A Breath of Fresh Air

Posted on Sat Aug 10th, 2019 @ 10:18pm by Admiral Paka Larem
Edited on on Thu Nov 14th, 2019 @ 11:36pm

1,519 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: [A] A Breath of Fresh Air
Location: Starfleet Command, Earth, Admiral Paka’s Office
Timeline: 0900, Friday 20 December, 2388

0900, Friday 20 December, 2388
20 Days to Departure

"Good morning Commander. How was the weekend?" He had given her Monday off. Evidently, the talk with her husband on Friday had not been completed, and he really wanted her decision today or tomorrow.

"We're coming."

He stopped in his tracks. Turned to her and saw her beaming smile across her face. "That is wonderful news! And it was a mutual decision?"

"Very much so. When we talked about it on Friday, he was as shocked as I was, and he was adamant that he didn't want to go. But we chatted over the weekend, and he is probably more excited about it now than I am. He wants to open a restaurant on the new colony. It will be the first restaurant franchise outside of the solar system, and then some. He wondered if it was even allowed."

"We can make that work. New colonies tend to run from replimats, so having a restaurant there will add a bit of change to the food. I can't guarantee him a lot of fresh produce for the first year, because we don't know what the situation on fresh food is going to be. But I can guarantee him a couple of replicators to work with initially."

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Admiral." The smile still across her face.

"That is no problem at all. What's on the schedule for today." You have a meeting with Admiral Anderson and Commodore Taulder and some people from the FO double-C. That's at 0915. They wanted earlier, but I know you enjoy catching up with a coffee. They wanted to fit you in at 0900."

"You're a good Commander, you know that right?" he said with a slight chuckle.

"I try" she replied with her own little chuckle. "Schedule is on your PADD, coffee is on your desk."

"Thank you, Commander. Let me know when they arrive. If there are more than 4, find me a briefing room." She nodded to him as he walked into his office.

----

His console beeped. "Admiral Paka, your 0915 has arrived. Your office will be sufficient."

"Thank you, Commander, send them in." His door opened and in walked 4 people. Admiral Anderson, Commodore Taulder and two people who he didn't know. "Stephen, Wes, come in." He stood up and walked to the two others, a human male and a female Trill. "Admiral Paka Larem, you are from FOCC?"

The male nodded. "Greg Roisin, DCS and Ramis Beil, BCM. A pleasure to meet you, Admiral."

"So who is going first. Stephen?" Who nodded his confirmation. He invited the two Starfleet personnel to seat at his desk and directed the other two to sit just behind.

"Thank you Larem. The Task Group in question, which we are calling the Epatha Task Group, or ETG is to be comprised of fourteen ships, including your flagship, the Martinsson. In addition to that, there are to be around 5000 colonists. As previously discussed, the capacity is around 45,000 colonists, but we are keeping it to around 5000 to ensure it isn't too cramped."

Paka brought up some information his PADD. He still had yet to receive specific information. "What's the breakdown of ships to colonists and crew?"

"Two Akira class, two Galaxy class, two Insignia class, four Nebula class, and four Steamrunner class. There may be another, but I have to do some double checking first. Only the Galaxy and Nebulas are carrying colonists, around 900 and 800 respectively per class. The FOCC can go into more specifics on those." He gestured to the other two people, who nodded in unison. "The Insignia's are SCE and are carrying an extra 400 engineers between them. The crews of the ships come to just over 9550, which including all the colonists is just over 14550. He turned to his left. "Commodore Taulder." Who acknowledged the Admiral and began to speak.

"As you know, the Galaxy class and Nebula could probably take upwards of 45,000. We kept this low for a couple of reasons. Firstly, all ships are carrying a lot more cargo than they would normally. A lot of replicators, some prefabs, and some other stuff that can't be replicated, some fresh produce etcetera. SCE estimates show they can have the basic living quarters for around half of the colonists within the first 3 weeks, working 26-hour rotating shifts. This also takes into account the basic infrastructure, power, water etcetera. They estimate if there are no issues, they can finish the remaining housing within 2 weeks after that."

"Sounds like everything is taken into account, I would expect nothing less. What of the SCE ships?" Paka asked.

"They are being fitted out with extra industrial replication modules, and some large scale transporters. That's how they expect to be done as quickly as they can be. With all hands on deck, they think within 6 months, there should be some sort of self-sustainability. Once the Galaxy and Nebula's have offloaded their colonists, They are to remain under your command. The Insignia classes are to remain in orbit of the new colony for a year, providing any large scale replication that is needed. After the year, they are to begin building an orbital station in orbit of the colony. Class to be determined as yet. The 400 extra engineers are to remain on the colony and maintain it, along with building up a small Starfleet post on the planet.

"Who is going to be in charge in orbit of the Ourea? I presume I am still expected to remain on Starbase 38?" He asked no one in particular.

"Yes, I will remain in orbit of Ourea on the Hephaestus coordinating the ground-based teams." Commodore Taulder replied.

"Sound's like everything is in hand. Anything else I need to know from the Starfleet side of things?" He asked the officers.

Anderson shook his head. "Nothing so far. There are likely some other details, but they have yet to be formalised. We will take our leave", he stood up along with Taulder. "And leave you with Greg and Ramis."

"Thank you, Stephen, Wes." Who nodded, and headed out. The two others stood, nodded to the officers, and sat at the desk.

Greg spoke first. "Admiral, it's a pleasure to meet you. As you know, I'm with the DCS so I am basically here as the FCOC rep, so I will let Remis talk you through."

"Thanks, Greg. So I don't know if you have been involved at the beginning of a new colony." Paka shook his head. "Well, it's not as hard as people think. With Starfleet having such a huge presence for this colony, there is less of a need for many people from my office. There are still around 50 of us going, but they are there mainly for once the colony is set up."

"What kinds of things do you take care of?" Paka asked.

"During the first few months, it's basically just getting essential services up and running, communications, water, power etc. It's also during this phase we usually set up a small security team to act as a police force, but with such a heavy Starfleet presence on this one, that isn't a high priority."

‘Most colonies are usually formed with small Starfleet presence and mostly civilian ships designed specifically for colonies.' Paka thought to himself. "That makes sense. What else do you implement in the first few months?"

"Setting up local government, designating districts, finding people to be counselors, mayors, heads of departments and the like."

"Who will be my liaison for this?" Paka asked.

"I will be. Simply because of the unique nature of this colony. We know Helios and Persephone colonies are also in the Delta Quadrant, but they were set up in pretty unique circumstances. So we aren't taking any chances here."

Greg spoke up. "There really isn't much more to cover. A lot of the details are still being finalised, but you will receive the relevant documentation within a week or so. Unless you have any questions?"

"No, thank you. You have answered a few I had unasked, and I appreciate that." He stood up, as did the two civilians. He shook both of their hands. "Greg, I'll probably speak to you at some point before we go. A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise Admiral. I don't get to visit SFC too often. It makes a nice change to have a meeting like this in a room with windows." He let out a small chuckle, as the others in the room also did.

"I do enjoy a good view." He said with a smile. "Ramis, if you want to have a quick chat with Camille on your way out, I'd like to catch up at some point in the next week or so, before the reports. If we are to liaise, it would be nice to do so socially. She can help tie down a time and place."

"That would be lovely Admiral. Again, it's been a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working closely with you." She smiled.

"It will be an interesting experience, that's for sure. Have a pleasant day, both you."

 

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