"Ahead of Schedule."

[FredM 0]

"Ahead of Schedule."

New Rigel Colony

New Rigel Prime, Sector 332

Stardate 0304.24 @ 17:38

 

 

      "Ah ha! It works! I am invincible!", screamed an alarmingly short man. The outburst caused the other five or six people in the room to turn and look. Most were curious as to what the great accomplishment had been, others simply to take the time to offer a chuckle. The man blushed a light blue and smiled, "Hey, don't hate me cause I'm beautiful!"

 

      The control annex for the New Rigel colony was nothing spectacular. No larger than the size of some VIP quarters aboard one of the Federation's larger starships, it served as the nerve center for the planet. It's construction had been a milestone not even six months ago. After all, from nothing to a population of over a thousand in five years isn't too bad. An old bridge from one of their initial colony vessels had served as the eyes and ears for them for a good four years. By that time, instead of a series of huts, the colony had turned into over sixty blocks of residential, agricultural and industrial buildings.

 

      Recently, New Rigel had entered what they considered the "big time." The addition of a small docking and landing station on the outskirts of the city had opened up the world of trade. It was amazing what a fleet of five shuttles and the arrival of a few freighters could do for morale. In addition, the launch of several satellites into orbit had helped create a solid weather, communications and sensory array throughout the system. As the Colonial Governor, T'erui Opero, had impressed upon his people the sense that they were on the edge of the frontier and it was theirs for the taking. Most had agreed it was a good thought, though many understand the find of what might be the ruins of an Iconian City probably helped spawn interest in their little neck of the galaxy.

 

      For his part, none of that mattered to the Telleraite who had been sitting at a console for the last eleven hours. With a sense of pride he entered in a few commands and leaned back. On cue, the computer generated voice activated. "Welcome to the New Rigel Colony. Please transmit proper identification to control. Remember, be sure to visit the newest terminal at the docking station! Thank you for vissitingg visssiting vissiting," the computer hummed. The end drew a snort from the short figure, causing him to slam his fist against the terminal. This prompted the computer to reply "Thank you for visiting New Rigel."

 

      So he had to kick it to get the final bugs out, so what? "Not bad. At least people will feel welcome when they enter orbit," said a human sitting behind another station. This prompted another chuckle from those in the room, prompting the Telleraite to glance upwards through the giant windows which served as a ceiling for the room. "Well, it's about time we got all this stuff working right," he said in a joking manner.

 

      The communications system had not worked properly since it was last upgraded, combining several subsystems to the defensive cannons spread throughout the surface. Though they weren't much, they were enough to deter an attacker while the population moved to the center of the city. Here, a planetary shield could be found with enough power to allow for protection for days from a full bombardment. Yet another invention due to the Dominion War.

 

      "William, I'm picking up a vessel entering the system," a woman near the South wall said looking at a screen. This prompted an Alpha Centurian to walk towards her, scratching the back of his head as he did so. "Probably the Cairo running ahead of schedule," came a computer generated voice from the Horta on the other side of the room. Most folks simply nodded in reply.

 

      The Alpha Centurian peered over the woman's shoulder to look at the screen for himself. "I see we still don't have those repairs to the sensor bouys finished yet," he said looking at the half static filled screen. The Telleraite behind him nodded, "We have two shuttles scheduled to head up in two days. We didn't want to take the grid offline for the repairs until after the Cairo had gotten here."

 

      According to the computers, there was indeed a ship on sensors moving towards the planet. Because of the blinding effect the recent ion storm had caused, exact configuration and other specifics couldn't be determined. In fact, as the Alpha Centurian noted, the only thing they knew for sure was that it was a Starfleet transponder signal.

 

      The next thing anyone heard was a deep laugh from the Telleraite's third belly. By the time the Alpha Centurian turned, they all knew what the laugh was from. "Welcome to the New Rigel Colony. Please...," started the automated computer message. After a few moments a woman's voice came over the channel, "This is the Federation vessel Cairo. Sorry we're running ahead. Instead of our leisurely pace, pushed the engines. Other things require our attention."

 

      "They are ahead of schedule? They are two solar days late.", said the computer generated voice from the Horta's translator. The Alpha Centurian nodded ever so slightly in response, "Well, that wasn't their fault." Before anything else could be said, the Telleraite spoke up "This is unusual. The carrier wave for their beacon is fluctuating." The woman at the station which had first reported the ship's presence waved her hand, "It's probably more satellite damage caused by the storm."

 

      Over the next ten minutes, the ship would enter orbit and stated they were preparing to transport material down. It was routine for the colony to alert Starfleet when a ship had arrived. Though only two days travel from Starbase 345 at Warp 6, not even an hour for someone in a hurry, no remote listening posts had yet been brought online. Unlike most areas of the Federation, there wasn't someone sitting in front of a screen watching what was going on. It was here that the Horta situated on the North wall of the control annex shifted in his antigrav unit ever so slightly.

 

      His station was beeping furiously, indicating the arrival of some type of transmission. Yet, the computer was unable to properly decode it. With the Telleraite standing over his right shoulder, well...what one would consider a shoulder for a Horta, a "grunt" came over the translator. "This header looks like it's Starfleet, priority even...but I've never seen one this distorted...even during the war.", he said. The Telleraite snorted, "Must be a few transmission packets blending together."

 

      Well, at least the Cairo had finally arrived and they could get their supplies offloaded.