The Orpheus Mining Colony was a facility located on Earth's moon, established in 2090. It was still in operation in the 22nd century.
The patch that all miners wore, and the insignia of the station, had a Latin saying on it "sine qua non", which literally means "without which not", that translated into "something essential" or "cannot live without".
History
The colony was established by John Frederick Paxton's father in 2090, where he built it from the ground up. The colony could not use artificial gravity because it would be impractical, so miners and employees were to required to take injections of Myofibrilin. Knowing that mining could be a temporary operation if the resources being mined were depleted, Paxton's father took the industrious action of designing Orpheus to be mobile. The mining facility could literally launch off the surface of the moon and relocate to another planet. John Frederick Paxton would later take advantage of this design feature when attempting to further the goals of the xenophobic group which he led, Terra Prime.
Relocation
The Orpheus Mining Colony approaching Mars in 2155.
By 2155, John Frederick Paxton owned and operated Orpheus, which he inherited from his father. Using the mining facility as a base of operations for Terra Prime, he relocated Orpheus to Mars, where he hijacked the verteron array. Threatening to use the array to destroy Starfleet Command, he demanded that all non-Humans leave the solar system. Orpheus was infiltrated by a team from the Enterprise NX-01, led by Captain Archer. Archer was successful in taking control of the facility, but was unable to stop the verteron array firing sequence, which Paxton had locked. Fortunately, Commander Tucker was able to re-target the array, which fired harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean. (ENT: "Demons", "Terra Prime")
Employees
- Owner, John Frederick Paxton.
Medical Staff
- Doctor Mercer ( - 2155)
- Medical technician Susan Khouri ( - 2155)
Miners
- Josiah
- Daniel Greaves
- Unnamed Orpheus Mining Colony miners
Background information
- Orpheus is a mythical Greek figure.