I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but I just noticed the system description for Merope reads -
"The system is seen as the key for a mystery starting in 3301 with the discovery of unknown artefacts that point to this system. The first of an alien species known as 'barnacles' was discovered on Merope 5 c in 3302."
I'm not sure if it has any relevance to the key reference in the newsletter, but I found it interesting that the same word is used. Could just be a coincidence, and I'm not sure if it helps anyone solve anything but i thought I would share an observation
"The system is seen as the key for a mystery starting in 3301 with the discovery of unknown artefacts that point to this system. The first of an alien species known as 'barnacles' was discovered on Merope 5 c in 3302."
I'm not sure if it has any relevance to the key reference in the newsletter, but I found it interesting that the same word is used. Could just be a coincidence, and I'm not sure if it helps anyone solve anything but i thought I would share an observation