Owen had slept his first night in his new home, named Clarity Lodge, and woke up to the sun shining in through the bedroom windows. He was soon dressed and walked from his now fully furbished bedroom into the living area. The furniture he had chosen was stylish and practical, made of a dark red wood, brushed metal and furnished with the light colored artificial suede material. The whole room looked more stunning that it had done empty. The agents had installed a satellite dish in the clearing outside to allow communication via the subspace relays on the orbiting starbase. The link was scheduled for completion sometime during the night and Owen noticed that the computer terminal on the desk near the large windows had a small blinking light on the screen.
He picked up the bread he had just toasted and walked over to the terminal and tapped the screen, bringing the display to life. The screen showed his message inbox, which had 163 unread messages. He quickly scanned through them and deleted the 'junk mail' that promoters refused to stop sending. He tapped the first message on the screen, an audio message from his parents.
[Standby... message playback begins...] the computer voice stated.
The next voice he heard was that of his mother.
[Hello Owen, we've not heard from you in a while, it's about a month I think... I hope you've got off that godforsaken rock on the border and found some better place to live...]
Owen glanced around the room as he heard the words, surely his mother would be happy at this.
[...we're planning on going on a field trip soon, so I thought I ought to let you know in case you wanted to come along...]
He shook his head at the thought of joining his parents on yet another field trip.
[...I doubt you'll have heard of the place, it's out in the far reaches of our space. You know your father is really interested in fish and marine life...]
She paused as though waiting for a response.
[...well he's found out about this marine biology research center. It's on a planet near the Briar Patch...]
Owen began to get worried suddenly.
[...yes I know, you wouldn't want us going there with the hostilities and all, but this little planet lives up to it's name, it's called Serenity, in the Serenity system....]
Oh dear god no, Owen thought. This cannot be happening
[...I'll send you the details if you want to visit sometime, get back to me when you receive this message, we're setting off on March 14th, so we should arrive about three weeks later, chat soon love, bye...]
The computer bleeped indicating the message was finished and Owen slumped into an armchair. March 14th meant that would be arriving this week sometime, well at least the house was tidy. He recovered his composure, got to his feet and walked back to the terminal. There was another text message from his mother stating they were setting off. He glanced down the list and noticed a message from his old Archaeology lecturer at Edinburgh, Doctor James Ferham, a true Englishman, complete with the still highly-self-regarded clipped precise dialect.
[Owen,] he began. [I've been speaking to your parents earlier today and I'm led to believe that they too are going to Serenity. As I said in my previous message, both the elaborate shapes on Tosnoqua and the possibility that the Trojan Planetoids are of artificial construction have led me to assemble an expedition from various universities within the Federation. The expedition will be primarily based on Tosnoqua, but my intention is to send research teams to Nero, and also a team to investigate some possibility of former settlement in the polar regions of Serenity. I would be delighted if you would join us on the expedition and feel free to choose which of three teams you wish to work with. If you are interested, Owen, you may contact me at any time, I will be reachable for the entire duration of traveling there and whilst I am on Tosnoqua. Thank you my friend, see you soon.]
The computer bleeped and the screen returned to a display of the inbox. It seemed everyone was coming to Serenity, no matter how hard Owen tried to find somewhere out of the way, as soon as he knew about it so did everyone else. He shook his head in amazement and tapped the computer screen to bring up the flights database. He glanced quickly through the Serenity arrivals chart and noted that the flight from Sol to Serenity on the 14th was scheduled to arrive in system tomorrow.
He tapped the communications section and requested a channel to the Australia, the starship bringing his parents and Doctor Ferham to Serenity. Moments later a woman appeared on the screen dressed in a uniform similar to that worn by Starfleet, except it was a maroon color.
[Australia communications, can I help, sir?] she asked.
"I'd like to speak to Doctor Dawn Williams please," Owen requested.
[Thank you, please wait a moment,] the woman replied.
The screen changed to the Federation crest and a second later to a view of the wall of a starship's living quarters. A woman came into view, she had dark hair and looked to be in her late 50s. Owen recognized the woman, she hadn't changed in the few months he had been away.
"Hi mum!" he said, as she turned to face the screen.
She seemed startled and the sudden outburst and then surprised and then overjoyed. She smiled at the sight of her son.
[Owen! What a pleasant surprise! How are you?]
"Fine thanks, I here you're coming to Serenity."
[Yes we are... what do you mean 'coming'... oh... are you there already?] she seemed surprised yet again.
Owen nodded. "Yes, it's my third day here, I have a house and a shuttle and by the sounds of it a job when John Ferham arrives."
[We've seen John this morning,] she replied. [He hasn't heard from you yet. He's been telling us all about the ruins on the pole of Serenity. Oh!]
She burst out suddenly, [apparently he would like you to have a look at an old starship they found in orbit of Bukwus. He said it was an old Federation one, I'm not sure what type he'll know all that, but apparently it was abandoned a long time ago due to a fault in the warp engines, so Starfleet have classified it as a historical vessel, I know how much you like old starships...]
Owen smiled, "Really? I haven't heard of it yet."
[Well John knows all about it, I'm sure he'll tell you,] she replied. [Are you going to meet us at the spacedock then?]
Owen nodded in reply, "Yes, mum, I can do, but I don't have room to put you up here."
His mother laughed in response. [That's okay, love, we've already got a house just outside the city, it was in the package, we're planning on staying on Serenity I think, it's full of things for us to study so it should keep us entertained.]
"That's great news," Owen said trying to sound enthusiastic about it. The computer bleeped, indicating the time limit on the communication was running out. "I'm sorry but I have to go, the Starbase relays can't handle unlimited length signals."
[Okay love,] she replied. [We'll see you there tomorrow.... bye....]
"Bye, mum," Owen said and tapped the terminal terminating the signal.
He looked around the room once again, making sure it was tidy. His old apartment on earth in Edinburgh had been full of rubbish and untidy for the duration of his study at university and his mother always complained about its state. Owen thought it remarkable this place was still clean after a day. He stood up and walked out of the door onto the deck and looked out over the river. The peace and quiet would probably soon change once his parents and friends arrived, so he would have to make the most of it today.
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