BPP Crusade 105 – Patterns of the Soul

The Babylon Project Podcast

Once again the crew is taken off the path to find a cure for the Drakh plague. The Excalibur is sent to Theta 49 where there is concern a small group of colonists might be contaminated with the plague. Gideon receive orders to find the colonists and bring them back to Earth—an unusual request. If they’re actually contaminated, it would be relatively simple to quarantine this secluded planet.

As Excalibur arrives, we get a glimpse of one of the colonists interacting with a representative of what appears to be an indigenous population. This elder tells the colonist that he should take his people away so that his own people can live, suggesting the local population already knows the colonists are infected.

After a quick dowsing in a protective mist to protect them from the virus, members of the crew go to the surface to make contact with the colonists. They’re informed that the colonists left Earth before the Drakh plague was dispensed, but the settlers agree to be tested for confirmation.

As the drama unfolds, we learn there are dissenting views among the colonists, with Mr. Black offering to his people they might want to go back. We also hear the dissenting view that going back might mean they’d be locked up again after the discovery of “who and what we are.” We don’t yet know what this means, but it gives us a little more insight into why the Excalibur is ordered to bring them back.

Meanwhile, Dureena finds another camp—not Earthlings—and quickly discovers she’s found a surviving remnant of her own people, previously unknown to be on Theta 49. Quickly we learn that the colonists are infected even though there’s confirmation they did leave Earth before the release of the Drakh virus. With a new problem to be solved, Dr. Chambers suits up and goes in to examine the waste disposal system for clues about how the colonists ended up infected. Gideon uses special access to gain information and learns that the colonists have cybernetic enhancements courtesy of an activity called the Bioweapons Division. This makes them dangerous, especially since they’re living weapons. This further complicates the plot in that it seems Earth’s military leadership would be happy they’ve isolated themselves. The mystery is solved when Dr. Chambers discovers that the solders were deliberately infected through their food. If this were ever discovered and made public, it would be a significant blemish on Earth’s military leadership.

Armed with this information, Gideon comes up with a plan and stages the destruction of the colonists (BOOM!) to provide cover for them to remain outside of Earth’s control. We also learn that the survivors from Dureena’s world are also infected. Unfortunately the virus works much more quickly on them than on a human. Dureena pleads to leave them alone. In the end, Gideon reports back to Earth that the planet will be quarantined to protect the previously unknown indigenous population, allowing the now “dead” Earth colonists to live out the remainder of their lives in peace as well. After all, Gideon’s public orders were to prevent the spread of the virus.

A quick note about the B-Story here. Our friend Max from IPX has been under some pressure to report back what the Excalibur has been finding. We’ve watched him fail at this so far, but now he has the chance to give them something interesting about Theta 49. He queues up a report divulging the info he has on the planet, including about the people there, and in a moment of strength of conscience, he deletes it rather than sending it, protecting Dureena’s people and the colonists. Are we seeing some depth developing in Max’s character?

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Just remember… No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There’s always a boom tomorrow!

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