[snip]

Over the next 20 minutes or so while the staff went back and forth, the NE from before spoke up looking up from his scanner. “..Captain, while you all been talking I’ve run those scans like I suggested. So far biological scanners aren’t picking up anything anomalous so far based on disease vectors on focused scans of random inhabitants. Scans will still take some more time to fully confirm, but I am pretty confident to say its unlikely there is any true disease vector like the data mining implied. Its a public cover up for something else likely related to those impacts, that they likely want to keep the general population away from or be aware of..” he said. “..So I would imagine going down in environmental suits would be needless..”

‘’Well that’s one problem solved ‘’ Cross replied heaving a sigh of relief. Though she did wonder about those impacts and their true origin.

“But is it, Doctor Cross? You were so adamant that we needed EV Suits earlier,” Glen replied.

If it wasn’t for the fact that there were other crew on the bridge Cross would have definitely kicked him… Captain or not .
‘’Really Captain ,I have been arguing with you that the landing party should wear EV suits, while you kept saying that’s not on and now that the scans show there does not seem to be any contagious disease going around you’re throwing it back to my face !’’ the doctor exclaimed ‘’Since the existences of humans, diseases has gone hand in hand .You’re the Captain its up to you what to decide ‘’ the CMO was done arguing .

“I simply wanted us to go in disguise,” Glen said for the nth time, “but you are my expert on disease control and I defer to you… I still have this gut feeling that there is something more…”

Cross mellowed down ‘’So do I captain but I don’t understand your reasoning for disguise ,what if they find out who we really are? The situation will only get worse and they would be right for not trusting us ,knowing that we wanted to fool them by taking off our star fleet uniform’‘.

“NE Frómé Befôr,” Glen asked, “While the biological scanners aren’t picking up any anomalies based on disease vectors on focused scans of random inhabitants, what about something much more off the wall, like the “puppet master” parasites in Robert Heinlein’s seminal work of the 20th Century? It wouldn’t pick up those would it?”

Hunter contacted the Captain =/\=Sir we got some information from the man and if he is not lying I don’t think there is any concern for us not to go down with a landing party =/\=

=/\= That’s good to know, Doctor, however the consensus of thinking on the Bridge now is that whatever this man tells us is his own speculation. He has been absent for 8 months and probably has less of a clue than we do. So, what did he tell you? =/\=

Then Hunter briefed Glen.

=/\=The planetary council of Unity is made up of 39 councillors, with two Head Councillors being the head of each major party, and then Planetary President at the top, elections had already taken place about three months previously, so things might have changed since he was at the mining for more then eight months =/\=.

=/\= Yes, I appreciate that, but he didn’t hear of a rising tide of anti-government feeling before the blackout that would normally precede such things. =/\=

=/\= He did not mention anything of the sort =/\=.

=/\=As for the council or folks on Unity welcoming us ? They might not do it with open arms overall, but they shouldn’t be hostile outright unless we give them reasons or insult them or something. The reason their ancestors left Earth and the Federation was cause they didn’t like the Federations way of doing things or Starfleet’s way of getting into everyone’s business so quick with exploration and all. If we are open and honest why we came here like with that Outreach Program not getting contact from folks who left they probably would be ok? He’s just a mining engineer though so he cannot say for sure. Whether they would accept any help I guess depends on a lot of things =/\= the male doctor stopped took a deep breath and continued =/\= He’s guess is we try it and find out and its not like we got a large scale military force, we got enough to probably drive this ship off but not without taking heavy losses or damages, and he knows that we don’t have the force of arms to do anything in like truly blockading or fully forcing the Federation on them again. Plus they got told the Feds or Fleeters, and our usual way of doing things from what his people got told....any questions Captain? =/\= Hunter asked.

=/\= Not really. He’s closer to this than us, or he should be. It’s his own world, after all. If he can’t think of a reason for what happened after 8 months of thinking about it on his own, then I don’t think he’ll suddenly come up with one now. But how do you assess his mood about all of this? Is he exasperated or ill-tempered? Is he angry with people on the planet for the death of his brother? Or just confused? Maybe still in shock? Is he angry with us for not coming sooner? Or does he want us simply to leave? Does he seem at all worried about his family and asking to be set free? You seem to imply that he is very distant… like an outside observer looking in, rather than someone from Unity? Does that not appear strange to you? =/\=

=/\= Captain unfortunately I cannot read his thoughts, is demeanor seems neutral, neither one thing nor the other .As for the dead of his brother he has not mentioned him but then again he could have guessed the outcome and was just clinging to hope ,we all grief differently. Having said that if my observation is incorrect then all I can say is....his a darn good actor!=/\=.

=/\= Yes, I hadn’t even considered that grief might be an aspect. In which case, don’t press him too hard. You and Cara can finish there. I take it that the XO never took part? =/\=

=/\= No Sir ,she has not shown up, its just me and Cara=/\= as for not pressing him further Hunter replied =/\= Copy that Captain=/\=.

Max had not heard not heard much from Bridge since the Merrimack had arrived at the system. He knew there was going to be some investigation with the people but maybe the bridge had gone empty of senior officers and they were somewhere else. So he went ahead and hit his communication area on his desk and said, =/\=Lt Mullins to Bridge. How are things going? It has been rather quiet up there. I would love an update. All is well down here and we are just monitoring the systems and energy readings from the planet.=/\= Max then waited for a response and continued to hit the panels on his desk to confirm what all energy readings were coming from the planet.

The CMO rolled her eyes ,since it was anything but quiet but obviously she would let the Captain respond.

=/\= Lt. Mullins! Very busy up here! A hive of activity! We are trying to make a lot of detached scans and investigations here, and the miner who was rescued alive is still being interviewed. However, we still don’t know what happened down on Unity, except that it wasn’t a disease caused by a microbial, viral or fungal contagion, and that it was widespread, and it happened about the same time as the meteor showers. It looks like only a boots on the ground visit is going to piece together the answer, and we may find damage to buildings and systems, so you can prep for that. If there is an ongoing emergency, then you can organise the engineering personnel, and deploy vehicles and equipment to respond to the crisis. However, we believe that the most likely scenario involves some kind of change of government, and we still aren’t sure how amenable they will be to our arrival or offer of help. =/\=

• Glen, CO