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Synopsis Table of Contents Chapter 29 appears in issue 149. |
Observation One:
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Chapter 30: Communication II
CP8, third-born of the latest set of quins from Dome, had come at last within range of the Mater and sent, without hesitation, the message carried by each identical sister:
TimePoint / Ref: 336.657.7754.35 / SC-IME-MI-R2 To: Star-craft Captains, Initial Missions of Exploration Subject: Mission Instructions — Revision II BACKGROUND
Most recent Council of Regions debated new proposals.
Reduced-scope proposal for extension to objectives of Initial Missions, now entitled “Limited Unharmful Exploitation Imperative” (LUEI), presented and accepted. See Orders following, including new explicit Imperative Priorities. Principal features of LUEI:
Identification of deposits of certain minerals for which specific need exists in one or more Regions
Identification of any resources critical to New World and in under-supply or over-supply (as basis of potential future negotiations)
Preparation for limited exploitation experiments
Optional conducting of limited exploitation experiments (Captain’s discretion to commence)
Proposals for associated changes to existing Imperatives presented and accepted. See Orders following, including new explicit Imperative Priorities.
ORDERS
Further revisions to Observation Imperative, immediate effect. Imperative Priority = 1.
Mapping and Modelling Aim merged with Fact Gathering Aim. Combined Aim to be even more strongly focused on physical resources of each New World: in particular, on gathering full details of any known deposits of mineral groups A72RW, C98RR and Y58PL, and on continuing to identify New World resources which are observed to be both highly important to that world, and either in very short supply (now or in near future) or in abundant supply.
Insight Gaining Aim re-prioritised to Very High. Engagements still to be restricted to experts in geophysics, as per previous revision. This Aim now key to establishing true, as against openly-published, information to support research under Combined Aim above.
Limited Unharmful Exploitation Imperative (see Background above) to be included in Mission Objectives, immediate effect. Imperative Priority = 2.
Passive Moral Imperative (“specific assistance or improvement”) unchanged. Continues to apply to all Missions. Imperative Priority = 3.
Individual Captains to conduct ongoing situation analyses, take regular decisions on potential value of continuing observations into all candidate minerals, and make provisional plans for exploitation experiments, as per basic mission training scenarios. If and when decision taken to suspend or terminate observations, limited exploitation experiments may be commenced, pending receipt of further specific Mission Instructions by Special Communication.
END
The carrier pigeon, its value spent but its inertia unchanged, then calmly continued on its course for infinity.
Copyright © 2003 by Michael E. Lloyd
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