
[2470-2471  Harbinger from Nessus]

So engaging was the new world-conflict, that when news of the UNS
Erik's discovery of a somewhat more advanced ecosystem on New
Amsterdam reached Earth in 2447, the Terran media scarcely took
notice. It thus came as a fortuitous coincidence that in 2470,
just as world war seemed imminent, radio transmissions reporting
startling discoveries on Nessus reached Earth. Nessus, a world
emersed in what appeared to be an artificially produced
greenhouse atmosphere was literally strewn with ancient ruins. It
appeared, for the first time in human history, that humankind
might not be alone in the universe after all.

   As the United Nations poised on the edge of an invasion,
reports continued to come in about explorations to the planet's
surface. From initial data, it appeared that the Nessusan
civilization had simply faded away, as if each and every
individual had suddenly died without cause. Some alien specimens
were found in cryogenic suspension, but died during the thawing
process. By a careful analysis of the raw data, it was finally
determined by Terran geneticists a year later that the society
had fallen victim to some form of biological germ, something too
advanced for the explorers on Nessus to detect since they were
still using outdated technology. Ironically, where the explorers
lacked knowledge they seemed to lend wisdom, the immortal words
of the Alien Archeologist, Dvitro Xerxes, streaming as particles
of radio light through the vastness of space, piecing together
the final whispers of an alien people who died some forty million
years before humans learned to build fires. This harbinger to
Earth's own imminent destiny proved so power that support for the
U.N. invasion of China immediately collapsed.

