Vol.1, No.8

9 April 2013 Vol.1,No.8

The Incredible World of 3DPrinting pg 4

The Oil Sands Impact:No B.S. pg 8

Oatmeal Cookies pg 11Resistance pt 4 pg 13+ +

+

Finals Library Guide pg 6

The Plumber’s Ledger: EUS Comittee of the Year!

The Plumber’s Ledger is a publication of the Engineering Undergradu-ate Society of McGill University. The views expressed are solely the opinions of the authors and do not necessarilly represent the position of the EUS. For questions, comments, and complaints, as well as more informa-tion on the policies of The Plumber’s Ledger, please use the contact information below. Use this contact information also if you have an interest in contributing content to The Plumber’s Ledger on a one-time or regular basis.

The Plumber’s Ledger

[email protected]

Vol. 1, No. 8

9 April 2013

ISSN 2291-3319 (Print) ISSN 2291-3327 (Online)

editor:Brigid Cami

cover design and logo:Kieran Mak

layout:Brigid Cami

writers:David Bailey

Frédérick Chagnon

Marc Chelala

Daniel Dicaire

Christopher Ho

Kieran Mak

Erika Timoshenko

photography:Kieran Mak

Erika Timoshenko

artwork:Justin Turcotte

advising:David Baileyco

ntrib

utor

s

information

2

| The Plumber’s Ledger

2013 April 9

from the editor:

Like clockwork, exams are around the corner once again as the school year of 2012-2013 comes to an end. Overall it was a very success-ful year. This new magazine (founded by David Bailey) didn’t fail (win) and in fact continues to grow. We have been very lucky recognition-wise this past couple of weeks. At the EUS Volunteer Banquet we were awarded EUS Committee of the Year, and SSMU Awards recently informed us that we are finalists for Publication of the Year! (Results are out on Wednesday) I have been extremely impressed with the quality of the articles we have received and of course we have our diligent regular contributors to thank (see left). Hands down the funnest thing I’ve been in-volved in within engineering.

As per usual, we are always looking to expand so if you have any sort of skill, email us at [email protected] to get involved next year.

Thank you for a glorious year and the best of luck for the coming exams.

Brigid Cami,Editor

3

Vol.1 No.8 |

9 April 2013

View it in glorious technicolor at www.facebook.com/theplumbersledger

Letter from the Editor..............................................................2The Incredible World of 3D Printing....................................4Finals Study Guide...................................................................6The Oil Sands Impact: Economics and Environment.......8EUS Committee of the Year!...........................................10Oatmeal Banana Coconut Chocolate Cookies.............11The HTC One.......................................................................12RESISTANCE Part. IV: The Finale.....................................13Tyler........................................................................16

Brigid Cami

Marc Chelala

Kieran Mak

Christopher Ho

David Bailey

Erika Timoshenko

Daniel Dicaire

Frederick Chagnon

Justin Turcotte

in

THIS ISSUE


4 2013 April 9Dita Von Teese’s 3D printed dress created by Francis Bitonti Studio, Michael Schmidt Studios, and Shapeways. (galoremag.com)

Vol.1 No.8 |

5 9 April 2013

3D printing has been around for a long time. At first it was mainly used to build rapid engineering prototypes from CAD designs, but the quality of the printed parts was not good enough for practical use. However, the technology behind 3D printing has devel-oped tremendously over the past few years, allowing for smaller and more versatile printers. The applications of 3D printers have also widened, with hopes that this tech-nology might someday enter the household. Imagine ordering an item off the Internet, and instead of waiting for it to ship, you download a single-use schematic file and print the part at home yourself.

3D printing works by spreading layer upon layer of a polymer upon itself and shaping it according to an electronic CAD design. Besides sometimes being faster and easier than traditional machining processes, it can be efficient in that there is no residual ma-terial left over from drilling, cutting, or shaving. It can also be much more precise and accurate than any other manufacturing process.

The only obstacle to personal 3D printing remains the cost of such a machine. Al-though the prices of 3D printers have decreased over the years, the cheapest device will still set you back about $1500. A few years from now, when these printers become more accessible to the average household, we may start seeing a new form of shop-ping for products. In fact, in 2012 the infamous website The Pirate Bay already started to offer a few 3D-Printed “Physibles” downloads.

But the most interesting application of 3D Printers is in the medical field. Today, some higher-end prosthetic dental crowns being applied are manufactured by a 3D printing of a digital “blueprint” of your mouth. In addition, it is now conceivable to build custom prosthetic limbs for amputees based on the unique parameters of the patient. There has also been research about using 3D printers to create arrays of stem cells that could then develop into a specific organ and be used as human “spare parts.” In February 2013, researchers at Cornell University reported that they were able to build an external human ear by the 3D printing of a collagen mold, used as a scaffold, and injecting it with living cow stem cells. Over time the cells developed cartilage to replace the collagen used during the printing process; most of them survived and still exhibit pluripotence, which is the ability of stem cells to then differentiate into any type of tis-sue. Other scientists are looking into directly printing the stem cells by using them as a form of “ink.”

Today, 3D printing opens a world of possibilities. Its applications are becoming more and more varied as it infiltrates different fields. It has the potential to change the in-dustry of manufactured goods and with it the global economy. Who knows – someday instead of calling for food delivery you might be able to print your own delicious meal. •

The Incredible World of 3D Printing

MARC CHELALA

3D sculpture by Sophie Kahn. (sophiekahn.net)


6 2013 April 9

McGill is a somewhat unusual cam-pus in the sense that we don’t really have one main massive library where all the students study. Despite this, most students (myself included) tend to stick to the usual spots like Schul-ich, McLennan, and the computer labs. However, with finals quickly ap-proaching and our usual spots quickly filling up with stressed and anxiety-rid-

den students, the last thing you want to have to worry about is finding a spot to study. Luckily for you, we here at the Plumber’s Ledger have come up with a list of 6 of our favorite spots to study to help you through this diffi-cult time. We hope that this little guide will provide you with some good alter-natives for when your favorite spot is full, when the air conditioning is bro-

ken and Schulich becomes a sauna, or when the very walls of McLen-nan start to suck out your soul. Who knows, you may even find a new fa-vorite spot to study. So without further adieu, I present to you the Plumber’s Ledger’s official hidden gems library guide.

Apologies to anyone whose secrets we may have revealed.

Finals Study

Guide

By: Kieran Mak

Vol.1 No.8 |

7 9 April 2013

Nahum Gelber Law LibraryType: Quiet Study

Location: Just east of Stewart Bio off of Peel

When you feel like getting away from fellow un-dergrads, the law library offers a nice alternative. The environment is pretty professional, with big windows, wood accents, and lawyers and grad stu-dents who will judge the shit out of you until you get your work done. Just beware, stress levels seem to rise as the bar exams closes in.

The Good: Quiet, lots of natural light and outlets, rarely full

The Bad: You will feel judged if you are wasting pre-cious study time on Facebook.

M-Th: 24hr, F: until 12am, Sa: 8-12, Su: noon-11

Islamic Studies LibraryType: Quiet Study

Location: Morrice Hall

In my opinion the most beautiful place to study on all of campus. Decked out in stained glass, intricate wood paneling and details as well as tons of books and artwork in languages that you probably can’t understand gives this place a certain mystique. One caution, it is quiet, and I mean really quiet. I felt bad opening and closing my bag.

The Good: Relaxing and beautiful environment, lots of private nooks

The Bad: Deathly quiet, not many outlets

M-F: 9-10, Sat: 10-6

Marvin Duchow Music LibraryType: Quiet, Group and Private rooms

Location: On Sherbrooke next to the Music Building

The building is modern, bright, and spacious. The library is spread over three floors and as a general rule, the higher and further back you go, the quieter it will be. There is usually a lot of space as music students tend to spend most of their time in practice rooms. Oh, and the headphones at the 4th floor listening stations are awesome. Plug in your iPod and the rest of the world is dead to you.

The Good: Bright, modern, diverse studying envi-ronments

The Bad: Out of the way, closes early

M-Th: 9-11, Fr: 9-6, Sat: 10-6, Sun: Noon-11

Blackader-Lauterman LibraryType: Quiet Study

Location: 3rd Floor of Redpath

Known officially as the library of architecture and art history it follows that plaid shirts, thick rimmed glasses, and drinks in mason jars abound. Perched atop Redpath, the many windows of this library offer a nice view of lower field (at least in the spring and summer). There are many tables and plenty of outlets. The only thing is that this is probably the most busy of any of the spots on this list so if you want to hang with the cool kids you’re going to have to show up early.

The Good: Great view, lots of light, tables, and outlets

The Bad: Can be crowded

M-Th: 24hr, F: until 12am, Sa: 8-12, Su: 24hrs from 8 am

Birks Reading RoomType: Quiet Study

Location: Birks Building

This library is similar to the Islamic studies library. With it’s stained glass windows, detailed wood panels, hanging lights, and green table lamps, you will feel as though you’re at Princeton in the 20’s. The atmosphere is pretty laid back, but the room is deathly quiet. Also, make sure your feet don’t smell and that you’re wearing matching socks since you will have to take your shoes off in order to protect the hardwood floors.

The Good: Beautiful, quiet, peaceful environment

The Bad: Not very large so it can fill up fast, Closes early on weekdays and not open on weekends.

M-F: 9-5

Walter Hitschfeld Geographic

Information CentreType: Group Study

Location: 5th Floor of Burnside

One of my personal favorites. Large and bright with lots of desks and windows that offer a nice view of all of campus. It is technically group study but for some reason it never seems to be that loud. Thus, it is a pretty happy medium for those who like to study in quiet but don’t mind a bit of noise. It is pretty easy to sneak food and drinks in and the maps all over the place will help you to brush up on the topography of South America.

The Good: Not too loud but not too quiet, nce view, can sneak in snacks

The bad: For some reason a lot of the outlets don’t work, and beware dirty looks from geography majors if you’re hogging the computers with special software on them.

M-F: 8-10, Sa,Sun: 10-6 •

1 2 3

4 5 6


8 2013 April 9

Throughout the year, the Alberta Oil Sands have been a contentious topic. Debates about the environmental impact and economic importance of this seg-ment of the energy sector have occurred throughout the school. In these debates, I have heard all sorts of different “facts” ranging from insightful to crazy and fraudulent. Having worked in the energy sector, I figured I would try to shed some light on the subject and present facts in a relatively unbiased manner.

what are the oil sands?Oil sands are a mixture of sand, clay,

water, and bitumen that occur naturally in nature. Each grain of sand is sur-rounded by a thin film of water which is then surrounded by a film of bitumen. The bitumen is the product that all of the energy companies are after. It is thick and viscous (think molasses), and can be refined into fuels such as diesel and gasoline. Oil sands can be found across the globe, but the largest and most tech-nologically advanced oil sands are found in the Athabasca deposit in Alberta, Can-ada.

The Oil Sands Impact: Economics and Environment

CHRISTOPHER HO

how are they extracted?Once oil sands are found, there are two

ways of extraction. The first way is called “in situ” extraction, which is used to re-trieve bitumen from below the surface. In situ extraction is done by drilling wells into the reservoir, much like conventional oil drilling. The difference is that bitu-men is too viscous to flow on its own, so it must be thinned, which is done ei-ther by heating it or using solvents. Two of the most common methods for in situ recovery are steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) and cyclic steam stimulation (CSS). The basic idea behind these methods is you inject steam into a reservoir to thin the bitumen which is then pumped to the surface like conventional oil wells.

The second ex-traction process

is surface mining. There are slight varia-tions, but almost all surface mining op-erations are based off of Clark Hot Water Extraction (CHWE). Ores are first mined and then crushed for size reduction. Hot water is added to the ore to form slur-ry, which is then run through a primary separation vessel, where bitumen is re-covered by flotation (as water, solids, and bitumen all have different masses). It is then cleaned of the water/solids. Once the oil is extracted, sand and water are

Vol.1 No.8 |

9 9 April 2013

largest contributor followed closely by power generation at 37.4%. In situ facilities, which account for 80% of oil sands operations (and growing), accounted for 15.3 of the 38.2%. Mining and upgrading facilities, which account for 20% of op-erations, accounted for 22.9 of the 38.2%. In situ and mining emitted a total of 18.7Mt and 28.1Mt respectively. Alberta is working on a carbon capture storage technology that should reduce emissions of GHG by 4.1Mt annually starting in 2015 (the equivalent of removing 1,000,000 cars from the road). Emissions are getting better though, as the GHG emitted per barrel of oil from the oil sands has reduced by 26% since 1990.

Another important area of the environmental impact is land reclamation. By law, once you have finished mining/extracting on a site, you must return it to being a natural habitat where wildlife can live. To date, approximately 715 km2 of land has been disturbed by oil sands mining. Of that disturbed land, 71km2 are in the process of being reclaimed. For specific de-tails about reclamation, search about Syncrude’s reclamation of Gateway Hill or Suncor’s reclamation of Pond 1.

afterthoughtI hope that the information in this article provides insight-

ful information on the impact of the Alberta oil sands. The debate about the operation of the oil sands is complex, with many different angles. Sources of information about emis-sions and economics are Statistics Canada and the Alberta Government. •

returned to the sight for reclamation (restoring the site to how it was before mining began).

What is the economic impact of the oil sands?

The province of Alberta has the third most “proven” oil re-serves in the world at 170.2 billion barrels of oil. A proven re-serve clams to have at least 90% confidence of being able to recover them under the country’s current political and eco-nomic climate with existing technology. Of these 170.2 billion barrels, 1.5 billion (<1%) are conventional oil and 168.7 (>99%) are oil sands. According to Statistics Canada and the Alber-ta Treasury Board and Finance, in 2011, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Alberta was approximately $286.6 Billion. Of that GDP, the energy sector (oil sands, conventional oil, gas and mining) accounted for 27.6% of it ($79.1 billion) and employed about 116,000 people. For comparison, the next biggest con-tributor was finance and real estate at 14.1% ($40.4 billion). In 2011, Alberta made up 16.75% of the national GDP, making the energy sector worth about 4.6% of our national GDP.

what is the environmental impact of the oil sands?

In 2010, the province of Alberta produced 122.5 mega-tonnes (Mt) of Carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas-ses (GHG), where one Mt is equal to 1 million tonnes. Of this production, oil sands operation accounted for 38.2% as the

Mildred Lake Reclaimation: Syncrude Canada Ltd

earthlyissues.com


10 2013 April 9

EUS Committee of the Year!

And so ends the first year for The Plumber’s Ledger. It started strong with plenty of interest, and we engineering students proved that we could keep it up through eight excellent issues which have seen The Ledger getting stronger and stronger. The content has been varied and superb, and has ranged from news, to opinions, to food, to technology, to art. And now the Ledger has been recognized as the EUS Committee of the Year, and as of press time it is a finalist for SSMU’s Publication of the Year. These are big honours for a publication that has really just started.

Kudos to our editor Brigid for helping The Ledger improve throughout the year. I was primarily responsible for the layout of the first issue, but the current style developed by Brigid (with help from other contributors such as Kieran), has made that first issue look almost prehistoric by comparison.

I also want to thank all of the writers who have contributed throughout the year. We don’t have a lot of time for extracurriculars in engineering, and there’s a stereotype that we don’t know much about writing and don’t really possess an artistic side. But I think the quality of the content in The Ledger puts that notion to rest.

Next year, The Ledger still has room to grow, and lots of space for new contributors. So write something for us! Draw something for us! Whatever you want to do, The Ledger is a great way to get involved, so give us a shout. If you know someone who might want to get involved, send them our way – they’ll thank you later. And at the very least, like us on Facebook, because Facebook likes are internet currency.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone who has contributed to The Ledger this year and made it what it is. As we find ways to expand readership and distribution, things are only going to get better.

Until next year!

David BaileyEUS Director of Publications

You can email The Ledger at [email protected], you can check it out at facebook.com/ThePlumbersLedger, and past issues can be viewed at issuu.com/theplumbersledger. •

A note from our Publications Director

Vol.1 No.8 |

11 9 April 2013

Ingredients

• 2 bananas• 1 cup of oatmeal (steel cut gives a nice crunch)• 1 cup of chocolate chips, semi-sweet• 1 cup of coconut butter (about half a can) • 2 cups of flour• 1 cup sugar • 1 egg• 1 tsp baking powder• 1 tsp salt• 1 tbsp vanilla extract• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 C.2. In one bowl mash the bananas, coconut butter, egg, and

vanilla extract together.3. In another bowl mix oatmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder,

salt, and cinnamon.4. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix well.5. Toss in chocolate chips and mix.6. On a parchment paper, drop a spoonful of batter per cook-

ie. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cookie just be-gins to harden. Remove from oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

For that extra spunk: I used coconut sugar to not only stick to the coconut theme, but also to add a nice molasses-type flavour and colour to the cookies. •

Are you convinced that you have mastered the art of baking the perfect oatmeal cookie? Well I can almost guarantee that this recipe will blow your socks off – if you’re wearing any, that is. I designed it myself, and my taste-testers were pretty impressed by the final result! You can make it entirely vegan by eliminating the egg.

Erika Timoshenko

Oatmeal Banana Coconut Chocolate Cookies

PHOTO | Erika Timoshenko


12 2013 April 9

GHz (quite fast), and supplies 2 gigabytes of RAM. Its most unique feature however, is its camera. HTC calls it an “ultrapixel” camera, which is purely a marketing term. It uses very large sensors to gather more light meaning that lowlight pictures are brighter and clearer. The flipside is something that HTC doesn’t really want to advertise – its only four megapixels. HTC’s bet is that most cellphone pictures are going to be viewed on Facebook or Twitter, and not enlarged to see the low pixel count. This isn’t a bad idea, but it can’t take on the iPhone camera on its best day. It can only best its shots at bars, clubs and restaurants, i.e. the most common cellphone camera locations.

The Plumber’s Ledger is not the best place to get in-depth tech reviews, but I believe that this phone is a worthy chal-lenger to Apple and Samsung’s best. By keeping our eyes open to competing products, we can keep companies inno-vating and competing with each other. Compare the available options from HTC, Sony, Blackberry, Nokia, etc. as well as the “hot” device at the moment. You may be pleasantly surprised with the products that aren’t plastered on every billboard and television screen in town.. •

small club. Most other Android OEMs are not even profitable at this point in time – most notably the once proud HTC.

HTC is known for their high build qual-ity, using aluminum and glass (unlike Samsung), and high spec phones. If something is not done to halt the fall-ing value of the company, they will be forced to abandon their primary prod-uct, the smartphone. HTC tried last year, with the One X and its upgrade, the One X+, but despite the excellent hardware, the phones failed to sell as fast as Sam-sung’s S3 or Note II. Many tech colum-nists believe this is a marketing/advertis-ing problem. Samsung easily outspends HTC on its advertising campaign, but HTC is trying to counter that with what it does best – build really solid hardware with a distinctive style.

This year, their flagship is the HTC One, which, despite the confusing nam-ing scheme, is something to behold. Al-most the entire phone is constructed out of aluminum, giving it its much needed ruggedness as well as its unique look. The screen is the latest in a new trend of 1080p screens (see A Pixel’s a Pixel from our last issue for a rundown of screen resolutions). The processor is a Qual-comm Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1.7

Last year, there was no question as to who dominated the landscape of smart-phones and tablets. Android OEMs, Mi-crosoft, and Research in Motion had nothing on the iPhone and its larger brother, the iPad. iOS was not only the leading platform, but it was, by a large margin, the single most popular device on the planet. Apple still has the tablet market cornered – of that there is no doubt. But now there are more Android phones than iOS devices being activated every day, and the number of existing users has surpassed Cupertino’s most powerful profit generator. Are we any better off? More competition for the top spot in any market is good for the con-sumer. And now, instead of one clear market leader that could dictate market trends, we have two.

Samsung is dominating the mobile computing market right now. Through a combination of ultra high-end super-phones like the Note Series, the Galaxy S series, and lower cost alternatives that bear the same prestigious “Galaxy” branding, Samsung has both usurped total sales, and managed to become the most popular individual product. But despite Samsung joining in, the com-petition for the top spot remains a very

The HTC One

DANIEL DICAIRE

photographyreview.com

Vol.1 No.8 |

13 9 April 2013

Frédérick Chagnon

RESISTANCE Part IV: The Finale

“Also, we have to start filming what we see. Let’s not forget why we are here. A simple audio message won’t be enough.” They nodded gravely and set out for their destination.

They started to walk in the hallways as before, slowly making their way to the bridge. The hallways were all quite simi-lar and from time to time they crossed paths with one of the maintenance ro-bots. They picked one up and realized that there was nothing to be learned from it since it was, simply put, an automated vacuum cleaner. Arriving at the bridge they got in without much difficulty and entered an extremely clean room once again. There was a single chair in the middle of the room facing a giant screen which was switched off. On the lower level was a console with two chairs and the sides of the room were lined up with more consoles of unknown functions. It seemed like a reasonable layout, and if not for the giant dimensions, it could easily have been the bridge of a human ship.

“So which one do you think is the cap-tain’s chair?” asked Nikola.

“I’m guessing the single one in the middle,” answered Roy, making his way to it. At the same time, Sheranne went to the lower level and sat at one of the consoles. Roy quickly found what he was

splattering her brains all over the con-sole. Everyone who witnessed the scene was utterly shocked.

Jennifer walked towards the door. “Keep working on those torpedoes. There will be aliens around when the Company decides that there are aliens around.” No-ticing the disapproval in Quentin’s face, “Something wrong Quentin?” she asked.

He quickly straightened up and without trying to mask the sarcasm, answered coldly: “No, ma’am.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” When the doors closed behind her, everyone simply looked at each other in disbelief.

***Meanwhile aboard the alien ship, un-

aware of the Hermes’ sinister plans, Roy and the others continued their explora-tion.

Sheranne repeated her question: “But seriously, why is the ship empty? What happened?”

“Uh, maybe they are a civilization of ro-bots?” answered Roy hopefully.

“Don’t be stupid, if they were robots there wouldn’t be air around us,” replied Nikola.

“Fine, let’s get to the bridge and try to figure out what happened. The captain, or whatever they call him, must have kept a log of some kind.” They agreed on the plan and before they left Roy added:

Aboard the Hermes, the atmosphere was as tense as ever. The captain had become increasingly irritable as the days went by and everyone quickly learned to stay away from her. Even Quentin had stopped trying to appeal to her reason. She had a vendetta and no one could stand in her way.

“How long Lieutenant?” she shouted to the poor helmsman.

“We should get a visual of the Object any minute now.”

“Good,” she replied. “Communications, did we pick up anything from those ter-rorist rebels?”

“Nothing yet, captain. As soon as they transmit, we’ll know. Although there’s nothing we’ll be able to do once they do.” A frightened silence took over the room. The communications officer, realizing her mistake, tried to disappear in her chair. Jennifer West appeared to main-tain her calm. She slowly stood up and walked towards the lieutenant.

“What did you say?” she whispered in her ear.

Shaking, the officer replied: “We haven’t received any transmissions . . .”

“No no, not that part. After.” “There’s nothing we could do if they

did.” “Wrong answer.” Jennifer pulled out

her pistol and shot the officer in the head,

In the previous issue, the crew of the Resistance entered into the alien spaceship and discovered that it was completely devoid of life. Meanwhile, aboard the Hermes, Captain Jennifer West embarked her crew on a mission to prevent Roy, Sheranne, and Nikola from ever coming back to Earth.


14 2013 April 9

close!” screamed Roy as they hurried their way inside the Resistance.

“Nik, Sheranne prepare for takeoff while I go and record my speech!”

“What? We are about to die, possibly from an alien disease, and you’re thinking of your damn speech?” Sheranne was fu-rious.

“Yeah pretty much. Our mission is big-ger than any of us. If that message is not sent, we will die in vain. Is that what you want?” Evidently, that was not the case since she shut up rather

quickly. In no time the

ship was ready and taking off.***

“What are your orders Captain?” They had finally made it. The Hermes was at the end of her long journey. They had managed to overcome all the obstacles thrown in their way, and yet they were not ready for what they were seeing right now. The alien ship reigned majestically in the sky – a symbol that humans, de-spite their arrogance, were but a small

they come from? Why were they here? Where did the virus come from?”

“The most important thing right now . . .” said Sheranne. “Is the virus still here? Is there a chance we have caught it?” They all realized what that would mean. They could hardly come back home now. They couldn’t take the chance of bringing an alien virus to Earth that had wiped out a whole population. In frustration, Sher-anne slammed her fist on the console, pushing a button in the process.

“Sheranne,

what did you do?” Before she could answer to Roy’s inquiry, the viewing screen lit up. What they saw was unmistakable.

“Uh guys, we better head back to the ship because I doubt they have good in-tentions right now.” They left in a hurry, leaving the marvels of the alien ship be-hind them. The screen had held the men-acing silhouette of the Hermes.

“Damn I didn’t realize they were so

looking for. An instant later, a booming voice resonated all around them from the room’s speaker system. The voice was deep and smooth, like a young Barry White.

“Captain’s log, stardate 5928.5. I’m afraid this will be the final entry. We have lost control of the situation. We – I – have lost the ship. The quarantine has proved to be ineffective and the virus is spreading at an exponential rate. The best estimates report that more than 82% of the crew is already dead, and the rest is in-fected. All attempts to find a cure have failed. I have already started feeling the symptoms. Headaches, paranoia, hallucinations, short breath, nausea. It is our hope that we can keep the virus inside the ship and thus prevent a galaxy-wide epidemic, but nothing could be less certain.” At that point in the record-ing a large noise is heard and someone is heard ap-proaching. The panic in the captain’s voice makes it impossible to not appre-hend the rest. “Harley? What are you doing? Put down the . . .” Two gunshots are heard followed by the sound of a body dropping to the floor. A hysterical female laugh is heard and then some static. The recording ended a few seconds later.

Roy was the first one to break the si-lence. “Well that explains why there’s no one around. Shouldn’t there be bodies ly-ing around though?”

Nikola was the one with the answer: “The maintenance robots. They must have cleaned the mess. It leaves so many questions left unanswered! Where did

Vol.1 No.8 |

15 9 April 2013

part of this Universe. It was a humbling experience for everyone who saw it. Not humbling enough for Jennifer West how-ever.

“Put me in communications with the Resistance.”

“Yes, captain.” “Resistance, this is Captain Jennifer

West and I hereby declare you enemy of Earth and give you two hours to surren-der. That is an ultimatum. West out.”

She didn’t have to wait long before a response came through, courtesy of an infuriated Sheranne: “Enemy of Earth? More like enemy of the Wells Company, you industrial slave!”

“I don’t care for your political ide-ologies. Surrender and we’ll spare your lives.”

“To do what? Die of boredom in jail? Or perhaps death by exile? We don’t care, we won’t back down. We never will! You can’t control us forever!”

“You will kneel before us!”“Never! The people of Earth have al-

lowed the corporate giants to control their lives and thoughts for too long! This is the day when we take a stance. This is the day when we bring the people out of the cave to see the light for the first time. Today, Goliath falls!”

“Enough! You will pay affront!” Captain West then cut the communication with the Resistance and ordered her ship to open fire. In a few moments a salvo of thermonuclear warheads flew out of the Hermes in the direction of the alien ship.

Aboard the other ship, they quickly real-ized what was going on. “My God, they’ll destroy the alien ship!” Nikola exclaimed.

“That’s perfect! Make sure we got that on camera!” Roy was pretty excited at the prospect.

“Are you mad? It’s the only proof of alien life we have!”

“No it’s not, we have the footage. It’s

going to be the ideal symbol for the se-crets that Wells keeps from us! They don’t know it yet but they are helping our cause.” A few seconds later, a humon-gous explosion was seen and just like that the alien ship was no more.

“Captain West, we got a transmission from them on all frequencies. I think it’s their so-called victory speech. In a few hours everyone on Earth will see this.” The realization they had lost on all fronts crushed Jennifer’s spirit. She fell back on her chair and with desperation in her voice asked to see the video.

“My name is Roy. A few weeks ago, my companions and I learned of a mysteri-ous object near Earth and that Wells was sending a secret mission to investigate. Using unproven technology, we managed to reach this object before them. This is what we found: an alien spaceship. For the first time in history, humankind has proof of extra-terrestrial, intelligent life. And they didn’t even tell you.” Images of the ship were shown at this instant. “I had a whole speech written about the lies and how evil Wells is, but as they say, an image is worth a thousand words. This happened a few minutes ago.” Footage of the Hermes firing at the alien ship and the subsequent explosion was shown in the video. “Yes, they destroyed it. Without us, you would never even have heard of it. This is the type of thing they are keep-ing from you. My fellow humans, it is time – time to reject the overwhelming power that we allowed our Big Brother Wells to have over us. This is the time for the revolution!”

There was nothing they could do now. Their defeat was complete. Jennifer had lost on all accounts. There was only one thing left to do. “Kill them. Kill them all.” Torpedoes and bullets shot out of the Hermes aiming at the Resistance.

***

“They are shooting at us! They’re going to kill us!” Nikola was hysteric.

“We succeeded. Our death will not be in vain.” Sheranne was now at peace with herself. Her life-long mission was com-plete.

“Things are not over yet. There are plenty of questions left to answer. About that virus, those aliens . . . Nikola, I want to turn up the antimatter engine to the maximum.”

“But that will open up the wormhole!” Sheranne understood what Roy was

trying to do: “They won’t be able to fol-low there. We won’t know where we will reappear, but it’s going to be better than death. After that we try to make our way back home.”

Roy nodded: “Make it so.” Nikola low-ered the lever and the familiar rips in the sky appeared. The hole in the sky opened up, ready to send the Resistance on her quest of discovery, adventure, and un-certainty. In a rain of enemy fire, the ship passed through the wormhole for the first time. “This is it. We boldly go where no Man has gone before.”

***Epilogue:Winston was a quiet man. Never made

any waves, nor accomplished anything extraordinary. He had a stable job, was happily married and had two wonderful children. He was perfectly content with his life. He was simply minding his own business when Roy’s message interrupt-ed his favourite show. He was mildly up-set at the situation, but decided to keep on watching anyways. After all, what else could he do? As he was watching, some-thing started stirring deep inside him. He couldn’t put his finger on it though. After the message was over, he sat there in si-lence, thinking. Without knowing why, he went outside in the streets. He was not alone. In the distance, a giant fell. •

ARTWORK | Justin Turcotte

www.facebook.com/ArtJustinTurcotte

Documents

Vol.1, No.8