Crumbling Stones and Sliding Sands
Chapter 1 Prologue
"And there by a story had just begun..."
Indriani Bhaduri
Sansora is class M planet in the outermost edge of Alpha Quadrant. It has a temperate climate, four main continents, deep green lush forests, a thriving and viable wild life population, profuse flora and fauna, three large blue green oceans, several friendly and accessible mountain ranges from which one can see beautiful vistas, three major seasons, and a thriving educated populace that knows little of poverty and strife. It is not an idyllic planet by any means, but it's close.
Sansora achieved warp capability three generations ago, so it qualifies for First Contact from the United Federation of Planets. First Contact by the Star Ship The Hood a year ago, goes very well. The government of Sansora greets The Hood officers with genial reserve and, after several days of "greet and meet" and an exchange of mutual and cordial putting the cards on the table, Sansora agrees to join the UFOP. The Sansorans show mild curiosity about other worlds, other life forms, and other world governments, but nothing beyond that. They are however, a pragmatic people, and since they agree with the philosophy, ideals and political concepts of the UFOP they have no issues with joining and reaping the benefits of belonging. Warp capability has apparently not engendered in them the curiosity or the impetus to leave their solar system often, so they have not strayed far from their cosmic neighborhood. However, if other worlds come to them, then that's fine. The Hood officers show respect, discretion and patience and don't push them in any way and the Sansorans like that.
The humanoids that live on Sansora are all one species. They are an attractive people. Their skin is a pale bronze, they have large expressive eyes, either green or grey, aquiline noses and soft slightly pursed lips. The males are tall, broad shouldered, lean, with dark hair; the females are smaller, have delicate refined features and waist-long black hair which they wear in an intricate braid. They dress in soft pastel clothing. The men wear loose tunics and softly gathered pants, the woman wear a flowing knee length gown tied at the shoulders and a girdle around their waist. All of them wear soft closed boots. They are gentle with each other in their speech and in their interactions. In the entire time the First Contact team is there, they see no anger, no yelling, no dissention expressed among themselves. They are tranquil and serene and speak softly to the team and to each other. The children; the entire contact team falls in love with the children because they are charming. They are beautiful, very affectionate, calm and happy, lovingly treated by their parents, by their extended families and by their siblings. The babies are carried in mesh carriers either in the front, if the babies are new born, so they are able to suckle at the breast, or if they are older, on the backs of the adults. Both the male and female Sansorans carry the older babies. The children attend school and the population appears to be well fed and well educated.
The First Contact team of The Hood reports that the planet is divided into provinces and each province has a government; also each city in the province has a local government. They also report there is very little crime and there appears to be no incarceration or prisons. If a transgression occurs, the Sansorans assign some kind of community service to the transgressor and that's the end of that. The Sansoran cities are well planned; there are no over populated or ghetto areas and the cities are very clean. There are schools, government buildings, hospitals and recreational areas. Sansoran homes are not large, but are attractively decorated and adequate for the size of the family who inhabits them.
All this, The Hood team reports, is on the plus side for this new and beautiful Federation planet. It is not quite a paradise, but it's close. So close in fact, that some of the First Contact team whisper to each other their private opinion; that it would have been better to leave Sansora alone and undisturbed to continue to flourish in hidden isolation away from Klingons and busy body Federation personnel.
The report does go on to say that there are two very large minuses that might adversely affect the planet. Sansora, as beautiful and tranquil as it is, has large and very unstable Tectonic plates across all it's continents and oceans which cause earthquakes with regularity. All the buildings and homes in all the cities are reinforced for this reason. The reinforcements are adequate for the seismic tremors that have thus far occurred, but, the geological team tells the Federation in guarded and somber rhetoric, if a BIG ONE comes, which will eventually happen, there is some doubt that these reinforcements will hold. They estimate that an earthquake of 8. 0 to 8.9 on The Richter Scale will cause major damage to their sturdy and earth quake resistant buildings and structures. If there is a quake of 9.0 or greater, it will cause near or total destruction, severe damage or collapse to all buildings, and there will also be tsunamis to contend with as well.
The other elephant in the room, is that Sansora is very close to the Klingon/Federation border. So far the Klingons have shown no interest in Sansora, probably because they have nothing the Klingons want and also because Sansora keeps a very low profile and has not ventured much outside their own solar system. But now that Sansora has joined the UFOP, this could change. The proximity of Kronos and the seismic report cause a great deal of concern to Federation Xenobiologists. A vulnerable or distressed planet is a planet ripe for Klingon plucking and after much debate it is decided that Sansora is to be nurtured and protected.
The Hood First Contact team does the best they can in the limited time they have to gather information as well as to impart it to the Sansorans, but eventually they must leave the planet. There is a public and mutually happy leave taking with promises from Star Fleet and the Federation to return as soon they are able.
The Hood's first contact team sends their final report to Federation headquarters and the report definitely states that Sansora needs help in some basic necessities in order to continue their peaceful existence so close to the Klingons. Federation headquarters passes the report to Star Fleet Admirals who read it with great attention and who decide that something must be done; a decision is made.
The Admirals decide that the Sansorans need to upgrade their defenses, their communication arrays, and their medical facilities. They also need to have a disaster plan in place in case that severe earthquake strikes at some point. It is the unilateral opinion of The Hood geological team that the Sansorans are living on borrowed time because of the probability of a major earthquake. To this end, and after endless discussion about how to proceed, new orders are sent to The Enterprise. Captain Kirk and his crew are to go to Sansora to help the planet with these endeavors. Captain Kirk is also told that his Engineering, Communication, Medical and Security departments have carte blanche with enough credits and materials to help the Sansorans. Enterprise is to stay in Sansora long enough to provide hands-on assistance to get the sub standard infrastructures upgraded and well on the way to par, and at the same time, they are to cruise the solar system to ensure that the Klingons know that Sansora is off limits and that the mighty Enterprise will make absolutely sure it stays that way.
