On Thu, 19 Jul 2001 16:45:01 -0400 jacquispeel@netscape.net writes:

The main problem with this discussion is that 'they' never developed a plot which would involve the Liberator becoming overcrowded.

One thing that does irritate me with Countdown is that no one considers evacuating part of the population to the Liberator. They could have reasonably gotten at least a few children on board.

OTOH, given the practical fact that it would have been (if I remember correctly from previous discussions) sometime before the radiation reached the inhabited areas, it could be evidence that the Liberator didn't have that much space and they would have enough time if they failed to load it to capacity.

Actually, this brings up other issues. From what we've seen, it wouldn't be unreasonalbe (in a standing room only scenario) to be able to fit several hundred people onboard (possibly several thousand). If we're talking about children first, I think they're best bet would have been to alert the local authorities and take all the children they could from schools (large numbers in an environment where they're used to lining up and being told what to do). From there, it all depends on how much air they have and how many they can really teleprot up at a time (and whether the kids would break the teleport bracelets).

After that, seal off the critical areas of the ship (if there aren't any natural ways to do that, draft the rebels and tell them, suicide gestures are all well and good, but they need someone they can trust on guard) and wait 24 hours. We're talking minimal survival, here, so whether or not it actually leads to a plumbing nightmare is immaterial if you can keep anyone from actually dying or being killed in this time period (which means a rescuing a few teachers or other adults wouldn't be a bad idea).

Actually, if life support wasn't putting too big a strain on power supplies, this would be a very good time to start heading to another system, preferably nonFederation controlled (if Lindor's only six hours away, for example, that would be a lot better than waiting the 24 and give them some place to put the kids after). Otherwise, they're options are trying to contact other, nonFederation ships (and hoping the Federation doesn't realize they're there) or setting the refugees back on the planet and hoping they can make the best of it (immediate survival looks pretty good, basic resources would be there. Long term, there are a lot of variables like the competency and age range of the children and adults, but it would really all come down to how the new people the Federation brings in respond to a large number of orphans who were all considered expendable in the first place. Lindor looks like the better deal).

OK, so maybe there's a reason they didn't develop this storyline.

Besides, it would have been a narrative letdown when they had to send a bunch of now traumatized children back down to the planet. And clean up after them. If there were plumbing accidents, well, things could be ugly. And let's talk about a PR nightmare of epic proportions.

Ellynne

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