Out of Their Elements
Posted on Wed May 22nd, 2019 @ 11:29am by Captain Luka Mahone
2,548 words; about a 13 minute read
Mission:
Snow Birds
Location: Haumea, Various
Timeline: MD 02 1200 Hrs
The Ceres sat on the runabout launch pad as it completed it's final engine run up checks. Sitting comfortably in the back of Delta Flyer-class, the Commodore thumbed through reports, begrudgingly now in full Brass dress. Yoshi looked up as the pilot, a young Vulcan Ensign who'd come aboard during the crew rotation last, as he calmly called out to the Flight Control aboard Vesta to request launch permissions. One annoying Starfleet policy seemed to be that for the majority of operations aboard a Civilian outpost, Fleet Admiralty were not to travel by transporter. Some anti-murder method to prevent rogue elements from scattering an Admiral across the cosmos. Left over fear from the Dominion War, when it apparently had happened. Still, it meant that, at least for his first trip down, he would have to go down the old fashioned way. The last checks were confirmed, and there was the standard runabout hum, as the engines came to life and the shift disengaged it's magnetic lock on the larger vessel. Pulling away slowly, Ceres throttled up and made for the planet.
Through the front view port, Yoshi watched the spinning green and blue orb come closer and closer. As it rotated closer and closer, he could see the landmass with the colony on it, the region itself coming through a nearly pristine white; snow. There was a moment of wonder involved with seeing the snow, an unregulated snowfall, far different from Earth and it's Weather Control Net. Truly untamed, there would be snow, or rain, or whatever the natural cycle dictated. In his mind, Yoshi wondered about retiring to a planet like this, building a remote research station and getting away from Starfleet. But the longer he thought about it, the more he knew he was not done yet, and that he had so much left to do before he could. Plus his wife would miss having a bar far too much. Brought from the reverie by comms chatter, Minawara looked forward to the pilot who was calling in for landing vectors, and passing off coded authentication transmissions, all of which denoted Starfleet Brass aboard. Once again, the Commodore resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Not ten minutes later the crash was settling on the snow covered ground of the Starport, or what made for one, on the Federation side of things. Standing, he nodded to the Ensign, and picked up the heavy over coat, lined with artificially replicated wool to prevent the cold from seeping in. Sliding into his jacket, he buttoned it up, and pulled the red and gold scarf tight around his neck. More policies, more protections to keep the precious Admiralty from getting so much as a sniffle. Still, he headed for the back, to where he was sure to meet Commander Mahone, who'd been told of his expected arrival.
As the door slid open, it would reveal not Commander Mahone but a fresh-faced, red-clad Orion ensign, PaDD in hand and an exuberant bounce as she stepped forward to address the new arrivals. "Commodore Minawara? Commander Mahone is currently... oh, how did he put this... shaking a-"
"I'm here Davna! I'm here!" came a voice from across the shuttle landing field. With it, the aforementioned Commander jogged the distance to hurry the arrival, cheeks red with frustration. "Apologies Sir," he explained, pausing only to catch his breath. "There was a personal matter that came up. I sent Ensign Davna ahead to prepare us a ground transport -"
"Land rover." Davna interjected helpfully, gaze carefully watching Luka.
Luka made a hand wave. "One of those. Not super comfy, but it'll get us from this place to the Command Center, which is warmer and has comfier chairs. Unless you're not a comfy chair person. We have less-comfy chairs for that too. And tea. Do you do tea? Coffee?"
A laugh escaped the Commodore before he could stop it, looking between the over-eager Ensign and the Commander, crossing the short distance between the pair and himself. "A comfy chair and a coffee would delightful Commander, shall we?" Sweeping an arm towards the vehicle in question, he laughed a little again. As the pair started off, Yoshi took a moment to observe the dusting of snow around him, before looking slightly down to Luka again. "How has the colony been treating you? Snow aside that is."
"Oh good. Davna, could you please-" but before Luka finished, Davna had already turned tail toward the ground transport that they had prepared for this occasion. Luka watched her helplessly, before turning to answer Yoshi's question. "If you're asking me as a normal person, fine. No riots, no murders, no weird bombings. We did have an issue with some of the local fauna, but nothing that wasn't easily remedied. I have many more issues with the snow than I do any of the problems that crop up." He paused. "I'm hoping the trip in wasn't too rough?"
"I have flown on worse ships through worse situations. If anything, I would say it was pretty smooth, and I had a good pilot. As for the colony, I am glad things are mostly smooth." He paused as the vehicle pulled up and he climbed inside, looking around. It had been a while since had found himself inside a ground transport, and he smiled at the fond memories of racing across a desert towards a research site. "And how goes the Io salvage operation? I hope there isn't too much in the way of problems there. If you need anything while we are here, let me know, I can have an engineering team come down."
"Well, we've managed to recycle and re-purpose giant parts of what's left." Luka began, as he sat in the seat across from Yoshi. "Once we're finished with the overall investigation, we should be able to open up the rest of what was formerly the saucer of the ship as the Diplomatic HQ for the detachment set to arrive in the next few weeks." Delighted that he could talk about the ingenuity of his team, Luka continued. "We're utilizing the saucer as a base of operations instead of utilizing the typical modular method, considering we needed emergency housing units with the modules we had at the time. It just happened to stick after the first week or so that no one has seemed bothered by an official building being built. Not quite yet, anyway. I can send you the specifications that the engineers have re-imagined for our headquarters, if you'd like to see the nitty gritty." He may not have been an engineer, but he knew enough of them to know what they might have wanted to see.
With a sly smile, Yoshi nodded. "I would be interested indeed. Seeing how your engineering team overcame the differences between a starship's power draw, and what is traditionally produced by a planet. An engineering challenge to be sure." Cast his eyes to the passing landscape, the Commodore took a moment of silence and observed the terrain as it slipped past. He missed being planetside, having spent much of the last few years in orbit, and even without gravity in some cases. Knowing full well his crew intended to enjoy as much of the experience as they good, he had to wonder about getting away himself. "As for supplies," he continued, "I have my Operations team prepping the Industrial replicators, readying to help the civilian operations with any contruction not yet completed." It was a passing offer, not really meant for the Commander, but also giving him room to tell him to back off, in case there were other issues.
"I'll have Lieutenant Shurlok send you his most recent specs on the Center. I think the Engineering team is pretty pleased with the results, and I have to admit, even without knowing much about it, it's a pretty impressive feat. I had suggested they submit the finalized plans to the Corps to see if it could be further utilized, but I don't... believe I've received an answer from that." Luka frowned at the sudden realized that he indeed did not have follow up. His eyes widened at the Commodore's offer. "I'm sure we could use the help, and I am certainly not saying no, but I don't want to take from the rest and relaxation that's available to the crew. That being said, I'm sure I could talk to the Council and the Civilian Director to see what happens to be their priorities on the matter."
"We still have duties to do, and while we are on large operation stand down, there are matters a Flagship must keep in mind. Helping those in need is one," replied the Commodore. "We'll be running on skeleton crew status for Operations though, so don't expect it to have the speed and power that a dedicated Corps ship would bring," he added with a warning. "Now, on that note, let's talk about the security of the Colony." The change of gears was sudden, but something front of mind. "A key focus of Starfleet recently has been keeping an eye on growing tensions. Is there anything you need there?"
Luka looked about to protest at the idea of anyone taking any time away from their shore leave, clearly not approving of the idea to let anyone do work while they were trying to relax. But, as he did so, the ground transport lurched to a halt, causing him to jerk forward and brace himself against the chair. It seemed to also return him to his senses. "Any help is welcome, Sir. While the civilian leadership has managed create a flourishing culture, it is without much of its structure."
"As for security," Luka continued, trailing off as they moved to leave the transport, "I hesitate to say one way or the other. Without knowing the threats that are out there, I don't want to alarm anyone into thinking we're over-preparing... but I don't want to leave us under prepared. Our security team has been able to handle some of the ground operations, but I know our skies are exposed when there isn't a Flagship vessel orbiting overhead... which is almost always. I'm more worried about that than I think I am about infiltration and ground-side security. I could also be woefully underestimating the threats that are out there, even with Lieutenant Winslow's keen advice."
Following the Commander, the Commodore frowned. "We can, of course, have the Corps of Engineers install more suitable defensive structures if you would prefer. Ground based weapons and the like. Camp Falkirk tested the Guardian Pulse phaser system and Ground-to-Orbit Sentinal system. Ask, and I can have a ship here to install them within the month," he said, calmly. "But I am not as concerned with active threats or hostile invasions, I am truthfully worried about your Civilian population. I am sure you saw the report on the vessels stolen from Mothball a month or so back? Starfleet Intelligence believes splint organizations of the Sons of Charon are responsible. And furthermore, reports indicate that some civilian populations are unknowingly housing some of these splinter groups. A place like Haumea is a great target for once such group, close enough to Federation resources, without the heavy hand of Starfleet so omnipresent as it is on most bases these days." Stopping, he looked off to the distance where the colony proper sat, and sighed. "Factor in the instability with the two competing Romulan Factions, the Cardassians still being on a poor footing, and the Klingons ready to make use of the weakness in the Romulan lines, and we have everything we need to start another Dominion War. Hell, we are even worried about our Civilians. Next thing we know we're going to be spying on them again."
"I'm going to have to strongly object to spying on my civilian population," Luka let out before his brain kicked in. He paused, cheeks red as he turned to face the Commodore. "Sir, I didn't mean that in disrespect. I absolutely apologize. No excuse, I simply have strong feelings in regards to the safety and privacy of the civilian population who isn't trying to start another war."
"Don't worry Commander, I am not implying we do anything of the kind. I like my privacy as much as the next Federation citizen. And I have to deal with reporters constantly trying to extort my crew for news scoops about top secret projects and still classified missions. But no, we won't be doing that," he said, with a slight pause before continuing. "The Federation Security Council just wants to make sure no one gets hurt."
"... Ah. Right." Luka gave a nod, before turning toward the grounded saucer of the Intrepid-class ship that lay before them. "My objections being stated, Sir, I am honestly not certain what to make of anything that could be lingering in the colony itself. The civilian leadership and I maintain a relatively professional working relationship with most of them. I wouldn't exactly know where to start with all that, or what I would need. There haven't been any volunteers for consultation in the matter. It's like Starfleet Intelligence knows something about the area and just won't touch it with a ten foot pole."
Yoshi laughed, shaking his head. "Let me let you in on a secret about SFI Mister Mahone. There is an excellent chance that the department within Intelligence that knows, doesn't want to talk about it because it's related to another ongoing investigation, which means no other department will push the matter. Here, let me see if I can get any related information declassified for you, I still have some sway with the boys in grey."
For a moment, Luka was taken aback. He had such a hard time getting any information from SFI that the idea of being able to simply obtaining information seemed like it was completely out of the question. "Sir, if you did that, I think I would be more than obligated to ... I don't... actually know." His cheeks flushed deep red as he nodded to the security officer at the door and continuing onward "... What do... subordinate Commanders do in situations like this, Sir? That sounds very much like a big favor, and I'm more than grateful for this."
"Just keep out of trouble and don't make me regret it," said Yoshi with a warm smile. "We are one unit, and while sometimes SFI forgets that, it is our responsibility to look into it for you. So no need to feel indebted. Although if anyone here gets into making really fine whiskey, you keep me in mind," he added with a wink. "Now come, show me around."
"I think that's the one thing Aarav can do properly," Luka said, letting out a sigh of relief. "I think I can do that." He gave a lopsided smile at their first stop, a front desk that stood in front of a cylendrical warp core, it's blue glow giving off a cool toned light in the room. The set up looked temporary, but not without a pair of Starfleet security nearby. "You did say you wanted to see how we powered the center, right?"
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