Star Trek_ A Choice of Catastrophes - Michael Schuster [18]
The absence of remains of any kind presented a puzzle. A mass exodus, while possible, required a planetary space industry that Mu Arigulon V lacked. There were no stations in orbit, no space elevators, no vast spaceports, nothing with the capacity to process the millions, if not billions, of beings who must have lived on the planet.
With all the knowledge at his disposal, Spock could not devise a theory that made use of all the available facts and explained where the natives had gone. It was a challenge, and he looked forward to discovering what had happened.
Karl Jaeger, a geophysicist specializing in meteorology, was seated behind Lieutenant Kologwe at navigation. Spock turned to face him. “Mister Jaeger,” he said, “do you have an explanation for this planet’s atmospheric toxicity?”
“I do, sir,” Jaeger said, handing Spock his data slate. “If you look at the readings we’ve taken, you’ll see that a major climatic shift took place about two centuries ago, perhaps a little longer, causing the temperature to rise.” Jaeger turned to M’Benga and the others seated behind him. Spock listened while studying the data. “Evidence of this can still be seen everywhere. Levels of heavy metals and atmospheric pollutants, especially polyaromatic hydrocarbons such as compounds of the benzopyrene family, are just below toxicity threshold for most humanoids. Several decades ago, this place must’ve been deadly. Thankfully, the air’s clean now and the planet’s cooled down again. Sir, if you require a detailed breakdown of what happened, I’ll have to analyze precipitation layers at one of the polar ice caps.”
Spock considered this. “Thank you, Mister Jaeger. I’ll add it to our list of objectives.”
“Sir …” Jaeger hesitated for a moment. “There’s one other thing.”
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
“Windspeeds are picking up, and cloud formations are growing across this entire continent. All indications are that we’re in for a storm.”
“I am aware of this, Mister Jaeger.”
“But it doesn’t make any sense. We’re talking about a big storm—one that could cover this part of the southern hemisphere. But when we were in orbit, there was no sign of it: no low-pressure system, no inversion layer. There still isn’t. But now it’s on its way.”
Spock momentarily considered that Jaeger was not accounting for the idiosyncrasies of the weather of a new planet, but he immediately dismissed the idea. The lieutenant had too much experience. “Thank you, Mister Jaeger.” Spock was confident that the shuttle’s shields would minimize the effects of any adverse weather.
He added the weather dilemma to his internal list of conundrums, tasking a small part of his mind to its resolution. “Mister Scott,” he said, rising from his seat, “report on the satellite we recovered.”
The engineer was hunched over the strange mauve-colored device at the back of the shuttle, having unsealed a panel to access its innards. “There are some highly sophisticated electronics in here, Mister Spock.” He pulled his hand out of the device, dislodging several wires. “Plus a fusion reactor only as big as the palm of your hand.”
“Have you determined the device’s purpose yet?”
“Aye. Projecting energy,” he said, picking his tricorder up off the deck, “but I canna tell what kind of energy. It’s been inert for at least a decade. The only bits I can be sure about are its thrusters; it’s got a powerful reaction control system.”
Spock nodded. The satellite could be nearly anything: a weapon, a shield generator, a tractor emitter, even a surveillance sensor. “Would it be possible to activate the device?”
“Aye.” Scott peered back into its innards, his eyes jumping between the device and the readout on his tricorder. “Everything seems