So called because of their small pointy ears, the “Devils” have shown themselves to be the friendliest and smartest animals we’ve encountered so far (17 days planet side) here on Alchibah.

There are few birds on this planet and devils aren’t really birds so much as leathery winged mammals covered in soft fur, much like bats back on Earth. Adult devils stand about 14-16 inches tall and have wild colorings but the overall color scheme seems to be a devilish pink. They weigh about four pounds.

What caught our attention is that they are not afraid of us, quickly learn words and their meanings (at least for objects so far) and also have their own vocabulary. There are (or were) plenty of birds on Earth that could mimic human speech but these little devils actually understand the meaning and can put together very, very simple noun-verb type sentences.

Some of the early words of theirs that colonist Kara has observed:

Gup = Hi

Cappi = a local shellfish

Paac = small slizzard (another local animal)

PaacPaac = large slizzard

Lil’li = a fish in the river

Teh = the predominate pine-like trees in the area

Panna = the electric tree we discovered

More words will be added shortly as well as their behavior patterns as Kara and other colonists interact and study these remarkable creatures.

They also seem to grasp simple concepts such as trading for food (ours for theirs) and greeting and leaving. I’d put their “intelligence” at about that of a human six-year-olds.

What the heck, they don’t cuddle like cats and dogs but we don’t have cats and dogs at the moment and actually, having someone (some thing) that understands us and that we can also understand is not a bad thing when starting a new life on a world far from Earth.

The current Generation of Alchibah Drive Systems began with basic research by Dr. Ashcroft Andrews into a Kinetic Shield System.

The First generation Shield could stop a .30 Cal UNWG Issue Penetrator round when powered by a simple 15 Amp, 120 Volt Circuit. At this point Dr. Andrews attempted to bury his research and carried the only fully documented files with him to Alchibah.

A diluted version of his findings made there way to RJ Hamilton’s “BUGOUT” project and was used as the basis of the Gravity Grabber Drive that was used to allow The Mayflower to generate enough Delta-Vee to escape the Solar System via the Alchibah wormhole.

Once on Alchibah the system was presented to Dr. Hibbs, he conceived of a way to bend the planar shield of the basic Andrews Shield into a Hemispherical Shield.

Andrews and Hibbs knew if they could combine two Andrews-Hibbs Shields that they could protect a ship from any angle. The problem lay in the requirement for a vent for the Dee-Hee Drive System.

Then Dr. Chandler entered the equation. He postulated that if a Andrews-Hibbs Shield could be modulated that it could provide motive force without the need for a Drive Exhaust. In other words a reactionless Drive.

His postulation was correct, the first Andrews-Chandler-Hibbs drive did in fact not need a reaction component as long as it was at least at least 15 Ft. above a planetary body. It did need a reaction drive to establish that minimum separation or bad things would happen.

The First generation allowed for a 4:1 Ratio between Real G Rates and Perceived G Rates. Thus a Pilot felt 4 G’s when in fact they were pulling 16 G’s Real Acceleration. Unfortunately they could could not leave the Deep gravity well of the Planet and were essentially Atmospheric Craft drives.

Dr. Chandler finally had a brainstorm he just could not explain, what would happen if the Exciter Circuit were first brought up in the Spin Axis of the Mayflower. When that unit was first brought up and tested at maximum acceleration by Dr. Andrews; Dr.’s Hibbs and Chandler promptly named it the ACHE Drive; right after they returned from Sick Bay. This version of the Drive was called the System Version as it appeared to be tied to the System Gravity well and could function as a deep space drive

The First Generation System Drive had a 10:1 reduction ratio. At the time of the Rogon incursion; components were in place for a 10:1 Planetary drive and a 25:1 System Drive although none had been installed.

The “Mad Whackos” as they are affectionately known long for the day that they can take a ship beyond the Hyper-Limit of Alchibah and run up an Exciter Out There!

Respectfully Summited
Alchibah Year 8 Day 235
Terrence Thomas Stuart