Celestial Dawn

Mira

The quiet medium of deep space lay undisturbed and still as it had since the beginning. No sound to the ear nor movement to the eye, an ancient stillness permeated the coldness.  Time had no meaning to the nothingness, it was forever patient.

    A  shimmer, a blade of  clean, white light sliced through the darkness to create a deep cut in the void. A long dark shape split then widened the opening.  The immense object, an interplanetary space vessel, slowly forced its immense mass through the quivering break. 

     The Kishar, a Miorpean research ship, had traveled the deep expanse of space for an eon.   It passed through countless star systems, asteroid belts, stellar clouds and the vastness of  space and time. It's long journey coming to an end at a spiral shaped galaxy located on the outskirts of a giant supercluster.

     The craft emerged into a small solar system located midway between the galaxy's center and its outermost band of stars.  The great ship's gravitational flux drive powered down, the craft slowed, then settled into a stationary position around a small planet in an elliptical orbit around a large star.

The ship's smooth exterior blazed as brilliant light from the system's yellow dwarf star reflected off its facade. So large was the vessel that it cast an elliptical shadow on the planet below as it moved across the  sky. From the surface one might have thought a second moon, darker and more foreboding  then the one that obediently orbited the planet had inexplicably appeared in the night sky.

The crew had lain in sealed, darkened pods to preserve their body's moisture and energy reserves during the long trip. Having reached their destination, the personnel revitalization system activated. Sensitive monitoring systems supplied precise amounts of photons dispersed within fine water particles saturated with essential nutrients to act as catalysts to wake the travelers. Slowly, purposefully, the practiced crew began attending to the protocols that would bring the great ship to life.

     The Miorpeans were on a mission to study and analyze the results of a lengthy and recently completed terraforming operation. The ship circled the planet deploying orbital and elliptical sensing arrays. These satellites  would provide the data scientists and researchers would use to analyze the planets new environment and its viability for colonization. 

         Initial reports indicated the terraforming was a complete success. The planet was nearly lifeless and barren when first visited. Now it had more flora as a percentage of its land mass than any other the Miorpeans had previously recovered. The environment was lush and sultry,  two thirds of its surface lay beneath vast oceans and the land masses were shrouded in dense forests and tropical jungles.

    The Recovery and Reclamation Team had transformed a dying and desolate planet into one that was perfect for habitation by beings with their unique physical traits.

Miorpean scientists were eager to explore this new wonder of the universe.

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The early morning sun lifted through the inflamed horizon as rays of unspoiled light slowly climbed the eastern slope of the heavily wooded mountainside.  On a large plateau, sparkling flashes revealed the location of large dome shaped structures that made up the Miorpean research camp. 

A large interstellar transport vehicle doubled as  the  research and analysis facility. There were five personal shelters, one for each member of the team, arranged in a semicircular pattern facing the entrance of the transport. A larger structure centered within the camp served as the common assembly hall.

Filtered through the planets dense atmosphere, waves of electromagnetic radiation interacted with solar panels that made up the exterior of the habitats. Photovoltaic materials on each dwelling produced enough energy to power the facilities and stored any excess in liquescent solar cells.