Chapter 10:
Nuvi
The high council had been meeting for several days straight. Eating and sleeping in the same room they'd been in since the initial news that the planet Nuvi Prime was doomed. And they still couldn't agree on a way to save the population from a slow, arduous death.
Many suggestions had been thrown out, and each one had been shot down. The first idea was to build a massive spaceship and load the entire populace on it, then moving them to another planet. But Nuvian space charts were few and antiquated. They knew of no planet nearby that could sustain them, except for one that already had a thriving population on it. Beyond that, they simply didn't have the technology for a monumental task like that.
One man suggested they somehow "refuel" the sun, but the resource-scarce planet of Nuvi Prime could never handle such a task. One military leader, a Nuvian by the name of Kree, advocated heading to their neighboring world and subjugating it.
"Kree," Koh began "We are not a race of barbarians. How would you go about doing this? Genocide? Can you justify the extinction of one race just to preserve another?"
"Quite frankly, yes, I can." Kree responded coldly. The air of the room turned to one of disgust. Yet, Kree continued.
"Our neighbors are a rather backwards race, hundreds of years behind us technologically. We have advanced far beyond them, so it makes sense to replace a weaker race with a stronger one. Their world is near ours, and it would only take about a generation or so to make it there. And if you're that opposed to outright extermination, we can leave some to serve under us as laborers."
And with those words, the mood of the room went from disgust to hostile. Many started throwing insults Kree's way.
"Idiots!!" He yelled "All you, idiots! Just what would you have us do? Sit around and debate while our entire race withers and dies with not even a whimper?! Act as disgusted as you wish so you can look yourselves in the mirror tonight. But deep in your guts, you all KNOW I'm right! This is the only way for us to survive!"
"Then maybe it's better for us to die." Koh said simply.
Several years went by, with no practical solution in sight. The general public was kept in the dark on the matter to avoid riots. And so they lived their lives, blissfully unaware that that which gave them life was about to die soon.
It wasn't until a reclusive scientist, renowned for his work with energy manipulation, came forward that a solution seemed plausible. Vore-noon was without question the leading mind of Nuvi when it came to energy. And his proposal was every bit as bold as it was shocking.
He proposed that all 6 billion Nuvians be converted to energy.