Back to Earth 2

Alright…. busy days aboard the Enterprise-D. Doubling the size of the crew is not an easy task. Our PAO office has been heavily occupied, since we are the liaison between the ship and the civilian matters surrounding our in-port activities. The rush of activity has died down, though, so let’s see if we can get back to the business of posting.

That said, I can now confirm the nature of our next mission. Starfleet Command has ordered the Enterprise to conduct a follow-up mission to Earth 2, the exact copy of Earth that we discovered back in May/June 2365 -- of our previous history. Here, in this reset timeline, no one has discovered Earth 2 yet, so we get to go back there again, for the first time.

This time, since we already know what to expect, we can return with more specialized equipment. To that end, we have taken aboard dedicated archaeological personnel, era-specific historians, state-of-the-art scanning equipment, temporary structures, two additional mission-specific runabouts, cargo, and more. We are better prepared to explore the ruins of 1960s Earth 2, and we have the ability to probe deeper into the remains of a global civilization that appears to have been wiped out by an unknown disease.

One thing I, myself, am looking forward to, is, once again, joining a science team down on the planet. Only this time, I own a runabout, and that runabout will be my residence while I am down there. Last time – in our previous history (that no longer exists) – I “camped” in a temporary pre-fab mission building. It was suitable, but not overly comfortable. My runabout has beds, a kitchen, separate rooms, mission space, computer terminals, and a transporter. The transporter will allow me to easily move between the surface, and my PAO office on the Enterprise. The extra cabins will also allow me to house mission guests, like members of my PAO staff (and others), who may wish to participate in elements of the planet-side studies.

With my personal runabout, our two standard Enterprise science runabouts, the two transport runabouts now assigned to the Enterprise, as well as the two temporary mission runabouts, we will have SEVEN Danube-class runabouts available to assist in mission affairs. Add in the new pre-fab mission structures (not the same as those we used last time), supplies for multiple science encampments, at least 300 mission personnel, and a stronger reliance upon shuttle relocation, we are more than ready to increase our knowledge of Earth 2.

To say the excitement level is high aboard-ship, would be an understatement. Those of us native to the USS Enterprise-D, are going back to a mysterious place we’ve already been. Those who have come aboard the Enterprise, are fascinated by the existence of another identical Earth solar system, that they never knew existed.

Yes, my friends, we’re heading out to do some more exploring. Our departure date is set for Monday. Let’s see what else this second Earth has in store for us!

-Lieutenant Sam Archer

-------------------------------------------------------------
November 5, 2367 -- (Devron Timeline w/ Temporal War Reset)