TJCT hadn’t expected her roomie to follow her out of their quarters, nor had she expected her to join her in the empty TL, or along the corridor to the nearest Holodeck, but she had, at least she hadn’t bothered to ask questions. Sliding a chip into the holodeck controls TJCT entered and her roomie followed. Finding herself standing in the middle of a white out, dressed in a black and silver gown, matching knee high boots, and a protective mouth covering, TJCT started walking, leaving her roomie, dressed in a white and pink similar attire to follow. There was no other colours present, until, they made their way over a ridge a large ploom of bright orange coming up from the snowy surface. Reaching out and grabbing her roomie’s upper arm she dragged her from going ahead, slipping off the gown, and laying it coloured side down, she sat on it, tapping the gown’s side, as she took off her boots and mouth covering, slipping naked into the steaming water, sinking beneath the water then surfacing to find her roomie also in the water.

“I take it, that this is Coolac?”

“It is.” TJCT swum over to a protective overhung where they would be protected from the soon to come nightly winds. “And it’s pronounced Cool ack.”

“So where exactly is Coolac?”

“Delta Quadrant.”

“I was hoping for a little more.”

“In that direction is my parent’s compound. Seven Klicks. In that direction is Savage’s family home. Twelve Klicks. In that direction is one of the Vessel Markets, Sixteen Klicks. One of the CDF Compounds is Four Klicks and the compound I live with Savage is towards the CDF Compound. There is no Tourist Areas in this zone.” TJCT didn’t really point out their actual directions.

“You’re not married yet you live with your husband to be?”

“When the girls are three and the boys five they’re mated. Bonded. Their bodies are joined, When the girl starts her ability to have babies she and her mate move in together. What she learns is up to her mate. When her mother is with child the Coolac Council decide who she will bond with. Her first name is taken from her mother’s mother, the second name is taken from her father’s mother, the third is from her mates mother’s mother and the last is from his father’s mother.”
“So what do you do in the CDF?”

“I am an Engineer.” TJCT didn’t bother bringing up the fact she had weapons embedded inside her artificial limbs, nor that she was officially able to use them. She preferred to forget that she was armed by her mates request. She’d gotten through the Academy without using them. She’d learnt what the Academy wanted her to learn, she’d forgotten or kept quiet about what else she could do. She’d never spoken about what she could do. During the self defence classes, she had used her tools, making out she knew less then she really knew. She’d chosen to be an engineer, she liked repairing things, she liked solving problems. She’d learnt to hide things that would be normal on Coolac to fit in at the Academy. She gave her standard answer.

“Do females fight?”

“Females do what their mates want them to do. Tourists must agree to follow Coolac’s protocol when they are outside the Tourist areas.”

“What was the mineral you said caused energy to drain?”

“Move under the outcrop. As the night comes the wind brings with it the snow. Sink down so only your eyes and nose are above the water. Rise up to speak then sink to listen. In this area of the planet, the night brings the snow it dances on the wind wings. You must stay in the water because there is no way to return to your compound once the wind wings come. Mates choose to make their compounds near volcano waters, it is a place that they come to spend time together. The mineral is called
‘ZDP5523900AQ1’ it is used in all sorts of things, as weapons, in technology, in shields, even in our vessels to stop them from being scanned.”

“Does Coolac sell this ZDP thing?”

“Why? Do you want to buy it?” TJCT asked.

“I wondered why I’ve never heard of it.” Her roomie answered. “Does it make you wonder about kids having sex or females being forced into this breeding program?”

“Girls three and boys five are bonded. They do not start to have breeding intimacy until the girl is able to have children. The Bonding is not sex. They are naked and their bodies are joined. It is to create a joining of the two. The girls learn separate what is required, as do their mates. Why should people who come to steal from my planet deserve to live? It is a world that is ruled by the male. They decide who lives, who dies. There are many races in Starfleet that I have never seen before, or learnt about. Many of the things I have seen them do are strange to me.”

“Like what?”

“The need for this fun. The buildings where they have the coloured lights and the loud music. The idea that people who are not bonded have breeding intimacy. This awful thing you eat that rots your mouth.”

“Fun is for relaxation. What did you do at the Academy between courses?”

“Returned to my quarters and learnt more. Or went and laid on the green areas when the rain fell. We do not get rain on Coolac. It comes on AYK-884229-BETA , and on some of the other planets in our area of space.”

“What is AYK-884229-BETA?”

“It is a planet near Coolac, where the museum is found.”

“What museum?”

“AYK-884229-BETA drains energy quicker than any other planet. There are vessels there from many races, all anchored. Under the ground is bodies of races that we do not have on Coolac, they are in transparent cylinders. Some show you the internal workings, others show you the external workings. There are food growing areas. People from my planet go there to study what is there.”

“Did you go?”

“Why would I go? I learn about ships and other things that are relevant to Coolac. The CDF goes to learn how to fight with no energy weapons. It is up to our mates if we go.”

Cadet TJCT - Engineering