Even though Outpost Houtman was dealing with the earlier quake, the personnel was coming. Cracking his neck as Nakil arrived back at the shuttle zone. “Sorry I am late, base a wreck and everywhere is something going on” He looked at the new arrivals and gave their stamp of approval to begin and then saw the Cardassian in front of him. “Ahh Lieutenant Drasa, welcome to Outpost Houtman”

Lieutenant Drasa stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He raised a brow ridge as he was addressed, “Thank you, Commander.” He took a moments pause to take in his surroundings before looking back at Nakil, “I admit, I cannot tell if my arrival was precisely on time or terribly inconvenient.”

“Make it as you see fit, Lieutenant” Nakil shrugged a bit, looking around. “The colonial service has made an educated mistake in thinking that the lower we are, the saver we are. The surrounding ground is very unstable, and my first officer is already en route to find a more suitable location for us to expand”. He looked back at the Lieutenant “You don’t have much experience with these kinds of projects, right?”

Saro’s lips twisted into an amused smirk, “I can’t say that I do, sir. But I have enough service under my belt that I am sure I will adapt and learn quickly.” Cardassia was a rather stable planet. An unstable one was a bit of a scary concept to Saro. He nodded slowly, a few ideas coming to mind already, but he would definitely need to experiment. “Regardless, I am confident already.”

Giving a nod to Saro, Nakil thought for a second “Well you learn as you go as they would say at Earth. The idea is the base is going to expand in phases. Get a stable area to build on, build a mining operation nearby and expand our colony” He counted with his fingers “So you will be quite busy with operations to get things…going” 

Saro nodded slowly as he listened, “Precisely.” He arched a brow ridge, inclining his head, “Stable foundation built first is logical. Everything else will fall in place after that.” He offered a faint smile, “Good, I prefer to be kept busy, extraordinarily so.” Being kept busy meant his mind is busy and that is exactly what he wanted.

Nodding to him, “So while I could have read your history and service record in great length, I do tend to ask my officers to tell them about themselves.” Nakil kept walking a bit around to keep an eye out for changes in the area or if he needed to help somewhere. “Who is Saro?” He bluntly asked, looking at the Cardassian. 

Saro faltered half a step at that question. Not only did he not like it, he wasn’t entirely sure how to answer it. He bluntly replied, “That’s a good question. I’m still figuring that out on a personal level.” His tone was a bit tense as if he didn’t want the Commander to pry too much into him personally. “But I have always been passionate about engineering. Adapting to the Federation wasn’t easy, but I am glad I did so at a younger age.”

Seeing how uneasy the Chief was about the question made Nakil wonder “Hmmm” He thought for a second “Well adapted to Federation technology on a wild untamed planet like this is an ongoing dilemma. I will give you a tip in advance….expect the unexpected, and you will do fine here. This planet is fairly unknown to anyone and we only been here a few days and already got hit by a quake” 

Saro nodded slowly as he listened, “I understand. Expect the unexpected. Story of my life more or less.” He gave a faint smile and nodded. He pretended his uneasiness from earlier never happened. He was unreasonably paranoid about people finding out that he used to be female, worried they may ship him back to Cardassia to bear the future generations of children.

Nakil looked at Saro and looked a bit worried “You okay there Lieutenant?”

Saro sighed softly. He shrugged a shoulder and offered a faint smile, “Unreasonably paranoid about my past chasing me. I’m sure it is all detailed on my medical files.” Cardassian’s were a very private people by nature, and some things he did not wish to discuss quite so openly.

He hums to that “Well trust me that paranoid will not be needed here. We are far at the edge of Federation space and from Cardassia, if that is your concern” Nakil smiled “We are here to write history because every colonization has its own mark in history” 

Saro dipped his head, “That is precisely why I picked this posting, sir. A fresh start, so to speak.”

Giving a nod “Good” giving a patch on his shoulder “Fresh starts is what colonization is basically all about and we got enough work here. Do you have any questions regarding this base? I bet you have a million questions” Nakil tried his best to be open and approachable. 

Saro stiffened at the unexpected touch. Right, other species were typically more friendly in such regards than Cardassians normally are. He inhaled deeply and shrugged a shoulder, shaking his head slightly, “None other than the usual and whether this place is run like the typical Federation standard or if there are changes due to the nature of the Outpost.”

Thinking for a second “We are run like a typical Federation base, but the nature of the base is leading” Nakil shrugs a bit crossing his arms. “For example, Starbase Bravo has the nature of focusing on fleet affairs and new cadets, while Eos Station….well let us say you don’t want to be found there” He remembers reading the reports on its status. “While we are focusing on what is asked of us, sure colonizing is our goal, but Starfleet doesn’t send us for no reason” He smiled “We need to get the mining operations going, this planet is rich on dilithium”

Saro inclined his head once in response, “That is quite satisfactory, thank you, sir. Other than that, I have no other questions.” He paused, clasping his hands behind his back, “Well, I suppose one more; When can I get started? I have a feeling I have a lot to do, and I am keen on getting to it.”

He gave a small smile “Well the moment you step foot on this ground you already started. We have a briefing soon about the relocation of the base, follow me” Nakil spoke and started to walk to the Operation Center. 

Saro nodded in satisfaction at that. The sooner he got started, the better. He turned to follow Nakil.