The Truth About Penguins In The Traveller Universe. (A Repost)

If anything, the apparently humble penguin is the central component to the mystery of why the Solomani, the Humans of Terra, were so slow to develop spaceflight and the jump drive.

The various species of penguin that we know of were Genetically Engineered by Yaskodray (a.k.a. Grandfather) as a means to suppress the growth and technological progress of Terrestrial Humans. The penguin brain while individually unimpressive, served as a component of a group mind which in turn functioned on Terra as a False Ruling Consciousness, an entity that the Solomani have commonly called "God."

The False Ruling Consciousness, being physically isolated on the Antarctic continent, would send psionic messages to various "prophets" who would in turn command their respective followers kill each other in progressively bloodier wars. This also had the unfortunate result of blackening the name of God in the minds of the Solomani as that the gods of most other races were more emotionally secure and far less prone to acting out.

It was when Claw and Beak disease was accidentally introduced to the primary penguin population by a British naval expedition ("Jenkins, STOP THAT!") that the False Ruling Consciousness became too weak to influence human affairs. Thus allowing the Solomani people to expand into deep space and attempt to take their rightful place in the Universe. ("Today, North Minehead...")
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A New Project

[I'm writing a novel set in the Private Universe Mk 2.]


Frank reentered the room. He brought in a two page printout of something and a thick paper-bound book with a black-colored cover.

He stopped and looked at everyone.

“Did I miss something? He said.

Kira spoke up.

“The subject of Earth came up.” She said.

“Did you mention the lamp post?” He replied.

“What lamp post?” I said.

Andy sounded a little bit embarrassed when he answered.

“The lamp post that the senior senator from New York may have been hanged from.” He said.

“May have?” I said.

“Well we can’t be certain,” Andy replied, “the post in the recorded location may have been replaced one or more times since The Reformation.”

Alice jumped into the conversation.

“There was a lot of looting going on since the fall of the Earth.” She said. “We sent an expert team to the reported location of the artifact and recovered it, though technically it was an act of looting.”

“It’s called archaeology.” I said. “Where is it?”

Frank answered the question.

“We gave it a good home.” He said.

That answer sounded distressingly familiar. Unlike the fictional Captain Kirk I tried not to raise my voice in response.

“Where?”

Alice smiled when she replied.

“We put it in front of the new planetary government center in Landfall.” She said. “And we gave it a nice brass plaque to remind every member of the Senate and the Assembly to be on their best behavior.”