Commander’s Personal Log
Year One
Day Seven
We have given a name to the strange blue force: fae. It was Ian’s suggestion, unanimously approved. It hearkens back to Terran legends of mysterious lights that lured men to other worlds--or perhaps to their deaths—and of shadowy creatures that might be either good or evil, who took pleasure in toying with mankind. Whatever is causing the phenomenon here, there is no denying that appears magical, so the name suits it.
That said, it is a natural force, woven into the fabric of this world, and natural forces have no emotions, no intentions, and no guiding intelligence. They were as likely to favor you as to harm you. We must keep reminding ourselves of that, as we seek to analyze the events of recent days. “The planet hates humans” is a tempting metaphor, but ultimately misleading.
Tonight I will tell the colony about the fae. It’s not right to keep the truth from them any longer. But I can’t share all the details. Telling people that an unseen force has been killing our people and attacking our equipment, and we have no clue how to defend ourselves, would be the equivalent of locking a man in a box and pumping in toxic gas. He can’t flee and he can’t fight, so what happens his most primitive instincts demand he do one or the other? Our world may be larger than a box, but given the circumstances, such distinctions are moot. We are trapped as surely as that man is, unable to flee from this planet, but lacking the knowledge we need to protect ourselves. Some may realize how bad the situation is, once I tell them about the fae, but for most it will take a while, and I will not hasten the moment when two hundred people must be told how existentially fucked we are.
Year One
Day Seven
We have given a name to the strange blue force: fae. It was Ian’s suggestion, unanimously approved. It hearkens back to Terran legends of mysterious lights that lured men to other worlds--or perhaps to their deaths—and of shadowy creatures that might be either good or evil, who took pleasure in toying with mankind. Whatever is causing the phenomenon here, there is no denying that appears magical, so the name suits it.
That said, it is a natural force, woven into the fabric of this world, and natural forces have no emotions, no intentions, and no guiding intelligence. They were as likely to favor you as to harm you. We must keep reminding ourselves of that, as we seek to analyze the events of recent days. “The planet hates humans” is a tempting metaphor, but ultimately misleading.
Tonight I will tell the colony about the fae. It’s not right to keep the truth from them any longer. But I can’t share all the details. Telling people that an unseen force has been killing our people and attacking our equipment, and we have no clue how to defend ourselves, would be the equivalent of locking a man in a box and pumping in toxic gas. He can’t flee and he can’t fight, so what happens his most primitive instincts demand he do one or the other? Our world may be larger than a box, but given the circumstances, such distinctions are moot. We are trapped as surely as that man is, unable to flee from this planet, but lacking the knowledge we need to protect ourselves. Some may realize how bad the situation is, once I tell them about the fae, but for most it will take a while, and I will not hasten the moment when two hundred people must be told how existentially fucked we are.
- C. S. FRIEDMAN, Nightborn
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