8. Survey Results

Bob and his team analyze orbital and megastructure survey data from drone reconnaissance, discovering the alien Snarks inhabit a vast, billion-mile-long topopolis with pre-industrial society despite their creators' advanced engineering. The team debates their next steps and prepares to coordinate multiple specialist groups—from language analysis to infiltration planning—to attempt contact without detection.

Bob, Bill, Will, and Garfield review drone data revealing Planet Boojum devastated by nuclear exchange with no surviving life. More significantly, SUDDAR scans of the Boojum-built megastructure expose its inhabitants: semiaquatic natives called Snarks, resembling large otters with specialized anatomy for aquatic life. The megastructure itself is revealed as a topopolis approximately a billion miles long, divided into segments by mountain ranges, with rivers running the entire length and a central illumination cylinder. The inhabitants live in pre-industrial agrarian villages despite the structure's advanced engineering, raising questions about why such a technologically sophisticated species chose this existence. The team discovers all scanned sections show identical pre-industrial technology, that interior exits appear sealed, and that the structure is actively maintained by unknown operators. Bob reveals he's coordinating with the Singularity Project (Skippies) for language analysis and android design using SUDDAR's sound-detection capabilities. During a moot assembly, Bob and Bill announce findings to enthusiastic Bob volunteers for multiple task groups: infiltration planning, android design, further megastructure scanning, and culture/language deciphering. Starfleet faction remains noticeably silent but watchful. Later, Garfield reports the D&D-focused Gamers group has devised an infiltration plan: attaching a cloaked drone to a scheduled Boojum patrol vessel during predictable shift-change rotations, using thermite contingencies if needed. The team agrees to proceed with this approach.