[snip]

=/\= Commander Royal. Please interview the man we rescued in Conference Room-B, Deck 3. I believe Doctor Hunter is waiting for you with Cara Meow. Glen out! =/\=

[snip]

The CMO turned to Lt Lance ‘’As the CSO would you assist me in what NE Cullens suggested? ‘’ Cross asked not sure what NE suggestion entails .

Lance nodded, “Of course Doctor but we need baseline to see what anomalies there are, there is something else we can try, assuming this is really a disease and not some dodgy government coup.” Lance realised he was starting to sound like his Uncle and his anti establishment insanity, but then again maybe the elder Malone had a point. “We know there was an impact point and that has been cited as the point of contagion, so why don’t we send box that we can get a sample of the dirt and air, the two most likely sources of infection we can’t control, transport it down and back within minutes getting dirt and air samples from the site which should tell us all we need. And a see-through box landing for a few seconds outside when people are kept indoors, we’d seriously need bad luck to be caught and if we are they’d probably think it was to do with the illness.” He explained as he was explaining it he was sketching a rough drawing of a solid and atmospheric collector used a lot whilst servaying planets, it was a stick drawing or his planincluding a stick drawing of the transporter technician. He passed it to the CMO, “Sort of like that” he said pointing to his diagrams.

Lance did have one more pressing matter for the captain, “Before you can go anywhere Sir, I can fake some passable ID’s but I’m going to need to know who I’m doing it for.”

“Which depends on how many teams and where they are going to. I haven’t even made up my mind to send them, but it seems the only way to get a result. However, I’m still hoping that we will learn something from questioning Mr. Duck,” Glen said.

‘’We would have heard either from Cara or Hunter if they got any information..... I shall assume their sitting ducks right now ‘’ .

Lance couldn’t help but snigger “Ducks”

Cross could not understand why the Captain was so afraid to face the people down at the planet ,especially when they had weapons and well armed to protect themselves .Not to mention the ship itself which was capable of producing great physical force and could fire on the exact location on the planet. These people may have left the Federation but that did not mean they had no idea about the advanced technology every ship had for the crew’s protection .

Glen had always seen the Prime Directive as less of an order prohibiting non-interference and more of a guiding principle. These people might not meet the standards where General Order Number One was applied, but they had withdrawn from the Federation making it clear that they wanted no part of its vision or what they would problem think of as imperialism. So, Glen would follow his orders and leave them to their own devices, unless they asked for their help. And non-interference, as defined by General Order Number One was very specific. It meant, No identification of self or mission, and no interference with the social, cultural, or technological development of said planet. But it went further, because when the planet’s society was already been exposed to the concepts of space travel, other worlds, and advanced civilizations, then there were further restrictions on contact, and this planet did surely fall within those. In such circumstances, the directive was clear that no Starfleet crew person will engage with said society or species without first gathering extensive information on the specific traditions, laws, and culture of that species civilization, and that if engaged with diplomatic relations with said culture, they will stay within the confines of said culture’s restrictions, and that there should still be no interference with the social development of said planet. So, Glen was going to gather extensive information on this society first, stay within the confines of that culture’s restrictions, and not interfere in it’s social development. This should be the duty of every Starfleet officer. When he rescued his sister and Faith Hopkins from the Cassiopeian cult called the Sons of the New Earth, he had done so without Starfleet approval, but even then, he had not interfered with their beliefs or practises, and they continue to do as they please.

Lance thought about it for a few moments “Technically it’s not a new civilization, it’s a colony, they all ready know we exist, so in theory we are still within the rules.” Lance was a big believer in bending rules, he’d done it all his life, if there was a way of bending he’d look for it.

On hearing Lt Malone speaking, Cross realized they had something in common, it was unfortunate that the Captain was not so keen to go down on the planet and face the people .

She took the diagram and nodded ‘’Yes we do have something of the sort ,stacked somewhere ‘’ then she turned to Glen ‘’Captain do we have the go ahead from you to do this? If it works it would be transported to the science dept directly, following the protocol of any contaminated object which is brought on the ship. Hopefully Lt lance and myself could work on the soil and air sample? ‘’.

McDuff piped in “Captain, I don’t wish to attempt force your hand on this. But speculation from a distance and speaking to only one Miner will only garner so much. A covert landing party would certainly help us to get our fingers on the pulse of the situation.” McDuff spoke calmly and with a level-head.

Glen tried to make his position clearer. It wasn’t black and white, but much more nuanced. “I’m very keen to get us down on the planet,” Glen replied, “but only if it is safe to do so, and I’d prefer to mount a covert operation, which the wearing of environmental suits tends to preclude. I’d like us to take it one step at a time, so I’d like to get back the information from the rescued miner first, even if it is only his speculation, and is not first hand. I hope that the reason that the interview is taking so long doesn’t mean he had been ducking their questions! However, the idea of trying to match the miner’s disease immunological profile to that of people on the planet subject to any contagion, and to look for any abnormalities seems like a good idea too. Also I’m open to this other idea you have of taking contaminated soil or meteor samples from the planet remotely. That idea doesn’t sound like a lame duck either. Both those can be done while we wait for the interview to finish. There is no great hurry to immediately visit the planet in person. We have no deadline to meet, and it isn’t likely to place anyone in any more danger by us waiting just a little bit longer. So, by all means, begin your preparations!”

• Glen, CO