Lore
Contents |
Prologue
'And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. - The Conclave Bible, Datalinks
The story of Alpha Centauri begins with the Unity, the first and last starship to be built on Earth. The Unity mission was a triumph of human ingenuity and engineering. It might have been the means by which humanity shook off the bonds of Earth and took its place among the stars. Unfortunately, the mission was not executed in triumph, but in sheer desperation.
Earth
Early in the 21st century, the long economic boom of the Industrial Age came to a crashing halt. Western civilization and its imitators had based all of their economic calculations on the assumption that Earth and its resources were infinite, free of cost. By the 2020s, it was obvious that Earth's bounty was finite after all. Climate change and the depletion of supplies of fresh water were devastating agricultural regions worldwide, while decades of overuse left the world's fisheries impoverished. By 2025, famine was sweeping the Third World, and even First World nations were faced with food shortages.
Meanwhile, the world's run on fossil fuels was having dire consequences. Petroleum deposits were still being discovered, but were increasingly difficult to exploit; a steep rise in oil prices was throwing the industrial nations into deep recession. Developing nations such as India and China were burning coal to fuel rapid industrialization. The result was a vast holocaust of coal, with the consequent release of greenhouse gases and pollutants.
Politics
As famine swept the world and the industrial economy was rocked with shortages, every nation on Earth was faced with instability and rebellion. Even relatively prosperous nations had episodes of violent unrest, such as the left-wing coup that killed off the British monarchy in 2029, or the spasm of urban violence that wrecked the city of Los Angeles in 2036. In much of the world, civil government simply vanished beneath the tide of human desperation.
Of course, there was also formal war. Russia underwent a period of nationalist revival, fighting both China and the United States. The Crusader Conflicts decimated the Middle East, as Christians, Jews and Muslims engaged in years of genocidal struggle. Finally, the old discord between India and Pakistan flared up into the Twelve Minute War, a nuclear exchange that killed almost half a billion people. By 2050, it was obvious to many that civilization was doomed - and that it might take all of Earth's life down with it.
The Unity Mission
Amid the chaos, there were some outposts of hope. In the early 21st century, several nations had built a permanent presence in space. There were small "orbital cities" circling Earth, great factories processing the loot of the asteroids. The Moon and Mars had been colonized. None of these ventures were likely to be self-sufficient in the event of Earth's collapse, but they were reason for cautious optimism.
In the late 2040s, some of Earth's leaders were looking even further afield. Telescopes revealed the presence of an earthlike planet in the nearby Alpha Centauri star system, and U.N. leaders proposed that a starship be built to carry several thousand scientists, engineers, and colonists to that distant world. If all went well, the massive effort might help reunify the nations of Earth. If the worst came to pass, the colonists would be safely away from whatever catastrophe claimed Earth's billions.
Despite every obstacle, the Unity was built in high Earth orbit. Some nations contributed out of hope, others out of desperate pride, still others out of a cynical desire for survival. Seven thousand people were chosen for the journey. In July of 2060, the starship was launched, most of its crew in cryonic suspension. After the first few weeks, even the command crew entered their cryocells. Unity flew on through the dark for 40 years.
Disaster!
Later, some of the colonists realized how miraculous a successful journey would have been. The mission had been planned in haste and with no margin for error. Any mishap might have doomed the crew. As it happened, the bulk of the journey did go by without accident - but in late 2099, as Unity was decelerating into the Alpha Centauri system, it collided with a tiny fragment of space debris. The interloper was no larger than a pebble, but at the starship's speed even such a small missile could have devastating impact.
One of the eight cryobays was completely destroyed, killing hundreds of colonists and crewmen. Damage to other parts of the ship was widespread, if not crippling. The greatest hazard lay in damage to the ship's fusion drive. The master computer had shut down the drive rather than allow it tear the ship apart - but now, so close to journey's end, there was no way for the Unity to stop. If nothing was done, the starship would fly through the Alpha Centauri system and be lost forever.
Captain John Garland and his command staff were automatically roused from cryosleep, four days before the final flyby of Alpha Centauri. Quickly, they assessed the damage. Chief Engineer Prokhor Zakharov swore that he could repair the drive if enough of his engineering staff could be awakened to perform the necessary work. Other crew were awakened to assist.
