Re: [SG,DS, Colonial] Invasive Species

On Fri, 5 Feb 1999, John C wrote:

> >> Enemy
> >> units would not be military per se, but anything from insect swarms

> to
> >> killer plants, to Armored Elephantine Behemoths.
>
> >very sf, but with a high f component and low s. why would these
killer
> >plants exist before the humans arrive? nature is unlikely to produce 
> >defences against a threat which has not yet arrived - this would 
> require
> >speculation and forethough, qualities which nature does not possess.
> >unless we're talking planetary hive-mind here.
> 
> Human intervention can bring about such a threat, under the right 
> circumstances.  Ever read "Legacy of Heorot", by Niven, Barnes, and 
> Pournelle? 

yes! a great book. plus "dragons of heorot", the sequel, which addresses
the same situation but with lots more brainpower on the alien side. it
gets a bit Lord of the Flies at the end, too.

> (Spoiler Space, just in case--it's a great book, really!)

's true.

yes, now i come to think of it, colonists vs uppity local wildlife is a
classic scenario. it just threatens to be a bit rourke's drift, which is
not much fun in ds2/sg2.

Tom