[snip]

Joe stood listening and after Cross had signed off Joe asked Captain Glen, “Sir is there a preferred method of transport you would care for when we leave? I could make myself useful in the meantime making sure that everyone is ready to go.”

“That’s a good thought!” Glen replied. “They may not have Matter Transporter tech, so we had best leave by shuttlecraft instead. I’m disappointed Cross couldn’t give me an idea how long she would be, especially as she wasted so much time. However, I think two hours should be enough and the probe data can be analysed in that time. How about I tell Dol we will be there in three hours? I’m not sure what she means about paranoia. Do you?”

Joe nodded and said, “I’ll make sure that engineering has a shuttle prepped and read then sir. ” Then smiling he said and as for what Doctor Cross might mean. Well in my short time here I have already found out that it’s unwise to try and predict what she might be thinking. ” Joe then turned, a smile still on his face and headed off the bridge to find an engineer who wasn’t too busy.

Once the probe had returned data and it was analysed, once Cross had finished her psych eval and gained as much information from the child as she thought possible, and once the technology behind the silver spheres was known and understood, then Glen would feel in a confident position to meet with Dol in his Habitat. It was difficult to know exactly how long that would take, but he was sure that three more hours would be sufficient.

“Open a channel to Dol again please,” Glen asked the Communication Officer.

=/\= Hello Dol, a bit of a hold-up here with getting our shuttle over to you. Can we meet you in about an eighth of you star’s rotation? =/\= Glen asked.

=/\= Very well Captain Glen, we will have our meeting hall prepared for your arrival. How many will you be bringing with you so we can properly set our tables? =/\= he asked.

=/\= How many are we allowed? =/\= Glen asked. =/\= I’d like to bring eight if possible. =/\=

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Once the call with the Dol ended, Glen spoke to Doctor Cross again.

=/\= Captain the child’s evaluation is finished , according to him everything had been explained to him before getting inside the pod and he seem to accept the fact that he found no parents.All those who were put inside the pods were intelligent persons and did so without any force.As for Dol ,he is a Habitant Master who ever take that position is called Dol , like our crew call you Captain =/\= she stopped momentarily of what else Glen would what to know =/\= From what the boy said I’m assuming their people are in a peaceful,pacific society , no mention of war, conflict or violence …last thing the child has not been exposed to any of our technology except while in sickbay…Cross out =/\=.

=/\= Thank you. I hadn’t realised about ‘Dol’ being a title rather than a name. This child was an orphan? Have you asked him exactly what happened to his parents? Didn’t he have any grandparents? Why do they live in Habitats? What is wrong with the planet surface? =/\=

=/\= Captain when I asked the child about prison he explained how their system work, saying usually when people break their laws they are send to a therapeutic and reeducation school,except for those too far gone to recover or change their lives. In that case they are put to work under supervision by the corrections division on the habitat ,So with the word ‘On’ I would assume there is nothing wrong on the planet surface ,having said that maybe they are concerned with the explosives in space around their planet which Dol mentioned to you and are taking precautions should anything happen? Besides sending a probe would be a better solution to find out then asking a child =/\= and Cross went on =/\= Both his parents and grandparents have died according to the boy =/\=.

=/\= I would still like for you to ask the child about the planetary surface conditions anyway. I could send a probe, and thanks for your command advice, but we are guests here and I’m not sure how the Dol would react to us doing that, yet I do still want to get all the information that I possibly can before we meet with him. And please ask the child again the exact circumstances under which his entire family was suddenly wiped out. It may not be relevant, or it might have been a fluke accident involving a self-sealing stem bolt. At the moment we just don’t know. =/\=

• Glen, CO