technical question for a story

[JadziaKathryn]

I don't have any useful technical advice, unless you count using a radio (or pre-radio???) to transmit a science fiction story which the good aliens might be listening too, one that would catch their attention with eerie similarities.

However, I wonder this: how do the bad aliens get in without the good aliens noticing? Are they patrolling from too far out to be a good blockade, and if so why? Are the good aliens nice but slightly incompetent? Are they distracted? Bored and drinking too much? Have they been infiltrated by the bad aliens? Did a bad case of the flu strike half the crewmembers?

I know, I'm a great help.

[Linda]

The episode is "Civilization" (hope I am not giving away to much of my story here), where the people had sailing ships and seemed to be in an a technological development period similar to earth in the 19th century. I was toying with the idea that they also had steam power and a couple of years after Enterprizes's visit, would be experimenting with electrical lighting, telegraphy, even gasoline power like the turn of the 19th to the 20th century on earth.

My husband suggested crop circles or using tar (or some dark substance) on ice at the poles for a message, and I see Distracted mentioned crop circles too. I think the radio direction tuning she suggested has a lot going for it! Riann would have to convince scientists to use that, which might make for some drama with her trying to convince them that aliens do exist.

Since Archer told Riann the Vulcans would be looking out for the planet but didn't give an exact schedule of their patrols, I am thinking the signal would have to be continuous. And radio signal would be the best bet, don't you think? Because the Vulcans are not people who look into other species business too closely (that season one episode where T'Pol did not want to board that ship which did not answer hails). So crop circles, messages in the snow, or forest burns might not bring them closer to investigate. Maybe a huge natural disaster like a volcano blowing might, but they would not see that as a distress call about aliens invading.

I don't think Riann would know how to use subspace, but the natives could perhaps intimidate a captured alien into doing it for them. Sigh, I have the whole story outlined but this contact thing is still unclear. Okay, I do like the radio signal best, but if anyone has something else please tell me! I could always use the old flotilla of invading ships showing up the same time as a Vulcan patrol but I like the idea of a signal from the native population.

[Alelou]

They seemed very pre-telegraph to me. Dang. It just had to be the Vulcans watching over them. I really could see Archer dropping in for a cup of tea...

[Linda]

I was thinking that too...pre radio signal. But they don't have to develop their technology in quite the same order as earth has. I was thinking of making that a plot point with them by applying electro-magnetic technology for house door locks at the same time they were first using weak electric light bulbs like those you see from the late 19th, early 20th century. Jim (my husband) is trying to draw what he would think would be a door lock - with a metal cylindar key so it would not be like our 21st century plastic hotel key cards, LOL.

But what if some genius was playing with radio signal technology in his back yard and Riann knew him... Would it have been possible in our own 18th or even 17th century? I will have to look up how radio waves were discovered and what state of blacksmithing or metal work was being done that early. Blacknblue, CX, Elessar, any thoughts?

[justTripn]

I LIKE the burned forest idea. It's different and low tech.

"Past the expiration date." HA! HA! I'll have to remember that one for my future excuses.

[Linda]

Hmmm, maybe multiple approaches? The mad scientist radio guy who Riann consults and he sets up a signal directed at the sky PLUS the Akaali government organizing a huge forest burn in the shape of letters which spell out "help Jonathan, aliens are back" or "help Vulcans, aliens are back". I will have to rewatch the episode, as I think Riann only knows Archer's' first name and I think they mentioned to her that 'the Vulcans' would be monitoring the planet. Lots of ways to take this.

[Alelou]

Um, purposely burning a forest without modern fire-fighting equipment standing by is crazy? Especially the idea that you could actually burn it in the shape of letters? What if the wind changes direction?

You'd be better off mowing down corn in the field like some of our British friends do (and then blame aliens). There you go, how about crop circles?

[Asso]

...You'd be better off mowing down corn in the field like some of our British friends do (and then blame aliens). There you go, how about crop circles?

I think it's the best. Sufficiently primitive, but clever and probably successful.

[blacknblue]

Producing a crude radio signal (i.e. a burst of electromagnetic energy) is simple and easy. The hard part is modulating it into a coherent message. If all they want to do is send out a series of pulses like a morse code signal, say dot-dash-dot, then they could certainly do that using 19th century technology. I think the first radio equipment was developed in the eighteenth century? maybe the seventeenth. Either way, it consisted of basically a generator that struck sparks which sent out random bursts of radio waves. no information, just radio noise. Took many years to learn how to get the radio waves to carry detailed information.

If you want to send out an incoherent scream for help, simple enough. All you need is a big enough generator, and a big enough antenna. Google it. The info is out there.

[justTripn]

Radios waves are boring. Crop circles! Really!

[Linda]

Yeah, I googled it this morning and it was the 1880s and 1890s. But I think it COULD have been before that, because Faraday had a primitive electric generator in 1831.

Alelou is spot on about the uncontrollable forest burn. I thought you could make a fire break around the trees that make up the 'letters', but with 19th century technology that could take weeks if not months. Crop circles like Jim, Asso, Distracted, and Alelou suggested might do the trick, and the message would last longer than a forest burn. So if an obviously sentient-created radio signal from a civilization which hadn't broadcasted before drew the Vulcan ship closer to the planet out of curiosity, then the Vulcans could read the message in the wheat... and/or the one in the snow at the poles?

Far fetched, but isn't that typical of Star Trek?

[Asso]

Exactly!

[Linda]

Ah, yet another vote for crop circles! (just read JT's message after posting my last). I will use them, Jt! But radio too as I am now knee deep in printouts on the development of radio. Don't want to waste my new found knowledge. Who said writing fan fiction was not educational.

[Linda]

Okay, it was an episode from the first season called "Civilization". Trip, Archer, T'Pol dressed like the people who lived on the planet and went visiting. They discovered aliens hiding on the world and manufacturing something which made the local population sick - which is probably why they weren't doing it on their own world. Riann, a local healer, was looking for what killed her brother. She hooks up with the Enterprise crew to solve this problem and she finds out they are also aliens. I think she was the only native of the world who knew that. And Arher told her that the Vulcans would patrol her system to see that these nasty aliens would not be back to do more harm. Quite a an interesting episode.

[Asso]

... Who said writing fan fiction was not educational.

Mad and foolish people.