May 2017 Post

“UNISPACE: Sister Supporting Organization for UNIFORCE and Quantum Corps”

In my June 2015 post to Quantum Corps Times, I mentioned that there are a number of UN agencies and organizations that support the mission of UNIFORCE and Quantum Corps.  As the threat of the Old Ones moves closer and closer to the Solar System, one of the most important is UNISPACE and its subordinate Frontier Corps.  Here’s the org chart:

 

As you can see, Frontier Corps operates under CINCSPACE along with several other commands.  Following is a brief description of each.

Orbit Command:  Responsible for protection efforts and mandate/law enforcement in facilities around low to high Earth Orbit, including Gateway Station, located at the Earth-Moon L2 point.

Lunar Command: Responsible for same on and around the Moon

Mars Command: Law and mandate enforcement on and around Mars.

Frontier Corps operates as a separate entity from these subordinate commands.  The Corps basically serves as sheriff and police department for the space lanes between the other commands’ areas of responsibility. 

One service provided by Frontier Corps is a Transport Service, not shown on the chart, but attached to the Inner Planets Detachment.  The Transport Service operates the huge cycler ships that travel between (usually) Earth, Venus and Mars on regular schedules, sort of like interplanetary bus lines.  The cyclers don’t stop anywhere (except for routine maintenance stops) so it’s up to the local authorities to send shuttles out to dock and exchange people and cargo. 

Sometimes, in stories of the Tales of the Quantum Corps, Frontier Corps cyclers and crews are coopted for duty elsewhere in the solar system.  Usually, this is because there is a ship in dock undergoing renovation or a ship readily available for other duties.

There has been talk of extending cycler operations toward Jupiter, but final schedules and resources haven’t been decided yet.

As you can see, Frontier Corps has two detachments, one for the Inner Planets, basically Earth-Moon, Mercury and Venus and a Jupiter Detachment, with offices for the Jupiter system and anything beyond that.  These Detachments and Offices are central points for mission assignment and control, resourcing the missions, law and mandate enforcement, including criminal and accident investigations, and anything else required to establish and maintain UN presence and control of human facilities, settlements, space lanes, and infrastructure in the specified area of responsibility.

As elements of the Old Ones approach our solar system and infiltrate and reconnoiter human space, we’ll see Frontier Corps working ever more closely with Quantum Corps to deal with this growing threat.

Now let’s take a closer look at one of the component parts of UNISPACE, specifically Mars Command.

In the mid to late 21^st century, humans have been on Mars ever since First Landing in June 2035.  There are numerous settlements on the surface and in orbit around Mars in which Mars Command has facilities and responsibilities, but let’s focus on two of them: Mariner City, located in the Candor Chasma region of the planet and Station P (also known as Phobos Station), located in and around the Martian satellite Phobos.

Mariner City

Almost all human settlements on Mars are loosely bound in a federal configuration known as MarsFed.  Mars Command is, among other things, the police department and sheriff’s office for MarsFed, enforcing regulations, edicts, laws, contracts, mandates and other assorted authority instruments covering the human presence on Mars.  In a sense, MarsFed is somewhat similar to the Antarctic Treaty for nations sustaining a presence on that bleak continent.  For enforcement purposes, Mariner City is divided (like any self-respecting town) into precincts.  Much of what Mars Command does is surveillance-related.  An example: any time a resident leaves the protected enclosures of Mariner City, for any reason, and ventures outside, they have to get a permit from MarsCom.  This is primarily a safety issue.  You can’t live unprotected on the surface of Mars.  It takes air, water, power…in a word, resources.  And all of these resources have to be created, bought, stored, generated and taken account of.  If you’re a visiting scientist with a yen to do some weather experiments outside and cycle through the airlocks without a permit and then run into trouble with your suit, you can expect at least two things: a timely rescue from MarsCom first responders and a hefty fine for not having a permit.  The permit assures everybody that you understand the risks, that you know what you’re doing and that you’ve had the requisite safety training.  These are the kinds of rules that MarsCom spends a lot of time enforcing in and around Mariner City and other ground settlements.  

But not all human facilities are located on the surface.  One of the important ones that isn’t is Phobos Station, also known as Station P.

Phobos Station

Phobos Station orbits the small Martian moon Phobos and serves as a principal port of call for shuttles heading out to and from the great sun-orbiting cycler ships that regularly ply the spacelanes between Earth, Mars, Earth’s moon and Venus.  MarsCom has a presence and numerous legal duties aboard Station P.  Many of these duties converge on what might be called a form of customs and immigration enforcement.

For example, most surface settlements like Mariner City are ecologically isolated and enclosed societies.  Control of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens is essential to their well-being and survival.  As such, MarsCom acts at Phobos Station as a sort of Martian CDC, screening all arriving people and cargo for infectious diseases that could create havoc if allowed in unchecked.  MarsCom has the authority to quarantine suspect persons and cargo, until they can be treated and rendered or proven safe or noninfectious.  One of MarsCom’s duties is operation and management of the Disease and Pathogens Screening System for all humans coming to Mars, orbit or surface.  And that’s just one of their duties. 

I’ve mentioned that Mars Command acts as a sort of sheriff’s office for human settlements in and around Mars.  Does that mean they have arrest and incarceration powers?  In fact, they do.  All MarsCom officers are well trained in the use of appropriate force to take recalcitrant or criminal actors into custody and detain them for disposition by the local courts.  There are detention cells on Phobos Station (more like a ship’s brig) and at Mariner City.  Facilities for longer-term incarceration are not available as it is the usual custom of the courts to ship long-term offenders and threats out of the Mars system, back to Earth or wherever they came from. 

Mars Command performs functions of police and sheriffs, as well as a sort of Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs, inspecting for contraband and items that are an obvious threat to the locals. 

That concludes our brief study of one of the components of UNISPACE.  Mars Command and Lunar Command have similar missions and responsibilities.  The Frontier Corps Detachments (Inner Planets and Jupiter) also perform some of these same functions, but theirs is more of a safety and inspection mandate rather than direct law or code enforcement. 

All these agencies work often and closely with Quantum Corps and form yet another brick in the overall structure of UNIFORCE operations off-world in the mid to late 21st century.

The next post to Quantum Corps Times comes on June 1, 2017.

See you then.

Phil B.