Caldik Prime
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Caldik Prime was discovered quite by accident. Its home system, H-248 in the Kalandra sector, comprises four stars of which the largest is a light blue main sequence example. Trill explorers and scientists had passed through the system many times, finding what they thought was a graveyard of at least five planets long ago torn to pieces by the gravitational forces of four stars. The resulting ancient debris field was enough to keep ships out of the system for decades. In 2257, a Denobulan mining surveyor called the J'tober suffered damage to her navigation systems and wandered into the asteriod field. On the opposite side was H-248's smallest star---called Caldik by the Trill---along with two orbirting planets.
The second of these is a Class M world, which was designated Caldik Prime. It is a small planet, roughly 10,000 kilometers wide. While the planet itself was unremarkable (other than it could support life), the nearby debris contains crystalline minerals valuable to several industries in the Federation. In 2263, the Denobulans began colonizing the planet but doing so had its risks, mainly possible large asteriod strikes to the surface. There was evidence abound that the planet had been struck several times over the millenia. When the Trill joined the Federation in 2285, many of the species flocked to Caldik Prime. To protect them, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers set out on an ambitious (and on-going) project to keep the system clear of dangerous debris. Today, the planet thrives from the mining.
MacArthur Station was established here in 2341 as a Starfleet logistics base.
The planet was the site where Ensign Tom Paris' piloting error killed three fellow officers. He was discharged from Starfleet after attempting to cover up the cause. (Voyager: "Caretaker").