Free The Solarian Celebration: Book 3 of the Alliance Conflict by Jeff Sims

summary.”
    …The planet has a diameter of 6,272 km (3920 miles).  Its mass is 97.2% of the intergalactic standard mass of Advranki Prime.  The planet has one moon, located 368,000 kilometers (230,000 miles) from the planet.  It has a diameter of 1,638 km (1,024 mi)…
    Carank said, “So, the planet is about the same size as Advranki 3.”  He thought for a moment and continued, “Actually, both the sun and moon are similar in size to the Earth and its moon.”
    Lorano corrected him, “Technically, this planet is about 1% smaller than the Earth and its moon is about 5% smaller than the Earth’s moon.”
    Carank responded, “Proving my point that they are about the same size.”
    …The planet has an atmosphere that is 77% nitrogen, 22% oxygen, 1% argon, and the rest are trace elements.  It has an atmosphere and an ocean of liquid water…
    Lorano said, “Well, that is great news.  The atmosphere is in the breathable range by all species.  We have actually found a habitable planet.”
    Carank said, “We should land and walk around.  We will be the first beings to step on this planet.”
    Lorano: “I agree.  However, we don’t have the equipment to perform a full evaluation of the air, water, and soil.  What if there are microbes that kill us the moment we breathe the air.”
    Carank responded, “Good point.  However, we have pilot flight suits aboard.  We can wear them while we are on the surface.”
    Lorano continued / interrupted, “Yes.  We could collect samples and evaluate them when we return to Waylon.  Or, if we are lucky, perhaps we will be able to locate a lab on Solaria and perform the analysis there.”
    Carank said, “Well, do we have any equipment on board that we could use to analyze anything?”
    “Of course we have…”  Lorano started speaking, but his voice trailed off mid-sentence.  Lorano remembered that he hadn’t packed any technical equipment.  Further, they had only discussed what to bring to Solaria.  He hadn’t until this very moment thought about what he would need to investigate a planet.
    Lorano continued, “Actually, I have no idea what we have on board.  Weren’t you responsible for packing the technical equipment?”
    Carank refused to answer the question.  Instead he said, “Let’s search the ship.  I will take the front half, you take the back.”
    They separated and Lorano went directly to engineering.  He searched for some piece of portable or even semi-portable piece of equipment that could be detached and taken to the planet.  He could use a portable scanner or possibly even something to collect samples.
    Lorano found nothing in engineering, so he searched all 5 cabins.  The first two were completely empty.  The third was his room and was bereft of anything useful.  He checked Carank’s room and found nothing helpful.  He searched the last room and found a cosmetic kit. 
    Once again, the item he needed was in the last place he looked.  However, he went ahead and inspected one additional room just so it wouldn’t be in the last place he looked.  It was important to go above and beyond sometimes.
    Lorano yelled “Jackpot” and returned to find Carank.
    Carank was returning and Lorano met him at the control room.  Lorano held up the cosmetics kit and said, “We can dump the make-up and wash the vials.  They can hold the water and soil samples at least.  I don’t think they are air-tight, so we won’t be able to collect an air sample.”
    Lorano noticed that Carank was carrying something, so he asked, “What did you find.”
    Carank held it up for inspection and replied, “It’s a Model 542.26.19 label maker.”
    “Impressive; we will be the first beings to discover and properly label a new planet,” said Lorano.  He overstressed the word ‘and’.
    Carank responded, “Well, I was hoping for a Model 345.22.14 diagnostic computer, but this is what I found.  Who knows, it may come in handy.”
    Lorano’s retort was