12.16 Terran Explorations: The Genesis Planet

TERRAN EXPLORATIONS

THE GENESIS PLANET

The Genesis Planet was created on 28 January 2287 (stardate 8130.3) from the entire mass of the Mutara Nebula by detonation of the Stage III Genesis Device. The device was triggered by former Terran dictator Khan Noonien Singh at the end of a duel between the starship Enterprise (NCC-1701) and the hijacked Reliant (NCC-1864). The Mutara Nebula was only a few sectors away from the Regula One space station where the Genesis Device had been developed.. Khan had managed to capture the Reliant due to an incredible series of events and use it in an attempt to kill Kirk, the man he held responsible for his exile. Acquiring the Genesis Device was just a side benefit of his new freedom. However, after Enterprise successfully crippled and disabled the Reliant, the dying Khan triggered the device as his last attempt to exact vengeance on Kirk. The attempt failed when Enterprise managed to repair its dilithium converter assembly, damaged during the battle, and go to warp seconds before the Genesis Device detonated.

Drs. Carol and David Marcus, the creators of Project Genesis, had programmed the Genesis Device to create a small, Terranlike planet. The Genesis Planet coalesced and formed according to the matrix that been programmed into the Genesis Device; however, it proved unstable from the beginning. It had been intended for detonation on a small, lifeless world or barren asteroid. The fact that its mass base was a nebula instead of a pre-existing body meant that it took several days for the Genesis Planet to coalesce and come into being. The new world’s inherent instability was documented by the survey vessel Grissom (NCC-638). The reason behind this was soon revealed by the ship’s special guest, Genesis Project co-creator Dr. David Marcus. He had obtained a small supply of the illegal substance known as protomatter in order to prime the lifeform matrix for the Genesis Device. It should have worked on a planetary scale as it had during the smaller Stage I and Stage II tests. The fact that Stage III had been activated inside a nebula as opposed to the surface of a planetary body had caused the lifeform matrix to expand well beyond its designed parameters. Thus, once it contracted and the Genesis Planet coalesced, it came into being with an unstable matrix instead of the stable one originally programmed. This inherent instability eventually caused the planet to revert to a lifeless, molten mass. A surprise attack by a cloaked Klingon vessel searching for the secrets of the Genesis Device resulted in the destruction of the Grissom, the death of Dr. Marcus, and the destruction of the starship Enterprise, which had returned for reasons of its own. Admiral Kirk and his crew only escaped with their lives by capturing the Klingon Birdof-Prey that had attacked them and then using it to escape before the Genesis Planet went into its final death throes. The Genesis Planet as i today (2295) t appears

e Genesis Planet is still considered off-limits by the Federation Th Council, with Starfleet’s original ban of stardate 8158.6 still in effect. Starfleet now maintains a small fleet in the area while Federation scientists continue to study the now-lifeless, lavacovered world. They are also studying the small G-type star, named Boojum per the Project Genesis control program, which was created during the formation of the Genesis Planet. Star creation had been an option of the Stage III control program but was not supposed to have been activated as programmed. Boojum’s existence despite this, along with its apparent stability in light of the dramatic death of its only world, will continue to be a source of study and debate for years to come.

SPECIFICATIONS:

System star: UFC 415246 (Boojum)

Distance from system star ……………… 93 million km Period of revolution (Terran measure) …… 54.6 hours Period of orbit (Terran measure) ………… 198.9 days Mass ………………………………….. 4.7 x1024 kg Diameter ………………………………. 5915.5 km Axial inclination ………………………… 28º 00º C Average surface temperature …………… @12 Satellites ……..……………………….. none ely M) Planetary Richter Scale rating ………….. A (form Lifeforms ……………..………………… none Major surface features ………………….. none Places of note …………………………... none

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