We have completed our remote survey of stellar system ZA-9748PJF, usually known as the Zelazny System. Of the ten planets circling this G class star, four of them are not only class M, but inhabited. Though this, in and of itself, is not unusual; there is considerable evidence that this is an engineered situation.
Zelazny-3 is a hot, humid, jungle world with small oceans. Most native intelligent life bears great resemblance to insectoid and reptilian forms. However, there are pockets of other sapients - humanoid and more unusual forms, that my Science Officer insists are not of native origin. Also, dispersed across the planet are ruins of a mysterious nature. I believe them to be remnants of a star-faring society due to their similarities to the architectural stylings of the F______.
Zelazny-4 is a warm, ocean world. Land masses only cover ten percent of its surface and consist of three micro-continents and a plethora of islands. The native intelligent life is, quite reasonably, mainly aquatic in nature. However, the aquatic sapients are of three derivations; pseudo-piscine, pseudo-cephalopod, and aquatic humanoids. All of these appear to be in a state of war with the others. Some humanoid forms exist on Zelazny-4's scattered land masses, the majority of which appear to be related to the aquatic humanoids. Once again, my Science Officer speculates that these apparently unrelated sapients are not native to the planet. I find myself in some agreement with her, as there are traces of ruins similar to those on Zelazny-3.
Zelanzy-5 is very similar to Earth in terms of physical properties. However, unlike Earth, it is inhabited by a wide array of sapient species; the majority of whom are humanoids. Zelanzy-5 is also the most heavily populated planet in the system and as such supports a great variety of polities and ethnocultural groups. Many of these appear to be remnants of more technologically sophisticated societies. Though our scans were unable to discover any traces of ruins similar to those on the other inhabited planets, we did uncover a large amount of ruins of a bewildering assortment of styles; primitive, technological, and post-technological.
Zelanzy-6 is not a dead world, yet. But the inhabitants certainly tried to make it one once. Some form of thermonuclear apocalypse occurred roughly seven or eight hundred years ago and this has left the planet rife with deadly zones and common sense defying mutants. Due to these rampant and peculiar mutations, and the abbreviated nature of this survey, we were unable to determine the exact number of sapient species on Zelazny-6. Obviously, there are considerable ruins of the pre-apocalypse civilization, but there are also earlier ruins that appear to be of the same style as those on Zelazny-3.
None of the various governments are ready to be contacted by our federation due to their lack of star-faring technology. However, that alone would not make me recommend that this system be quarantined. There are at least two reasons I can provide that will support my recommendation of quarantine.
- There is considerable evidence that there is surviving, working technology from earlier periods of the system's history. The natives refer to these by multiple, usually supernatural, terms, but they do grasp the basics of how to use many of them. Mostly weapons systems, according to our scans.
- Across all sapient species on all planets there is a high occurrence of elevated psychic abilities. The natives possess a supernaturally themed view of such abilities and refer to them as magic. Nevertheless, they are powerful and likely to cause difficulties should we attempt to interact with the native cultures.
