Science Officer’s Log: December-January 2020 Bushfire Season

Star Date: 41001.5

This report is a fictional report based on real life events, all source materials have been sourced and added to the end of the report for future study of this anomaly. We recognise the hard work of the local fire personnel and those who lost their lives in this tragedy. Any views or opinions are those of the writer and do not reflect any other view from persons of the USS Animus. During the months of November, December and January, Australia suffered from major fire, hail and floods. This fictional story is some of those events.

We received a distress call, following the orders of the captain we landed the ship on an unknown planet to find the source of the distress signal. With no leads as to the location of the distress call the captain decided to go in undercover and find the source of the distress signal. When we arrived, we did not know what to expect, within days we had the leading officers integrate into the local populace. I performed regular scans of the planet ensuring the crew was in no immediate danger, but what I didn’t know was this planet was on the verge of destruction. Two days after our landing (Star Date: 41003.6 (31.12.19 – 2pm) I was in my lab when sensors outside the ship started to show the air quality outside had been changed and was now representing a dangerous level of CO2, acting quick I reported my findings and requested the captain to confine the crew to the ship for 24-hours due to safety concerns. We were able to hack into the local news networks and what we found was horrifying, a part of the planet they called Australia was under siege by ragging fires, worst of all this happens regularly and more frequent as the planet heats. One report we found wrote about the death of two citizens in the town of Cobargo with another four missing, close to where we landed the ship.

What we picked up on our senses was just the beginning. Within days of the first report more and more reports of spreading fire came in with the fires fully engulfing a quarter of the country, we were stuck. The captain made the decision to leave while we still could but due to the continuous ash that was falling, we were unable to get moving. Ensign Kiel and I went to work looking for the cause of the engine problems but unfortunately for the near future it looks like we were stuck.

As the days went by the weather continued to persist with smoke and heat, we were out of our element, the crew definitely found it hard to cope with members keeping themselves busy and avoiding the danger zones. The crew continued to look for the source of the distress signal, during the expeditions one of our crew was surrounded, Ensign Dara reported being surrounded by the fires on Star Date: 41006.7 (03.01.20 4pm). The crew wanted to rescue Ensign Dara but was unable to use the transporters as we did not want the local populace to be aware of our presence due to them being underdeveloped. In the end Ensign Dara was able to escape the fires and made it back to the ship unharmed. On the same day the local government had called for a state of emergency shutting down major highways and placing the crew in a dangerous predicament, as the reports came in I was able to notify the crew as to where the fire had reached and kept in communication with the crew on a daily basis making sure we were all being safe.

Another couple of days later again one of the crew found themselves to be at deaths door with the fire forcing them to evacuate, Crewman Curiosity on Star Date: 41008.4 (01.05.20 10am) had to evacuate an area he had been exploring due to fires becoming to close and posing a danger. Right where the ship had been landed the local government then calls for a total fire ban to make sure they can deal with the already damaging fires, it seemed that this would never end and Ensign Keil and myself still had not been able to find the trouble caused to the Animus engines. Many discussions were had about the conditions getting worse outside and the crew new it could get much worse, under the great leadership of Captain Jaeger, he was able to keep the crew focused and set up emergency quarters for any crew requiring them with many of the crew offering a safe haven if needed. The crew worked around the clock to find the engine problems with Ensign Keil doing most of the work, myself monitoring the weather changes and assisting Ensign Keil with repairs, the Captain lead the away teams in search for the distress signal taking Ensign Targ, Ensign Tucker and Lieutenant Commander Daar with him. Lieutenant Commander Kilpatrick commanded the ship while the Captain was gone organising the rest of the crew to monitor and report on any findings outside the ship and to work with Ensign Keil in repairs where possible.

Star Date: 41023.5 (20.01.20 12:15pm) Ensign Targ was out surveying sector three when he was bombarded by a horrible hailstorm that came in so fast my instruments were unable to detect it until it was to late. Stuck in a shuttle craft after the storm Ensign Targ had to wait until the Captain was able to organise a rescue party and get him to safety. The local government put into action the repairs of thousands of local vehicles these humanoids use to get around estimating up to 37,000 insurance claims made due to the hailstorm. In response the crew-maintained safety at all times, helped other crew members and maintain a professional manner which was helpful to all crew. During the hailstorm the captain was also out tracking the distress signal but instead stubbled across a house with a crying baby, inside he found a mother huddled over her child protecting it from the hailstorm. 

Ensign Targ insisted on keeping the creature as a pet and it was clear after a short time the creature was friendly towards Targ and would not hurt him. The crew and captain were surprised one day by the creature now called Betsy on the ship being used to milk for Ensign Targ’s milk and cookie time. Shortly after Betsy was made part of the crew with all crew members taking part training Betsy and from what I could see training was going well, Betsy even took a roll with security and helped maintain the ship’s security, although it was a challenge around feeding time.

On Star Date: 41024.7 (21.01.20 6pm) Ensign Targ had just come back from a routine parameter check when he brought with him an interesting bone specimen. Ensign Targ was sure the creature this belonged to be a mighty creature that could be studied and offer knowledge as to the planet’s past. After some experiment Ensign Targ and myself were able to clone the creature using the bone marrow and what came out of the machine was a marvellous specimen, two metres tall and one point six metres long it was truly a magnificent creature. After doing some digging, we were able to find out the creature was called a Velociraptor and lived on the planet 85.8 million to 70.6 million years ago during the end of the planet’s Cretaceous Period.

Image result for Velociraptor pictures
It was then we as a crew new why we had been called to this planet, they were on the edge of a cataclysmic event that could not be expected, was this a Q telling us something, a being so powerful it could warn us of what was to come. We had all herd on the reports of the Q and read the reports made by Captain Picard, Captain Janeway and we were not prepared for any of this. What next could this planet have in store for its inhabitants, what could possibly be next, on Star Date: 41025.8 (23.01.20 7pm) we found out.

The fire had once again grown in size and this time coming straight for us, we had to evacuate yet more crew from the search areas due to this fires growth and some crew were placed in sick bay after suffering from smoke inhalation. My reading of this climate did not help as there was no particle reason for this weather to be happening and the local government and the local populace were at ends to the cause with multiple reasons brough forward. News articles and reports all saying the planet had been getting warming and that was the cause, others stated this is a natural occurrence in this part of the world stating they had more rain in that country then the previous year. The main reason talked about by the humanoids that fought the fires was something called back burning, from what I could understand this is where you do small burns to the overgrowth during the cooler parts of their planet’s rotations. All of this was recorded, and I will be monitoring this planet for future hazards, I feel like there is more to this then a simple answer and as a science officer it is my duty to help understand the unknown.

We were finally able to get the ship up and running again on Star Date 41042.4 (09.02.20 10am) and lucky we did as a heavy downpour came across the area flooding parts of the country we were in causing more damage and forcing the populace to evacuate some areas. This devastation could be seen as we were leaving with a good portion of where we were either burnt, damaged or flooded, I will never forget that summer it is a constant reminder to the value, quality and overall skill of the crew and their Captain.

Resources used During the Article

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2019/dec/31/australia-fires-live-news-nsw-victoria-bushfires-latest-updates

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/jan/02/nsw-fires-live-news-victoria-bushfires-australia-near-south-coast-tourists-latest-updates-

https://esa.act.gov.au/total-fire-ban-5-january-2020

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6636982/canberra-hailstones-the-largest-most-dense-since-1999/

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/09/nsw-weather-six-families-rescued-from-floodwaters-as-rain-lashes-east-coast

https://www.livescience.com/23922-velociraptor-facts.html

Further Research To be Followed

Is Fuel Reduction Burning the Answer?

https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/CIB/cib0203/03Cib08

Annual climate statement 2019

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/

Indigenous fire methods protect land before and after the Tathra bushfire

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-18/indigenous-burning-before-and-after-tathra-bushfire/10258140

Bushfire weather

http://www.bom.gov.au/weather-services/fire-weather-centre/bushfire-weather/index.shtml

Global Average Temperature Map Shows Australia Is Literally On Fire

https://www.unilad.co.uk/news/world-temperature-map-shows-australia-is-literally-on-fire/

Applying geoscience to Australia’s most important challenges

https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/community-safety/bushfire