Onlies

Onlies is an exact duplicate of Earth, right down to its continental configurations. UFC 347601 and its system of ten planets are physically indistinguishable from the Sol System in every measurable parameter. The mass, size, orbital speed, and even color of every planet in the system is identical to Sol's counterparts, right down to surface features and weather patterns. The third planet, once called "Earth" by its inhabitants, has been named Onlies by the Federation.

The only inhabitants of the planet are a race of adolescent humans, the survivors of a planetwide plague. A filterable virus of the order 2250-67A was apparently developed during Onlies' twentieth century as part of a life-extension research project. It escaped into the planet's atmosphere, and everyone at or beyond the age of puberty was killed. Children were given life spans on the order of three hundred fifty years and only died when their bodies finally aged to the point of puberty. The planetary name "Onlies" was taken from the childrens' name for themselves, the "only" ones left alive.

A Federation exploration team encountered the planet when sensors revealed its incredible similarity to Earth and showed a very small population. A landing party contracted the disease but was able, using the ship's computer, to derive a cure to the viral infection. That cure was applied worldwide, and since that time the Federation has begun colonizing the world.

The very existence of the planet and its system holds uncertain ramifications for both the scientific and religious communities on Earth. One theory holds that the system is a results of a massive tear in the space-time continuum through which, at some point long ago, the Sol System passes, somehow resulting in replication at the subatomic level. The Judeo-Christian line of thought implies a simultaneous separate creation by God.

Reference(s)

• Johnson, Shane. Star Trek: The Worlds of the Federation, New York: Pocket Books, 1989. ISBN: 0-671-66989-3.