Biological contamination

"Visiting terrestrial planets always has a biological hazard if they contain a large biological presence. Many groups have become sickened and have perished."

"The greatest threats to even the most established nations in the universe are: the loss of resources, biological contamination and environmental collapse. These three things affect the behavior of stable and evolved nations more than anything else."

"The problem of contamination is extreme. Someone could come to this world, contract a virus or a set of viruses, take them home and infect their entire planet, wiping out most if not all of the inhabitants of that world. That is how potent the problem of contamination really is. Advanced medical technology has not erased this risk."

Visitation to Earth

"Certainly, terrestrial worlds such as yours are rare, maybe one out of five or six thousand planets contain the biological diversity that you enjoy and take for granted here in your world ... Terrestrial planets create biological hazards for visitors."

"The world here is quite unique in the development of its biology and the temperateness of its climate. This, of course, has been known for some time by races who have visited here. But because of its biological richness, it has been difficult for many races to settle here, because of the world’s specific atmospheric conditions and because of the presence of so many biological entities."

"In fact, your world has the power to infect and destroy entire races in your local universe, given the presence and the diversity of its biological agents."

"Anything that a foreign race seeks to do in this world must have significant human assistance. This is because of the biological barrier that this world presents to the universe and to those races who have evolved in sterile environments, who are not adapted to be in biological, terrestrial environments such as this. Because worlds such as this are very rare, there are very few races in the universe who have this adaptation. That is why the native races must be cultivated and genetically aligned with the intervening races. It is a time-consuming process, but the results are believed to be worth it by those who are engaging in such activities."

Interactions Among Races

"Many advanced races live underground where they are able to sterilize their environment and thus protect their populations from disease very effectively.

"Trade is conducted generally off planet through large trade stations and networks in space. Many nations will have trading stations near their planet, or planets, in order to control exposure and to ward off unwanted inquiry and intrusion."

"But actually multiracial environments are fairly rare because of the biological hazards involved. Unless races have evolved to function together and have developed the necessary technology and medical boundaries to prevent contamination, then you rarely find many different races living in one world. Yet if races live constantly in sterile environments, cohabitation is possible and is practiced."

"It may seem strange to people that the world would be so hazardous for an advanced race who did not evolve here. But it is true nonetheless. If you live in a sterile environment, you can visit other sterile environments, or you can visit environments where there is a very limited diversity of life, if you are prepared for them. Biological creatures are vulnerable to contamination everywhere in the universe. "

See Also

The Intervention

Trade

Underground living