NationStates Jolt Archive

The crew of the Astrogeological Survey Spacecraft (AGSS) Ophelia had been on a long journey that began in Nova City Spaceport and was now approaching its end. Ophelia was aligned with her nuclear thermal rockets pointed in the opposite direction of its current trajectory as the timer counted down. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Ignition. Only audible within the spacecraft, the bluish-white flames roared to life and began the rapid deceleration into Uranus orbit. For the first time in longer than the crew could remember, the sensation of gravity was impressed upon them. Then again, their bodies had undergone genetic therapy to counter the debilitating effects of weightlessness, rapid acceleration, and rapid deceleration - so no one was really concerned.

After about a week of constant deceleration, Ophelia and her crew arrived on station. Uranus was relatively tranquil, compared to the rest of the gas giants. It lacked the violent energy of Jupiter and its moons, the splendor of Saturn and its Titan, or the furious winds of Neptune. Which was precisely why the members of the Transdynamics Consortium - a joint venture of the City-states' technological powerhouses - had selected Uranus for a colonization and mining effort. But, like all good businesses, the Consortium needed to know what it was getting itself into. Hence, Ophelia and her crew.

Ophelia herself was the center of their survey operation. Controlled by a sapient Artificial Intelligence, or AI, Ophelia was essentially an interplanetary electronic lifeform in a symbiotic relationship with her crew - the astrogeological survey team. This was Ophelia's first mission and she was quite excited to have such an ostentatious beginning to her career. However, her atmospheric radar designed to take readings of Uranus' atmosphere and weather patterns picked up something quite unexpected on its calibration run.

Ophelia immediately called the attention of the team captain, as they seemed to be rather distracted by their own preparations. "Doctor Lieova, my weather radar has picked up a previously unrecorded object in the Uranus atmosphere."

The astrogeologist and expert on gas giant weather smiled. He was the Consortium's leader in his field and had written the report determining that Uranus was the best candidate. "Ophelia, making discoveries right off the bat are we? That's to be expected."

Ophelia was still learning about humans and was rather surprised by Lieova's nonchalance. "Doctor, the object is metallic in composition and has an ordered structure. I believe it is likely inhabited and artificially maintaining its altitude."

That got the scientist's attention fast. The rest of the crew immediately stopped whatever it was they had been doing and listened. "If someone else is out here, they did a damn good job of not letting us know about it. Ophelia, bring up a LIDAR scan of the object. I want to know what it is. Also prepare the high-gain antenna for a burst transmission once you have it. This might be more than we had bargained for."

At that moment, Doctor Lieova knew that the mission would never be the same again.

Down in the atmosphere of Nénar, more commonly known among humans as Uranus, was the finally completed shipyard of Taurenor. Drifting gently in the upper atmosphere just above the turqouise clouds. Inside people were busy as ever with the construction of multiple vessels, docking, undocking, loading and loading of various transport ships as they abided by their busy schedule. Now the Sol system was a very busy solar system as far as ship traffic went, but because Uranus was totally free of other factions it was lonely whenever it wasn't on a line between any of the majorly populated planetoids. And since now was such a time in the Uranian orbit, the approach of the Ophelia sparked their interest.

Olbaron was the appointed leader of the Nénar Shipyard Operation. He was a quite tall, even for Noldor standards, with jade green eyes and smooth long brown hair. He wasn't that muscular and his mannerism was quite rugged for an elf. But with all his little faults he was known inside Taurenor to have a sharp eye for efficiency, proof being that the shipyard was finished well ahead of schedule.

Olbaron was pacing frantically up on the command deck of the shipyard as he listened to the elf manning the sensor station giving him the readings.

"It's almost 119 meters long and a little over 15 meters wide. and would weigh around 4845 tons in normal earth gravity. It seems to be powered by three reactors which it also uses for it's thrust. And two thirds of the vessel seem to just contain the feul alone." The elf said as he continued to try and get even more detailed scans. "

"A rather slow means of travel and the fact they're out here means they desperatly want to be here. For now continue work as planned and do not make contact with the vessel and I want to to send what we've recorded so far back to Taurenor." Olbaron said and seated himself in his chair as he looked at the enhanced image of the Ophelia.

"Well, I'll be damned."

Doctor Rick Lieova smirked to himself as Ophelia displayed the digital LIDAR scan results on the large display panel. The deputy team captain, Dr. Jaina Rassmussen, and the team engineer, Dr. Sarah Ivanov, floated in the cabin next to their leader.

"Doctor Lieova, it appears to be a fully functional spacedock facility with construction apparatus installed. From the shape and size of their spacesuits, I do not believe they are human, though," Ophelia remarked.

Sure enough, the spaceyards floating in Uranus' upper atmosphere were clear as day to see with the aid of their digital cameras and electronic scanning equipment.

"The inhabitants of that station surely must know we are here by now. We're no military group. We have no way to stealth our sensor sweeps," Dr. Ivanov mused. "They haven't made any aggressive moves towards us, though. Perhaps because they know they have the advantage."

"Or they just don't care, Sarah," Dr. Rassmussen added. "After all, we are obviously onboard a science ship. No offense, Ophelia."

"None taken, Doctor Rassmussen," she replied in her usual calm, even tone.

The deputy captain turned slightly and leaned against the nearest wall, bracing herself by pushing her socked foot down against a velcro patch. "Rick, you are the mission commander. What we do next is your call."

Doctor Lieova grinned nervously. While it was no surprise that races other than humanity existed, he had never personally met with a truly unique intelligence species. Lieova was only familiar with the sapient AI and the genetically modified humans that could be found at home.

"The Consortium says that we are to continue with our original survey mission, but to establish contact with the inhabitants of the spacedock and set up a communications link back to them first. So... that's what we're going to do," he said. "Sarah, send them the standard first contact greeting and we'll see what happens."

The youngest member of the command staff at 26, Dr. Ivanov had a lot of responsibility riding on her shoulders to ensure mission success though she never thought initiating first contact would ever be one of them. She gently pushed off the side wall and floated over to the communications station, sliding into the ergonomic gravity-cushioning chair with ease. After a few moments, Ivanov compiled the message and had Ophelia begin transmitting to the spacedock below. The message was transmitted both in English and in binary code - a universal mathematical language.

<TRANSMISSION FOLLOWS>
This is the Astrogeological Survey Spacecraft Ophelia and her crew representing the Transdynamics Consortium of the Federation of Autonomous City-states.
We are here to conduct a peaceful mission of scientific study.
If it is agreeable to you, the inhabitants of this station, we would like to establish an amicable communications link on this frequency.
We await your reply in earnest.
<TRANSMISSION ENDS>

The messaged was recieved without any problem at all and Olbaron chuckled softly. "Cute, they used binary in case we didn't speak english." He said and stood up and tried to look more graceful then he usually was. "Start recording a video feed and send it to them." An elf nodded and put in some commands to start recording.

"Greetings humans. Do not be frightened by the fact we speak English fluently. We too are scientists, engineers and much more. We have our own little city down here as you can probably see from up there. We are what you call Elves and come from the lands of Taurenor. It's in a region man has dubbed Sisgardia, perhaps that will give you some information on who we are and where we are from.
We'd be more then happy to communicate over this link, but we would like to invite you down here to meet face to face. We could send a shuttle to pick you up if that would be convenient.
I personally await your reply."

And at that the recording was stopped and send to the Ophelia and Olbaron sat back down. "Ugh, I really don't politics that much. Especially if we got a schedule to keep." He said and took a deep breath. "Ready a shuttle just in case they take up on our offer and start setting up a nice little lunch in the conference room.

Ophelia almost immediately processed the video feed and displayed it to her crew. Once the video recording was finished, Ophelia said, "According to my resources, every word of that recording was true. His speech patterns and tone indicate no malicious intent."

Doctor Lieova nodded in agreement. "The Consortium has updated our orders. A tropical storm has moved in over Nova City and that would exacerbate the already strained communications link from light lag. We are authorized to represent the Consortium and the Federation as official representatives, per the Uranus Operations Plan."

The military representative of the crew, Jeremy Landes, chimed in, "The Aerospace Forces is deferring to the Consortium for now as they see no threat at this point. I am expected to accompany any trips to meet with our new friends, though. Everyone involved wants to make sure their investments are well represented."

"So, we've become diplomats now?" Dr. Rassmussen quipped.

"In a sense, yes, Jaina. Until we establish fair relations with these people, we cannot go forward with our mission. And I do intend to complete our mission, but all in due course," Dr. Lieova said. "Ophelia, please tell our new friends that we accept their offer and will prepare to send a delegation. The command staff will go down to meet with them. I want everyone else to stay on board and continue taking readings of the moons."

"Of course, Doctor," Ophelia replied.

With that, the four members of the command staff set to getting themselves ready for their first meeting with the elves, while the remainder of the crew began preparing probes to study Uranus' larger moons.

<TRANSMISSION FOLLOWS>
In the spirit of friendship, we accept your offer of hospitality and a shuttle to your station. The following crew members will take the shuttle.

Doctor Richard Lieova, Astrogeological Team Captain
Doctor Jaina Rassmussen, Deputy Astrogeological Team Captain
Doctor Sarah Ivanov, Engineering Technologies Specialist
Lt. Col. Jeremy Landes, Space Operations Specialist

We look forward to meeting with you and hope this is the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship between our peoples.
<TRANSMISSION ENDS>

OOC: Reference images of the Ophelia.

http://phalanx.i8.com/FACS/ACAGS/ophelia1.JPG

http://phalanx.i8.com/FACS/ACAGS/ophelia2.JPG

http://phalanx.i8.com/FACS/ACAGS/ophelia3.JPG

Olbaron thought it would be best to be on board the shuttle when they went to pick up the humans, afterall he was the person they have been talking to. She the shuttle slowly took off from the shipyard's shuttle bay and graciously flew out of the planet's atmosphere and went towards the Ophelia. The shuttle was build to look like a soaring bird of prey, and that's what it looked like from a distance at it sped up and effortlessly flew towards the Ophelia. Carefully maneuvring around the craft and docking with it, which seemed to give no problems at all, considering the Ophelia didn't have any gravity and the shuttle did. So to make things easier for transfering the gravity slowly build up as they moved into the ship untill it was normal.
With that done they did a final check to see if it was safe before opening the shuttle hatch and await the other hatch to open.
The first sight these people would see would look more like the interior of a very luxurious private jet, with a Olbaron standing there dressed in beautiful blue with silver trim robes and a tall female elf in the same coloured robes with long black hair standing beside him, holding a platter with glasses filled with wine on it.

Lieova floated down the connecting tube to the airlock and waited for his three compatriots to join him. He then opened up the inner hatch to the lock and slid down. The shuttle gravity field already began to orient him as he hovered over to the outer lock.

"They have gravitic technology! Our scientists have only just begun thinking about how to do something like that!" Ivanov exclaimed.

"We'll have to tread cautiously, then," offered Landes. "We're entering unknown territory from this point on."

With that, Lieova opened up the outer hatch to open up a clear path to the shuttle.

The three scientists were wearing sky blue jumpsuits with various patches and insignia from their home and a prominent ACAGS patch over the left breast. Landes, the only military man of the team, was wearing a grey military flight suit with astronaut's wings, various military insignia, and a smaller ACAGS patch on his left shoulder.

As team captain, Lieova assumed it was up to him to get things started. Perhaps the simple approach was the best, he decided.

"Welcome to the Ophelia!"

Olbaron smiled and started to speak in a graceful tone and language. "Elen sila lúmenn omentielvo," He bowed slightly. "It means: A star shines on the hour of our meeting. It is a formal greeting among our people. And welcome to shuttle 19." He said and extended his hand to invite them in. "Please, make yourself comfortable, my lovely servent here has some wine of an exceptionally good year." That said the elf woman took a single step forward and curtied as she held up the tray.

The four humans stepped... yes, stepped... on board the elven shuttle. It immediately reminded them of something one of the corporate elite back home might fly in.

"We appreciate the offer of the wine, but I'm afraid we must decline for the moment as we are technically on duty," Doctor Lieova said with a smile. "I suppose introductions are in order. I am Doctor Rick Lieova, mission commander." He was a rather unassuming man ov average build, average height, and average looks. His one distinguishing feature was the wire-rimmed glasses on his face. In an age of advanced biotechnology and gene therapy, his glasses were regarded as something of an indulgence.

"I'm Doctor Jaina Rassmussen, deputy mission commander," she followed. Jaina had a thin, Scandinavian build with light blonde hair held up in braids (long hair was a no-no in zero-G) and cool blue eyes to match. She, out of the entire group, was the only one that appeared as if she felt out of place.

Doctor Ivanov beamed and continued the line. "Doctor Sarah Ivanov, chief engineer. Thank you for having us." Her sharp brown eyes, framed by a round face and page-boy brown hair, seemed to be taking everything in - and storing it for later analysis.

The military man finished his group's introductions. "Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Landes, Federation Aerospace Forces. It's a pleasure." The tallest of the group, Landes had a well-exercised, lanky build. He had been a fighter pilot before becoming an astronaut, so his eyes were perceptive as well... but in a different way. Landes seemed to almost instinctively assess things from a security standpoint, despite his relaxed demeanor.

Olbaron listened attentively and just studied the four humans enough so he would remember them well. When they were finished a smiled and bowed slightly. "I am Olbaron Nossë Lícuma. And I am in charge of our little operation here and my superiors have deemed me fit to speak for them."

The elf maiden curtied yet again and spoke in a soft gentle voice which seemed to touch everyone present. "My name is Nísimaliel Nossë Lamana. If there is anything you'd like I would gladly get it for you." She said and looked at Olbaron for a moment before looking back at the group of humans. "Since you may not drink any wine, I shall get you some juice." With that she turned around and walked away through a door.

"Please ladies and gentlemen, make yourselves comfortable." Olbaron said and seated himself in a fine leather chair which could turn on it's axis like all the other chairs. He pressed a few buttons on the armrest of the chair and a large windowed section of the side walls seemed to become transparent, just as Nísimiel came back with a tray of glasses filled with a slightly reddish fruit juice, which would taste very sweet and pleasant, and started handing them to everyone, keeping one glass for herself as she sat down.

The astronauts all smiled and thanked Nísimaliel for her hospitality, as they too sat down and admired the view. The Uranus system was beautiful in its own right, even though it did seem rather strange for the sun to be roughly perpendicular to their orbit plane... as opposed to being in the plane as back home.

"We work in a rather informal environment on the Ophelia, as we are all scientists. So, please, feel free to call us by our first names. How would you prefer that we address you?" Lieova asked pleasantly before taking a sip of the juice. Such luxuries were not afforded on exploration craft, and all were quite pleased to be enjoying them.

"Adress us however you would like and feel most comfortable with." Olbaron said and with that the hatch behind them and they could hear the shuttle detatch itself from the Ophelia. If they looked out of the 'windows' they would see the shuttle move away and then back to give them a great view of the Ophelia and the planet on the other side. "It is quite a remarkable ship you have build. And the time it would have taken of safely getting here shows great determination. As an engineer I would applaud your efforts." Olbaron said and took a ship of his juice as the shuttle banked toward Uranus and quickly accelerated towards the gas giant.

"Thank you, Olbaron. I'll have to tell Ophelia you said that. She's very proud of her design and to be on this mission," Doctor Lieova said.

Ivanov also grinned ear-to-ear. "I was also part of her design team, so I'll certainly take that as a compliment." She sipped her juice much as a child would, indicating that she was something of a kid at heart and a free spirited individual.

"This shuttle of yours is impressive in its own right. I, personally, can't wait to see what else your people have developed," said Landes.

Rassmussen seemed content to just sit back and drink her juice as Uranus grew larger in the window.

"Jeremy brings up a good point. What exactly do you have in mind for this first meeting, if you don't mind me asking?" Lieova asked.

Olbaron smiled a little and took another sip of his juice. "I'll be sure to tell the developer your praise. Well first we'll do a little fly around the shipyard so you can have a look at our operation. Then we'll go inside and be shown a few sights and such untill we reach the conference room where we'll have talks about possible interactions between our two nations." With that said the shuttle gently drifted into the atmosphere of Uranus,

After a short flight they came near the shipyard, a massive structure, floating amidst the clouds. The shuttle flew carefully around the shipyard in circles, ships under construction clearly visible inside it. "This is the Nénar Shipyard. As you can see we're currently busy on the construction of multiple vessels. Some militairy and some civilian. Though we're more focussing on transport and escort ships now." Olbaron said in a tone which clearly showed he was proud of himself and the shipyard. "Eventhough the shipyard is completed, we are always working on expanding and adding to the shipyard so we can work more effecient, or later even construct more ships simultaniously." The shuttle banked then and flew at the shipyard and started it's docking procedure and Olbaron let everyone ask any questions they'd like.

The humans seemed to enthralled with the fly-by of the shipyards to ask too many questions. Ivanov seemed especially interested in the configurations of the different ships. Her photographic memory was an advantage she put to great use. She could take notes and snapshots in her mind - no notebook or video camera was necessary.

"You have a most impressive station here, Olbaron," Lieova said. "I can only imagine how it must look from the inside."

Once the docking procedures were complete, the astronauts looked to their elven hosts for the next cue.

Olbaron smiled a broad smile as his work was praised highly. "Why thank you mister Lieova." He said and got up out of his seat and walked to the back of the shuttle which opened up and a small ramp extended down to floor of the large hangar. Clearly the hangar was made to be able to house very large ships and it would make most people feel extremely small. Nísimiel waited for the party of humans to leave first before following them out.

Lieova and crew walked down the ramp and into the cavernous hangar. Even the normally reticent Rassmussen couldn't stifle a gasp at the sheer SIZE of the interior. And the thought that this was all floating in Uranus' upper atmosphere. Most impressive, indeed.

Ivanov seemed to be taking stock of every craft she could lay her eyes on. Landes kept his eyes open for any obviously military vessels. It was all each of them could do to remain professional and not give in the urge to run around like children in a candy store.

Instead, they remained composed and waited for their hosts to continue their introduction to this new world.

"As you can see, this is one of the hangars we have here," Olbaron said as he walked them through it. "They are made to be able to hold some larger transports so they can easilly be unloaded unto the shipyard, but we still need to expand to house the even larger ones." He continues and walks them through a large door, obviously transport would be moved through it on vehicles. "Currently that hangar isn't in use as you would have noticed, since most transports just left. But if you would stay for a few days you would be able to see how pieces of asteroid are unloaded." He continued to talk and go in a bit more into more detail about the transport and hangars themselves and let them into an elevator. "Right now we're going for one of the conference rooms and I'm sure you'll enjoy the view you will have." And the elevator moved up.

"There certainly is a lot that we could learn from your people, Olbaron," said Doctor Lieova. "While I am proud of my home's many accomplishments, we never felt any compelling need to go into space on any permanent basis until we began to develop fusion power."

Jaina Rassmussen nodded in agreement. "We've built arcology city-states that are home to billions of people. A few are even on and under the ocean waves. With interstate and international trade along with efficient resource management, we've been able to obtain what we needed."

"Unfortunately, as I am sure you are well aware of, Olbaron, helium-3 is the essential fuel for sustaining stable and useful fusion. Production planetside is prohibitively expensive and rare," added Ivanov. "We hope to resolve that problem out here and provide a cheap source of helium-3 to the city-states."

Olbaron nodded. "So you've come to Uranus to start working out a means of obtaining Helium-3 for your nation." He said and the elevator stopped and the doors slowly opened to reveal a large room with an long oval shaped desk in the center, transparent roof and walls. The carpet on the floor was clear craftmanship and small trees and bushes seemed to grow out of the floor of the room, rather then pots. "Feel free to enjoy the view." Olbaron said and looked out himself at the tips of turquoise clouds blowing past and a distant and small sun slowly moving closer towards the horizon. And after a while he seated himself and would wait for the others.

Each took a seat at the table, with Lieova taking the seat nearest Olbaron. For once, Rassmussen was impressed with the flora of the conference room. The sight of green seemed to put her at ease.

"That is correct, Olbaron. Uranus is a relatively safe and untapped region of space. Hydrogen and helium are in abundance here, as well," said Lieova. "The Autonomous City-states intend to become a spacefaring people, and we think that Uranus is the key."

"Our mission is to determine the suitability of establishing permanent operations and report our findings to the Transdynamics Consortium, a joint venture of the leading technology firms in our country. They are providing most of the funding for this expedition," Landes added.

"We certainly have no intentions of interfering with whatever work your people are conducting, Olbaron, so long as it is good-natured. It is my personal hope that we can establish satisfactory relations between our nations and work together to cultivate this unique planet," offered Doctor Lieova. The tone of his voice indicated a genuine eagerness on his part.

Nísimiel left the room briefly and came back with another tray with orange juice and placed a glass on the desk in front of everyone before sitting down herself. "Well I'm not sure what everyone would think about having another group of people permanently stationed here. For all kinda of reasons," Olbaron said. "But this is a very large planet, even if we stay on the same hemisphere the chances of two stations being close together are small. And I personally think it would be a wise choice for my nation to have an ally here on the planet. One independent, but with the same interest as us in this planet." He took a sip of his juice before continuing. "Though I can't talk about all such things untill I know what kind of base of operations you will have. A station in orbit, the cloud, a moon and the list goes on." He smiled faintly

The astronauts all thanked Nísimiel for her continued hospitality. This really was a welcome treat for them.

"I like the way you think, Olbaron. I've been authorized to give you and your people a preliminary outline of our plans for Uranus. As you were quite obviously here first, we want to respect any claims you might want to enforce," Lieova said. "However, we intend to have a minimal footprint on Uranus itself. Our presence will largely be in the moons."

The good doctor then reached into a velcro pocket on his thigh and pulled out a small personal digital assistant. He pressed one button to turn it on and another to bring up a file on the screen. Lieova then slid the PDA across the desk to Olbaron.

The screen displayed the following information:

<PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF URANUS TERRITORIES>

The Commonwealth of Uranus Territories is planned to be an "associate member" of the Federation of Autonomous City-states. The Commonwealth will be the political body to provide representation and coordinate defense for Federation citizens and companies residing in present and future Federation-aligned colonies located in the Uranus system.

Current planned assets within the Commonwealth will include a joint Novadyne Engineering-Sterling Robotics atmospheric gas & ring mining station in Uranus orbit, Miranda Station - the capital of the Territories and administrative center, a water ice mining colony on Ariel, and Titania Aerospace Force Base.

Huygens Station
The center of Federation interplanetary commerce, Huygens Station will be a Novadyne-Sterling Robotics joint effort to develop a hydrogen and helium atmospheric mining operation from Uranus. It also will serve as the primary spaceport for Federation traffic in and out of the system.

Miranda Station
The capital of the Commonwealth will be a domed city placed on a stable plateau near the banks of one of Miranda's many ice-filled gullies.

Ariel Station
Ariel Station will be the smallest Commonwealth outpost in Uranus space. A few caretaker biosapient crew will oversee AI mining operations on the cold moon.

Titania Aerospace Force Base
The moon Titania will be home to the only full Aerospace Force Base off-world. Titania AFB will be responsible for system defense and the location of the Federation's first military spaceyards.

Olbaron read through the report and seemed to think for a moment before talking speaking. "Well it certainly seems like a well thought out operation. And with the sheer size of this planet, I don't think we'll have that many run ins with each other," He took a sip of juice and looked outside a few seconds before continuing. "I personally don't have any objections to you doing what you came here to do. But people higher up would like guarentees that you wont attack us or hamper our operation here." He sighed deeply and shook his head. "I think you can understand. I will have to talk to my superiors before I can say if you can build or not. But you are allowed to do all the research you want."

"I can't imagine it being any other way, Olbaron. Your people seem to be very pragmatic, like ours. It's always best to get things in writing," Lieova said with a smile.

Landes leaned back in his chair and relaxed a little. He added, "The Secretary-General has authorized me, as an official representative of the government, to offer your people a non-aggression pact and treaty of mutual cooperation. It would be up to our governments to work out the details, of course. However, the offer is there."

Ivanov nodded in agreement. "We hold the principle of nonaggresion in the highest regard in the city-states. The only proper use of force is in self-defense against those who initiate force. We've found that working by mutual consent for mutual benefit is orders of magnitude more beneficial and profitable than operating in a Malthusian vacuum," she said.

"I'll admit to being a little skeptical of this whole thing at first, but your hospitality and appreciation of nature has really won me over," Rassmussen said with a hint of embarassment. "I also think that our nations can come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement."

"I'm sure my superiors would sign the non-agression treaty. Hostillities would disrupt our operation here after all. I am not to sure about the mutual coöperation pact, but I'd rather leave that to the beaurocrats." He said and looked at the group. "Will that be all then?"

"Unless you have anything else you'd like to show us, I imagine we'll all be busy now communicating with our home governments and attending to business," Lieova said. At which point, an icon blinked on his PDA. Somewhat surprised, he picked it up and touched the icon.

A window with a text box from the Ophelia opened up automatically and her voice came from the tiny speakers on the PDA. "Doctor Lieova, we've come across some interesting anomalies that I think you should be aware of before we proceed any further."

Everyone sat up from their relaxed state and listened keenly.

"The shepherd moon Ophelia is only at one-third projected mass and is presently marginally stable in its orbit. A distinct debris field indicating deliberate destruction of the moon has spread out from Ophelia and my projections indicate the particles will likely join the Uranus ring.

"Long-range sensor arrays also indicate the presence of manned base camps on several of the smaller moons and a portion of Miranda. These stations do appear to be insular, though, and show no signs of recognizing our presence.

"Perhaps we should ask our new friends what they know of this?" Ophelia asked.