Once Harry had worked through his magical storage and scheduled the trips he wanted to take while he was on Earth, he got a bit bored. He decided he was going to act on something that continued to concern him. His first step was talking to the King. "Majesty, do you remember what you told me when I arrived the first time?"
"About what, Sir Harry?" the King asked with some curiosity.
"You said that the Royal Family had funded transporter technology so as to clean up Britain from the effects of World War III."
"That's right," Charles agreed.
"How long did it take to clean up the land?" he asked.
The King considered that. "It took years, though it became much easier toward the end."
"With the advances in transporters and scanners?" Harry asked.
"Exactly. The first thing that had to be removed was radioactive particles – elements that had been irradiated and which now were radioactive themselves. That wasn't hard because the scanners could detect the radiation. No. What was difficult was the next step."
"Which was?"
"The fallout was … ," Charles stopped and then re-ordered his thoughts. "The immediate poisonous aspect was bad enough. But what lingered was worse: Chemicals that were thought to be normal were actually isotopes that proved deadly. Almost nothing grew, and that which did contained toxic levels of these isotopes which would kill animals which made their way back.
"Soil reclamation was done by very large machines which had extremely precise targeting scanners to detect and then remove the damaged soil or organic material. It was only in the final years of the project that scanners could be used at larger distances."
"How did that help?" Harry asked curiously.
"Instead of cleaning it in place, the top layer of soil was transported out, put through a cleaning process, and then transported back once scanners determined if and how it was contaminated."
"Sounds like a lot of work," Harry observed.
"It was," the King agreed. "But we were determined to reclaim Britain for the people. It was the only choice." He took a sip of the refreshments delivered by Harry's retainers. "Why the interest?"
Harry sighed. "How much do you know of what happened on Bajor?"
Charles thought about it. "I studied what was known when the Botanical Institute was commissioned. But what specifically are you thinking of?"
"When the Cardassian occupation ended, they acted like the Romans of old," Harry explained. "They destroyed the infrastructure and poisoned vast tracts of farmland out of spite as they left."
Charles winced with distaste. "If they couldn't use it, no one could?" Harry nodded in agreement. "I can understand why you are so interested in how we cleaned up Britain." Charles looked at his loyal knight. "Why are you so invested in cleaning up Bajor?"
Harry considered that for a long moment. "I think it is because I came in via the wormhole and I feel a connection. Besides, it's the right thing to do."
Charles agreed. "Do you know what the poisons are?"
Harry named it. "Mostly the byproducts of processing the ore they strip-mined Bajor for."
"How poisonous is it?"
Harry called it up in the database and showed it. Charles whistled. "That's bad."
"It stopped a lot of plants from growing and ruined a lot of crops. It was one of the reasons the Bajoran Provisional Government called in the Federation – otherwise people would have starved."
Charles asked, "How are they dealing with the contamination?"
"They have soil reclamators … just not enough. Different farming communities are on a long list prioritized by the Provisional Government. Unfortunately, politics are involved as far as who gets them first or for how long. They are building reclamation plants – but that runs into the nimby principle." Charles looked curious at the slang term. "Nimby – not in my backyard. It covers things that people know are needed but they don't want to be anywhere near. 'Let someone else deal with having it'."
Charles said, "I understand the concept, I just never heard it referred to as … nimby?" Harry nodded. "Current practice on Earth favors those who have to suffer disadvantage due to infrastructure requirements. They are often given better access to things considered luxuries or are the first to see improvements implemented."
Harry chuckled, "I guess there are good things about moving away from the concept of money and wealth – as long as there isn't endemic corruption."
Charles agreed. "Do you have a sample of the soil?"
Harry chuckled. "I have seven different containers with about 5 kilograms each from different areas. I could have assumed it was all the same but, well, I don't trust arseholes that much. And the Cardassians seemed to be arseholes about things when they left Bajor."
Charles admitted, "You have a point. Contact the Botanical Institute – their scanners are very good."
Harry looked at Charles and said with some embarrassment, "I didn't even think of that route. On Bajor, the Institute is concentrating on proper fertilization for different crop plants. I didn't even consider making the request for a detailed analysis of the poisoned lands because the major poisons are generally known."
Charles shrugged, "It is better to have the actual samples. We still have the reclamators that were used before the final facilities were built – they are owned by the Royal Household. We haven't had a need of them in years now."
Harry asked, "Can they be moved to Bajor?"
"They can but not instantly. It takes a special shuttle to move them and even on a large starship there is limited cargo space."
"What would it take?" Harry asked.
Charles made arrangements and Harry was taken to the storage facility. As promised, the soil reclamators were HUGE. They were also modular, allowing them to be disassembled and flown by shuttle. Manufactured on Earth and used on Earth, no one had actually ever attempted to move them to another planet.
The Hereditary King of Great Britain made arrangements with Starfleet Academy. The professors were quite enthralled with the idea of exposing their students to technology they might have to repair during their service in Starfleet. Not everything Starfleet ran into was shiny and new.
During Harry's six weeks on Earth, the eight machines were made operational. The shuttle which was needed to move the frames was brought up to operational status as well.
Benjamin Sisko hit his comm badge. "Go ahead."
"Commander," Dax's voice came through. "We've received a request via subspace from Earth."
"What kind of request?" he asked.
"According to this, a video link communication will come in at 18:46 Bajoran time originating from … New Buckingham Palace on Earth."
Sisko's eyes widened. "That's a long distance call for just a hello. I assume it's from our Knight Errant?" he asked with a small amount of amusement. That was the nickname that the command staff used to refer to Harry after he had left.
"Not entirely," Dax replied. "The request if for you along with your Second-in-Command, Major Kira, and the originating party is the Hereditary King. Also present will be the Hereditary Crown Prince, William, and Sir Harry Potter."
"Sounds official; please ask Major Kira to see me when she gets on shift."
"Yes, Commander," Dax said with a smile.
Having been warned Sisko and Kira were ready and the call was patched through. Both had looked up the protocols as well. "How may we be of service?" Sisko asked after introductions were completed.
Charles answered, "Major Kira, I specifically called to speak to you. My son, Prince William, and Sir Harry require your assistance as regards a matter of importance."
"Sir?" she asked for more information. She wasn't Human and Bajorans weren't too impressed with royalty.
He didn't seem offended. "You are aware that Sir Harry Potter is planning on returning to Deep Space 9 and Bajor in approximately 4 weeks?"
"Yes. He alerted us to his plans before he left."
"Good. We will need clearance to deliver some equipment, but fear someone may interfere if we announce it publicly. We have heard reports that there might be some issues with some elements of Bajoran society?"
Major Kira sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately. A movement called the Circle has stirred up resentment toward non-Bajoran interference. There has been an advisory for non-Bajorans to stay to busy areas and to travel in large groups. What specifically needs to be delivered and how quietly can it be delivered?"
Harry spoke then, "It cannot be quiet – but we would like to deliver right after the Tellarite freighter carrying it arrives in system."
Sisko asked, "What is being delivered?"
William spoke, "My Royal father has been apprised of the spiteful actions committed by the Cardassians upon being forced to leave. There are currently 35,000 hectares – 350 square kilometers – of poisoned farmland requiring reclamation. Or so it was reported?"
Kira nodded. "Yes. Some areas have been reclaimed and large-scale processes are being planned. It will take years."
"Unacceptable," Charles voiced. "We are dissatisfied with the level of effort being expended by others claiming a lack of resources."
Harry murmured, "That's the Royal We."
Charles flashed Harry a sardonic look and then became serious again. "Commander Sisko? Are you familiar with the efforts that were required to reclaim the vast majority of the English countryside after the end of World War III?"
Kira looked at Sisko who explained, "The Augment Wars, precursor to World War III, began when the augments in charge of various nation states on Earth bombed industrial and political centers around the world. Earth lost 600 million lives and the vast majority of cities and governments. And while the Augment Wars began with widespread slaughter, World War III included directed ecological attacks on enemy lands. There is a reason why San Francisco became the capital of North America – the East Coast was a ruin. Efforts have been expended in the time since to reclaim areas that were declared uninhabitable. Much of England was included in that. The Royal family, descended of the last member of the Royal family to survive the initial attack, has directed every resource to return England to its former glory."
"Quite," Charles said. "Our family also did this to ensure our traditional subjects could grow their own food and live well. We may no longer rule but We are the caretaker of Great Britain and its people."
Kira said, "So you have experience cleaning poisoned land."
"Yes. Our last eight reclamators, each large enough to process five kilometer per hour in wide swaths are being serviced and brought up to operational status. With maintenance requirements, the maximum daily operation is sixteen square kilometers per day for the fleet. 350 square kilometers can be done given sufficient effort. Add processing and removal time for what is removed from the soil, two months will be needed if everything goes perfectly. It will likely take twice as long because things rarely go perfectly."
Kira was agog – this was not what she had been expecting. "When would they arrive?"
"Five weeks. The USS Glen Lyon will be carrying the crew needed to service the machines and to teach your people to operate them. I am sure it will be a matter of pride that your own people did the hard work. The shuttle to move them around will come with them."
Kira said, "Anything to help recover from the occupation is a blessing. What supplies will be needed and what happens when we are finished using the machines?"
William spoke, "They will need fuel – plasma energy, the same as you use for the machines you already have. An energy supply for the fifteen days of operation will arrive with the fleet. The materials that will needed to replace the damaged and poisoned portions will have to be provided by your world. And when Bajor is finished with the reclamators, they will need to be cleaned before being stored. As far as returning them to Earth – we will determine what we wish to do with them once the process is complete. It's possible they could be used by other planets suffering from the need to clean their soil from past mistakes."
Major Kira considered it. "I will have to get permission from at least someone in the Council of Ministers."
"Can you be assured that whomever you contact will act in the best interests of Bajor?" There was a hard truth: Politics were more important than people to many.
Harry slapped himself on his head. "We're forgetting the Institute again. Much of what we're doing … instead of contacting the Ministers we can work through the existing charter of the Botanical Institute. The Institute already works with land owners. Do you see any trouble with that approach?"
It took some work but the Institute made arrangements with a landowner that was grateful for the assistance he had already gotten. Major Kira then reported the planned delivery as unspecified equipment to be owned and managed by the Botanical Institute.
Major Kira and Commander Sisko were very careful to minimize knowledge of what was coming. When it arrived, it would become known quickly. But there was too much of a chance of interference from the Cardassians, Bajorans, or even Ferengi who wished to make a profit from charging a fee to arrange such services.
