Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Posted on Mon Sep 18th, 2023 @ 4:17am by Captain Ethan De Havilland

1,041 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Ethics, Morals & The Prime Directive.
Location: Colony Administration Building.
Timeline: Post Deployment of Defiants & Fighters.

By the time the Dreadnought had entered orbit Ethan had already read up on the latest reports submitted by the Administrator again, his hope was that forearmed was forewarned, especially in a situation that had several unknowns created by the Administrator himself. When Ethan beamed to the surface along with a security detail he was surprised to see a well-kept establishment. Everything looked clean aside from the usual wear and tear on floors and walls, a slight clouding of glass from dried rain, and the occasional dying plant in a flower bed. From what he could see everything appeared to be what one might expect from a colony originally built in a rough and turbulent environment.

His party was greeted by the Administrator and escorted to his office, it gave Ethan time to look around while they walked but it seemed, hurried, and rushed. The Administrator's pace was brisk, Ethan was a quick walker by nature but this seemed more....determined.

From within the office, Ethan was granted a view of the main courtyard, a small pond with a water feature in the middle of it flanked by rows of identical buildings that appeared to be residential buildings by the items visible within the windows. "Administrator, are you able to tell me about your work in atmospheric terraforming?" Ethan wanted to get right to it.

"Of course. We have several project teams dedicated to the fields of planetary engineering, geoengineering, and planetary ecosystem biospheres. Planetary Engineering focuses on the application of technology and sciences to influence the global properties of the planet. Geoengineering focuses on macro engineering concepts that deal with the alteration of a parameter such as atmospheric composition, greenhouse effect, and the like. Lastly, planetary ecosystem biospheres focus on the direct application of enhancing a parameter to support the other functions." The Administrator answered, clearly versed in what he was talking about from what Ethan could tell.

"As you can see Captain, we started here in a Paraterraforming design, you might see some signs of the original habitat enclosure as you walk around. Living within a bubble essentially took some getting used to but with what we had available we were able to quickly and swiftly establish atmospheric regeneration systems to enhance the already thin but breathable atmosphere."

Ethan listened to what was being said, but in what he was hearing raised questions of his own. "What about ethical, economic or political factors?"

"It's fair to say Captain that we have faced our share of protests, claims that we are interfering with nature, that Humanity's treatment of Earth a century or two ago would befall another planet. It's a common thing for protests to take place but here we are striving on the scientific application, not mineral exploitation or strip mining to at most we may get a disgruntled staff member but nothing more. Econimically its costly, initial start-up, equipment, and manpower with suitable skills and backgrounds had to be sourced. Materials had to be transported and later assembled before the place was deemed ready for habitation. Politically out here we have not had to endure much, the planet is out of the way, off the regular trade routes so the impact of our work on outside elements was deemed to be negligible."

"You have other facilities here?" Ethan asked.

"Most of our research and scientific areas are underground for security and safety reasons. We have our sensor array to the north that we use for seeding assessments, our drone surveillance facility is to the south that we use to remote monitor test locations for water, soil samples, pressure factors and other compounds and our spaceport is to the east."

Ethan listened, taking in the key points but that didn't explain the lack of updates that were expected. "Administrator, are you able to shed some light on the reporting situation?"

"Of course. Terraforming is hardly an exact science in application, creating all the steps is one thing but letting it work is a slow process. It can be weeks before a change has been registered, and months before anything significant is inspected, categorized, reviewed, and studied. We're talking about the deliberate modification of a planetary bodies atmosphere to make it life-sustaining. It's not something that can be accomplished in a couple of months, it takes time."

"While I appreciate that Administrator, those funding and backing your work still want updates, especially since Starfleet had a hand in arranging all this. As you said, its a costly enterprise and it's understandable that someone would want updates on their investment." Ethan explained.

"I understand your position Captain, but like I said, scientific application of what we are doing is slow, I have already filed a report prior to your arrival with all updates, results, and evaluations prior to your arrival."

"I'd like a copy of that report if I may?" Ehtan replied.

"Of course." A datapad was provided to Ethan that contained the report, by the look of the pad itself it appeared to be well used, and traded between many...many hands by the slight shine to certain areas of it from repeated touching or pressing.

"I'm also here to investigate the missing supply ship. Do you have any information on that?" Ethan asked.

"I can provide you with what we do have, but it's not much. It went missing early into the colony's construction and outfitting, our sensor post was not yet built and we didn't have orbital satellites then." The Administrator gave over what he had, hoping that what was provided, somewhat fabricated as it was, would sway the Captain's attention elsewhere.

"I'll have my team review this. Would it be possible to tour the science labs you mentioned that are underground?" Ethan politely asked.

"I will make the arrangements and contact you when they are completed. I'm sure you understand that with what we do here we can't just drop everything for a tour."

"No." Ethan. "Of course not. Thank you for the information however, I will wait to hear from you and return then."

"My assistant will show you back to the transporter building." The Administrator replied, there was a measure of detectable relief in his voice but Ethan couldn't put his finger firmly on why.

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