Terraforming Cookbook

Posted on Wed Apr 2nd, 2014 @ 7:48am by Captain Tim Williams & Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Ciaran McIntyre & Lieutenant Ethan Kessel & Counselor Melony Taylor & Doctor Devoni Jala & Ensign Leon Kingson & Ensign Gregory Mason

Episode: Orphans
Location: USS Highlander - Briefing Room
Timeline: MD08 1100hrs

As Tim walked into the briefing room, he was pleased to see that everyone else was already there. He was even more pleased to see the streaked stars of warp travel out the view ports behind his chair at the head of the table. "Gooood morning campers," he said as he walked in and around, dropping his PADD on the table in front of his seat before dropping himself into his chair.

"First of all, how's the ship doing? All going smoothly now that she's back in space?"

Gregory couldn't help but smile a little at the casual way Williams' had referred to them all as campers. The captain's greeting reminded him of early mornings coming out of the tent to find his father already cooking up breakfast over the open fire. When he realized others around the table would have no idea what he was smiling about, however, Gregory quickly recomposed himself.

Campers? Hawke thought as he leaned back in his chair; he was still getting used to the captain's mannerisms and this was a new one. "Everything's ship shape in the flight control department, sir," he said. It was true; there weren't even any minor instrument errors to report. To stave off boredom, he had worked the flight team ragged by having them run almost every simulation in the "Warp Flight Malfunction" chapter of the flight manual.

"Once the security teams get themselves to the point where they can be anywhere on the ship within three minutes, I'll be satisfied." McIntyre reported. His teams were showing a remarkably lax attitude to their readiness alerts.

"All systems are in optimal capacity. No sign of any data fragmentation, or route attrition in the systems. Pathways are all clear, but I've tinkered with a few sub routines in the main drivers to keep them up to date with the engine [i]'modifications'[/i] I've heard so much about."

He turned to Lieutenant Kessel. "If you could drop a list of the major changes you and your men have made in the last few days, off at my office, I can finish the optimisation alterations, and get the interior systems to make better use of your physical modifications you've done. I reckon I've got most of the main changes done, but in case I've missed anything, I'd like the spec changes to check if that's okay." He turned back to the captain."I'll let you know when I've completed the changes captain. This ship is like new: I've never seen anything like it."

"She's one of a kind," Tim agreed proudly.

"Well, I'm glad to hear everything is running smoothly," Tim continued, before turning his attention back to his PADD. He wasn't surprised about the good news - he had afterall spent most of the week working on the ship's systems himself - but he always preferred to get his staff to chat a bit before he delved straight into the mission details.

"Thankfully, Starfleet has given us a reason to get off that dustbowl and back into space." He tapped a control on the tabletop, and the wall viewer switched to show the logo of one of the Federation's various civilian agencies. "The Federation Terraforming and Colonisation Agency. They're responsible for creating new colonies within Federation space, usually by terraforming worlds which are beyond our habitable norms into class M worlds - or at least close enough to be colonised. The process currently takes a number of years to complete, depending on how the planet looks before the Agency begins the process." Clapping his hands together, he leant forward so that his elbows were supporting his weight on the table. "Luckily for the passengers we are about to pick up from the Cygnet system, one such planet is just about ready to come out of the oven."

Hawke asked what he thought was the obvious next question, "Where is this freshly cooked planet?"

"And how well done is it?" Mac's mind was immediately thrown back to a simple milk run that the Buchanan had been sent on which had ended with him being suspended from- and almost eaten by- a sentient patch of shrub.

Tim pressed another control, and the logo vanished to be replaced by a graphic of a five-planet system, orbiting a white star, about a third larger than Earth's sun. "The Dreyas system, about half-way between Starbase 126 and Argaya near the Talarian Republic," he said, as the animation panned from a wide shot of the whole system to focus in on the fourth planet. "Dreyas Three and Four are both within the habitation zone of the star, but Three is class C, and little more than a big hunk of rock."

Turning to Ensign Mason, Tim felt it was time to offer him the floor. Engineering principles he could talk about all day, but the scientific principles and processes of terraforming a planet he preferred to leave to scientists. "Greg, fill everyone in on the recipe," he said, continuing with his oven metaphor.

Surveying those seated around the table, Gregory realized this would be the first time he was actually interacting with many of them, something the young science officer was starting to wonder if he shouldn't have remedied earlier. Knowing there was nothing that could be done about it now, he sat up a little straighter in his chair and began to speak. "There are actually several different methods of terraforming employed by the Federation Terraforming and Colonisation Agency," Gregory began, "Depending on the baseline environment, the length of the project, and the intended results, a variety of natural and artificial methods are often used to further the process. Initial surveys of Dreyas Four classified it as Geocrystaline. Left on their own, Class G planets have the potential to develop into more habitable locations on their own...over the course of millions of years. A long-term terraforming project was initiated ten years ago and several automated terraforming stations were established at that time to maintain the process without having to deploy additional personnel."

"The project is now coming out of its final phase, which means that the planet is ready to be colonised," the captain finished.

"You just once, I'd like to see someone terraform a planet - just for sake of it. Just once." Kessel said dryly. It did feel good to have an objective again. One which didn't involve the destruction of the pestilence known as Borg. Not that he would have minded that particular mission. Even so, Kessel knew where he would be taking the ship if had the helm. Not playing taxi on a geography field trip.

Romulus.

He shook that feeling off. There was no way such an incursion was realistic, productive or, feasible. But still. He could dream...

Devoni sat back listening to all the conversations. He was sensing the emotions of the crew and could tell everyone was eager to begin the mission.

"How many passengers are we taking on?" McIntyre asked. While it was always nice to have guests, their presence always exponentially increased his security concerns.

"About a hundred, including the equipment needed to start the colony," Tim replied, rather matter-of-factly. "We'll have to modify one of the cargo bays into accommodations for them," he added almost as an afterthought, as he looked over to Leon and Ethan, clearly indicating the job would be theirs. "The trip shouldn't take long, so it only needs to be a short-term solution.

"Aside from playing passenger liner, we're to establish the results of the terraforming when we arrive, and make sure that it is safe to beam the colonists down. We're also going to help them get started. Greg, as soon as we get into sensor range, I want you to search for a suitable location to construct the colony. Ethan, that means your teams need to be ready to help them get the basic infrastructure up and running as soon as the planet is determined safe."

"Of course," Gregory replied, making mental note of the instruction. Cartography and data synthesis were undoubtedly two of the young officer's strengths which meant locating a suitable colonisation site wouldn't likely be all that difficult. What's more, the Highlander's astrometric sensors were designed to offer detailed resolution even at considerable range, allowing them to begin sweeping the planet long before they actually arrived. Gregory knew he should have plenty of time to identify a suitable location, perhaps even more than one. He would just have to make sure he consulted with one of the colony's planners to find out what sort of qualifications they had in mind for the colony's location.

"I am guessing tech will be fairly rudimentary for the first couple of cycles. What form of power source are they using? Is there any specialised equipment I need to be aware of?" He asked. He did remember an academy story of how a shipload of nuclear waste had been improperly contained, and the radiation had almost triggered a meltdown in the one of the auxiliary cores.

"They'll be bringing three microfusion reactors with them - two to power the colony, and one as a spare. Once they're all set up in a few months, the Bozeman will deliver an industrial replicator among other things to handle the rest of their needs," Tim answered.

"Melony, most of these colonists come from developed planets in the Federation, so en-route I want you to do what you can to ensure they are prepared for the challenge." Tim's orders were now coming quick-fire, and had clearly been thought out beforehand to make sure that the officious part of the briefing was as short for him as possible. "The initial away team will consist of me, Devoni, Mac and Greg."

"Got it." Mac replied curtly. "Do you want a security team too?"

"Use your discretion," Tim answered simply. His instinct was to say no, purely because he rarely saw the need to be followed around by a gaggle of security officers. But he understood that this was a new crew that would have to get used to doing things his way, and he also understood the importance of letting them make their own decisions in the additional staff from their departments that they wanted on away missions. He also had a feeling that, whether he said it in the briefing or later in private to either him or Mac, his new XO would likely insist on at least a few security personnel.

"Will do, Sir." A deft flick of his wrist saw the security team placed on stand-by. He had heard the Captain held no truck with security teams but that wouldn't stop him having a heavily armed team standing on transporter pads ready to go.

Melony who had been simply listening had her attention drawn in to the conversation more upon hearing her name and what the Captain had asked of her she simply replied "Of course I'll make sure the new Colonists know exactly what they will be up against."

"New Colonists, seeing their new home? Rather you than me, Captain..." Kessel said.

"Who said anything about babysitting the colonists?" Tim asked with a smirk. "It'll just be us on this first trip down. Commander Ra-Xialii here has the honour of being the one to see the colonists into their new home."

"I always had you down as the sentimental type, Kessel." Mac joked. He had seen very little of the engineer since his experience with the Borg and he held his own private concerns about the Lieutenant's well being.

Kessel smiled.

"As thrilled as I would be at playing real estate with the civilians, I have far too much work to be doing. The ships schematics need updating. The Highlander is a beauty, but she doesn't remotely resemble the plans any more. Not on the inside." He commented. He had private thoughts about the safety of that.

Hawke leaned forward and said, "If you need a hand with those, let me know," he said to Kessel. "I started poking around in the flight control systems after my guys um, inadvertently, performed sim manoeuvres the specs should not have allowed."

"Well I'll leave the pair of you to it," the captain said, standing from his chair. He had the specifications of his ship memorised to the point that he hadn't had to study a diagram of her for three years now. "In the mean time, if there's nothing else; dismissed."