[snip]

When the microphone was dead, Glen said, “This does not look like a technologically advanced civilisation! If General Order number One applies, we are still permitted to make initial contact, and even diplomatic exchanges are permitted within limits, but we will need to take delicate care not to disrupt local culture or customs. We cannot reveal the existence of the United Federation of Planets to their greater society unless we deem that they are Warp-capable. We can’t talk about technology they don’t have. I’m going to try to engage him in conversation and find out exactly how advanced they are, and how they have cryogenic and stasis technology. He obviously isn’t phased by the fact that we come from the stars. I’ll also find out about the child. But I may have to be economical with the truth about us and where we come from. Maybe we can pretend to be Alstaireans? Do you have any suggestions guys?”

Joe had been holding his hand over his mouth in an overall heroic attempt at hiding his smile at watching the captain attempting to shift gears so quickly. Finally stifling his mirth, he removed his hand and said to Glenn. “Sir they don’t seem to be overly surprised or alarmed by the fact that someone they don’t know has just popped up into their solar system for a cup of tea as it were. I wouldn’t volunteer any information that they don’t ask for at this point. Evidently, they’ve been visited by another people with warp capability or they themselves had it and something happened, war, plague or something else which set them back.”

“My own thoughts, given the information about the nebula maybe, is a once advanced civilisation that had a catastrophic failure and a more recent partial recovery?”

Glen signalled the Communication Officer to resume the conversation again.

With another nod the NE showed the channel had been restored.

=/\= Hello, Hello. Is this thing still on? =/\= Glen asked.

=/\= Yes! We can hear you now Captain Glen. It seems both our comm systems had a communication problem. My communications chief feels it is due to your likely differing use of technology compared to our own. We can hear and see you now though. =/\= He replied.

=/\= Yes! No doubt it’s due to incompatible database harmonics =/\= Glen replied. =/\= Your technology is very advanced to build these floating Habitats and stasis boxes. You must also have ships that travel in space like ours. And yet your child was placed aboard a passing ship. Why was that? =/\=

Keeping the microphone off in the connection with Dol for a moment longer, Glen received a Com from Sickbay.

= /\= Cross from sickbay ,an update from the child who is now fully awake drinking and asking for food =/\= Cross took a deep breath before continuing =/\= When asked for his name ,he was told that his new family would give him one and is thinking it is us, though we explained that we’re still looking for his family .The child seem to be intelligent…Captain any orders from your side? =/\=

=/\= I’m busy speaking with an official from the planet right now. I’ll have to get back to you, but that’s an interesting observation. Are you familiar with the life cycle of the Earth bird called the Cuckoo? Glen out! =/\=

=/\= Captain I thought I have just heard you say you are busy,anyway is the cuckoo who lay its egg in another species bird’s nest and the poor bird has to feed it until it flies away from the nest…wait eh ..oh no =/\= came the surprised voice over the comm....which rendered her speechless.

=/\= Glen Out! =/\=

William turned from his station “Brood parasitism does imply a purpose of increasing survival chances by integrating an offspring with the host parent, that is if it is a biological need, although a sociological need may imply a political landscape that requires such nesting habits” He chimed in.

“And an excellent way to expand your technological base… but please could I have quiet on the Bridge again while I speak to him!” Glen told no one in particular.

With the Mic back on, Glen repeated =/\= Sorry Dol, for the communications issue, I asked whether that was your child that we found on the ship and how he came to be there. =/\=

Finally the habitat master replied to Glen. =/\= Ah it sounds like you encountered one of our seed pods! =/\= He said. =/\= You would be wrong though Captain, to assume we have ships so grand as your own. We lack such technology or capability. =/\= He clarified. =/\= You see our system lays within this region of space which over time we have discovered is a cross roads of sorts for many other space faring species like yourselves. Often we will request that passing ships who enter our system take one or more of our ‘seed pods’ with them. Our idea is that these children will grow with their new parents and homes. Enriching them in their local culture, beliefs and more. Then as we hope these same children once they grow will return to us and share their wisdom and ideas before returning to their adoptive homes. We then take the best and most capable ideas we find from each returning child and integrate it into our society and technology. In some cases though ships that come here are quite primitive, and so we put these children into cryogenic pods and then send the ships back in the direction which they came..=/\= he went on.

Glen tried not to show any facial expression, but he may have been seen nodding, as this was exactly what he had guessed at being the case. They had come up with a fascinating way to collect new technology from other more technologically superior races. And they weren’t fazed by meeting the Merrimack because it was simply one in a long line of other ships that had visited them before.

=/\= Sadly, this idea which we have used for several generations has not been as fruitful as we had hoped. Many of our children we send out rarely return, either because they can’t, do not wish to, or perhaps something happened to them. We often do not know. That said the three times on our history since we began this effort has resulted in us adopting and adapting several ideas to better our habitat life here..=/\= he said.

Glen wasn’t sure if General Order number One applied here or not. It might take a Federation Foreign Affairs Committee sitting for several months to decide upon that, and he didn’t have such a luxury, such was the challenge of exploring on the outer reaches of Known Space. So, he was going to have to go out on a limb and make a quick decision on this quandary. They were permitted to make initial contact anyway, and the rules only said that they must take delicate care not to disrupt local culture or customs. This local culture and custom was one of collecting technology and other cultures, so he was clear of the Prime Directive in that respect. He could not, however, reveal the existence of the United Federation of Planets to their greater society unless he deemed that they are Warp-capable, nor could he talk about technology they don’t already have. They only way that he was going to discover that was to go all in and to actually ask Dol these questions. There was no other way. Complete honesty seemed to be the best and only game plan to pursue here.

=/\= Dol, I do admire that approach, and I’m sorry that it hasn’t been very fruitful for you. I have to be honest with you now. My own society has very strict rules on contact with other societies and the sharing of our culture and technology with them. These are very long-standing rules, well intentioned rules, and designed to protect the other societies for their own safety and benefit, and these rules are held so important that I have made a commitment to lay down my own life rather than to violate this doctrine. =/\=

John Glen let that point sink it before continuing.

=/\= However, these protocols do allow the captain of an exploratory ship, like mine, a little leeway to make some decisions at their own discretion. Under the directive, Initial contact with a species is allowed to occur if the civilisation is deemed advanced enough technologically. The yardstick that we use to determine if a world is sufficiently technologically advanced is generally that they are capable of crewed faster-than-light space travel. Would you be open to us learning a little more about your society’s culture and technology first, so that we can make an assessment of that, before we tell you more about ourselves? I realise that this might appear strange and rather impolite, but honestly, we have never come across a culture like yours before, and our rules make no exception for it. =/\=

At this point Hunter [contacted] the Cmdr.

=/\= Cmdr Hunter from sickbay, the spheres according to the boy are samples of several local plants and animals from his former home and saying they are provided for his new family to study and synthesize food for him artificially if their local biomes are not capable of supporting him normally =/.\= Hunter stopped to think exactly what else the child had said =/\= They can also be used as a means of emergency power source though he’s not sure of how that works =/\=.

Joe had been standing silently in case the CO might seek advice or need him to run an errand. Of course, sometimes it was incumbent upon an XO to offer up advice whether his CO asked for it or not. After hearing Hunters latest report on the little guy in sick bay all Joe could do was to shake his head slowly as he said to the Captain, Sir I’m beginning to feel as though we might be heading for someplace where that Occam’s razor of yours might turn into a nightmare .Couldn’t we just tell them we have a VIP , give them the child and get ourselves out of trouble while the trouble is minimal and the getting easy?”

William turned around in his chair again “And lose out on a chance to meet and study a new civilization?” He said in a rather disappointed tone but didn’t offer any further protest.

While Captain Glen waited on a reply from Dol he considered the advice from his XO and CSO. “William is right. This is the very essence our mission… but what you say is also correct too! When this all turns pear shaped, and we leave the planet with their society completely altered, and turned into some imitation of a Wizarding School, because Dr Cross had her ‘Harry Potter’ book stolen when she left it behind on a chair, you can bet who those pencil pushing Commodores at Starfleet Command are going to blame for it?”

Glen thought that it was just the albatross you had to carry if you wanted to sit in the Captain’s chair.

• Glen, CO