I've been down on the ground, mostly in one small area with a very limited set of features, and however exotic they might be I'm used to them. Every talk today had my jaw dropping farther and farther. Sigma 957 is a beautiful planet.
I'm not sure where to begin. The geology team spent a long time in what they called Bell Valley (technically region VF-031), which is the ancient floor of a huge crater -- or at least that's what we thought. In fact it's a caldera, a volcanic basin spanning half a continent. The massive mountains at the perimeter have weathered away in towering crags disappearing into the clouds and cut with lush cracks that held spectacular waterfalls in the rainy season.
In one image Mori, Jes and Quin posed at the base of a giant wall of what looked like alabaster. It was actually a mineral formed from the shells of untold trillions of sea creatures, eons dead and cooked into hard, translucent stone. In the long shot you could see the sun brightening the limb of the entire cliff. The rock must be close to transparent in small quantities. Gregol joked about that being a good place for a summer home, although I couldn't help noticing the Tanzen settlement visible at the far end of the cliff.
Gregol did a lot of the presentations, which seemed a bit odd. Mostly the team leads let the junior members of the expedition give talks for their departments. It's a courtesy to let them build up cites for their work. He also kept calling the planet "Agricola," which is really just wrong. He seems in a great hurry to name things what he thinks they should be called.
Speaking of things named after Gregol, the "Luplakisaur" has been talking a lot of people's free time. Jayln gripes about how she has no time for her family, and yet she seems pretty content letting others look after little Chia and acts awfully grumpy when she has to take a break to feed her. I think Princeton may spend more time with his daughter than her mother does.
Chia is also beautiful. When she's not crying or eating she sits quietly, taking it all in. She's like a tiny wise monkey in a world where monkeys are not exactly an everyday occurrence. I hope she someday comes to appreciate how special she is to be here now.
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