Ideology
In the great commons at Gaia's Landing we have a tall and particularly
beautiful stand of white pine, planted at the time of the first
colonies. It represents our promise to the people, and to Planet
itself, never to repeat the tragedy of Earth.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
Centauri Ecology
Planet's atmosphere, though a gasping death to humans and most animals,
is paradise for Earth plants. The high nitrate content of the soil and
the rich yellow sunlight bring an abundant harvest wherever
adjustments can be made for the unusual soil conditions.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "A Comparative Biology of Planet"
Centauri Meditation
The Isle of the Deep is really not a single creature but a colony
of thousands of individual tubules, an aquatic vector of the Mind Worm
which terrorizes Planet's continents. Over its lifetime certain tubules
secrete a tough, gluelike substance which hardens to form the
characteristic shell that floats the colony and creates the appearance
of a rogue island.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "A Comparative Biology of Planet"
Centauri Empathy
Observe the Razorbeak as it tends so carefully to the fungal blooms;
just the right bit from the yellow, then a swatch from the pink.
Follow the Glow Mites as they gather and organize the fallen spores.
What higher order guides their work? Mark my words: someone or something
is {managing} the ecology of this planet.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
Ecological Engineering
The prevalence of anoxic environments rich in organic material,
combined with the presence of nitrated compounds has
led to an astonishing variety of underground organisms which live in
the absence of oxygen and "breathe" nitrate. Likewise, the scarcity
of carbon in the environment has forced plants to economize on its use.
Thus, all our efforts to return carbon to the biosphere will encourage
the native life to proliferate. Conversely, the huge quantities
of nitrate in the soil will be heaven to human farmers.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "The Early Years"
Adv. Ecological Engineering
You are the children of a dead planet, earthdeirdre, and
this death we do not comprehend. We shall take you in, but
may we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath
disease?
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Planet"
Secrets of Alpha Centauri
You waited so long to heed us, earthdeirdre,
Almost we pruned you, as we may yet prune your branches.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Planet"
Sentient Econometrics
The fungus has been Planet's dominant lifeform since about
the time of the Lower Paleozoic on Earth. But when, once every
hundred million years or so, the neural net at last achieves the
critical mass necessary to become sentient, the final metamorphosis
kills off most of the other life on the planet. It is possible that
we humans can help to break this tragic cycle.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
Transcendent Thought
Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind.
Have you drunk your fill?
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Planet", Epilogue
The Weather Paradigm
I shall not confront Planet as an enemy, but shall accept
its mysteries as gifts to be cherished. Nor shall I crudely
seek to peel the layers away like the skin from an onion.
Instead I shall gather them together as the tree gathers the
breeze. The wind shall blow and I shall bend. The sky shall
open and I shall drink my fill.
Gaian Acolyte's Prayer
The Empath Guild
Symbols are the key to telepathy. The mind wraps its
secrets in symbols; when we discover the symbols that shape
our enemy's thought, we can penetrate the vault of his mind.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Our Secret War"
The Citizens' Defense Force
As the writhing, teeming mass of Mind Worms swarmed over the outer
perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use
your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well
known that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its
prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae in the brains of
its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the
most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Our Secret War"
The Xenoempathy Dome
I believe Planet will talk to us if we are willing
to listen. These fungal stalks behave as multistate relays:
taken together, the neural net connectivity must be staggering.
Can a planet be said to have achieved sentience?
Lady Deirdre Skye, Arguments in Council
The Pholus Mutagen
We welcome you, earthdeirdre and earthwheat and earthtree as
honored guests, for you add great power to our ancient song--
planetfungus and planetworm and planetmind sing and play
here, and you are welcome among us.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Planet"
The Telepathic Matrix
From the delicate strands,
between minds we weave our mesh:
a blanket to warm the soul.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "The Collected Poems"
Ascent to Transcendence
No longer mere earthbeings and planetbeings are we, but bright
children of the stars! And together we shall dance in and out
of ten billion years, celebrating the gift of consciousness until
the stars themselves grow cold and weary, and our thoughts turn
again to the beginning.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations with Planet"
Headquarters
As we approached we were confronted by the ruined splendor of
Sparta Command. The true immensity of the place became instantly
apparent as our Quantum Tank crunched over the rubble and parked next
to a shattered bunker, but the extent of the destruction
took weeks to assess. The shielded datacore had sustained several
massive breaches and smoke still billowed from the numerous cannon
ports. There were few signs of human life.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Our Secret War"
Perimeter Defense
Having now established a secure perimeter, we have made ourselves
relatively safe from enemy incursions. But against the seemingly
random attacks by Planet's native life only our array of warning
sensors can help us, for the Mind Worms infiltrate through every crevice
and chew through anything softer than plasmasteel.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "The Early Years"
Biology Lab
Although Planet's native life is based, like Earth's, on right-handed
DNA, and codes for all the same amino acids, the inevitable chemical
and structural differences from a billion years of evolution in an
alien environment render the native plant life highly poisonous
to humans. Juicy, ripe grenade fruits may look appealing, but a
mouthful of organonitrates will certainly change your mind in a hurry.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "A Comparative Biology of Planet"
Tree Farm
In the great commons at Gaia's Landing we have a tall and particularly
beautiful stand of white pine, planted at the time of the first
colonies. It represents our promise to the people, and to Planet
itself, never to repeat the tragedy of Earth.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
Hybrid Forest
You see in this dome the intermingling of native and earth plants.
Outside, they are competitors, struggling over the trace
elements required for life. Often, one destroys the other. Here,
they are tended with care and kept well nourished. They thrive
together, and the native fungus does not unleash its terrible
defenses. As you can see, competition is unnecessary when resources
are plentiful and population growth is controlled.
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Planet Dreams"
Aerospace Complex
You are orphans, earthdeirdre, your homeworld already buried
so young among the aeons. Yet now you fill the skies where
we watched a million sunsets with flame and contrails, paying
no heed to the hard lessons the universe has tried to teach you.
Are you a breath of life to invigorate a complacent world,
you earthhumans, or an insidious cancer which must be excised?
Lady Deirdre Skye, "Conversations With Planet"
Sky Hydroponics Lab
Sky farms are fantastically beautiful, with their kilometer long
networks of glass framed in grids of metal, and the sunlight
shining through jungles of vegetation inside. When one of them
catches the light, you can see the refracted beauty for miles;
they are life-giving stars on a desolate planet...gardens on
the wing.
Lady Deidre Skye, "Planet Dreams"