other member state (or inhabitant thereof) at any time for any reason, contractual obligations notwithstanding.
9. Disputes between member states and violations of these accords may only be resolved by a Custodian- appointed arbitration commission. Member states involved in a dispute may not serve on arbitration commissions convened after the commencement of their dispute until said dispute is resolved. All arbitration commissions are chaired by Custodians, and must follow the same determinative protocols as the Accord itself, as outlined in the First Accord.
10. Member states which are found to have violated an accord are instructed by the finding commission how to make amends for this violation. If the member state finds these instructions unacceptable, they may propose an alternate means of making amends, may request a reconsideration, or may appeal for clemency or exoneration (if there are suitably extenuating circumstances).
11. Member states which flagrantly or willfully violate one or more accords forfeit their membership in the Accord. The same applies to member states which choose to ignore or reject the final determination of arbitration commissions. Former Accord member states may reapply for membership.
12. Members of the Accord must agree to restrict their use of interstellar-rated microwave and radio emissions to dire emergencies (such as distress calls, or in the event that all other communication systems have malfunctioned).
13. All Accord ships must be equipped with a transponder that, upon inquiry from any other Accord ship, will relay its member state of origin, its name or code, its master, and any special conditions under which it is operating.
14. All Accord ships must be furnished with multiple crewpersons who are conversant in the Code of Universal Signals and, if requested, must use this Code to initiate and respond to any and all communiques.
15. All member states must maintain strict compliance with the Accord-prescribed pathways of allowed expansion. A single race may petition for a revision of its own expansion pathway: this is handled as an arbitration.
16. New races are contacted by the Accord
17. The time and method of contacting a new race is determined by the Custodians of the Accord.
18. Monitoring of nonmember intelligent species is the responsibility of the Custodians. Routine supporting tasks may be assigned to one other member state that possesses sufficient technological and exploratory capabilities.
19. An outgoing Custodian member state selects the order in which member states are invited to succeed it. FTL travel is the prerequisite for Custodianship. The minimum duration of Custodianship is 24.6 Earth years. Minimum advance notice of resignation from Custodianship is 4.1 Earth years.
20. If no race is willing to accept Custodianship, the Accord is considered dissolved, as are all agreements previously made and enforced under its aegis.
21. Extraordinary circumstances: the Custodians are to intervene as soon as is practicable, and unilaterally if that is most expeditious, if:
•any member state’s or protected race’s homeworld is invaded or otherwise attacked;
•if any member state or protected race takes action that is deemed likely to result in the destruction of a planet’s biosphere.
The Custodians may undertake this intervention without soliciting Accord consensus, and may, if necessary, violate other accords in order to ensure that the intervention is successful.
Appendix B:
Worlds Permitted for Human Expansion by the Accord
Listed in ascending order of distance from Earth. Systems in boldface are those which humanity has occupied at the time of the Parthenon Dialogs. Those in
Proxima Centauri
Barnard’s Star
Wolf 359
Lalande 21185
Sirius
Luyten 726-8
Ross 154
Lacaille 9352
Ross 128
EZ Aquarii
Procyon
DX Cancri
LHS 1565
YZ Ceti
Luyten’s Star
Kapteyn’s Star
Lacaille 8760
Ross 614
BD-12 4523
CD-25 10553
Wolf 424
Hipparcos 15689
Van Maanen’s Star
Cincinnati
Hipparcos 72509
CD-46 11540
Ross 780
BD+44 2051
Groombridge 1618
Hipparcos 82725
CD-49 13515
CD-44 11909
Keid
AC+79 3888
Lalande 25372
Wolf 294
L 722-22
L 205-128
BD+01 4774
HR 7703
