Homefire #46"
By: Ian Hunter, Commanding Officer, [PC]
Teilani Dane, Chief Medical Officer, [PC]
Samantha Carter, Security Officer, [RNPC]
Stardate: 58209.19 1000
The passenger compartment was crowded and dimly lit. Most of the occupants seemed to be sleeping. It reeked of the pungent smell of body odor. Dusty red dirt was caked to everything.
They surveyed the area, no where could three seats be found. Several slips of Latinum and from Hunter's bag helped persuade a couple of passengers to find different seats.
Hunter dropped his bag in front of him, a small plume of dust billowed from beneath it. With a sigh he slid it under his seat with his foot. "Oh, I can't wait," said Hunter, his voice glinting with a sarcasm.
"Wait for what?" Teilani said wiping away some drops of sweat from her brow. She too threw her bag under her seat. "If you think this is hot and smelly, wait until we have arrived."
"Yeah..." said Hunter as he slumped back in the seat and folded his fingers behind his head, "...and you say you grew up there?"
Teilani grinned. "You get used to it in a few days, the worst part is the dust, that gets everywhere."
He raised an eyebrow and muttered a klingon curse.
"It won't be long now, once we're there, we can stow our stuff, have a look around. Most of the mining is done underground. The surface temperature ranges from lows of minus 140 celsius to high of about 20 Celsius. It's not the temperature which create difficulties..." Teilani continued, "...but it is the dust storms.
Mars also has the largest dust storms in the solar system. These can vary from a storm over a small area, to gigantic storms that cover the entire planet. They tend to occur when we are closest to the sun, which increases the global temperature."
Hunter looked around the cabin. Most of the occupants appeared to be trying to nap before their shifts.
====
The shuttle slowed to take up orbit, the other passengers stood to disembark. "Here we go," said Hunter.
Teilani stepped out closely followed by Hunter and Carter, "Welcome to Sleepy Hollow." She said.
A puzzled look crossed Hunter face, "As in Washington Irving?"
She nodded. "Back in 2004 I think it was the name was given to a circular, shallow depression in Gusev Crater. This used to be the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit. You can see it more clearly from there."
"I imagine the early Martian explorers had their hands full."
"Oh indeed they had, life is still harsh but in the early days, lots of early explorers lost their lives. Do you see the shimmering in the distance?"
Hunter nodded, "Yeah. What is it?"
"It's a thin coating of water ice on the rocks and soil. Dust particles in the atmosphere pick up bits of solid water. That combination is not heavy enough to settle to the ground. But carbon dioxide, which makes up 95 percent of the Martian atmosphere, freezes and adheres to the particles and they become heavy enough to sink." Teilani explained. "Warmed by the Sun, the surface evaporates the carbon dioxide and returns it to the atmosphere, leaving behind the water and dust. The ice is extremely thin, perhaps no more than one-thousandth of an inch thick. But with the terraforming we managed to make it harder, allowing some dessert plants to set up root here. That particular plain is called Utopia Planetia." Teilani said with a chuckle.
Hunter looked around nervously at the very sound of the name - as if she had spoken some taboo phrase.
"No reference with the shipyards though," she added.
Hunter nodded, "You are quite the tour guide," said Hunter with a smile.
"Watch your step Sir."Teilani said with a smile. She was back home and now she realized she had missed it more than she would ever admit. She pointed to the left, there about 25 clicks you get the Cydonia providence, where those famous faces of Mars are.
"Jones," said Hunter in an urgent but subdued voice. He looked over his should. Only Carter was there.
They navigated some steps and they walked across a skywalk. Hunter's eyes scanned the distant horizon through the large windows as they went.
"So it was true the Cydonia structures were actually created by the Vuclans a century ago?"
Teilani nodded again. "That is correct, however, due to the storms they are almost weathered away. The only thing you can see are the outlines, the features are gone.
However, in the library there are pictures from the early days.
"Jones?" Carter interrupted. "Shouldn't we find lodgings of the sort?"
"I agree, that should be a priority.
Hunter looked up. Ahead, the stream of people who got of the transport slowed to a bottleneck as they approached the checkpoint.
As they approached the turnstile, the crowd was corralled into single file lines. The three officers each stood in separate lines.
Teilani shouldered her bag some more. Some things never changed.
In turn, the security officer in the booth motioned to Hunter to approach. Hunter handed him his ID badge which was scanned. He eyed Hunter suspiciously.
"Is this your first time on Mars?"
Hunter nodded and replied, "Yes Sir."
The man frowned and walked out from behind his booth. Two security guards also approached. "Are you traveling alone Mr. Jones?"
Hunter thought for a moment, "Both my other traveling companions are over there."
The security guards approached Dane and Carter, "Come with us please."
Two more guards picked up their baggage and began dumping the contents out on a nearby table.
They were each escorted to separate interrogation rooms.
In Hunter's room, an interrogation ensued. While it lasted only several minutes, it seemed to last forever. Hunter could only hope that Carter and Dane remembered everything they had rehearsed.
Then, the interrogator barged in with dramatic flare. "Here is the deal Mr. Jones, I'm a betazed. I know you have been hiding information from me."
Hunter regarded the man for moment. He rationalized from his own experience with Betazeds that this was probably a bluff. If he were a betazed they'd already be incarcerated by the Federation.
Hunter hung his head low and feigned shame. Shaking his head, he said with an apologetic voice "I said we were here to be miners....Its the girls..."
The man pursed is lips and circled chair, stopping to stand behind Hunter. "So, you thought you could waltz right in and make a small fortune?"
"Well, the girls need money badly."
"You do know that prostitution is illegal?"
Hunter looked up and was about to deny that is what he meant when suddenly the man smirked and pulled out a card chip and handed it to Hunter.
"Mr. Jones, my cut is 50%. You make sure I see at least a deposit of 120 credits a day while you are here."
"Fifty percent?" said Hunter, "that's outrageous, 25 percent."
"Hmmmph." said the man bobbing a little bit, "Thirty five and I won't throw the lot of you in the brig."
Hunter took the card from the man and stood up, "Deal."
The man placed his hand on the door's security pad and gestured for the Captain to leave as it whooshed open.
Dane and Carter were packing their things back into their bags.
Hunter began to do the same. "They took our Latinum didn't they?"
"Not all of it." Carter said with a grin. "We better hurry, before they get suspicious."
"Let's go," echoed Hunter.