Meet & Greet

Posted on Wed Aug 28th, 2019 @ 7:59am by Captain Benjamin Ingram Dr & Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci & Lieutenant Commander Meilin Jiang & Lu'kat

Mission: S1E4: Upon A Darkening Tide
Location: Carpathia Landing Field
Timeline: MD01 1015

The crew lift from the ventral cargo bay lowered the Canopus Station away team toward the desert of Carpathia. The hot, arid air of the world assailed them, but with the Norway class ships hull overhead shading them from the brunt of the sun, it was at least a dry heat. From the edge of the landing field a hundred yards away, a line of cargo crawlers waited onto their wide aerogel tyres.

“The colony of Landersfell is headed by Colony Coordinator Maksim Babbish, a native of the Ganymede archaeology of the Sol System,” Ingram said informatively as the lift crunched into the hard-packed sand. “A social engineer by education, he’s run colonies in the mid and far rim of Federation space for the last thirty years. Most notably the startup of New Far Florence, and Blue Box. He was hired by the Acheron Colony Corporation when they petitioned Starfleet and the Federation for the colony charter to Messier 4.”

He raised a hand in greeting as the lanky Coordinator stepped away from a conversation he was having with one of the truck drivers, and parted across the strip of sunbaked sand until he was under the relatively cool of the Resolutes shadow. He was dressed in a ships jumpsuit marked with the ACC logo in red and gold on the shoulder. He also had a sand scarf around his neck and was in the process of removing a pair of polarised shades from his eyes from a face reddened by solar radiation.

He was not a young man, nor an old one. A rugged middle-aged adventurer who looked the part of a guide to anyone who looked at him. Babbish offered a smile as he approached the lift platform.

“You must be the pizza we ordered right?” he asked jovially before his eyes flicked to Lu’kat. “Though I think we ordered a side of Bolian fizz and not a bottle of kanar.”

Lu'kat arched his eyebrow. A few sneers came to mind, but that wouldn't do. Besides, it had been years since he last been to anything resembling Cardassia's climate. Landersfell came quite close, and Lu'kat already felt in his element. "Not to worry, Colony Coordinator Babbish, I'll have a whole crate sent down for you and your workers, courtesy of the Cardassian Union, ofcourse."

"Of...course," Babbish said a little limply.

Meilin's face scrunched into a forced smile in honor of the coordinator's failed joke. "Thank you for welcoming us all the same." She bowed her head in respect.

"Well I thought I'd offer you a friendly greeting, might be the only one you get all day," Babbish said honestly. "People know the Traveller wasn't under Starfleet control when it opened fire, but a lot of the people who signed up with ACC weren't exactly Starfleet's biggest supports. Telling them the ship in Fleet grey that shot out our stardrive section and marooned us on a dessert wasn't really Starfleet just doesn't sit right with them."

He turned and waved to the first of the cargo crawlers as it began to roll under the looming shadow of the Resolute.

"These CFI replicators will go a long way to proving in their minds you're here to help," Babbish went on. "But I'd not expect miracles."

Meilin continued to smile, though it started to strain. "Fortunately we are exploratory scientists and not witch doctors. I think we're suited to the task before us. To that end..." She softly cleared her throat. "I'm performing an anthropological census for cultural demographic purposes, which will require a high number of personal contacts in various locations. Are there any restricted areas we should know to avoid?"

"If...I get what you're saying correctly, well...not really? Landersfell is still growing, we weren't exactly eager to start expanding the colony if we weren't going to be here long. But seems we're here to stay. I'd only warn you that Starfleet uniforms won't get you any fond greetings, and don't go near the Acheron's remains. The ships still mostly in one piece because a lot of the cryocaskets are still running. No point defrosting the entire colony until we have the capacity," Babbish said. He then clicked his fingers. "You are all armed, correct?"

The question evoked a flinch from Meilin, one she managed to suppress. Mostly. "Correct."

Mara, who had not been paying attention, suddenly tuned in to the conversation. "We're friendly, not stupid," she replied without even thinking. "I mean... you've built this all very quickly. Is there anything you need help with?"

"Just setting up the CFI Replicators. You're the Chief Engineer for the station, so if you have the time I have some people who would love for you to go over our fusion reactor. Its the backup we had to pull it out of the pullout of the Acheron to run colony power through, the big anti-matter reactor is still within the ship powering the sleeper caskets. We have solar collectors, but they won't meet all of the colonies power needs if the fusion plant goes down," Babbish sighed. "And that's if we're lucky enough for the plant to scram normally, and not just explode in a kiloton fireball you'll see from Canopus."

As they spoke the first cargo crawler ground to a halt under the Resolutes cargo bay. From above, lowering on tractor beams, the bulky form of a Class Four Industrial Replicator slowly descended. Looking like a giant cube of grey metal, festooned with controls and reads outs along its lower edges, the CFI Replicator was the size of a cabin. The cargo crawler's wheels, specially adapted to the sandy terrain, sank a little as the bulky machine was lowered onto it.

The driver got out, and with a few Resolute crew began to tie down the CFI onto the bed. Three other crawlers lined up behind it, ready to take on the precious cargo.

Babbish watched the procedure carefully, and the driver gave a jaunty wave from the bed of the truck after the last tie-down was secured. The colony coordinator let out a sigh, and nodded.

"Come on," Babbish said and nodded towards the first loaded truck. He looked at Mara. "We'll drop Commander Jiang and her Cardassian friend off on the outskirts of Landersfell, and then you and Commander Ingram off at the construction site for the power plant and industrial area."