Intended Consequences
01 Jan 2021Elkyri
Ivanov Ring, Mazu3306.12.31
Accounts vary. Some say rabbits were introduced into a place called Australia on Terra -- Mother Gaia -- by accident. Others say they were deliberately introduced to provide a source of game meat. In either case they proliferated to the point that they became a problem in terms of what they were doing to the native ecosystem. It was both an unintended and unexpected result. A few hundred years later scientists sought to solve the problem by introducing a virus that was benign in some species of rabbits but deadly to the species then in Australia. It helped to thin the population but eventually those that survived developed an immunity which was passed onto the next generation. The entire sequence of events is often cited as a case study in The Law of Unintended Consequences.
Some of the pilots loitering on the concourse were trying to put that label on the recent news of Thargoid incursions in the Coalsack. I'm not so sure that's the case. It certainly isn't unexpected. I think a good many people saw it coming. What is questionable is whether it is unintended. As I told Hicks back when he was urging me to get involved in the Coalsack survey effort, it seemed a deliberate provocation. The unanswered question now is "why." If it was deliberate just what do Sirius Corp or the Alliance stand to gain from it?
What I had not expected was Thargoid incursions elsewhere. Why would a provocation in the Coalsack provoke an incursion into Witch Head? I don't know, but it's having me rethink my plans for the immediate future. Several stations in Witch Head are burning and evacuations are underway. I'm going to get Yalena's cargo racks pulled out and refit her for hauling passengers so I can pitch in on the rescue operation.
The same is happening in the Coalsack but from what I gather that operation is already well supported, mainly just because it is closer to hand. Witch Head is nearly twice as far away. That has me thinking they'll get fewer private ships coming to their aid ... which is why I am heading there. That and the views just have to be better. The Coalsack might be interesting but it's certainly not much to look at.
Oh, and Happy New Year. Helluva way to kick it off, eh?