Early the next morning saw Swytch in line at the transporter terminal station, hys bags floating lightly behind hym as hy waited for hys turn in line. Hy was going to miss hys folks, but the idea of the adventure awaiting hym helped to bolster hys mood considerably. As hy made hys way forward in line, hys mind wandered back over hys years in school and hys childhood before that. Hys parents were always very supportive of their slightly odd child and hy would repay that support by doing the best hy could at everything hy set out to do. Finally, hy was the next in line and handed the transport tech his orders. The tech looked at the destination and shivered.

"Are you being punished or did you volunteer for this?" the tech asked with a grin.

Swytch smirked, "I was recruited for it and I'm looking forward to the challenge!"

The tech programmed in the coordinates and motioned Swytch into the transporter pad. "Well good luck! Don't eat the yellow snow!" he joked.

And with a whir of energy, Swytch found himself on the distant end of the transport staring at a raccoon morph in a Hawaiian shirt and board short. Swytch blinked a couple of times looking at the morph and the raccoon grinned, "Hurry up and get off! You're my replacement and there is a beach with fruity drinks calling my name!"

Swytch moved off the pad quickly as the raccoon moved himself and his bags on the pad and with a grin, waved and disappeared in a swirl of energy.

"Don't mind, Scrapper. He's been looking forward to his vacation for the past 18 weeks," said an upbeat tenor. Looking around, Swytch spotted a patchwork colored chakat lounging on a taur pad in the living area smiling at hym. "Welcome to ARCS Station 2, humbly referred to as The Ice Box."

The chakat stood up and sauntered over to Swytch offering a traditional hug before saying, "My name is Leftpaw, child of Quickstep and Trill. My friends call me Lefty."

Swytch returned the hug, "My name is Swytch of Clan Redpaw, child of Jynxy of Clan Redpaw and Riot. Pleasure to meet you Shir." Hy stepped back and gave the 'kat a curious look. "Leftpaw?"

Leftpaw laughed and sat back down. "Mom is a dancer and dad is a singer. They wanted me to follow in their paws but I was diagnosed at an early age with a horrible disease. Two left paws! Plus, I can't carry a tune in a shuttle craft with a professional pilot," shi laughed at hirself good naturedly and Swytch joined hir. "Well, let me show you around your new home away from home for the next year. This habitat is a three-pod complex with everything one needs to survive in arctic conditions.

"The ARCS station is set up into three different modules," Leftpaw explained.

The area we are in now is the living quarters. The imaginary line where the tile starts is the kitchen and the carpeted area is the living area. The living area has the transporter pad, reading nook with library, pool table, movie collection and relaxation area with furniture. The kitchen has everything you need to make just about any meal you can cook."

Shi pointed to the wall where plants were under a sunlight, "And over there is the hydroponics area for fresh herbs and vegetables." Shi led hym across the kitchen and palmed open a door. "This is Scrapper's old room. We've already cleaned it up and it's ready for you to move in. PLUS, it's right by the kitchen so grumpy taurs with the munchies can sneak out at night for a late-night snack," shi said with a laugh. "Go ahead and drop your things in there and I'll show you the rest of the buildings."

Looking around, Swytch dropped hys bags on the bed; the room had a bathroom with shower, desk, taur sized bed, closet, and shelves on the walls for nick-knacks. It could definitely be worse!

Swytch stepped out of the room palming the door closed as Leftpaw said, "If you'll follow me, the next building is the array." Swytch followed Leftpaw through a hallway leading off the kitchen into another larger building. This one had plasticrete walls on the bottom floor and a huge protective "golf ball" on the top to protect the array of antennae and the sensitive equipment at the ground level. "What you'll mainly be responsible for is the antimatter fueled genie, the environmental control systems, and the communications array equipment." Shi showed him each individual piece of equipment and went over the various functions and schematics with hym. "The doors in the back of the room are the data storage arrays, your coworker will be responsible for that when he gets here."

Shi lead hym to the other side of the circular pod showing hym the encryption control center and the data storage links as well as the command and control section for the entire habitat.

Next, shi led Swytch down another corridor at the lower section of the array room and into another envirodome. This one had rows and rows of shelves with various stored goods and spare parts. "We get shipments once every four months. Be sure to keep the inventory up to date and logged in the inventory control system or you won't get what you need when you need it. We made that mistake once and were stuck eating cauliflower for four months," shi shuddered. "There is a bio-lock cage in the back with spare encryption equipment that your coworker will have access to so you won't need to worry about it. It will automatically update inventory if he takes anything out."

Leftpaw sauntered towards the back of the room to a closed door with a computer interface panel. "This is the holosuite. Comes in very handy if you can't make it off site for your cycle peaks." Shi then typed a couple of commands into the control panel and an automated voice stated, "Program loaded and running, enter when ready." Leftpaw palmed the door open and lead Swytch inside to a forest clearing with a hot spring in the middle. It was gently steaming as snow made its lazy way to the ground from the dark pregnant clouds above. "This is one of my favorite programs, nothing like a nice soak in a hot bath to relax after a long day. Plus, it's a fun place to play and relieve stress when you need it," shi giggled. "Just be careful, your coworker can walk in on you since the suite doesn't lock for safety reasons. You should have seen Scrapper's face the first time he caught me in here... PRICELESS!"

Swytch laughed at the mental image and looked thoughtful for a moment, "You don't perchance have any information on your replacement, do you?" hy asked.

Leftpaw shook hir head, "I only know he's a he and a last-minute replacement for Gemini who took a contract with Star Corps for a new survey mission. Gemini is a Stellar Foxtaur who ended up getting motion sickness in space," shi shook hir head. "Poor dear felt horrible until shi found hir niche with mechanical engineering. Shi used to come in here once a week to see if shi could get over hir motion sickness. It never ended very well." Leftpaw made a face and shivered at the memories.

Shi looked up, "Computer, end program," and the simulation ended leaving the standard cross hatched patterned floor and walls as well as the recessed nodules of the holo-emitters. "Well that's about it, the other tunnel leads back to the living quarters."

They both exited the holosuite and headed back to the living quarters, chatting amiably about this and that. When they got back to the quarters, they both made warm beverages and sat on the taur pads and talked until quite late into the night.

Leftpaw then invited Swytch to join hir in hir quarters for some friendly cuddling. This became a regular thing for the rest of the week while Swytch got into the routine of hys new job and learned the ropes from the training programs in the holosuite. Time seemed to fly by and before hy knew it, Leftpaw had hir bags packed in the living area as shi patiently waited for hir replacement to arrive. Slightly after noon, the transporter made its warning warble as it scanned the immediate area for obstructions. With the whir of initiated energy, a small pile of luggage and a thoroughly baffled looking human appeared blinking around at his surroundings. "Well, THIS is going to be interesting!" thought Swytch. Swytch had never actually met a human before, and other than being a tad surprised that one had shown up on Chakona of all places, was actually quite excited to meet him.