universe setting out on its way again,
the Battle of Existence hasn't taken place yet as the Human race are still stuck
on Earth. The reset timeline is OUR current one. And, needless to say,
we're far from establishing the UFP, let alone a united planetary government
that's barely survived an attack from the Blurgiss.
Having said that, yes the SSS can travel back
to when the Battle of Existence took place. But since our timeline has
already taken a different route, so too will events in our future. Hence
the Battle of Existence hasn't & may never take place.
Q: "How do the MSWD engines work?"
A: Very well thanks very much.
Q: "In 1982, Earth's peoples was too far to
overcome hatred and prejudice (as we are today). After the Blurgiss attack,
humans was aware of the alien menace and united in order to survive. When
humans contacted the Vargary, why they don't feel any mistrust or hate
against them or any other alien race, if in the entire human history before
the Blurgiss, people has hated each other?"
A: In a world that few countries trusted another,
kind
of like now, the Humans came together under the threat of slavery &/or
extinction
by the Blurgiss. Alas I haven't fully explained myself what happened later.
It's
got to do with my lack of experience in writing a timeline instead of a
story & as
you know I kind of just let the story take over from about the third chapter
onwards.
So I'll quickly fill in the blanks...
After the Blurgiss attack in 1982 the humans go mad with revenge. The first
sign
of this is in the Great Civil War of 1982 when nuclear weapons are used
to virtually
wipe out the pariah nations on Earth. Patience & diplomacy is forgotten.
Then in 1984, if you recall, there's the "Day of Alien Blood", where the
surviving
Blurgiss prisoners are executed for crimes against humanity. After these
two events
a lot of people begin to think about the past events & the future.
Yes a lot of people
are paranoid, but a growing number argue that the Human race has a much
better future
in stall. Similarly a number in the military argue that if there are bad
aliens out
there, there may well be "friendly" ones that could be allies. Thus expansion
begins
in the hope of discovering (or spying) more about the Blurgiss & if
there's anyone
who can help the humans.
As part of this expansion, however, two key agencies are formed reflecting
the two
basic positions of the population (a political move by the UCE) - the military
(EDF)
& the civilian scouts (UEX). It is the non-military UEX (after researching
the signal
data collected) that decided that the Vargary are "friendly" & thus
make first contact.
The Vargary also do their part by not shooting first. A key feature in
this was the
physical appearance that is shared between the Vargary & Humans: this
helped tremendously
as well as cultural, social & political similarities.
Furthermore, the Vargary had had no contact with an alien civilisation
until the
Human contacted them. If it was the reverse, & that contact had begun
with shooting,
then it may have been a total failure. Nonetheless, contact could have
meant that
if more hot blooded minds on both sides had their way. When the military
did want
in on the next contact, that being with the Lyonies, war almost did start
at once.
Q: "How do the MMD engines work?"
A: Even better than the MSWD engines.
Q: "I enjoyed your timeline of the fictional
AWI, but at one point in the story you state the following "The Queen of
Great Britain refuses to become involved in the Crisis. The UK Parliament
declares it can do nothing as per the articles in the Westminster Act 1931."
This does not fit such a timeline, as the Queen would have to make a
statement regarding such a conflict in Australia, since she is Queen of
Australia, and the most powerful figure in the country."
A: The Westminster Act 1931 is a rather tricky
part in regards to Constitutional Law in
Australia, ie, how much power does the Monarch have in this country as
permitted
by Australian Constitutional Law in contrast to UK laws (both Constitutional
& Statute).
Basically the Westminster Act restricts the British Parliament from involvement
in
the affairs of other nations (especially Commonwealth Dominions eg Australia)
, &
considering that the UK PM advisers the Crown, this means that the Crown
cannot get
involved with the internal affairs of another nation either. But
you are correct
in stating that the Queen is also the Queen of Australia, but here she
is specifically
represented in Australia by the Governor-General. In doing so, the Queen
isn’t directly
advised by the Australian Government. It’s one of those "understandings"
(in other
words, a way around the law) that is common in the Westminster Governmental
system.
Thus it’s all rather messy when determining the actual legal position,
especially
on this particular issue (Westminster Act), because the Constitution was
written
prior to the Act. The Act, however, was a UK one (independent from any
Australian
input) & was only recognised by Australia in 1942. Confused? Well
nothing new there about
where Australian Constitutional Law stands in relation to its British counterpart.
In the timeline I took the historical position of what the Queen actually
did. Under
advice from Her UK Government, the Queen stated that she could not, would
not change
the decision made by the Governor-General on the 11 November 1975. Now
historically
no one really grilled the Crown over the issue as people were more so interested
in The Dismissal itself & the mechanicians of the Australian Constitution.
By the
way, the Australian Constitution does give the Queen the authority to overrule
the
Governor-General (Sec 59). Now if pushed for a constitutional position
why the Queen
could not get involved, it comes down to the messy legal situation outlined
above
& all I can identify as anything remotely legal is the Westminster
Act.
Q: "BlackStar is a most dreadful weapon. Although
I see parallels between it & the first atomic bombs used in 1945, we
know how atomic bombs come to explode, but how do the physics of BlackStar
operate?"
A: Well they involve someone programming its computer
to explode under certain conditions. Inevitably, though, it means someone
pushing a button. I’ll further add that I usually find one nuclear explosion
is enough to ruin your day - I’m not sure what the outcome of your day
would be like if a BlackStar detonated nearby.
Q: "Who is the best specie in the Human Time
Line "universe’?
A: Difficult to answer this one. I’m afraid to
say Humans (Homo Sapiens) aren’t the most intelligent specie going around.
If we did an IQ test of all the species, Humans would just scape into the
top ten. The Lyonies, Vargary, Zargah, Unis, hell even the Blurgiss, would
come before Humans. Even those thieves the Buckhoo would just beat the
Humans to the number 9 spot.
But the Humans have strengths that the others
don’t. First & foremost is adaptability. No other specie comes close.
Likewise, Humans have a knack for figuring things out, regardless of how
complicated. Humans are also the most curious species around. They’re always
got to wonder off to see what’s past the next star, or keep at something
until it’s done.
Another strength that Humans have is that they
are one of the most warlike species ever known! Only the Braggah beat them
to number one spot. Somewhat related to this, again like the Braggah, is
sacrifice. Humans will sacrifice millions of themselves in a just &
righteous cause. The hardships that Humans will endure to see justice done,
see democracy & freedom survive & prosper, or to defend a friend,
are unprecedented.
Finally, Humans have the strength of numbers.
Humans breed like rabbits. By the time the Fourth Age comes & goes,
there are 40 billion of them scattered across the known galaxy. No one
else comes close. The Vargary are next with 18 billion. However after having
said all that, it still doesn’t make the Humans automatically number
one. To be honest, I don’t know who is. BTW, the Vargary have the most
fun!
Q: "Where did the SSS get the great computer
Monolith in Renascent from?"
A: That’s easy. They got it from the United Federation
of Planets (UFP).
Q: "Ok. But where did the UFP get the Monolith
from?"
A: Again that’s easy - from the SSS in the Elysium
universe.
Q: "What’s this theme that you’ve just mentioned & what’s JMS/B5 got to do with it?"
A: Originally the Human Time Line (HTL) was supposed to end with the third series The Cathartic Age. But then I saw, for the tenth time, The Deconstruction of Falling Stars (Babylon 5, season 4). It is no secret that J. Michael Straczynski’s (JMS) B5 has made a major impact on the Sci-Fi genre & needless to say upon my own work. But it’s the deliberate destruction of Earth in 1 000 000 AD (in the B5 universe) that has bugged me since I’ve seen it.
Now I’m sure JMS had great reason to do this (& I’m certainly not having a cheap insult here), but I’ve been constantly questioning what happened to all the other life forms, regardless of specie, intelligence & abilities. Surely the Human race hasn’t got the right to exterminate everything else on Earth. After all we have been doing our best lately to ensure everything survives. Furthermore, the destruction of Earth after Homo Sapiens leave & go on their merry way, stops anything else here evolving into a sentient space faring life form. I didn’t know that evolution had stopped with our arrival. And I’m sure that nature would be surprised that evolution has stopped due to Homo Sapiens turning up. I just find it too arrogant that Homo Sapiens are the only intelligent specie on this planet & when we go, you can bet your bottom dollar that nature will replace us with another sentient specie. Just look around, there are plenty of candidates just within the primates that are raring to go, not to mention other specie groups too.
So as to my theme - that’s what Renascent Epoch is somewhat about, as will the two new series - Rise of Homo Luminous & History of Homo Intelligens. They’re an exploration into what has gone before Homo Sapiens & what may come next. It is also exploring the idea of Mother Earth & that the universe has, for whatever reason, picked this planet as a focal point for the Milky Way Galaxy & the universe itself. If this is the case, then I’d argue that Homo Sapiens (or whatever their future evolutionary name will be), does not have the right to send planet Earth to kingdom come aka JMS/B5. In fact there will eventually be, in the HTL universe, four Human species (SSS, H. Sapien/Spiritous, H. Luminous & H. Intelligens) & who knows what else may be born (a sentient dog, dolphin, pig - hey don't laugh: as far as we know, pigs can think abstractly like a human & they're the only ones, apart from humans, who have that ability from what the scientists can tell. So the next time you enjoy your roast pork, just remember you maybe eating a semi-sentient life form). The sun has billions of years in it yet to ensure that life on Earth will keep doing its thing. Then when Earth finally goes, Jupiter’s moon Europa may have it’s turn for a billion or so years followed by Saturn’s moon Titan. There, I’ve already got at least another two series to follow the Earth based ones… lol
Q: Things seem advanced from
> the first timeline. For example, the catharsis
> appears to have taken place 500 thousand years earlier
> than the original timeline. This brings up some
> interesting questions. Are the Essence Ancients and
> the Delquin again beyond the Vale. If the first
> timeline didn't take place, then then neither species
> was destroyed and presumably have evolved into
> cathartic species.
A: Many things change in the new time period. For one thing, Sapiens have to
develop faster than warp speed through their own efforts & not from captured technology. Yes, the Catharsis takes place much earlier. This is due to a number of factors, the main one being that the UFP isn't fighting as many people as in the original timeline. This permits the UFP to concentrate on being a peaceful community, apart from the occasional encounter. Note too that the Sparta class comes along much much later this time around. The Essence
Ancients & Delquin are dead & gone. They never gained from the protection of
the Elysium Universe. They had gone Beyond the Vale prior to 1945, but came
back to be destroyed before UFP's first attempt to go Beyond the Vale . More
about the effects of the Elysium Universe later.
Q: Will you ever fill us in on the
> highlights of the last 500 thousand years?
A: No, not really. Bits & pieces will be mentioned, but I'm exploring what came
before 1945 & what new sentient species may one day be born on Earth. The
most important event was at the dawn of the Federation known as the
Liberation War. Basically it was a rerun of the war against the Blurgiss
Empire from Second Age. Earth, however, is never attacked by the Blurgiss.
Other than that, we have Sapiens independent development of warp drive.
Peaceful First Contact with the Vargary, Lyonies & Drey. Colonisation of
several planets around Earth (although not Duel - too much radiation so it
is thought). Mars, Venus, Ganymede & Callisto are not terraformed. Jupiter
is not turned into a small sun. Only four"destroyed" planets are brought
back to life after the war with the Blurgiss - Renaissance, Phoenix, Nirvana
& the UFP Capital Epsilon.
Finally, UPX is twice the size of the UDF - previously it was the reverse.
Furthermore, UPX ships are unarmed. It reflects a more peaceful UFP & the
larger numbers of UPX ships (not to mention a much greater budget) permits a
lot more long distance exploration missions. This ensures that the UFP knows
much more what's beyond their borders than previously, eg the Phillis &
Sassnorah. UPX controls all First Contact arrangements & conduct these
without any threat. Furthermore, First Conact can be done much earlier in
the development of the other civilisation. The only messy First Contact was
with the Luminous, which was unplaned & adhoc in nature. This was mostly
because of the unpredicted actions & reactions of the Luminous. Intelligens
are a whole different matter... stay tuned! lol
Q: The war
> with the Zargah and the Essence Ancients were
> highlights of the earlier series. Did something
> similar take place?
A:There is no war this time around with the Zargah. First Contact with them is
one of the most successful ever. It comes about via an introduction by the
Honshu. Although they are not overly friendly at first, things eventually
change. There is, however, various Zargah Civil Wars that finally makes the
Zargah Empire democractic. Not long afterwards they join the UFP as per
Fourth Age.
The Essence Ancients no longer exist. Furthermore, the SSS monolith
"advices" the UFP to stay clear of the planet code named Essence. The UFP
accept this advice & close off the planet. Furthermore, the UFP do not have
timetravel at this point. For them, there is no going back to alter
timelines.
Q: Finally, there is the chicken and
> egg argument of time travel. Since the SSS sent for
> help via the monolith on the moon, they must have
> known they would need it someday. But there would
> have to be at least one time line whereby the help did
> not arrive, because of the linear nature of time. So
> the SSS may have gotten their buts kicked, only to be
> able to alter the timeline by sending out a distress
> call to the humans in real space. (The same sort of
> thing would happen in the original timeline with the
> Thermopylae returning to save the UFP from the
> Zargah.)
A: This is the difficulty of understanding the reality of the Elysium Universe
(& why I was apprehensive about the Renascent series). Time does not exist
there. There is thus no linear existence. Different rules apply. Consider it
heaven if you will. You exist, but don't grow old. However, the SSS, like
us, do not know what happens in their or our future for that matter. One of
the great advantages, however, is that they can enter into the real time &
space universe at any point & at any time prior to 1945. Mind you,
previously they could have entered this universe after 1945, but the failed
UFP Vale Gateway experimented stuffed all that up. As for the monolith
business, yes they did know it would happen because the UFP gave them the
monolith telling them everything they learnt. The SSS reset the monolith
knowing that they had to inorder to one day get help. It's why I call that
section of the chapter "A Paradox or Two". It's there to make you think &
reflect about it all. In a way, it's kind of like the last episode of
StarTrek: Next Generation (although two very different storylines).
The SSS were in serious trouble - that is true. And it was mostly out of
their own making, the leading problem being fear & not understanding their
own strength. The Guardians were getting close to their true power, which is
within every SSS. In truth one SSS could destroy a city of 5 million people.
Even an advanced space ship, akin to what the Templous used, would have
little chance against one SSS. Give the SSS another million years in the
Elysium Universe to mature & nothing could threaten them. They could even
one day defeat the post-1945 barrier. But that's another story... lol
Q: About the only thing I have a tough time figuring out is how
the Blackstar beam works. One can easily imagine tiny artificial black
holes, but to do that in a beam is a bit tough for me to envision. I mean I
can visualize what it looks like and what it does, but I have a problem
imagining *how* it does that.
A:Now, as for the Blackstar Beam Arrays. Remember this weapon is the ultimate in Blackstar
technology. And we're talking about technology that is 1000s of years in advance
of anything we have now (unlike Magnetic Warp Speed Drive - MWSD - engines). I got
the idea from President Reagan's StarWars anti-missile system that was doing the
rounds in the 1980s. Although I thought the idea sci-fi at the time, some of the
weapon systems appeared possible. And none more so than the X-Ray Laser cannon (I
think that's what it was called). Basically a nuclear detonation would occur within
the X-Ray laser satelite which in turn would focus the energy of the detonation.
This in turn would be aimed at the target which would thus be destroyed.
Blackstar Beam Arrays operate on the same principle. A very small Blackstar device
explodes in a chamber which is reinforced by extremely powerful magnetic fields.
Naturally this chamber would have to be large enough to safely hold the blackhole
(hence not every ship has them - only the larger ones). In many respects it's the
same principle at work in the powerplants of the Sparta class (& this technology
is almost available today), although the chamber for the Blackstar Beam Array is
much more advanced while the megnetic sheilds are much more powerful. The force of
the blackhole is then focused & directed at a target. Naturally, there is a range
limitation before the beam disperses & runs out of steam.
Alternative
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This creative work is the property of David Mark Atwell.
Enjoy!
You must gain the author's permission prior to any reproduction by
any technology currently available now or any new technology at any future
date. That also includes those damned thieves the Buckhoo. (Why they remain
in the UFP I'll never know).
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© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 [email protected]
