Shift

[Cptn Swain 0]

Anaquil N'Haon leaned back into the well upholstered chair of the Excalibur’s observation lounge. It was a strange sensation, being wrapped in luxury while spinning in space millions of konnean from the surface. He’d been in space before, true, but the Dominion transports had never had so many amenities. Even his large, and by Caldorian standards, luxurious office in the central government complex was not as large or as well-appointed as the simple lounge he currently occupied. Glancing to the window where his world loomed, he considered that this was the first time he’d actually seen his dusty, ruddy world with his own eyes.

 

“In general,” Tandaris continued, “there is little precedent for engineering on this scale.

 

“Either plan carries considerable risk to your population...”

N’Haon glanced back to the spotted human. G’aon had spoken well of him, and both he and the green-skinned female seemed to be competent. Their human Captain seemed equally competent, if quieter than he’d expected.

 

 

“I appreciate your candor,” N’Haon finally said, choosing his words carefully, mindful that the Dominion Universal Translator he wore at times struggled with their language. “My people have been through much. A hundred years ago, the tallest structures on our planet were simple constructions of wood or hide -- now we have sky scrapers built from polymers we can barely conceptualize how to synthesize.

 

“When the Dominion first came, they promised us riches beyond imagination. They promised us modernity; and they have given it us -- along with the troubles it brings.”

 

He stopped smiling for a moment. “You’re right, both plans carry great risk to my people but I cannot authorize a plan that will uproot our entire society once more. I will not be the one to do that to my people again.”

 

Swain glanced to Teykier and the to Admiran to see their reactions. Both remained surprisingly muted.

“Administrator,” Swain finally said. “My people will do everything possible to make sure that doesn’t have to happen -- but it is a scenario we should plan for...”

 

 

“And if we do have to begin evacuating our cities -- can your ship handle that?”

 

Wincing, Swain shook his head. “Not on the scale required. Not by ourselves anyway...”

"We need to bring in more ships," Tandaris said. "Medical ships, a geological engineering team, emergency coordinators. Starfleet will arrange all this."

 

“They will,” Swain said assuredly. “However, it will take at least four to five days for another ship … in addition to the medical ship already en route … to arrive and even longer for a specialized engineering team to arrive.”

 

Twirling her hair, Teykier also nodded in agreement. “You’re going to need more assistance than we alone can provide. Our models are based on short-term solutions to a larger sustainability problem. The Dominion settled your people here to test their geothermal energy solutions, not because its a particularly good location for your people to be settled, especially with such density.”

 

N’Haon leaned foreword again. “I think then we should focus on stabilizing my planet then. In the long term my people welcome the assistance you’ve offered and we can consider other options.”

 

Swain nodded. “Good, my people will begin getting ready for stage one of the stabilization protocols. Commander Admiran has updated the software to remove the recursive error and is preparing training courses for your people so that they can be better equipped to handle the situation once we’ve left. Starfleet Engineering will periodically return and continue to work with your people on that as well the other issues you’ve talked about today.”