The Root of the Problem

Posted on Thu Dec 30th, 2021 @ 9:00am by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Lieutenant Aenar Torek & Lieutenant Dwight McCabe & Lieutenant Bela Swain

1,106 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Storm
Location: Conference Room

ON

As soon as the shuttle returned to the Calypso, Samantha called a meeting of her senior staff to discuss recent events. This time, there were no pastries on the table, but the replicator was available if anyone needed something. A stack of PADDs sat in the center of the table with all the pertinent information.

Bela was tired. Helping the colonists was exhausting work. However, it was rewarding work. Her job was to serve. Her life was to serve. And, it made her happy to make others happy. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. A smile was on her face. Upon spotting the Commander alone in the room, she approached and gave Commander York a hug.

"How are you, Commander?" Bela asked as she broke the hug. "It seems that the colonists are adjusting, though they are understandably upset to be leaving their home."

Sam smiled. "Well, if we can deal with the Remen, they might not need to move."

"Maybe," Bela responded, her sunny disposition fading slightly. "However, with all the damage done to their land, a year's crops are likely lost and who knows how long that the land is poisoned. Science isn't my specialty but I can't imagine that there is an instant fix. In addition, I don't know that having outside help will thrill them. After all, that is half the point of being a colonist, no? To conquer the land and make it your own from your own efforts?"

"Only the land around the colony is affected," Ronnie said, coming into the room. "There's a whole other continent that has no damage at all. If they have to, they can either plant crops over there, or get help from the Federation to get them through until they can repair the soil and bring back the insects."

"All the malnourished people were taken care of but most of the elderly didn't survive it," Dwight said as he took an empty seat. "They now have extra food supplies stored away as a backup." The doctor couldn't believe about the damage to the crops.

"Thank you, Doctor," Sam said. She turned to Ronnie. "I'd like you to give me a report on what it would take to repair the damage to the colony."

Ronnie nodded. "Give me an hour."

Having slipped into his seat, Aenar was listening intently to those around him. 'It's a good thing that the damage was so localised. Hopefully it won't take too long to reverse, but I'm sure Lieutenant Lancaster will be able to get to the bottom of it.'

Kara listened to them talk about science. She was more concerned with the Remen on the far side of the moon and the planet. "That's all well and good, but what about the other facilities?"

"That's what I want to talk about," Sam said. "We can't leave them where they are. From what intel has uncovered, the facility on the moon helped direct the ion storm to the colony. It also indicated there's someone on the planet working with them. So, we need to shut down that facility, as well as find out why there are Remen on the far side of the planet and keep them from causing trouble. The planet is a Federation colony and the fact that no one seems aware of them tells me they're up to something."

She looked at the others. "What I'm proposing is that we sent another team back to the moon to infiltrate and shut it down. We have a lot of data from the facility, which will help. I'd rather not destroy it if we don't have to, but we need to stop it from affecting the storm. We also need to send Marines down to the planet to deal with the Remen. Security and anyone else that would be of use will go along as well. I'd like to hear suggestions before we finalize plans."

Bela looked around at the group. Going after Remans definitely did not sound like something that counseling would be useful for. Neither did science. She simply said, "I'm here to serve, Commodore, but I do not know what more I can contribute to this mission."

"You may be better suited to working with the colonists. We still have to find out which of them is working with the Remen," Sam replied.

Aenar piped up, 'I'd like to head back to the moon, if I may. Having been there previously, I know a little of the lay of the land.' He looked over to Bela, 'perhaps your new Security Officer friend can accompany you in your task.'

Sam nodded. "I think it might be prudent to send the same team back to the moon, if they're willing. We can put other Marines on the far side of the planet and a team with the colonists to find out who is working with the Remen."

"You think one of them is working with the Remen?" Bela asked, her mouth dropping down slightly. "And would live in those conditions?"

"We don't know what conditions they're living in," Sam said. "But there is clear evidence from the lunar facility that they are working with someone on the colony."

'You don't know whether they've been forced to work with them either,' Aenar gently reminded Bela, 'they may believe it's the best way for them to survive all this.'

Sam nodded. That was an excellent point.

While that was potentially a possibility, Bela shook her head disbelievingly. How could living like this and working with the Remans be better than something else? Whatever it might be, it would have had to strike at one of their core beliefs. "I do not think that likely but I could talk to more of the colonists and explore any of the cooperation theories, gently."

'Weapons are powerful persuaders,' Aenar said gently. 'Bajorans cooperated too, believing it was the best thing to ending the Occupation.' He shrugged, 'there's no way of knowing when you're in the middle of a situation which is the best way to deal with it.'

"People will do a lot of things they normally wouldn't when they're afraid," Sam said. She looked around the room. "Are there any other comments?"

The Bajoran shook his head in response, ready to get to work.

Sam smiled. "Good. You're all dismissed. Good luck."


____
OFF

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counselor

Lieutenant Dwight McCabe
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Ronnie Lancaster
Assistant Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Aenar Torek
Chief Science Officer

2nd Lieutenant Kara Melo
Squadron Leader

 

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