===== SB 234: UNITY =====
He was exiting the airlock and felt a bit awkward now being
in the wide promenade that stretched around the docking
ring. He got used to the confined spaces of the Qashqai.
Nonetheless, there was no time to waste, he tapped his comm.
badge.
+TAPS+"Terek to Guzman. Commodore, do you have a few
minutes? I've got some interesting news."
+TAPS+ Glad to hear you Terek. I'll be in my office in 15
minutes and will meet you there. Welcome back! +
====== Shane's office, 15 minutes later
======
Shane was already sitting behind his large wooden desk, when
his aide, Lieutenant Pakosii announced the coming of the
Chief Science officer. Shane signaled back that Terek should
come in and within a few seconds he entered the room.
"Welcome Terek" Shane said, standing up and offering his
hand for a shake. "Please take a seat and tell me what I
can get for you ..."
Bajoran shook Shane's hand "Good morning"
"A tarkelian tea would be nice, thank you." asked Terek and
sat down in the comfortable chair.
Coming back from the replicator, Shane placed the requested
drink in front on Terek and walked over to his own seat with
a cup of mild green tea in his hand. Seating himself he said
while smiling a bit: "So, what's your report
Commander."
"Where to begin. I'd say it was a successful mission. We've
discovered two potentialy minable moons. Sigma and Kappa
orbiting Aeran V. One with deposits of meitnerium and
potassium triglyceride and the other one has proven to have
few areas with dilithium veins."
"Sounds very good" Shane replied, "since you went for
the mission, the demand for resources tripled. We have
constantly three capital ships for repairs here in average
and as the war is progressing, I expect that number to rise
to five. Even now we don't have enough resources to cover
all demands and soon the shortage will reach a critical
limit. But the question now is what hardware and crew will
be needed to get those resources?"
"I'm sure that two mining parties would be more than enough
to create a regular weekly deliveries via few runabouts.
We've also discovered some stuff that might be of interest
to us. Some tritanium ore a few transonic elements. It's all
in my report." He handed Shane the data padd.
"Thank you" Shane took the report and briefly run over
the content. "Well done, Terek" Shane said again and
looked back at the CSCiO. "What about the mining
colony?"
"More exciting is that diplomatic team lead by lieutenant
commander Doran made a good deal. We've already brought ten
kilotons of Gallicite and Doran arranged for regular
supplies of it and any other surplus products in exchange
for medical care and military support in case of attack."
Nodding, Shane replied: "That's a good deal. We have
enough medical resources for now and we can get more of them
when needed. Military support is without questions approved.
The Aeran system is a part of the federation and its our
duty to protect it. But I am thinking now about how to mine
all those resources on the moons and asteroid belt. We do
not have the equipment to do it by ourselves and when I ask
Starfleet Command about a mining ship or outpost, they will
send one next year. We can't wait so long"
Terek though for a moment, rubbing his chin: "We could try
give away the mining concessions. We'll provide the scan
results and the best possible locations in exchange for a
percentage of the products. Say 50 percent of production.
The rest of it would be theirs to sell as they like."
"Hmmmm" Shane said, "the idea is not that bad. I am
not very fond about civilians being involved in our matters,
but when we really make an public offer for a concession for
mining, we could get the first resources to us very quickly.
Maybe some Ferengi trader or Bolian business man will use
the chance to make good profit …"
"Aye, but I have serious doubts that any Ferengi would agree
on 50 percent, but we can try to bargain."
"I'll think about it in more detail today and let you
know. Even with mining in civilian hands, we will need some
refinery devices here on the UNITY. Please get in touch with
Engineering and prepare me a list of what devices shall we
need and where we could install them."
Terek took another sip of his tea. The cup was almost empty
and he was getting hungry by the moment. "The needed
equipment could be a bit harder to obtain. Ore purificators
and processing machines are expensive not to mention we'll
have to set up a security storage facilities, because some
of the ores are unstable and potentialy very dangerous. BUt
I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."
"Heh" Shane smiled, "one last question ... how did you
like a command of your own?"
{Why didn't I expect this question} a bitter smile run
across bajoran's lips and wrinkles on his nose became even
deeper. "How to say it...mmm...I know why I have chosen a
scientific carrier. It wasn't too bad, but it's too
stressful." He chuckled "I prefer my long range sensors."
Shane smiled: "Well, commading is like drinking black tea.
One does not like the taste upon the first time, but the
more one drink the more one like it ... and if one is not
careful, then it get grown to addiction."
======= End of log ======
Commander Terek Werannis
CSCiO
SB 234: UNITY
&
Commodore Shane Guzman
CO, SB 234: UNITY
CO, 1st TF, SSF Command
