Can you give us #20 for Haestrom specifically? I would love to hear an astrophysicist's take on where the dark matter storyline could have gone.
Focused on the Haestom/Dholen situation specifically, because we never really got any more information on where the writers wanted to take this plotline. You'll have to forgive the simple bluntness, as these are supposed to be short and my original version... wasn't.
Field Report: Haestrom, Dholen System, Far Rim – September 17th, 2185
Not exactly encouraging progress, Shepard mused. Still, she’d been distracted since her return from the centuries-old quarian research base. She had no reason to believe Tali had lied to her about why she’d been leading a team there, but some things still felt… off.
“EDI, how old is Haestrom’s star?” Shepard said, turning her head towards the holographic display in the corner of her quarters. EDI’s display lit immediately, and the projected light cast a faint blue glow off the reflective walls surrounding the cabin foyer.
“Unknown. Standard main-sequence and branch statistics indicate the system’s age is approximately eight and a half billion years old. However, records retrieved by the quarian research team show uranium isotopes in far greater abundance than expected for that age,” EDI replied after a moment. The records were understandably scarce, and it was likely she was pulling from only one or two extranet sources for answers. The warm monotone of EDI’s voice betrayed nothing, but Shepard could almost feel a frustration coming from the AI.
“Tali said the quarians suspect the star is prematurely aging due to dark energy interactions. Is that possible? Is it something we need to concern ourselves with?”
EDI flickered. “There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer.”
Shepard sighed, then leaned back in her chair. As Tali had said, the quarian specialists had suspicions dark energy may be at play, but suspicions were a far cry from evidence. That was why they’d built that massive complex in the first pla-
She shifted forward, her brow creasing as a decade-old lesson on star systems and planets worked its way to the front of her brain. She brought up her omni-tool terminal with a brief flick of her wrist and began tapping out the half-remembered equations she’d learned to earn her degree for an officer’s position.
“Never thought I’d actually use any of this,” Shepard said, pulling up references to skim through as gaps in her knowledge came up. Once she’d finished, she stared at the holographic model of the Dholen system on her omni-tool, and felt an even deeper sense of unease.
One solar mass.
3300 K. A blackbody spectrum peaking around 811 nm.
M-class.
Back when this was a quarian colony, it was a normal star.
If these calculations were correct, Dholen wasn’t becoming a giant star; it was a giant star. And if this activity is only recent…
“EDI, what’s the distance from Haestrom to Dholen?” Shepard asked. That should be simple enough that the ship’s standard astrometrics would have picked it up.
“Haestrom orbits its host star at approximately 6.3 astronomical units, or 150 million kilometers.”
“Maybe I’m calculating this wrong, but if that’s the case… Haestrom hasn’t been habitable for most of the system’s development. Can you double-check these numbers?” Shepard said, then flicked the data to the ship’s network before waiting for EDI’s reply.
The math wasn’t complicated, and EDI checked Shepard’s numbers within seconds of Shepard sending them off. “Ignoring a few mild significant digit errors,” EDI began, her hollow voice only making the patronizing tone feel worse. “These numbers do seem correct. Haestrom remains within the star’s habitable zone for ten to twenty million years before the star becomes too luminous for life to thrive.”
“And the planet was abandoned just two centuries ago. Practically yesterday when it comes to deep time.”
“Correct, Commander.”
Shepard leaned back in her chair again and began gently tapping her foot against the base of her desk. Had the Admiralty Board lied to Tali? Were they just mistaken on the colonization dates? Why would they want to colonize a nearly uninhabitable planet in the first place?
“And why would the Admiralty Board care about it now?”
She only realized she’d spoken that last thought aloud when EDI provided an answer.
“The Migrant Fleet is composed of tens of thousands of ships. It is possible the Admiralty Board is concerned that their very presence in a system may destabilize its star.”
Shepard closed her eyes. She imagined a fleet of ships whose very presence disturbed one of the few things everyone in the galaxy saw as immutable. She saw the public worry about the safety of ships entering and leaving their home systems. She saw the Migrant Fleet pushed out of the few friendly stations they had left – first diplomatically, then militarily.
“EDI, take the Dholen/Haestrom data and calculations, then send it to Alliance Command and the Admiralty Board. Remove any notes about potential dangers of large fleets moving through systems.”
“Yes, Commander. Will that be all?”
“No. Delete this conversation from any Cerberus recordkeeping systems onboard.” Shepard could see Cerberus finding some way to use this information to stew anti-alien sentiments. Best to cut it off before it could even begin.
EDI took a moment, likely checking whether her newfound freedom following the Collector attack allowed her to alter ship records. “Done, Commander,” she said, and disappeared from the holographic projection system.
Right. Back to being the Commander. Shepard returned her attention to her private terminal, the display having long since dimmed during the break in activity. Best to keep it simple. Cerberus knew how little she cared for both them and writing reports altogether, so a short report wouldn’t be too far out of her norm.
Field Report: Haestrom, Dholen System, Far Rim – September 17th, 2185
Rescued Tali’Zorah vas Neema and Kal’Reegar vas Lomas from Geth attack on Haestrom. Remainder of quarian research and escort team killed in action by Geth. Tali’Zorah has joined the Normandy crew, while Kal’Reegar returned to the Migrant Fleet.
Note: Jacob Taylor showed mild antagonism towards Tali’Zorah vas Neema during debrief. Preparing plans to keep the two separated in order to avoid crew conflict.
Signed,
Commander J. Shepard
