TECHNOLOGY FROM THE OLD WORLDS
REPLICATORS
One of the frequently asked questions about the starships of our Ancestors
is "Did we have food replicators like those on Star Trek?"
We only wish! But no, we had food producing units that took the chemicals
out of waste products and used them to clone food products. By using these
we could produce enough food for extended journeys. But we rarely were out
long enough to need them much. Our patrol routes were so arranged that we
were usually not far from a facility where we could resupply every couple
of weeks. Only ships making exploratory missions carried pods with extra
food producing units in case they ran into some difficulty and couldn't
get back.
We had replicators of sorts, but they had several drawbacks. One being
that anything you replicated would return to its natural state almost exactly
forty-eight hours after it was replicated, unless you made it from base
materials that normally made up the product you wanted. If you put in purified
iron and purified carbon you'd produce good high quality steel. But if you
put in copper straps and produced steel, forty-eight hours later you'd have
an item made of copper.
Of course if what you are going to use was going to blow up before the
forty-eight hours passed, it didn't matter much. Replicated materials came
in handy for situations like that! You just had to be sure they got used,
or the results could be rather nasty, to say the least!
As always the latest issue of The National Geographic brought
wonders. But their story on the tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohas brought
about the sad question : "What happened to those who robbed the Pharaohs'
tombs? How did they fare in the Afterlife?" The answer sadly, is, they didn't.
There is not one grave robber that has not suffered The Second Death!
When someone becomes so defiled that they will rob from the dead, destroy
entombed bodies seeking what treasure was burined with them, there is virtually
no hope for their eternal existence. There is nothing more damning than
disturbing the rest of The Dead. It is one of those crimes that the Lords
Of Light will not forgive.
There are certain circumstances when the bodies of the Dead may be moved,
as long as this is done with dignity and respect, it is understood. But
to steal from The Dead is unforgivable, unpardonable. There are none in
The Spirit Realm that will ever condone it, ever justify it.