Pulling into Harbor

Posted on Thu Jan 5th, 2023 @ 10:32pm by Captain Charlotte Rhodes
Edited on on Fri Jan 27th, 2023 @ 12:54am

813 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 0: New Sheriff in Town
Location: Lana'i System
Timeline: MD 0, 1030

"Captain on deck!"

As Charlotte Rhodes exited the turbolift onto the bridge, she barely heard the boatswain whistle sound. The scene outside the view screen had immediately commanded her attention.

Slowly spinning into a more standard orientation was the approaching sphere of Lana’i III. The third planet in the Lana'i system, it was home to Starfleet's newest, and least complete, outpost. The star system had been named for the tropical Hawaiian island back on Earth and it was easy to see why. The blue star Lana'i bathed its planets in a warm blue light, providing for not one but two comfortably habitable planets within its habitable zone.

The first, Lana'i III was a tropical world largely dominated by oceans and two super continents. Nearly a third larger than Earth, but not quite as dense, the planet was something of a biological marvel. The ocean reached depths nearly twice that of Earth's oceans, and the tides rose and fell by heights that would have made ocean side civilization nearly impossible. Its warm, wet atmosphere conjured massively powerful hurricanes nearly weekly. Powerful wind currents helped spread the heat across the atmosphere in a way that even the best weather engineering efforts would envy, maintaining a continously comfortably balmy climate well past what should have been the tropics. Yet, even its equatorial region avoided getting too hot. Its supercontinents were a fascinating sight themselves. Massive megafauna dominated the interior, evoking images of Earth's ancient dinosaurs or the monsters of its ancient mythology. The gravity of the Lana'ian sun also kept the molten core very active, and numerous volcanic peaks dotted the land. Lana'i III was like something out of an old adventure novel, which Charlotte felt contributed to its selection as Starfleet's base of operations. On the surface, a decently large floating scientific outpost sat on top of the ocean waters. Its mobile nature allowed the outpost to travel around the globe as needed, and avoided the large scale ecological damage a permanent outpost would cause. On the Southern continent was the sole permanent land based base, a smaller outpost situated atop (and within) a plateau, to minimize its footprint.

Lana'i IV was a bit different, though there was still plenty of water in its oceans and numerous inland seas, it was dominated by more temperate biomes, with tundras and arctic regions at its polls. Starfleet hadn't established anything too permanent on its surface yet, though numerous temporary camps had sprung up.

In Lana'i III's orbit, the partially completed frame of Starbase Arcadia hung, surrounded by a few handful of construction craft. Upon its completion, it would be a significantly smaller cousin to the the mighty Starbase Yorktown, with a central habitation dome, and surrounding pylons for ship docking, similar to Starbase 1. For now, it was little more than a docking ring with a single completed pylon, one halfway built, and the bottom half of the central dome.

"Home sweet home," Helmsman Mathers said, with a noticeable hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Let's not judge it too quickly, Mr. Mathers. She might not look like much yet, but Arcadia will be one of the most advanced stations on the frontier once she's done," Charlotte said, finally making her way to the center chair. She allowed a mischievous smile to creep onto her face. "Of course, if you've lost your sense of adventure, I'm sure its not to late to transfer to some small patrol ship back near Earth."

The helmsman blushed slightly. "Uh, no ma'am. I am quite happy here."

"Good. Besides, how often do you get to say that your home port has dinosaurs," the Captain replied, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Actually, the native megafauna are entirely biologically distinct from the Terran dinosaur," the young Vulcan science officer replied from her station.

Rhodes nodded. "Ok, so not technically dinosaurs. But you get my drift." She turned her chair so she could see the Comms Station. "Comms, can you ask Flight Control for docking permission. I imagine the Engineering Corps are excited to get the materials we've got below decks."

A few button tones later, the Coridanite seated at the Comms Terminal nodded. "Aye, Captain. Flight Control tells us Pylon 1 is ready for docking at our leisure."

Charlotte's eyes drifted to the screen and the watched as the station's sole completed pylon rotated to be 'right-side up'. "Well, we shouldn't have too much issue finding the right parking spot," she quipped, and saw a bit of the tension leave Mathers' shoulders. Might as well let him off the hook a little. The junior helmsman had performed admirably on the trip here, even knowing that eventually a higher ranking officer would likely transfer to fill the currently vacant senior slot.

She sat back in her chair, getting comfortable even if they would be docking fairly soon. "Alright, Mr. Mathers. Take us in."

 

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