Children of the Federation

[Cmdr JFarrington 0]

Children of the Federation

 

The last time Jami Farrington set foot on Negen Prime it was a beautiful spring day that promised an even more beautiful and very prosperous summer. The Bota were in full bloom, reminding her of the cherry blossoms back on Earth; they filled the air with just as heady a fragrance. New plants sprung enthusiastically through the fertile ground of neatly furrowed fields, defying weeds and drought. Negen Prime was the breadbasket of the Negen System; every moon, every settled planet depended on them for sustenance. They were a peaceful people, a simple people – space-faring but pre-warp. Their only desire was to spread the peace and harmony that existed in their system throughout the galaxy. They were, in essence, an innocent world, one that some had nicknamed Eden.

 

On that particular occasion, Jami was a representative from the United Federation of Planets, one of the few chosen from the Council on Cultural Diversity to attend Negen Prime’s official welcome into the United Federation of Planets.

 

That was two years ago, nearly to the day, thought Jami as she stood at the edge of a crater in the midst of Nove, the major industrial city of Negen Prime. The planet had been ruthlessly assaulted by forces unknown for reasons unknown, and the damage had been considerable – no surprise given their inability to defend themselves.

 

During their approach in the Manticore’s runabout, Cerebus, Jami had noticed that the once-fertile fields were bare, and that the topsoil had turned to powdery dust that swept in great clouds into the atmosphere by the barest breath of wind. The Bota trees, the people’s fruitful symbol of peace, were no more, shriveled beyond recognition. Magnificent monuments had been flattened, and most of the buildings in the midst of their major industrial complex, disintegrated.

 

Jami knew the smell of death, but the smell at the top of the crater bore no resemblance. Thick dust filled with residual chemicals and heavy metals clouded her vision, and though she knew the breathing mask was securely sealed around her face, she instinctively pressed it tighter. Dense smoke, presumably from smoldering ruins, hung over the city. If any life had existed in this area before the orbital attack there would be no evidence of it now. From where she stood, the bedrock of the planet was clearly visible thousands of meters below. Had she not known better, she would have thought she was standing atop a volcano after its eruption, but even a volcano would have left some evidence of former lives. Along the edges of the crater people wandered, disoriented, unable to fathom the situation, half-heartedly searching for loved ones, posting their images, calling their names as if the voicing would resurrect someone they knew would never appear.

 

She stood there, heartsick and nauseated, faced away from her team in the pretext of taking stock of the situation to hide her inner turmoil. How could this have happened?

 

A year ago, in his address to the 145th Symposium on Cultural Diversity, Socio-Psychologist Therman Mier had proposed that the Federation Council may have made one of the most ill wrought decisions in history. Recalling recent highly-contested events when discussion among members of the Federation Council and the United Federation Delegates had resulted in admitting space-faring but pre-warp civilizations into full membership, he said, “Every civilization is as discrete in character as it is in appearance, language, and culture; that fact no one denies. The very premise of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations recognizes this, and we as a Federation do not deny any aspect of it. We welcome diversity. We welcome worlds who seek to blend their cultures with ours.

 

“Where we as a Federation falter, what the Federation’s leaders have failed to fully understand in all its implications, is that many pre-warp worlds – especially Negen Prime – while space-faring, are pristine in nature. They are the extreme youth of the Federation, and because of their youth we are responsible for their welfare. We have a responsibility to protect them not only from industrial predators, but also from their own naïveté. We, as mature civilizations, have a duty to nurture and guide these youth, to guard their innocence, and to insure that their futures are healthy.”

 

That day, Meir had called for a moratorium on pre-warp admission to the Federation, effectively curtailing the admittance of pre-warp civilizations into full membership until those who had already been admitted could be fully studied, the evidence weighed, and the matter approached in a more informed manner. For the most part his words fell on deaf ears. Only a few, including Jami Farrington, had listened closely and fully agreed.

 

These wandering people whom she now watched as they hopelessly searched for loved ones, helpless in the face of disaster, were children of the Federation. Their world had been admitted without reservation, and Jami, among others, fully believed it was because of their vast dilithium reserves and their naive willingness to be exploited for material gain. The recent discovery of high iron and nickel deposits in their moons had drawn questionable individuals to the planet, industrial development had taken on immense proportions, pollution proliferated, the population suffered, the rich grew richer and the poor….

 

She turned away, unable to bear the sight any longer. What perversion could have led them down this path? What insanity had allowed this to happen?

 

She returned to the medical area determined to find out who was responsible and why. She would use every resource at her disposal – every scan, every observation, every recollection of the survivors, all she could learn from what few Council connections she had, and maybe some probing from Colonel Eason, Manticore’s Intel officer. Of course there would be an investigation, and she was sure that Manticore would conduct their own. But to her, this attack was personal. They were children of the Federation, and she would not allow this atrocity to go unpunished.