The Order

[argyle]

This is adressed to... well, whoever is in charge of "the order".

The Zoners assured me the message would be delivered to the appropriate man. Resourceful people, the Zoners. Well, enough about the Zoners, and to the point...

Situation, your view

You are the protectors of mankind, battling inhuman evils on a daily basis. You keep all data regarding anything alien larger than a bacteria classified, to prevent panic and widespread anarchy. For the same reason, you also prevent any data from escaping via any third party, by whatever means necessary.

Situation, my view

I'm a scientist. All I want is to find the truth of things - no matter what it is. Once found, what exactly is to be done with the truth is a rather difficult question, and who exactly should decide is an equally different question. I'm however a bit reluctant to let one militant faction arbitrarily decide for the rest of mankind, without letting anyone else have a say in the matter. In the end, the truth can never stay hidden forever, and the more you try to hide uncomfortable truths, the less prepared people will be when they finally learn about uncomfortable things. However, this is all politics, and as such it's not something I'm concerned with.

What I have seen of the Order since my arrival in the edge systems is very disturbing. I realise you have a hard time understanding this, but try to look at this from my point of view for a while:

• You claim to have all kinds of important knowledge and proof about a massive alien threat.
  
• You eagerly boast about this claim.
  
• You refuse to display any evidence at all to confirm the claim.
  
• You make sure no one else finds any evidence, at gunpoint if necessary.
  

All this amounts to is a "militant group guarding a secret". Whether your secret is what you claim it is, or if the whole nomad-issue is a hoax to keep people away from another uncomfortable truth, is impossible to tell: you made sure there's no proof of any kind.

I have tried to explore on my own, the results of which I'm sure you are all too aware about. I've found nothing - except Order ships. I've heard strange things, starting with asking me to disappear, and ending with firing on me for refusing to follow order ships to see proof.

I'm sure that strikes you as odd: if I want proof, why would I possibly refuse such an offer? The answer, is science. Science is about gathering data, formulating a theory based on that data, and then proceeding to gather more data of every kind from everywhere - in order to substantiate and/or disprove the theory to see how it holds up to scrutiny. Ships escorting you at gunpoint to a location saying "look here, and only here, under our conditions" is not science. It can be anything from an elaborate trap to get rid of me, to "cherry picking" data, to ... an actual attempt to offer a window to the truth. Surely you can understand my reluctance to comply, not only for reasons of good science, but for my own safety. Of course, the reluctance has nearly resulted in my destruction anyway, but at least I feel better about the reason.

Problems, Independent research

I'm not sure how familiar you are with quantum physics, but one of the basics is the Heissenberg Uncertainty Principle: you can't observe anything, without affecting it with your observation. While a bit far fetched when applied to xeno biology, the analogy isn't completely off. You yourselves claim that the alien life forms nick-named "nomads" are highly intelligent: it stands to reason that ANY data gathered about an intelligent being is going to be biased. They know you are watching them. Their reactions to their environment is inherently affected by WHO is doing the watching, and HOW they are being watched.

Assuming your story checks out: the Order has gathered data for years, researching their dead bodies, searching the ships and structures you have destroyed, and met them with weapons at every turn. The Order can't gather data on the nomads without tainting the data - corrupting it beyond comprehension. If these aliens exist, and are as intelligent as you claim - then clearly I can't gather good data under Order rules, regulations, escort or terms.

I need to perform my research. Unbiased. Unaffiliated. Truly neutral. In fact - you firing on the Darmstadt may have been a blessing in disguise.

My reasons

My reasons for wanting to do this research? I suppose you were right, when you called it greed, but not in the way you think. It's not for money, power, fame or technology - it's for the possibility of peace, and for personal satisfaction. I gave up a life of luxury and put a gun to my head, when I spent two hundred million on a ship to research nomads. I've ruined myself, because I need to find the truth, whatever the truth is. I'd rather die enlightened, than live in the darkness of a cover-up. We are many souls on the Darmstadt, and the one thing we have in common is that we all share this insane thirst for knowledge and truth, even if it will be the death of us.

What I want

What I and my crew want, what the Darmstadt was bought and equipped for, is to do research, independently, unbiased, and unaffiliated. We didnt' chose any old ship that came our way - we bought one of the most expensive, hard-shelled, rare, civilian capital class vessels available on the market. It's equipped with every type of scanner and recording device known to man. It's heavily shielded, and armored, for a civilian ship - but it IS civilian. An intelligent race will be able to see that it's not a ship built for destruction, which is vital.

What we want to do is research the nomads independently, and hopefully encounter them. We plan to do this in a way that you would never even consider: with weapons offline, power core running at minimum, and all active systems offline - close to zero emissions. No radio, no radar - nothing that could be interpreted as hostility. We want a first encounter, where we are as passive as we can possibly be, to minimise the way we influence the subject we inspect. The first encounter would simply be recordings from passive scanners - in other words: gravitic sensors, photon detectors, IR sensors, EM-field quantifiers and even something as simple as a plain camera.

In the worst case scenario, we all die in a burning hell, and at least the Order will be rid of us once and for all. But... if we live... oh my, if we live... can you imagine the value of such an encounter? Can you imagine the second encounter? Communication, even? Maybe it's just the dreams of an old man, but... what do you have to lose?

Contact

I'm not sure if we can reach any kind of agreement or arrangement, but please, contact me on the Darmstadt. Maybe we can work something out.

Dr Ralph Weiss
Deep Space Research Vessel "Darmstadt"