Welcome to the Journal of Now and Forever. This Journal is a collection of my Star Control and Star Control 2 fiction. Note: Some of this material is, by necessity, extrapolation from the slim information provided by canon sources.

New fiction is posted first at My Livejournal before it appears here.



Interval

Author's Note: The term "First World" used in this series refers to the developed world back on Earth that we normally would call "Western civilization". By the time of the Clone Revolt, the divisions between cultures were First, Second and Third World, and were about what you'd expect: First being the highly industrialized "haves," Third being much what we consider "third world" today, and Second somewhere in between.

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The year is 2110. Seventeen years have passed since the inauguration of the Consuls and the formation of the Church of God the Creator. Since then, the following has happened...

The Church of God the Creator

The Church stabilized at a few hundred members, who meet at their own holy ground, a physical church they built in 2094. Dean continued to lead the congregation, but refused to take the title "Father," claiming no ordination from the Holy See back on Earth. Members refer to themselves as Brothers, with the notable exception of two female Androsynth ("Sisters") who joined the Church in 2098 and 2100. The Church mostly keeps to itself, apart from caring for the occasional sick or injured, or having informational sessions. Although Dean continues to assert himself as Roman Catholic, the CGC itself has developed into a blend of Catholicism, scientific rationalization, and self-reliance. Easter is a greater holiday than Christmas (a fairly quiet affair), and several Catholic saints' days are observed, with a couple of additions: Exodus, a day of reflection, penance, and thanksgiving, held in late fall, and Darwin's Day, on the birthday of noted biologist Charles Darwin. Lent is observed to varying degrees – Dean himself is a moderate, but some zealots and converted are more ardent.
During its early years, the CGC kept a very low profile, apparently in an effort to forestall fears that the church might attempt to convert/condemn large numbers of Androsynth. After enough time passed, however, and those fears proved unfounded, the Church began acting more publicly, and by 2110, most Androsynth don't worry about the religious in their midst. If anything, nonreligious Androsynth like to show up at Church festivals and get-togethers, because somehow the "churchies" always have the best parties.
So far, the CGC has managed to avoid schisms, possibly due to their small numbers and Dean's comparatively easygoing nature. There are a handful of Jewish Androsynth, who are more secretive than the Christian CGC; whether any other religions are followed on EV2 is unknown.

Agriculture and Food

In late spring 2095, the tripsacorn fields succumbed to an unknown blight that turned the crops to withered white stalks. The various botanical specialists, including Nick, were pulled out of their other jobs to investigate, since tripsacorn was useful for meat substitutes in starship rations. The blight was traced to a native organism that had apparently mutated or learned to take advantage of the exotic tripsacorn. (Previously, the Earth crops effectively shut out all native growth.) The botanical specialists managed to put together a new, resistant tripsacorn-native hybrid for 2096, but warned that the days of carefree planting (the "sow and ignore" method) were numbered. Other crops were either more varied/less monoculture, with the result that fewer native organisms made significant inroads on Androsynth crops.
Botanisilk (a form of engineered flax) was perfected in 2094. Genecotton quickly followed and became an all-purpose textile crop in what passed for wetlands on EV2. Hemp did not require engineering, and like genecotton, was used for primarily textiles, rope and paper. As the crush of colonization lessened, enterprising individuals tried their hands at creating fibers from native plants, with some success. These native-fabric items are almost always handmade, and owning one is somewhat akin to a status symbol among the Androsynth, because of their rarity (and the number of favors involved to get one if you're not a friend of the maker).
Perennial wheat and barley remained staple cereal crops. Most Androsynth took up truck gardening in season, particularly back during the colonization phase, although as time went on and automation improved, small plots of truck vegetables were grown factory-style.
Citrus, almonds, dates, and olives thrived in regions of Eta Vulpeculae and were allowed to grow semi-wild after establishment. Fruit trees that required the colder winters of Earth's Northern Hemisphere did not grow as well, requiring planting farther north than would be normal on Earth, so few "northern" fruits like apples, cherries, and so on were deliberately planted by the Androsynth. A few species and varietals had been engineered for warmer climates back on Earth, and those did better, but in general the variety and availability of "Earth" fruit is nowhere near what the average First Worlder on Earth would be used to. Cactus-based succulents are an ongoing experiment for the hotter regions of EV2, and "cactus fruit" is certainly edible and nutritious, though an acquired taste. Peaches are also available in parts of Androsynth territory.

Some native plants have been tested for edibility, with varying results. Most berries appear to be mildly toxic to Androsynth systems, but one, the accurately named "lumpyfruit," proved itself a tolerable equivalent to breadfruit. Research continues into using native plants as foodstocks or as sources for genetic manipulation; the going is slow since there is no native culture to advise on edibility or desirability of any given plant.

Several different species of bamboo are commonly planted or allowed to grow wild for later use as structural and building material. "Tea" exists but is what Earthlings would consider "herbal" just as often as it is Camellia sinensis. Since there are no large tea plantations with workers harvesting tea by hand, "tea" might be an infusion of just about anything people can pour boiling water over. Androsynth refer to any boiled infusion as tea; coffee from Earth ran out during the colonization phase, and nobody has had a chance to start coffee plantations on EV2, either.

By 2110, many Earth-standard or engineered animals are available: chickens, pigs, goats, and sheep being the most numerous. Cattle were never viable on EV2; the problems were eventually traced to poor quality control in the original embryos brought from Earth. Horse embryos were never thawed out, since landers and shuttles performed transport work easily and with less daily care than pack animals would require. In general, the Androsynth only "thawed out" embryos of those animals they deemed immediately useful (with the exception of the belyaevs). Any animals to be considered "pets" must be sterilized before release to their owners, by Committee decree.
The Androsynth brought Earth bees for pollination of crops, and for the first several years of colonization, wild or "tame" honey was the major and sometimes only sweetener available. Earth bees still swarm in the wild, and hives are kept near the agricultural centers. Earth bees seem to like most of the EV2 plants, but the Androsynth have not yet discovered what native pollinator the bees have displaced. Honey is still the most common sweetener, with sugar beets and a native tuber (ground up and the sap squeezed out of it) making up the difference.

Some native animals, including fish, were added to the diet, at least when Androsynth chose to hunt them. Two species are of note: jagos and maras. Jagos are about thirty to forty pounds (13 to 18 kg) and resemble an odd cross of small deer and hare; they fill the small-browser niche. Maras are much larger, at 1500 pounds (about 700 kg) on average. They are bad-tempered, fanged, horned omnivores that have the temperament of Earth Cape buffalo and the build of very bulky horses (with fangs and horns). Jagos are easier to hunt, but maras provide more excitement, as well as loads of meat, and hide that makes excellent leather. While hunting parties might pursue jagos on foot, maras can only be safely hunted from shuttlecraft. Both animals have learned to be wary around Androsynth communities.
Another native animal, the so-called groundmonkey, had the opposite reaction, becoming a pest to the invaders. Groundmonkeys have a superficial resemblance to macaques, but appear to behave more in common with raccoons; the first located groundmonkey dens were underground, hence the name. Like Earthling monkeys or raccoons, groundmonkeys can be nuisances or even cause real damage, and the animals have recently (starting about 2108) discovered that Earthling chicken eggs and root crops taste mighty good. Most communities either look the other way at groundmonkey traps and hunting, or offer a bounty of some kind for them. Groundmonkey meat is edible, but not very tasty; it's more of a survival food, pet food, or is used to lure maras to the hunters.

Belyaevs declined in popularity but never lost pet status. Some belyaevs went feral, but never established themselves as a wild species; after the first generation was produced, sterile belyaevs were the only ones allowed for pets, and few of the first generation survived wild life in numbers great enough to stabilize. There are a few pet cats, but most Androsynth live pet-free, given their work schedules. Some guard dogs and similar animals have been "warmed up" in 2109-2110 for use in keeping groundmonkeys in check; they too are currently sterilized until their efficiency has been judged.

Author's Note: The above-mentioned plants and animals are by no means the only ones grown or harvested by the Androsynth – just the ones I thought worth noting.

Booze

The Androsynth have had beer since the beginning, wine followed soon after, and they know about distilling, which means they have a wide variety of homegrown alcohols available. Most Androsynth either make their own booze or know someone who does; as a result, it's fairly easy to get. Androsynth are just like their Earthling forebears when it comes to drinking – some can handle it, some can't; some drink like fish and some are teetotalers, and there's always a few in the middle. Androsynth who let their drinking get too out of control usually get an intervention at some point, because the Committee frowns on alcoholism. Anyone who commits offenses (vandalism, assault, etc.) while drunk or hungover is in a lot of trouble.
Dean makes sacramental wine for the CGC from what's in season. The spacers' alcohol rations are limited while on the ships, but at Starbase the beer flows more freely. Needless to say, Androsynth alcohols are not much like those of the First World back on Earth.

Population Notes

Star Control canon states that "thousands" of Androsynth left Earth. I chose 50,000 as their approximate numbers, give or take a few, to be enough to build a society yet few enough to still count as "thousands" (as opposed to "hundreds of thousands").
Canon further shows that by the time of Star Control 2 there are 13 communities on Eta Vulpeculae 2. If you count the spacers as the 14th community, simple math shows that each community can have, on average, slightly less than 3600 people in it. Naturally, some communities have more people, and some have less. Dictionary.com is vague about community sizes (e.g. a town is "bigger than a village and smaller than a city") but we can safely assume the EV2 communities are at best small towns. Some of them might be as small as a few hundred people, only there because they are required to be. (The latter might be mining or other heavily automated communities, which require equipment supervisors and not much else.)

Space

In the past 17 years, the spacers have continued improvements to their ships and their starbase. The capital ship Second Chance has been joined by its sister, the Phoenix. Both ships were originally constructed to help resupply the Guardian vessels at the outer edges of Androsynth space, but as the Guardians' range increased, the capital ships were restricted to more prosaic duties of hauling large, bulky quantities of things from planets and asteroids. Still, the Second Chance and Phoenix can carry much greater numbers of crew than are actually required to operate them, and have greater capacity for fuel and supplies.
The Androsynths' sphere of influence now reaches from the Vulpeculae stars to encompass the Lalande star group in its entirety, three of the four Mira stars, and one star of the Mensae group. Here is a two-dimensional representation of Androsynth space:

Life On and Around Eta Vulpeculae 2

Slowly, as more work is automated, the Androsynth have developed some leisure time. Most of them don't know what to do with it after a lifetime of work, however, so they transfer their energies into something else productive. Most of the Earth-made clothing has long since worn out, to be replaced by hand- or machine-woven textiles. Some Androsynth have discovered a knack for knitting, sewing or hand-weaving, and their work constitutes the most "fashion" that occurs on EV2.
Most clothing on EV2 follows a practical bent, since they don't need clothes to attract the attention of the opposite sex. However, color and texture still play a part in looking well or having clothes one is proud of, and it's nice to wear something besides work clothes or uniforms. The spacers, however, stick with the same uniforms nearly all the time, compared to the ground-pounders. Spacer uniforms are blue and silver or blue and gray, and after 2099, a stylized image of a comet was added.
Most uniform and work clothes are made of genecotton, chosen for its strength and durability, while "ordinary" clothes are often a genecotton/linen blend or, for those with the knack or connections, cashmere, botanisilk or wool. Ordinary animal wools and yarns are available too. Leather is often from goats or native wildlife, since Earth cattle are not viable on EV2.
Money is still effectively nonexistent in the Androsynth society. Societal pressure, and their own genetic crosslink between pleasure and work, keep them busy, but barter and favors cover most of their commercial dealings. Food is readily available (except for specialty crops) and easily gained; shelter and power are provided free of charge, as long as you're willing to live in what already exists and deal with a roommate. Employment is a given, since there are never enough workers to get everything done that the Committee wants.
Computers are ubiquitous, and with the building of a fabrication plant and resources put into new designs, the Androsynth have kept pace with Earthlings on this front, although neither side knows it. Androsynth computer research has taken different routes than Earthling research, but the results are more or less the same.

In 2095, the first major Androsynth film was released on Eta Vulpeculae 2: Bound for Glory. By Earth standards, it would undoubtedly seem amateurish, but it proved very popular among its planetary audience. Set in a vague future after reproduction had been achieved, Bound for Glory told of a female Guardian pilot and her fight against the vile Earthlings for the freedom and safety of her (Androsynth) people. Most of the film relied on CGI, and it sported the novel (for Androsynth) take of a romantic subplot which finally culminated in the heroine and her engineer boyfriend sharing a chaste kiss. (This is about as romantic as most Androsynth could really envision for themselves at this point. Earthlings rutted about with anything and everything, as evidenced from their own cinema libraries, but Androsynth? Nuh-uh.) Apart from starting a friendly rivalry among two filmmaking groups (all of whom did this in their spare time), this film is notable for two things: the inspiration for the name of the capital ship Phoenix, after the heroine's ship, and that Grif and his ex-roommate Aron, wearing heavy makeup and fake facial hair, played "Earthling Scum #1 and #2" in the big prison scene.

Power

Electrical power was originally provided by solar panels brought from Earth, but as thermal depolymerization (TDP) units took over, extra solar panels were transferred to Starbase. TDP became the main way to both dispose of waste and generate fuel for the Androsynth communities on EV2. Starbase runs on a mix of fission and solar power. The Guardian and capital ships run primarily on small fission plants, as TDP and solar simply do not generate the necessary power for hyperspatial drives.

Author's Note: TDP is at present an experimental process by which oil can be made from nearly anything organic. It is currently in large-scale testing at a ConAgra turkey processing plant. The official site can be found here and some more information can be found here and here.

Individuals

Grif
Grif's transfer to hardware development lasted several years, as his skill at detail work proved useful. He was not, however, as successful at design, which became more important as years passed and the limits of fabrication plants and manufactories became apparent. Still, he was happily occupied for some time in what he did.
For the first time, Grif also developed a hobby: film and photography. He got his start as "Earthling Scum #1" in Bound for Glory and went on to play bit parts in other EV2 films. During this time he also tried his hand at camera work, which he turned out to be good at; he moved into landscape and artistic photography as well. His electron-microscope photographs of native EV2 diatoms and microscopic creatures were praised in 2103 when he released his work to the public.
Grif kept in contact with Dina during the Interval, keeping her apprised of situations within his workplace and his new home community, Neuvien. If anything, their friendship grew stronger, if more slowly, with their physical separation.

Dina
Dina preferred to stick to her job as advisor, although she took two breaks from that position. One was to spend two years researching native plant life; the other was to be Consul for one year in 2100. She performed her Consul duties without complaint, and her Consul year was neither exemplary nor worthy of criticism. Afterward, she avoided all chances to take the Consulship again. Dina also found herself at the center of an odd network of informants and flunkies, mostly comprising her old Reproductive Research team, but also a few new people who saw their chance to gain favor with an Advisor. She developed a friendship with Dean, leader of the CGC, after originally approaching him regarding familial dynamics. While they still had (and have) some differences of opinion, they discovered a mutual respect and desire to produce the best society the Androsynth could manage once reproduction was achieved.
Dina's pet belyaev, Nikita, lived nine years, passing on in 2101. Dina never bred him.

Otto
Not much changed with Otto during the Interval. He continued to do his job well and willingly, and gradually became known as a go-to pilot for exploration, due to his ability to coax the greatest distance out of a set amount of fuel. He never set foot on Eta Vulpeculae 2, and his record during the Interval was good but otherwise unremarkable.

Dean
Dean's memory did improve over the years, though his ability to recognize faces was limited to those he dealt with on a repeated basis, such as his supervisors, close members of the Church or his roommate Nick. He spent a few years writing up his beliefs and those he thought would work best in the CGC. Not all of Dean's time involved the Church. He job-hopped around Whitehills depending on where he was needed most; at one point he was in charge of rounding up the semi-wild sheep for shearing and moving to new pastures. He never left Whitehills for employment or living quarters, and despite his attempts to fulfill military duty, the Committee stuck by their decision to grant him freedom from service after his accident.
During the early years of the CGC, Dean was publicly, if somewhat anonymously, threatened (such as "you're gonna be the first martyr of your so-called 'church' if you keep this up"). The threats abruptly stopped after word got around that legbreakers were on the loose (someone who would use violence to shut people up) and pro-CGC. No one ever found out who the legbreakers were, as Dean, his friends and the CGC all had valid alibis during the alleged legbreaker incidents. Dean feels a little uneasy about the whole thing, even years later, but as the threats and retaliations both subsided, he let it pass.

Nick
Nick, unknown to the rest of Androsynth society, was the sole person responsible for the 'legbreaker' incidents. Although not a member of the CGC or a follower of any religion, Nick took offense at the threats aimed at his roommate Dean and decided to do something about it. Armed with a gas mask, a good metal pipe from his job and access to the living-quarter databases, Nick personally made sure certain Androsynth understood that freedom of religion was A-OK on Eta Vulpeculae 2. He was very careful to have verifiable alibis, and he suspects Jack had a hand in that regard (Nick's completely wrong, but he doesn't know that – he was just lucky).
Nick spent the entire 17-year Interval in R&R (Repair and Replacement), as he was good at it and grew to like the work. As a result, he became familiar with all the Androsynth communities on Eta Vulpeculae 2. Because people generally ignore the repairman, he also became a conduit of information for both Jack and Dean, reporting on anything that seemed interesting to either party. This was never a formal "snooping" agreement; Nick wanted to help Dean, and thought it was good policy to report things to Jack (his boss). In return, Dean didn't abuse Nick's friendship, and Jack kept Nick in mind for the more plum assignments (without Nick's knowledge).
Nick's monophobia eventually faded into something mostly controllable, although in times of stress it flares up. He also regularly returns to military training to keep disciplined and in shape.

The gunner
The gunner eventually got into trouble for fighting onboard ship, and underwent a series of transfers until he was relegated to ground duty for two years. During this time he spent his free time hunting, usually maras, and worked in heavy physical labor. (His supervisors thought if they wore him out, perhaps he might be a little calmer or at least too tired to get in trouble. They were half right.) Eventually he got back into space after having 'paid his dues', and proved able to keep himself under control when back on a ship. He kept up his friendship with Lynn (indeed, they were roommates during the gunner's ground time), and still holds vague hopes that he'll have descendants somehow.

Lynn
Lynn kept quiet, did her work (yes, Lynn is female), and continued working on toxic organisms as a way to get back at Earthlings should they ever arrive. Lynn's personality "quirks" have not gone unnoticed by her supervisors and acquaintances, and although she is female, there is strong evidence against her being a suitable candidate for reproduction. Otherwise, she continues to function at a moderately normal level. She is one of a number of Androsynth who could really use some psychiatric help, but is unlikely to get it, as most of her peers either disdain the "softer sciences" or are of the "if you need help, ask for it yourself" mindset. She considers the gunner to be the only other person who really understands her.

The Committee
In 2099, Consuls' Advisor Tomo died of a stroke. The unexpectedness of the death threw Androsynth society into a panic about its own mortality. Until then, no health examinations had been required, but Tomo's death – the first Androsynth death since the Clone Revolt in 2085 – sparked a round of soul-searching, physical checkups, and questions about his replacement. In the end, a spacer, Thad, was chosen to fill Tomo's spot. It later turned out that Thad is a member of the CGC, who noted slight gains in membership following Tomo's death.
All the Advisors eventually took turns as Consuls, usually when the previous Consul decided he or she needed a vacation. Jack and Dina were never Consuls at the same time.
Kurt, to no one's surprise, was perhaps the most security-minded Consul in the group. He was the driving force behind both capital ships ("in case of emergency evacuation") and pushed hard for creation and installation of security drone satellites around the Eta Vulpeculae system. The latter program was defeated three times before the Consuls and Advisors collectively threw in the towel and allowed it to go forward. The first satellites went up around the outer planets of the EV system in 2109. Drones for the other Vulpeculae stars were in design in 2109 but not yet ready for manufacture; the drones would need hyperdrive capability from one system to the next. This was why the program was delayed for so long – it was not seen as a critical priority. After all, the Guardian ships regularly patrolled Androsynth space, so therefore they were more likely to come across anything first.
Countering Kurt was Jack's tendency toward overcaution. Jack in particular preferred plans that allowed careful study of the possible results of any given outcome; to Dina, Jack seemed more concerned about radically upsetting the way of life on Eta Vulpeculae 2 than benefits of any new technology or change. Jack did broach the prospect of co-opting the CGC into the Committee, but the possibility of a "state religion" was deemed too dangerous and "Earthlike" (an all-purpose denigration that gained strength as the years went on).
Ruth took to Consulship more than Dina did, and filled in for Gary or Thad when duty prevented either of the spacers from attending meetings.
Gary himself was suddenly promoted (following his 'outing' as Consul) within the ranks of the spacers, much to his surprise, until he found himself Admiral of the space forces as well as Consul. He often said that what he regretted most of his choice to become Consul was the decreased time he spent flying as an ordinary spacer. As Admiral, his 'default' ship was the Second Chance.
The other spacer on the Committee, Thad, remained within the rank-and-file, although his own freedoms were somewhat circumscribed. Dina and the Committee found Thad a good worker, but with a tendency to play devil's advocate during meetings, and with a sharp lookout for his Church, once his religious leanings were made public.

Scientific Discoveries
For the most part, Androsynth energies went into basic, daily survival-of-society tasks for many years: making sure there was enough food, water, power and so on. After that, improving their lot through genetic tweaking of food crops and bacteria; and finally, concentrating on improvement of "inorganic" things like computers and spaceship design.
The spacers made occasional forays to Earth during the Interval, but found little worth noting; it seemed that Androsynths' wholesale theft of all of Earth's satellites and orbital stations years before had killed Earthling desires to be in space. At least, this is what the Androsynth guessed happened; they were careful not to approach too closely to Earth, to avoid detection. As a result, no Earthlings were even remotely available for capture, so Dina's old Reproductive Research team did not formally reconvene.
The origin of the probe (first seen in the story "We Come in Peace") was never discovered. The probe itself was taken apart and studied, and some useful designs came from said studies. In particular, the probe's ability to break apart and salvage/harvest useful materials was incorporated into all later Guardian upgrades, as the spacers regarded interspacial combat as inevitable, and therefore the ships should be able to salvage what they could from any battles.

This is the state of the Androsynth in 2110.

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Long ago, during an EV2 winter, an Androsynth caught a fleeting glimpse of something high in the sky, and dismissed it...


Comments? Email me: laridian at aol dot com