Mellom and Quinah:

Mellom and Quinah:
Working Together for a Better Life for All

     The planet of Mellom was a Garden Planet. Which means the whole planet was one huge garden. But it's not just the garden that was huge: So were the fruits and vegetables that grew there – the trees and plants too. There is something in the soil that made everything on Mellom grow huge.

     There were no people or animals living on Mellom. It's just fruits and vegetables plus a few trees and plants too. But in orbit around that planet there was a Space Station.

     That Space Station belongs to the nearby planet of Quinah. So did the planet of Mellom. The planet of Quinah had been surviving thanks to Mellom for over ten thousand years.

     Each month, sixteen times a year, a cargo ship was sent to Mellom to get supply for the planet of Quinah. And this month that cargo ship was Quinah Eleven – named after the month in which it was sent to Mellom.

     The Commander of Quinah Eleven was Beemov. And he had a crew of six hundred. Most of them were Gardeners. The rest ran Quinah Eleven.

     Once a cargo ship got to the Space Station, and Mellom, it only had one week, ten days, to get the supply needed and return home. In order for them to get it done in one week they needed help. That help they got from the Space Station.

     By the time they got to the Space Station the Space Station Gardeners already had a list of supplies that needed to be collected from Mellom. Usually they had at least half the list completed by the time the cargo ship got there.

*******

     The person in Command of the Space Station was Commander Storiana. She was in Control. And she could see Quinah Eleven on the Main Viewscreen. At the moment Commander Storiana was standing in front of the Main Viewscreen. She took one step back and sat in her chair which was right behind her. Once there she pushed a button on the side of her chair. Then she said to everyone on the Space Station, including Control, "The Quinah Eleven will be here in about five hours. I want to begin as soon as they get here. We are already two days behind normal Collection."

     Commander Storiana was contacted by all division on the Space Station. All of them stated they were ready for Quinah Eleven. She was very happy to hear that. They have been having problems with Collection lately. And she still didn't know why.

     Things were happening on the Space Station. Nothing life threatening. At least not yet. So far it's just been miner breakdowns. But the fact that they were all happening almost at once was what was worrying Commander Storiana.

     Usually Commander Storiana would be in Control a few hours before a cargo ship got there. And would greet the Commander of that cargo ship. Then they would retreat to her office to do business while the Collection Transfer began.

     Once the business was over, and it usually only took an hour or two, Commander Storiana and whoever the Commander of the cargo ship was would go to supervise the Collection Transfer.

     The Collection Transfer was a day and night operation. It had to be for the supplies to be transferred to the cargo ship as fast as possible.

     Just like the crew of the Space Station and at the moment Quinah Eleven Commander Storiana and Commander Beemov could stay up thirty/ten. It's true the people of Quinah didn't need any sleep. But if they didn't rest, and relax, for at least half a day they would become restless – and that was when mistakes happened.

     Was that why the Space Station was having so many problems lately? Commander Storiana didn't think so. She also didn't think it was wise to tell Commander Beemov about the problems either.

*******

     There were fifty Collection Shuttles used to collect the fruits and vegetables from Mellom. And there was twenty Gardeners per Shuttle – twenty five total with the crew of the Shuttles. Each one was on a difference part of the planet.

     While the Gardeners collected the fruits and vegetables the crew would first make sure that Shuttle was okay. By the time they did that the Gardeners would be starting to return with the fruits and vegetables. And they would help them to store them safely for the return trip to the Space Station.

     It only took a couple of days on Mellom each month to collect the fruits and vegetables. One day before the cargo ship got there - and one day after. Once it got back to the Space Station their job was done. You would think that they had an easy job. But they didn't. They might only work two days each month. But those two days felt like three weeks to them.

     Once the fruits and vegetables got to the Space Station they had to be cleaned and processed. That took another three, usually four, day to complete. That only left about four, if they were lucky five, days to transfer the fruits and vegetable to the cargo ship.

     That too sounded like a lot of time to complete. But considering the size of the cargo ship, and the fact that one cargo ship helped feed a planet of twelve billion, it wasn't.
They usually made it just before the deadline. So far they hadn't missed a month in over ten thousand years. And Pazkan wasn't going to let it happen this time either.

*******

     Pazkan was in charge of the Planetary Collection - also known as Mellom Collection. It's his job to make sure the Collection happened as quickly as possible.

     You would think like the Gardeners he only worked two days a month. But that wasn't true. Pazkan was the most busy those two days – but he was busy the whole month. When he wasn't monitoring the Gardeners and the Collection he was monitoring the re-creation of what they just collected.

     It didn't matter how much they collected within the next four and a half weeks it was given back to Mellom. Pazkan didn't know how it happened. But he didn't really care either. He was an Overseer – not a Gardener. All he cares about was that the Collection happened without trouble each month.

     Pazkan was his busiest during the Collection. He not only monitored the fifty Collection Shuttle locations but he also monitored the Gardeners too. And he did that by sitting in front of a wall of Wall Monitors. Each Shuttle location and Gardener had its, or their, own monitor.

     Each of the Gardeners also had Shoulder Cameras. And Pazkan used those Shoulder Cameras the keep in contact with them. The Cameras themselves could look front, back, left and right – left and right depending on which shoulder it's on. It can also look straight up too. Which can come in handy with a planet like Mellom.

     A press of a button lets Pazkan monitor whatever direction he wants, or needs, to see. And this month he had been monitoring one location in particular. Each month there was at least one, usually one or two, fruit and/or vegetable. This month Quinah needed Vatton most of all.

     Vatton looked like a Mushroom. Pazkan didn't know what a Mushroom was. He also didn't know if it was consider a fruit or a vegetable. All he did know was that was what Quinah needed. So that was what they were going to get.

*******

     The Collection process, especially the Vatton, didn't have any problems this month either. Neither did the Cleaning, the Processing and the Transfer.

     Once the Collection Transfer was completed Quinah Eleven left for Quinah. Now that Quinah Eleven was gone Commander Storiana could return to finding out why they were having problems on the Space Station.

     Commander Storiana had to find out what was going on with the Space Station. And she had to do it before someone got hurt – or even worse got killed.

The End?

The Word Count, including this line, is 1358.