[snip]

Ari settled into the seat beside Jonathan. “Now I’m torn. We need to get us, and the planet, back where we belong. But can we afford those losses since they aren’t mine to count? Or do we risk asking our friend,” she half nodded over her shoulder to the soldier, “to help us try and identify them. I mean, we shouldn’t just sacrifice them cause they are in the wrong place.”

She thought for a moment. “I think we need to discuss this with the Doc.” She got up and nodded for the XO to join her. Smiling to the other guest, she nodded as well. “Come and join us. You can keep eating there as well.” She wanted to be sure they all got some healthy food in their stomachs before going back to the surface. It was hard enough, she imagined, being in this predicament, without being hungry as well.

Ari CO

The officer rose from the table having just finished his own meal. Elm meanwhile shyly approached both the officer and the CO and XO. “..I um…I guess I can come with if that is what you want?” She said.

The male officer in the meantime just nodded, “..If it will produce more answers I shall follow as well..” he stated falling into step, he glanced at Elm and said. “..So where are you from? From your accent you are clearly of ESM stock.”

Shuffling her left foot she nodded, “..I and my mother were living south of Bos’ton for years up before the of the War. We got driven off our land and home when refugees turned raiders came upon us. We got rescued by a strange man from the Heavens like these folks, but half his skin was black and the other pure white. He saved us and led us to safety of Bos’ton before leaving us there. We were forging for several days before MACARM invading forces found us and....and killed my mother, before these folks..” she gestured around, “..Came like a Heaven sent avengers and slew the MACARMS” she said sadly at the end.

”..Your mother will rest with the Great Saviors, which it seems their fellow Heaven bound ship mates have finally come to aide us in our darkest hours of need..” He replied.

GM CockRoach

Ari smiled as the small troupe approached the Doc’s table and everyone got situated. “We aren’t Heaven sent, as you say. We are explorers. When you’re planet shifted positions in the sky, we got swept up in it. We’re trying to help you get back to where you can see familiar stars again, and we can, too.”

Elm was the first to speak, “..Your words are different then our own obviously. You and we are among the Heavens, you came from their depths just as the Great Greyhound Saviors did. You are like they, you look and talk like they did from our educational lessons, whether or not you are divine as they are or not does not matter you have come here and you are to be honored..” she said.

”..The civilan is right, while those of us in the military, whether we are ESM or those filth in the southern MACARM forces, have a slightly different view over time of our younger teachings of the Great Saviors. We too have learned that their influences on us were a divine sending from our Heavens. They saved us from the Dark Serpents, they enlightened us from our hovels of mud and clay, or sticks and stones. They united our world in ways we could not have fathomed. Since their retreat in times past from public and private eyes to their frozen sleep legends say we now pay for their lack of guidance by destroying ourselves..” the officer said.

Once settled, Ari turned to the Doc. “So it seems the others have found the possible source. But it’s connected to life pods of some kind. Wanted your input on trying to find out who they are and wake them, or…” She let her voice trail of hoping the Medical Chief would understand her hesitation at letting those few die so the rest could make it home. Her eyes also glanced towards the XO waiting his opinion as well.

I’m her mind she chased around the idea that those in stasis could be from those who originally came and helped the timeline along that created all this mess. Another idea was that they were elders from this culture, and killing them would hurt their future.

There had to be rules for this kind of thing. Something made her regret revealing herself. But another part of her knew there had been no choice.

Ari CO

It might occur to the XO and CO that the ‘frozen sleep’ the office mentioned could be a passed down story of the survivors of the Greyhound going into cryosleep after some years enlightening these people. The surviving three cryo pods could be from those survivors! Which in a way would be quite strange if true, they would in essence be people who had been sent into the past and lived for several years there. While in turn they themselves before getting sent to the past were still alive and well back at Earth where the Greyhound and its crew were still being built and assembled. Clearly temporal mechanics what little was known in these years was a pain in the back side to understand! Maybe this was why the Vulcan Science Directorate claimed time travel was impossible!

GM CockRoach