Star Trek in The Universe Next Door

[Ina_meishou]

In The Universe Next Door, Venus and Mars were terraformed in prehistory, and seeded with terrestrial life.

On Venus, Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, mammalian life and Humans swarm. The Highest civilization is the Bronze age Kartahown.

On Mars, the genetic engineers of the Crimson Dynasty ruled the planet for 40,000 years before a slowly degrading climate and the loss of the symbol of their might fractured the empire into hundreds of city states.

In the 20th century, Earth makes first contact with it's neighbors.

1960s, Soviet and American probes land on Venus and Mars, providing definitive proof of Humanoid extraterrestrial life. Both Superpowers begin expanding their space programs.

1988, Research outposts on both worlds begin moving from establishing infrastructure to true research. First artifact from Ancients/Preservers found on Venus.

2000, Crimson Dynasty regains Ancient artifact ôInvisible Crownö and returns to power on Mars. The Gates open on all three worlds.

2048, Cochrane launches Phoenix, vastly shortening interplanetary travel time. Interplanetary shipping becomes profitable.

2049, Vulcans land on Earth initiating first contact with USA. European Union and the Soviet Block reluctantly agree to join the Western Block and the Crimson Dynasty in the Unified Sol government.

2145, USV NX-01 Enterprise is Launched under Captain Jonathan Archer. Its first mission is to transport Klang, a Klingon courier, to QoÆnos after he crashes on Terra. His message is sent through subspace

The Star Trek dates are off because in TUND, the increased focus on the space race accelerated scientific development. I assume this would continue, as researchers would have a larger knowledge pool, and presumable a greater understanding of the mechanics.

Cochrane's birthdate could either be changed, or he could be portrayed as even more of a prodigy. or the date of warp flight could simply be returned to he standard.

The Gates mentioned in 2000 are arch shaped, roughly 3 miles from one end to he other. The one on Mars leads to another Planet in an unknown system. the one on Earth leads to the interior of a Dyson Sphere.

The Vulcans claims that humanity is not ready to interact with other cultures would be a bit weak considering that Earthlings, Martians and Venusians general get along alright, despite quite a number of cultural differences.

As far as Trek politics go. Earth is among a number of systems along the border between Vulcan Space, and the Andorian Empire. and the course to Qo'nos will take them right along most of that border.

It's a long trip, almost half a year, and past the Vulcan/Andoria conflict, there are vast stretches of space that has yet to be extensively explored.

Space, is bloody big. and Enterprise, with a Crew of Terrans, Martians, and Venusians, will be going where no man has gone before.

If you'll pardon the overused and rather silly sounding phrase.

 

[Canis]

It's an interesting initial concept. If you have plans to actually expand it into a story would you mind answering the following questions?

1) How will you be writing it? Will it be an episodic format like the original series and the majority of "The Next Generation" or will you have larger, over-arching story-lines which tie the various "eposides" into a greater whole?

2) What races to you plan to populate your new universe with? There are a number from Star Trek that could fit the mold, but the sense I get is that you're wanting to use a much grander setting and might therefore be considering incorporating some species from outside the standard Star Trek roll of races.

2a) If you're going for new races will they be transplanted, in whole or in part, from other fictional sources (Babylon 5, Star Wars, etc.) or will you be making brand new ones?

3) When you refer to the Ancients/Preservers in your initial post are you speaking of the Preserves that seeded the Milky Way Galaxy with life and were the "subject" of ST:TNG episode involving Starfleet, the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Cardassians in what amounted to an interstellar scavenger hunt?

 

[Ina_meishou]

1. A bit of both

2. Mostly standard Trek races, though changed to be less like strawmen and (hopefully anyway) more like a group with an actual working culture that happens to be nonhuman.

also, I'd throw in a few more starfish aliens, because I don't think these Ancients would just toss Humanoids around. And Starfish Aliens are interesting.

3. Sort of. in Trek of course, the Preservers were a sort of last ditch effort to justify the fact that most aliens are humanoid. in The Universe Next Door, or The Lords of Creation if you prefer, the Ancients were an unknown group of sufficiently advanced beings who did very obvious shit for reasons nobody can fathom, like transplanting terrestrial life to other planets, building stable Dyson spheres, teraforming other planets etc.

So if I do write this fic, they would be closer to the UND ancients than to the trek preservers. But yes, there would be something of a race for various races "in the know" to find Ancient Artifacts.

It wouldn't be some overt scavenger hunt though, it would be a background cold war of sorts.

I don't think I'll ever write much of it in any case, since I cant seem to get it working when I tried to write a bit earlier, and really, I'd need a damn good reason to have almost the entire set of main officers as Terrans.

 

[Ina_meishou]

Well, it's hardly enough to justify a previews thread, but this is what I scratched together as an opening scene/quick primer on just how odd working the Martian cultures into the trek setup might be. Venusian cultures would present the same problem really but for two convenient holds. One, Venus is mostly populated by hunter gatherers in the stone age, so the only two civilized political entities are the bronze age Kartahown, and the former science colony of Jamestown. the Russian colony at Cosmograd did not pan out, and Jamestown and Kartahown exist in a sort of dual power with most of the outside trade bassed on exporting saur hide and other exotic goods.

The second hold is that while Kartahown has by far a larger population than Jamestown, the Kartahownian Kings are well aware that the earthlings don't like their penchant for beating runaway slaves to death with bronze tipped scourges. Or their policy of taking over nearby groups. Or sacrificing humans to their gods.

Thus they let the Jamestown half of the Venus power structure deal with outsiders. The Jamestown folk find alot of the slavery and sacrifice distasteful, but the earthlings have been living there for generations, and they grow up with it being a part of life. And the native members of Jamestown society aren't likely to cause a fuss over it.

But Jamestown culture is much less alien than Kartahown culture, and compared to martian culture it might as well be the difference between american states.

But yeah, that's all stuff to be expanded upon later, if i ever get around to it. For now, have a look at mars in the 2150s.

oh yes, and Dvor Il'Adzvar is Demotic Modern (martian) for "the city that is a mountain" which we would call Olympus Mons.

Yes, the whole mountain and the surrounding areas are essentially one big city with the associated farming and industrial supports.

Chamber of Received Submission
Tower of Harmonic Unity
Dvor IlÆAdzvar
Mars

While the room was smaller than the grand audience hall, it was still vast, as befitted even a minor throne room of the Tollamune line. The floor was red flowstone, worn smooth by millennia of supplicants feet. The walls and columns that lined it were painted in intricate murals showing early heights of the Crimson Dynasty, times so ancient they had long faded to legend. Beneath the protective coatings of glassine, well kept and maintained here in the heart of imperial power, the images were as bright and vibrant as the day they had been painted, colors blazing in the light of the well fed glowglobes imbedded in the ceiling.

On one end of the room was a grand entry, an arch of flowstone intricately carved and painted and covered in glassine. Beneath it stood four humans, three men and a woman. One was aging, with wrinkled skin and Caucasian features. The second man was younger, very thin, with neat blond hair and a small moustache. The woman was short and Chinese, with a bob of black hair a slim figure. The last figure was no product of earth, with Umber skin and pale hair, and sharply triangular face he was obviously venusian.

In front of them stood a bird something like a parrot crossed with an eagle, or what the cross would look like if it was half the size of a large man.

At the other end of the room stood a platoon of Imperial Coercives of the Thoughtful Grace caste, impossibly tall to human eyes, over seven feet on the average, wearing the jet black armor and insectoid helmets of the honor guard of the Tollamune.

In the midst of them was a raised dais, with three steps that pushed into the room in a large half oval. The first step was bare, serving as a boundary between the Imperial persons and all others. The second held an intricately carved chair of harsh angles set against the wall to one side of the center portion, upon which sat an older man of the VazÆTerranen, the humans of earth. He was dressed in a brilliantly embroidered Martian robe of silk, or some exuded product of martian tembst that was close enough to be called such.

At the top of the dais, seated on a throne carved in simple, unadorned blocks from a single, solid gem of blood red that swirled with an inner light sat a Martian woman in a robe of plain, richly dyed robecloth. Like the other Martians in the room, Teyud ZaÆZhalt was tall, for her mother had also been Thoughtful Grace, the warrior breed made as personal servants of the Tollamune line. But her father had been Sajir SaÆTomond, of the full tollamune genome. And the woman on the throne was not a servant but the Tollamune herself, who wore the invisible crown and held dominion of the Real World that the humans called Mars.

The bird opened itÆs mouth and gave a short caw, as if clearing itÆs throat, before it sang.

ôHark, Hark!ö it called, in a dialect of Demotic so ancient it was nearly the High Speech of the old imperial period, ôI come before those who speak for the powers of the Wet Worlds, the Soviets, the Europeans, the Western Powers, and Jamestown and Kartahown! May all know that these Four speak with the voices of their despots!ö

It spread itÆs wings and leaped into the air to soar between the columns, itÆs words trailing off into a soft chant that drifted through the air as the humans stepped forward in a measured pace towards the throne. They stopped halfway, as procedure dictated, the governments they represented were equal in authority to the Crimson Kings, but here in the heart of Imperial power courtesy had to be observed.

ôPermission to Approach.ö Said Teyud in Court Demotic, tense and tone and body language suggesting polite permission, and the four started forward again, stopping just before the lowermost dais and bowing from the waist. Some traditionalists had gone into a fury over that, demanding that the representatives of the wet worlds show proper homage to the scions of the Crimson Dynasty but the Tollamune will had bound such outcries.

ôWhat business do the VazÆTerranan have with we of the Real World?ö said Teyud.

And from his position on the second step of the dais, Jeremy Wainman, Imperial Consort to the Tollamune, who had been born on earth nearly two centuries before, thought, shit sheÆs pissed.

 

[Ina_meishou]

and here's Archer and Trip, in a reprise of the original scene in Broken Bow. As you might notice, United Sol isn't really lacking in internal bigotry.

Slipway 7
KratakÆkalwa Shipyard
Geostationary Orbit
Venus

KratakÆkalwa hung in the black on the far side of Venus from the surface civilizations, a vast framework of glassine and metal. Among the struts and spars and the ships laying unfinished flitted thousands of workers. Some wore the thick, bulky suits of the earthlings, others the snug, biosuits that the Tollamune had ordered spliced more than a century ago. Some drifted on thrustpacks, others rode small vehicles, and a few sat in sealed capsules.

In one such capsule, this one slowly drifting beneath the ventral hull of a nearly completed ship, sat two humans, both of earth.

The Ship was a long, flat teardrop, the three cylinders clamped around its tail. The two dorsal cylinders were the Warp nacelles, the massive coils that would hurl the craft past the speed of light. The ventral one held the main core, the power source that fed into both the nacelles and the impulse drives. The Hull was plates of glassine, painted opaque and far stronger than steel.

ôShe is a beauty isnÆt she Trip?ö

ôFast too CapÆn, I think we can get her up to warp 4.5 at the next trial.ö

ôIf we have the next trials.ö replied Archer.

Trip snorted and tapped a command into the pod. A jet of reaction mass slowed the pod further, and they hung still relative to the ship.

ôEastblockÆs still raising a fuss with the admiralty then?ö he asked.

Archer nodded, ôthey still want to revise the command crew, probably think the VulcanÆs insistence on sending their own science officer was a western plot to force Binkis off the roster.ö

ôAnd leave us without a soviet senior officer.ö Trip finished.

ôWell, itÆs not much of a loss is it?ö

They shared a laugh. The tone of a communicator cut it off. Archer pressed the accept button.

ôThis is Captain Archer.ö

The voice that came over the speaker was crisp and clear.

ôCaptain Archer, this is KratakÆkalwa com room. You have a live subspace com from Admiral Forrest on Mars.ö

Trip and Archer shared a look.

ôTell him IÆm on my way if you would KratakÆkalwa, Archer out.ö

Trip was already tapping commands into the pod, and Archer watched as they slid away from the hull of the Enterprise and back towards the command section of the yard.

 

[Ina_meishou]

Private Subspace comroom
United Sol Starfleet Office
Dvor IlÆAdzvar
Mars

ôDamn it Admiral, we already have a communications officer and a shipÆs doctor from Mars, why are we letting a troop of House Coercives on the ship?ö

Admiral Forrest sighed as he sat back in his seat. The comroom was part of a palace that had once been part of some nobleÆs estates. The line had died out shortly after the loss of the Invisible Crown had begun the ten thousand year gap in the rule of the Crimson Kings, and the Tollamune had given it to Starfleet. The walls were covered in stylized murals so old that even beneath the glassine coats they looked faded, and on the whole, the inexplicable feel of time made using the place very uncomfortable.

The barely repressed rage Captain Archer was emitting even through the com system wasnÆt helping.

ôLook, Jon, I watched her give them the orders herself. TheyÆre to obey the ships command structure as required by the temporary ranks weÆre granting them. She gave them a Vermillion Rescript for ChristÆs sake. You know how Martians are about that kind of thing; it might as well be a writ from god.ö

He watched as Jonathan tried to calm himself.

ôIÆd feel more comfortable if the Tollamunes didnÆt have a forty thousand year history of violent deaths.ö

Forrest winced. ôWell, none of us are exactly happy with the arrangement, if Wainman hadnÆt...ö

They shared a moment of frustration at the terran archaeologist turned martian noble.

ôI know this is unorthodox Jon, IÆve tried to keep the executive meddling with your crew selection minor. Just remember, we need the Vulcan database, and the Martians could cause all sorts of trouble before we even noticed anything if they wanted to.ö

Jon Smiled tightly. ôIÆll keep that in mind Admiral.ö

Forrest nodded. ôGodspeed Jon, Forrest out.ö

The screen went blank.

Forrest heaved a sigh and took a flask of essence from his coat.

ôGod damned politics.ö He muttered, and took a sip.

O0O

Shuttlebay one
NX-01 USS Enterprise
KratakÆkalwa Shipyard
Venus

The bay was small. Like every other part of the ship, space had been a prime concern in the design. Four small shuttlepods were crammed onto the floor, two more were clamped to the celing, and behind those were two science pods. The pods themselves were barely as tall as a standing terran, and there was only a few feet of clearance between the hull of the lower ones and that of the upper.

In front of the pods, standing upright and packed uncomfortably close together, especially by martian ideas of close, were a dozen Thoughtful Grace, each with kitbag, dart rifle, and sword slung across their back, and other weapons and devices hanging from their harnesses.

And in front of them, stood Captain Archer and a few other members of the crew.

ôI express amiable greetings, Teelhazu TraÆNol.ö He said in his best attempt at Demotic. It was a nightmare of a language that made learning Chinese and Japanese at once look easy, and there were parts of it that humans just couldnÆt imitate properly at all.

ôMy Friend, Captain Archer.ö The Martian leader replied in English that made ArcherÆs attempt look positively fluent.

Archer hid his wince behind a tight smile and went on in Demotic.

ôEvent and intent have lead to your passage aboard my vessel. I express aspirations that randomness will favor our association.ö There were libraries on earth dedicated to discussions of Martian traditions, some of which went back to before humans had discovered agriculture, and Archer was somewhat looking forward to this next part.

ôIndeed,ö the whole troop spoke at once, ôwe are ready to obey; your very presence fills us with terror at the thought of disobedience even to the relaxation of our sphincters.ö

Which was a fiction in any sense, though a polite one by Martian ideas of proper workplace relations.

Archer nodded. ôGood, maintain such feelings and our relationship of command and labor will remain productive.ö

He exchanged a few more pleasantries with Teelhazu, along with an order to start his team working on fluency in English, then had a crewman show the troop to what had been a storage room.

ôSo, what do you think Lieutenant Reed?ö

The British weapons officer frowned as he followed the captain back towards the command and crew sections.

ôI think weÆll need to make some rules about those dart guns. IÆm not entirely comfortable with ten soldiers running around the ship with sacks of nerve toxin.ö

ôOh thereÆs very little about this thatÆs comfortable Mr. Reed. Any word on those plasma coils you ordered?ö

Reed sneered.

ôWell, there was a label for plasma coils on the case of valve sealant they sent up this morning.ö

ôIÆll have another word with the supply office, damned Venusian bastards.ö

ôIndeed, we should have put the shipyard in Earth orbit; at least we could use a transporter to fix this kind of thing.ö

ôWell, do what you can.ö Archer said before turning off towards his cabin.

ôAye sir.ö

O0O