Trouble on Omned III (STA)
A Starfleet ship is called away from a routine science mission to intervene and mediate a dispute that has erupted on Omned III, a Class M planet on the border between the Federation and the Talarian Republic. Inhabited by the Shean, a Human-like, warp-capable species, Omned III is teetering on the brink of civil conflict. While few in numbers, the Shean possess an insular and rigidly structured society, with the ruling and military classes living in a single large space station called Omned Station, anchored at the L2 point, while the working classes live on the planet surface.
The Shean of Omned III are universally infected with a subtle parasite that manifests as an apparent genetic disorder, which they call the "Omned Curse." This disorder has a similar effect to Progeria in humans, meaning that they age at a vastly accelerated rate. A vaccine farmed on the surface of Omned III prevents this debilitating disorder from taking hold. In the last month, however, the vaccine shipped from the surface has failed to take effect. With unprotected newborns suffering, and more recent cases of the disorder beginning to activate in adults, tensions between the upper and lower castes are at a breaking point.
Ulth Aliss, a member of the working caste on the surface, has sent an emergency beacon to the Federation, asking for assistance before things get out of hand. Garsed Laksit, head of the Omned Security Forces, has accused the lower castes of deliberately attempting to poison the elites, and has little interest in Federation involvement.
Scientific study of the vaccine on the surface and on the Omned Station yields key results, showing the vaccine on the surface to be a living organism, while samples from the station are dead. Further investigation set against the backdrop of rising tension, and the threat of military action from Garsed Laksit, suggests a change in Omned Station’s environment may have inadvertently made it hostile to the life-form that feeds on the parasite causing the disorder, and which prevents it from activating. Referencing the first cases on the station with engineering logs will show a major upgrade to the air filtration systems may be responsible; pumping more ammonia into the atmosphere than the organism that protected the Shean can process.
Omned III
System Design
Nathan Dowdell
Line Developer
Sam Webb
Line Editor
Jim Johnson
Writing
Giles Pritchard
Editing
Jim Johnson
Proofreading
Aric Wieder and Jim Johnson
Cover Design
Richard L. Gale
Graphic Design
Matthew Comben
Layout
Thomas Deeny
Produced by
Chris Birch
Operations Manager
Garry Harper
Production Manager
Steve Daldry
Community Support
Lloyd Gyan
Publishing Asssistant
Salwa Azar
For CBS Studios
Bill Burke, John van Citters, Marian Cordry, Veronica Hart, Brian Lady and Keith Lowenadler
