 |
This article or section refers to elements from The Dune Encyclopedia |
The Crompton Ruins are artifacts found on planet Crompton.
In 14702 AG, a follow up expedition was sent to catalog the planet, its resources, and to do a thorough scientific study. A low altitude satellite detected an artificial structure on the surface. Working under long standing regulations concerning alien contact, Captain Reola senShek directed continuous reconnaissance on the site. A ground crew was eventually sent to the now called "Crompton Ruins" and investigations discovered no intelligent life, the structure was estimated to be 3000 to 5000 years old. As far as the Spacing Guild could determine no human being had ever set foot on Crompton; however, for much of the time range suggested by the structure's age (roughly 10000 AG to 12000 AG, covering the earlier portions of the reign of Leto II), early no-ships existed and so the Guild monopoly was not guaranteed. A second expedition of 5 heighliners and a mass of equipment discovered synthetic materials, but nothing definitive. The structure was completely empty and ferric oxides found were speculated to be the remains of construction equipment that had totally decomposed. The primary interpretation was that this attested to the existence of alien life in the galaxy.
This was reconsidered after the Rakis Finds. Most of the findings from Dar-es-Balat were suppressed, but the schematics of Leto II Atreides's no-chamber were made public enough for archaeologist Joona Krtipar to compare to the Crompton Ruins. They pointed out that considered as a free-standing structure rather than a subterranean excavation, the Ruins were nearly structurally identical; they were slightly larger, and slightly more uniform in the heights of the floors, but otherwise matched the layout and proportions. The alien theory was therefore discarded, replaced with new questions: when and why did Leto II send construction crews to Crompton, and how did he do so without the Guild's knowledge?