Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Thirty One: The Human Colony

September 20th 2412

"Rear Admiral's Log: Star Date 389279.930. We are headed towards a planet where we have detected fifty million Human life signs. Along the way we discovered a tank that was used by the Japanese People's Republic of the predominantly communist Eastern Coalition during the Third World War. The bloodiest and costliest conflict in Human history. We have reason to believe that the people on that planet are descendants of people who somehow got there during the height of the War and have established their own civilisation. We're hoping to find out how they got their so that we can perhaps shorten our journey home. Thankfully we'll be arriving in a few short minutes."

After finishing the Rear Admiral's Log Ethan sat in his chair wondering of what they would find upon arriving at the planet in a few minutes. There had been much talk and wonder regarding the planet across the entire Fleet. Many Human members of the Crew were indulged in learning as much about the era known as the Third World War as possible and many Acadians were amazed that Humanity had managed to recover from the War at all. There was also no telling what they were going to find there. Would they find a harmonious collective of law abiding citizens? Or would they find a feudal society of barbarians and warlords? Like with all cases of exploring the unknown, the possibilities were endless.

As Ethan further thought about what they might find, Lieutenant Toral Laren entered the ready room and said "Rear Admiral. We've arrived at the planet." Ethan then stood up and said "Well lets see it then." Ethan and Laren then walked out of the ready room and onto the Bridge to see the planet up ahead. Orbiting a yellow star with two planets being closer to the star was an M-class planet that was covered mostly by ocean. There were several island chains here and there, but there was little in the way of continents. As Ethan and Laren got to their respective stations, Voq said "It appears that the planet is mostly ocean." William, who was at the pilot's chair manoeuvring the ship into position, agreed and said "Yeah. Scans show that the biggest islands are no bigger than Alaska, where Captain William Riker is from." Ethan gazed at the planet with wonder and curiosity regarding what was there. He and the others weren't sure what they would find, but they had to find answers. Jodem then checked his scan results and said upon reading them "Rear Admiral. Scans show that there are settlements on an island roughly the same size at the main island of Japan. I'm detecting the fifty million Humans there Sir." Jodem then detected radio waves on his console and said "Sir there appear to be several thousand radio communications across the island. Accessing them now." A radio channel then activated and the Bridge Crew heard music playing. The music sounded like that of a flute and a piano playing. Ethan recognised it instantly as he said "That sounds like traditional Japanese music. I learnt it a lot whenever I visited my grandfather in Tokyo." As the music played a channel was opened by Captain Anaya from the Georgiou who said "I like it Rear Admiral. Has a very calming and harmonious ring to it." Ethan agreed and said "Well I did grow up listening to it."

The music then came to an end and a female voice said in a deep Japanese accent "Ladies and gentlemen that was some traditional music from Japan. The ancestral home land of Heiwans like myself who are of Japanese descent. I just want all of my fellow Heiwans whose ancestors are from Japan to know that I hold Japan deep in my heart as do the rest of you and dream of the day when we will once again stand side by side with our brothers and sisters back on Earth." Jodem then stopped the broadcast and saw a baffled look on Ethan's face. Determined to know more, Ethan said "We're going down there to get some answers. Commander Flores, Ensign Jackson, you two are with me. We're going to get to the bottom of this." Ethan then looked over at Jodem and said "Ensign Tal. Access visual broadcasts so we can get an idea of what the clothes on this planet look like." Jodem obliged and enacted some scans. When the results came through, Jodem said "Rear Admiral. I think I found a news channel of some kind." Ethan then said "Onscreen." and the viewscreen changed to show a newsroom with a man sitting at a desk. The man was clearly Caucasian and spoke in an Australian accent as he said "Good aye to you citizens of Heiwa. Today I am pleased to announce that the Central Government has today launched a new farm labour program that will put five million Yen into agricultural investment. Several new farms are going to be constructed to increase food production and create much needed jobs for the region."