[snip]

“Here you can see the Aenar/Andorian DNA in blue, the other colors represent the DNA splicing that the Romulans did on the genes. We are not sure what or whose genes they were trying to splice in. We do not have access to any large medical databases to compare.” Indeed upon looking at the pictorial representation of the genes it was easy to see it had been meddled with.

“Our ship has equipment, data files and personnel trained look at that,” Glen replied. “if you would allow us to copy the DNA, we can identify markers and genealogies.”

Thalor nodded, “By all means, that’s why we brought it crated up. On the computer you will see the logs that our ancestors kept in secret while in Romulans captivity. They are a bit fragmented but you can see what they went through and how our ancestors drove them out. You can take a copy of those too, do you have way to copy them or does your equipment read these old files?”

“Until the Tech Guys get hold of them, I can’t answer that, but I’m sure that either reading the files or copying them; one of the two will work,” Glen replied.

“You’ve obviously kept hold of this information very carefully for a long time,” Glen began. “If it is so conclusive, then I don’t understand why you didn’t show it earlier, not to the Romulans or Klingons, but the Federation has been here for some time, and Andoria is a founder member of the Federation. Have you had some bad experience with the miners? What was the point of taking these miners as prisoners? I need to understand the circumstances, only because it is going to be the most difficult thing for me to explain to anyone else.”

Thalor shook his head at the Captain’s question. “We wanted to be left alone. Most of the miners that came weren’t the Federation, this is the first group who was. Why should they listen to us? They want to mine, make money. Why should they listen to us? They might have to stop mining.” His face was bleak. “But we thought we could try if we showed some of their own. We showed these two this and our habitat here. They were going to go back and try to talk to the Advisor. Then you came.”

“I see,” Glen replied.

Eros took a piece of the fruit and replied “thank you” to the woman who brought it.

“Hunter, you seriously need to relax. If they wanted to hurt us, they’ve plenty of opportunities to do so. Why go through the subterfuge of poisoning us, when they vould have shot us, pushed us over some ledge, or off the staircase. They have done nothing but treat us like guests since we started talking to them. Holy Cheesuz, man, Sharp has even relaxed.”

’’ It’s not that we might be poisoned I have no doubt they are offering their food in good faith ‘’ Hunter replied ‘’ Maybe I cannot help thinking with a doctor’s mind , we are a different species have never consumed the Aenar’s food before .Look at it from another perceptive , most humans cannot tolerate certain foods that millions of others have no problem with ....I believe you are intelligent enough to understand where I’m going with this ‘’ he replied in a soft tone.

This was the doctor who was obsessed with his body inside and out…impeccable ,not a hair out of place though it was hard to know that now with his face smudged with dirt ,while his shoulder length hair resembled more of a bird’s nest .

The helmsman shook his head at Hunter, before turning toward Thallor.

“Thallor, I haven’t seen any children since we entered your community. Are there children here. I believe it could be another Romulan crime if they made it to that your people are unable to procreate.”

Thalor arched a brow with a wry smile, “Of course we have children, we are the descendants of the first Aenar who the Romulans experimented on.”

“Let’s meet the miners then,” said Glen. If these miners had been treated well, and were really sympathetic towards the Aenar and their goals, with positive feelings toward the Aenar, that would make their return to the other miners considerably easier for Glen. It didn’t matter that it would be a textbook case of Stockholm Syndrome. However, Thallor had made another valid point about the miners. It wasn’t just about right and wrong, the miners livelihoods were also at stake here.

Hunter listened but said nothing ,he waited for the Captain to go along with the conversation ,only if Glen would ask a direct question to him would he answer .The doctor wondered if they had preserved the manipulated DNA as proof or the Aenars wanted future generations to go back as they originally where .

The two miners were standing near the table where the food was laid out, waiting to be questioned or to be told what was next.

Hunter gazed at the two miners ‘’ Thallor I’m going to scan those two ‘’ he said with the medical tricoder in hand ‘’ Its not that I have any doubt that they were treated badly, on the contrary but as humans our bodies are not adapt to live in this type of environment , an example wold be the lack of vitamin D which our bodies need and its a vitamin that our bodies cannot retain and by time gets depleted ‘’ he wanted to make sure that Thalllor understood the reason why he wanted to scan them not to mention he had no idea how long they had been abducted.

“By all means.” Thalor said agreeably.

The doctor approached the miners ‘’ This won’t take long trust me ‘’ attaching the diagnostic wand to the medical tricorder he scanned both miners .

The scans showed the miners were in reasonably good health. They were actually not deficient in any vitamins or nutrients. It would appear that the food offered to them from the Aenar was nourishing enough.

M’Mera meanwhile had been standing in the corner of the room, arms crossed, watching everything that had been going on. Finally she spoke, “Captain, perrhaps we should let the Advissorr and ship know these men are okay and we’ll be rreturrning back above?”

Her eyes were narrowed and her tone cold as she spoke. Her tail switched back and forth as she fought with her own feelings on this situation. It was wrong what the Aenar had done, but so was it wrong what the Romulans had done. She was glad she wasn’t the Captain and didn’t have to make these decisions. She just wanted out of here now that they had done what they had set out to do. Mind powers gave her the willies, and these Aenar had it in spades.

Glen was nearer to the centre of the room than M’Mera, where Sharp had just made a comms call. He walked closer to M;Mera. “I just overheard your two Security officers discussing the situation over the comms,” Glen told M’Mera. “Interestingly, Fleegman has Adviser Platus there right now asking that very question. While Sharp here, he thinks they should tell him nothing because it is inconceivable that Platus couldn’t be aware of the thousands of Aenar down here. He thinks Platus is hiding something from us. It’s an interesting argument. I’m minded to agree with Sharp. I think we should find out all we can down here first. Try and find out what that might be, or else dismiss the idea completely.”

Hunter once he read the scan ,gave the two miners a thumbs up then moved back to where the Captain and the rest of the team stood ‘’ They are as healthy as can be ‘’. He put the tricoder back in the medical kit ‘’ So what’s our next move ? Ask them if they want to hand over the DNA and if so what’s on their mind ?’’ he asked while grabbing a fruit ..since both miners were in good health and nothing had happened to both security he figured the it was safe to consume .

M’Mera shrugged, “Yourr call, Captain.” Her eyes narrowed at the Captain’s musings. “Indeed it sseemss ssusspiciouss that the Advisorr didn’t know about the Aenarr. If he did know, I bet he didn’t want to quit mining.”

“Not necessarily, Lt.. There have been numerous reports over the years that the colony was haunted, from the various people that have lived here. The Aenar have been here long enough that I’m sure they could live in these tunnels without anyone knowing they were here. And anyone having a fear of the supernatural would most likely avoid going to deep. to investigate. Prior to the taking of these two miners, I doubt there was any interaction with them at all,” said the Helmsman.

“I’m not sure about that,” replied Captain Glen. “I feel that the miner’s leader is holding back about who knew whether the Aenar were here, and I’m not even telepathic!”

The helmsman turned to face the captain. “Captain Glen, if I could get the assistance of a few of the Aenar to help carry and guide me out of the tunnels, I can start loading up all this date onto the shuttle we came down in.”

“We beamed down in a clearing out of town!” Glen said. “Anyway, there is no rush to upload this. Starfleet committees will take years to sit and read and work upon it, kicking the final report down the road for years, just like a can in a back street alley… I also don’t want us to split up. That always leads to problems. Usually, it’s Dr. Cross we have to go and look for. “

‘’Apparently the Romulans knew ‘’ Hunter chirped in ‘’ So much so that they changed their DNA for what reason I cannot fathom ,not to mention how they were able to do it ‘’.

“I has assumed that the Romulans brought them here following the genetic experimentation,” Glen puzzled. “Not that it took place here. There is no sign of a laboratory here. I guess I thought they meant to hide them here, knowing how enochlophobic they are? Why they did it? How they achieved it? Maybe we’ll never know those things!”

’’ That makes sense ‘’ Hunter replied ‘’ How they did it is mind blowing to me ‘’.

The doctor picked up his things as it seemed they where about to head back ‘’ Is there any other easier way we can leave the tunnels? ‘’ for if there was Thalor would surly know about it . Hunter’s morale was low ,he felt both inadequate and incompetent that he could do nothing to help the Aenar .

Thalor nodded, “We have a freight elevator very close to here that we use to get to the surface. It is how we got the miners down here and committed the sabotage.”

Hunter heaved a sigh of relief that they would not have to go the way they came in, he felt psychologically drained.

Glen’s transmitter bleeped ,it seemed Cross was back taking the bridge whether she wanted to or not =/\= Captain a shuttle with Cara and Morris are about to land on the planet surface were Guy and Stella are =/\=.

=/\= I see… We found the source of the interference and have neutralised it, but if the shuttle is coming down anyway… Cara would have liked to have met who we met, but sadly I don’t believe she will today. =/\=

We don’t yet know this, but the Romulans now largely disappear from Federation radar for over 50 years, not seen or heard from again until a Romulan scout ship encounters the USS Enterprise-D in 2364. Only the Klingons and the USS Enterprise-C will see the Romulans during that time period, when they attack Narendra III in 2344.

Hunter then addressed Thalor ‘’ Are you the first generation with the altered DNA? ‘’ the doctor asked.

“No, we are the second. Our parents were altered and we were born with altered DNA. Our children are the third.”

The miners looked at Thalor, “Will we be able to go back up with them?” They asked.

Thalor nodded, “Of course. As we told you we only brought you down here to share this information with you and show you our people. You may go with them.”

M’Mera moved from her position against the wall to join the Away Party again as it looked they would heading out soon. She signalled to Sharp that if they were heading out that he was to take the rear, she would go with the Captain again. She then looked to the Captain.

Sharp nodded understanding M’Mera without saying a word he took his position.

“What would you like to do, ssirr?” She asked. So much discussion going on she had gotten a bit lost in it all.

*Get the hell out of here * the doctor thought .

“I think we can return with the miners now,” Glen replied. “We take a copy of their evidence. It will be difficult to tell the miners not to mine in these areas but that’s just tough. Federation Law is clear where there is a prior claim. We’ll pick up the others and return in the shuttle that is coming down.”

Thalos signaled to a couple of his men who packed up the samples back into the crate. Thalis himself moved over to the ancient computer and ejected the data disk and brought it over to the Captain. “My men will escort you out. I will let you investigate this material and speak with the Advisor. If you would like to set up a meeting later, I am open to it but I would request that you be there as a …mediator. Is that possible, Captain?”

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare

“If you mean a meeting with Federation lawyers and lawmakers, then I’d certainly try my best to be there, but as a Starfleet officer, I’m subject to a chain of command and must obey the instructions and directives issued by my superiors,” Captain Glen replied. “I think Commodore Stone would grant it, but such a meeting might take place off-world, probably at Starfleet Headquarters on Earth. Will your people be able to travel to that?”

• Glen, CO