<Six hours later>

David Nganga sat in his quarters, staring intently at the wooden board on the table. In the board were twelve evenly spaced pits, several of which contained a number of multi-coloured stones. At each end of the board there was a larger pit. Both of these likewise contained many stones.

Saul Nganga sat across the table, opposite his son. Suddenly, he reached into one of the smaller pits and pulled out the stones. Moving his arm in a counter-clockwise motion he started dropping the stones, one to a pit around the board.

=^= Bridge to Commander Nganga. =^= the comm system chirped.

Saul dropped the last stone into the large resevoir on his right.

"Darn it. I never can beat you at this," David said to his father. Then he turned "Nganga here."

=^= Dave, we're coming up on the Claris system. =^=

"Okay Nora. Tell the Captain I'll be right up."

"That's what I get for playing Mancala while you're on stand-by, eh Son," Saul said.

"Just because I wasn't needed on the Bridge on our way here..." David said in a mildly exasperated voice. "And I was doing research for several hours before you came by." He smiled.

"I know. I know. That's why you wanted to play Mancala. Get your mind on other things for a while." Saul smiled the way parents do.

"Tell Mom that I'll have to postpone dinner in the Arcade until another time." David darted out of his quarters. Shortly, Commander Nganga arrived on the Bridge.

As the U.S.S. Cochrane entered the Claris system, Lt. Sulu began running scans of the area with long-range sensors. By the time the ship was ready to drop to impulse power, the Chief Science Officer was ready. "Captain?"

"Go ahead, Lt. Sulu."

"Promos VIII was last visited two years ago, at which point the ship's sensors confirmed that the Class-M planet was completely covered by water, the closest land mass located 100 meters below sea level. The planet has also never had any form of satellites. Now, however, it not only has a moon roughly 12 times the mass of the Cochrane, but also a land mass roughly equal in size to California. Scans of the surrounding space show trace of photonic and phaser residue, as well as minute fragments of metals similar to those used in Starfleet, Romulan and Klingon starships. Scans for lifesigns show a large populus of people living in what appears to be a pre-warp colony on the newly formed land mass."

David Nganga wondered when exactly Lt. Sulu took his needed breath.

"California?" Norallah asked. "That's the name of the larger geo- political unit that the Acadamy is in, right?"

"Yes. They were called 'states' although they were more like provinces." Nganga said.

"And my family has lived there since at least the twentieth century," Sulu added. "Possibly as far back as the Ancient West."

"Mr. Sulu," Commander Nganga asked, "Are their signs of volcanic activity on this island? If an island this large formed in two years, I would imagine the volcano that formed it would still be active."

Without waiting for Kazuta to answer, Nganga turned to Starkin, "Captain, given the timetable and the particulate debris we've detected, I offer the conjecture that this 'pre-warp' civilisation is in fact made up of the survivors from one or more starships."

Sulu turned back to his sensors to double-check his findings. When the Commander had finished making his second statement, the Lieutenant followed up with, "According to the reports, sir, the land mass is indeed located atop what was a volcanic crevise whose peak was located 93 meters below sea level, according to the readings from two years ago. The measured area for the crevise was only eight meters in diameter, however. In order for that volcano to generate enough lava to form this large of a land mass, it would have had to be constantly active for ..." Kazuta stopped for a moment to punch in the figures for calculation. "... 120 years, give or take. And when the old readings were taken, the volcano had not been active for three centuries, according to their estimations."

Captain Starkin stood from her chair and took a step closer to the viewscreen. "Mr. Sulu, do your scans give any indication what kind of life signs those beings on the planet are? Are they all one race or several? Specificly, are any of them Vulcans, Humans, Bolians, or any other known Federation race? Also check for Klingons and Romulans."

Mr Sulu looked over his readings again. "According to initial scans, there appear to be 17 Romulans, 12 Klingons, and approximately 300 assorted Federation races. If you would like Captain, I can break that down further." He took a breath as he continued to re-read the scans. Upon getting no response, he pressed on, "There also appear to be some sort of cave enterenaces underneathe the land mass' surface, but our scanners are unable to get any kind of clear reading."

"Thank you Mr. Sulu." Starkin turned to Nganga, "I guess we really don't have to worry about the Prime Directive then."

"Pesky thing, that Prime Suggestion," David replied with a smile. "Are we picking up any communications from the planet?"

Sulu was going back to his scans again when T'Vala replied, "We have picked up no such communications."

"Try hailing them," Starkin said.

T'Vala worked the controls at her station for a bit. "No response..." She kept checking. "Sir, we've successfully established a communications link to somewhere on the surface. They're receiving us, they're just not responding."

"Or unable to respond," Nganga added.

Starkin frowned a bit, then looked at her first officer. "You ready for a little trip?"

"I'd rather keep my feet and step over the loose rocks down there, Captain," Nganga said, poker-faced.

"Take an away team down to the surface. Have Mr. Klaus prepare a small security team to go with you. We can't be too carefull with Romulans down there." She turned to the science officer. "Mr. Sulu, I want you to go down as well. See if you can find out more about this landform's origins. I want to know how it got there."

"Bak," Nganga said to the relief Ops officer, "You're going too. If they can hear us, but can't respond... Captain, on a similar note, if their comunications equipment is in need of repair, their medical gear is probably less than ideal."

"Agreed. Have Dr. Jayngo go with you as well." The captain paused to look at the planet on the viewer. "Something happened to these beings, these ships. Be cautious. We don't want whatever happened to them to happen to us as well. Dismissed."

Nganga, Sulu and Bak headed for the turbolift. Nganga tapped his comm badge, "Dr Jayngo, please prepare for an away mission and report to Transporter Room Three." With a second tap, "Mr. Klaus, please assemble a small security away team and have them report to Transporter Room Three."

On Deck 10, crewmen Kais and Rein stood at attention at their stations, on either side of the entrance to the boardwalk. The two surveyed the area with both their eyes and their brains, watching for any sign of trouble. The accustomed decrease from warp was negligible, but was recognizable to her crew whether they were near a porthole or not. Therefore, as the Cochrane neared the planet, the two Betazed officers knew it.

The closer they got, the two men both noticed a nagging emotion in the back of their heads that grew. Finally, they both turned at the same time, so caught off guard that they spoke aloud, "Are you getting that?"

:: Someone is incredibly mad. ::

:: And scared. ::

:: But who? :: :: But who? ::

Doctor Jayngo had finished his examination of Lt. Klaus and was showing the Security Chief how the relay signals through the communicator would interact with the holographic simulation when Doctor Agra stepped into the sickbay. Both men looked up, Jayngo surprised by her presence in sickbay. In the short time they had all come aboard, the ship's dentist had stuck to her office down the hall. Before he was able to ask her what he could do for her, she looked at them and asked, "Is everything fine in here?"

Jayngo smiled at her and responded with, "I believe so. Why?"

"Because someone, relatively nearby, is not."

Dr. Jayngo stood facing Klaus and Agra, not really knowing what to say to the dentist's announcement.

Klaus and the doctor glanced at each other for a moment with inquisitive looks.

"What do you --"

=^= Dr Jayngo, please prepare for an away mission and report to Transporter Room Three.=^= *chirp* =^= Mr. Klaus, please assemble a small security away team and have them report to Transporter Room Three.=^=

"Jayngo here. On my way." Looking to Klaus, Jayngo gathered together a medical case and prepared to leave.

Well, Klaus thought, this discussion would have to wait.

"Aye, sir." Klaus responded. "Unless this is very urgent, Dr. Agra, it will have to wait." Klaus tapped his communicator, "Klaus to Ensign Corbin, please bring yourself and three of your top team members and meet me in transporter room three. Standard field deployment. Please bring my tactical gear and weapons with you."

"Aye, sir."

"If you will excuse me, Dr. Agra. Dr. Jayngo, do you require any assistance before going to the transporter?"

Slipping a medical tricorder into his coat pocket, the doctor replied "Nope. Lets go."

As they rode the turbolift to get to Transporter Room Three, Ensign Bak Xiam waited for the Commander to finish summoning the rest of the away party.

When he finished, Dave allowed his hands to drop, and lowered his head so he was facing straight ahead.

"Sir," Xiam said, "'The Prime Suggestion?'"

"A private joke between the Captain and me, Xiam," Dave said.

"Oh, here, I thought it was a dig since we were ordered on this mission by Admiral Janeway," Kazuta Sulu said.

"Says the grandson of Kirk's helmsman," Xiam said.

Kazuta blushed slightly. Being a part of a famous Starfleet family was sometimes a little awkward.

"Ah, Ensign Bak, you forget though. Kirk was demoted from admiral to captain for his 'crimes,'" Commander Nganga said, as the turbolift door opened.

The three quickly exited the lift and headed for the Transporter Room.

Doctor Jayngo and Lt. Klaus were followed through the doors of transporter room three by Ensign Corbin, Lt. J.G. Jefferson, Lt. J.G. Rickard, and Ensign Hurt. The six people stepped up to the transporter to join Nganga, Bak, and Sulu, making for a very crowded pad.

"Xiam," Kazuta whispered to Bak, "didn't he say 'small security team' in the lift?"

Ensign Salex looked carefully at his readings, hiding the small shake in his hands as they ran across the board. Putting his natural urges behind him, Salex looked to the Commander for notification of readiness.

"Energise, Mister Salex."

"Mr. Salex reports that the away team has beamed down safely," Norallah reported.

"Good. Keep tabs on them," replied the Captain. "In the meantime, let's take a closer look at that ship debris. Bring us in and run a detailed analysis on those remains. I want to see if we can figure out what happened to those ships."

The whine and shimmering lights of the transporter beam surrounded the away team, placing them on the planet's surface seconds later. Sulu instantly whipped out a tricorder, taking readings of the area around them. Visual evidence told the away team that they had been placed in what appeared to be the center of "town". Many one-story buildings surround them, looking quite similar to the vacation huts located on Risa. Humans mulled around the dwellings, dressed in short sleeve vests and shorts.

"Commander. Roughly 28 Federation-based lifeforms are located in the immediate area. The dwellings share construction material and designs with that of Risian design. There also appears to be another such community set up roughly 430 meters from this location."

As the report is given, a tall, slender, tanned human steps out of his dwelling and begins to walk toward the group.

"Here comes the Welcoming Committe," Ngana said. He turned to Sulu, "I'll go talk to him. In the meantime, see if you can get a sense of where the Klingons and Romulans have settled."

He turned toward the rest of the group, "Doctor, Bak, you're with me. Klaus, you should come too. The rest of you, look around, but don't go far."

With that, Nganga started walking to meet the tall, slender, tanned man, trusting that Jayngo, Bak, and Klaus would be falling in step.

As per expectations, Jayngo fell into step with the First Officer while the Science Officer began his scans. As the man approached, the doctor pulled out his own tricorder to begin preliminary scans.

As the man came closer, the Commander will probably be able to recognize him as the First Officer of the Nucleus: Doctor Franklin Monroe.

"Well, we know their First Officer made it." Commander Nganga said quietly to his compatriots. Raising his voice so he could be heard by their greeter, "Doctor Franklin Monroe? We're from the Federation Starship Cochrane. I'm her First Officer, Commander David Nganga."

"Greetings, Commander." Upon meeting with the group, Monroe extends his hand. "What brings you to this neck of the woods? Can I get you gentlemen something to drink?" The smile across his face is warm and inviting and appears to be filled with happiness.

"Ah, Thank you, but we'll pass on the drinks for now," Dave said. "We've come to look into the disappearance of your ship, the Nucleus. We're very glad to see that you have turned up alive. Did much of her crew survive and end up here?"

"We all made it here Commander. The Captain is located two towns over. We've found a great place here, Commander. We're quite happy."

"Oh. Things are good enough here that you've decided to give up on your mission? You've decided to settle here, despite the fact that you won't see your families at home again? That seems very strange?

"And what about the Romulans and Klingons who live on this island? I can't believe both of their Empires have agreed to share a planet ripe for colonisation with the Federation."

With the sharp words of the Commander, Monroe's look switches from shock to fear. He quickly tries to cover, however, and replies "I am not used to being addressed in such a fashion, Commander. As for our commissions, that is our business, not yours. As far as our mission, it has been completed. We have explored this planet and have laid claim to it for colonization. The Romulans and Klingons here have agreed to live with us peacefully in exchange for land to live on and make a home for themselves. The planet is technically in Federation space, though it is very close to both their borders, so they are grateful for what they get." The more he spoke, the more the panic surfaced again.

The bridge crew began going about their duties, taking the next several minutes to run scans on the debris.

Looking at one another to see who should go first, T'Vala nodded to Norallah. The Ops Officer then stated, "According to sensor readings, at least three separate types of vessels have been destroyed to the point of atomization. If it wasn't for the fact that we had full sensors running upon entry, we probably wouldn't have even known they were there. The reason we know it is three different ships is because of the different metals used in construction. The materials are common with Federation, Klingon, and Romulan construction. But Sulu stated that before he left."

T'Vala then took her turn. "Captain. The amount of firepower to completely obliterate these ships either had the firepower strength of twelve Quantum torpedoes fired simultaneously, or else whoever did this stuck around long enough to destroy every sign of their existence."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the automated systems activated the red alert. Her fingers moving over the panel with skill, Norallah was ready within seconds to issue a report. "Captain, we have just been scanned. The source of the scan is unknown."

As O'Sanna worked in his shop, he heard a chime from behind him. In turning, he sees a large human standing in the doorway with a bottle in his hand and a smile upon his face.

"Howdy, son. Heard we had a new arrival, and thought I'd roll out the welcome wagon."

Seeing the man before him, O'Sanna greets him with a warm smile and extends his hand in a greeting.

"I am O'Sanna. Nice to meet you." Tired of standing, he motions to a grouping of seats.

"Name's L. Q. Clemends, but everybody calls me Sonny. Actually, son, there's a quaint little bar just down the way called Quark's. If you're hankerin' for libation, tha's the place to be." Moving swiftly, the two men find themselves at an exterior table outside the bar.

Taking a seat, O'Sanna coninues, "I just arrived. I'm opening a "boutique" shop just down the way." Shifting his head at an angle to indicate the vicinity where the shop was located. Bringing his eyes back to his guest, he caught glimpse of a serving girl. Raising his brows and and lifting his chin, he gets her attention.

"Brandy for me, and whatever my guest wants." Knowing the importance, and finacial benefit of "networking", O'Sanna planned on seeing what this man had to offer. Waiting for the man to decide, O'Sanna took the time to read the girl.

Her pulse was steady, but jumped when making slight eye-contact with him. Respiration was slightly elevated, but he attributed that to signs of recent physical exhurtion. She was shifting from leg to leg, apparently her leg muscles were exhausted. Probably a runner by assessing her build and muscle tone. She probably just started her shift after running late from a last minute workout. His olfactory sensors picked up the faint hint of musk. Pleasant and not what humans would consider offensive. Considering how acute his senses were, it wasn't noticeable to others. It was just a sign that she lived an active lifestyle. O'Sanna didn't favor the more sedentary arts, so a female with "outside interests" intrigued him. After all, he admired a woman with stamina.

"I'll have the usual, darlin'. This round is on me."

Sonny smiled and waited for the waitress to get their order before saying, "Kelly there is a real blessin' to the eyeballs, ain't she? Hails from a planet called Turkana IV. As far as I kin tell, they make a mighty fine shake there." The location of Sonny's eyes make it clear that he isn't talking about an ice cream drink.

"Where you hail from, son?"

Before O'Sanna had a chance to reply, the red claxons throughout the ship sounded, informing the crew of a red alert.

"Come on inside, friend. During red alert, the crew reports to battle stations, but as we ain't crew, we just git outa the way."

After the initial blare of the alarm, the sound seems to decrease in volume allowing for a more condusive environment to conversation. Sonny moves around to stand behind the bar, opening a pannel and began running his fingers over the control pannels. A few moments pass, then he speaks again. "Seems we've been scanned by an unknown source. Skepti will probably want to know about this, given the agreement of the Guild an' all. Y'all are the newest member, that Skepti was a'talkin 'bout, right?"

Before the two men could continue their conversation, O'Sanna told the bartender that he was going to return to this shop to ensure everything was in order. Sonny stated that he understood and would stop in a little later.

Taking a deep breath, Monroe seemed to try to calm himself by saying, "Please, Commander, let me take you on a tour and show you all of the wonders this planet has to offer."

Before the Commander could respond, Jayngo piped up. "Doctor Monroe. Can we join you in just a second? I need the Commander's attention for a moment."

"Certainly, Doctor. I'll be right over here."

Meanwhile, Klaus looked back at the other group of officers and caught Corbin trying to get his attention. Moving away silently, the Lieutenant walked over to the other half of the away team.

Once Monroe was safely out of earshot, Jayngo turned to Nganga. "Commander. While I haven't had the chance to do any detailed scans yet, I have noticed an incredibly high level of stress in all of these people. It began with our beamdown, and has continued to rise over the time we've been here. Likewise, Monroe's blood pressure and heart rate have also increased."

Nganga broke eye contact and looked straight ahead as he listened to the giant medical man. He found himself looking right at Jayngo's comm badge.

A breath. "Also, Between his rapid eye movements and skips in his heartbeat, he has been lying through most of this conversation. Though, you probably realized that yourself."

"Well, I hadn't assumed lying, per se," the Commander said, "But what he said hasn't been adding up. We should have brought Rory along.

"Which reminds me. When we're done here, please remind me... order me if you have to... to go see Rory. I've been more agitated lately than I ought to be."

"Yes sir. The situation is unusual, and is no doubt adding stress to yourself as well. But I'll make sure to schedule an appointment with him for you, sir." Jayngo smiled, an attempt to assure the Commander that everything will be all right.

The Doctor then extended a hand to say 'after you' in the direction of Monroe.

The timing of the scan with the current conversation was certainly unnerving. "Shields up," said the Captain, gesturing her head behind her to T'Vala. Then she nodded to Norallah. "MAKE it known, please. It had to come from somewhere." Norallah was working, but it was apparent she was getting frustrated. Starkin spoke again, "Try scanning for any kind of anomalies... We may have some kind of cloaked ship out there. Conn," she addressed the flight controller, "depending what's out there, we may need to be making some evasive maneuvers in a hurry. Be ready."

T'Vala responded with a simple, "Shields up."

Norallah's brow curled more than usual. "Captain, I'm sorry. I cannot find the point of origin for the scan. Following the telemetry and the order or areas of the ship that was scanned first, all I can say is that the scan came from the general direction of the planet's moon, but there are no traces of a ship, cloaked or otherwise, in that area."

T'Vala once again spoke once the ops officer was finished. The scan has been completed, Captain. All reports are that it was a standard scan, save for the extra 3.7 seconds spent on Deck 10. No other actions have been taken, yet."

::Extra time on deck 10... the boardwalk. More people, more different things there to scan... :: "Are there any kinds of signatures or indications of what kind of scan that was?"

"Ma'am?" T'Vala just said it was a standard scan...

"I mean distinguishing characteristics that might be common with, oh Romulan or Federation scans. Something to indicate who might have run the scan."

Both Norallah and T'Vala worked their controls. Norallah frowned and spoke first, "I'm sorry again, Captain. There are no such indicators."

Starkin paced around for a quick moment, frustrated. "Do a scan on the moon's surface. See if there's any indication of equipment or technology there that could have done such a scan."

Anticipating the need, the helmsman adjusted course, taking the Cochrane a touch closer to the new moon so thorough scans could be taken of the surface.

A few seconds later, Norallah spoke again. "Captain, the surface of the moon is coming back clear. No equipment, no tech. Sorry, sir."

Starkin exhaled in frustration. She sat in her chair, saying nothing. After a long moment she finally said, "Alright. Keep your eyes open. Open a channel to the surface. I want to let the away team know what's going on."

With the appropriate sound, T'Vala responded, "Channel open."

"Bridge to Commander Nganga."

Nganga looked over at Ensign Hurt. Feeling the commander's gaze, Hurt looked back. Ngnaga jerked his head back, signalling for the Ensign to join them. Reg hurried over to where the Commander, the doctor, and the Operations officer were.

"Sorry about the delay, Doctor Monroe," Nganga said leading the entourage in the direction of their host.

Dr. Monroe looked up from the table which he had seated himself at. "Not a problem gentlemen. I apologize for my outburst earlier. As pleasant as it is here, things still must be taken care of, and sometimes the stress can get to you. But, then again, you can understand the stresses of command just as well as I can. Can I offer you gentlemen some ice tea?"

Monroe reaches over and picks up a tall glass of ice tea from off the table. The strange thing is that you could have sworn it wasn't there when you walked up.

Nganga glanced at the table, doing a quick scan for either a pitcher and other glasses, or, more likely of it being a replicator. There is no sign of a replicator present.

"No thank you, Doctor. I've never been much of a tea drinker. Perhaps Jayngo or Mr Sulu?" Nganga turned to face his crewmen, as he mentioned them. He raised his left eyebrow with a puzzled expression. He then looked at Bak and Hurt, and gave them a "Yes-I-didn't-mention-you-for-a- reason" expression.

Both Jayngo and Sulu look at each other, obviously just as confused as Nganga. Both men subtly drop their hands to their sides, hiding the fact that their tricorders are pointed directly at the table.

The doctor was the first to speak. "You wouldn't happen to have Vantara tea, would you?"

Sulu quickly jumped on the bandwagon, following with "And I would love to have a Ragilian Spice Loaf with a glass of 2% milk, if you've got it."

As Nganga turns, he knows that the table is currently empty, for certain this time.

::I wonder what the other 98% is, if not milk...::

His communicator chirped, =^=Bridge to Commander Nganga.=^=

"Please excuse me, again Doctor." Nganga turned his back completely to Doctor Monroe and started walking away, "Yes, Captain?"

=^= Commander, I wanted to let you know that the ship has just been scanned from some unknown source. There's no indication of any other ship in the area, but we're on our guard, especially in light of the starship remains we found. The scan's telemetry suggests it came from this planet's moon, but the technology isn't there to support that notion." Starkin paused for a moment. "Depending how this plays out, we may need to cut your visit short. But hopefully this is nothing hostile, just someone being both shy and curious. =^=

The commander's brow furrowed, "Did you scan the interior of the moon, or just the surface? Or there could be a ship in the moon's shadow... In any event, if you need to pull us out, do it. Dr. Monroe was just offering us some refreshment. Thanks for keeping us informed. We'll do the same."

As Commander Nganga turns back to his team, he sees both Jayngo and Sulu openly scanning the two glasses and loaf of bread sitting on the table.

Monroe, smiling, states "there is nothing to be concerned about, gentlemen. This is what I was wanting to show you. For some unexplainable reason - at least to date - this island provides for our every need and desire."

He motions to the entire area around him. "When we first arrived, none of this was here. As we started to make a list of necessities for survival, it all stated appearing out of no where. The huts, the food, the clean water .... everything."

"Hey Reg," Xiam turned to the security officer, "Do you remember me telling you how I only need disk three from season two and disk five from season four to complete my set of 'Babylon 5' vid-discs?"

David Nganga couldn't figure out if Ensign Bak was trying to test the providers or just being a smartass. He spoke to Doctor Monroe, "Was the island here when you arrived, Doctor? It wasn't listed in the survey records."

"I know. Imagine our surprise to find it here when we arrived. It was in our report to Starfleet."

Jayngo and Sulu finish their scans and look over at Nganga. Sulu speaks first. "Commander, these are indeed the items which we asked for. Impressive, especially considering that Ragilian Spice Loaf can only be created by a replicator."

Jayngo picks up the tea and tastes it. "Just like mother made, including the honey. I didn't specify it, like you would need to with a replicator."

"This is far beyond typical replicator technology," Monroe replied. "We still haven't worked out what the power source is, let alone how the island knows exactly what we are referring to."

As Klaus met with the other half of the away team, Corbin reported "Kazuta has found six other colonies in the surrounding area, one of which is inhabited by the Klingons. There doesn't seem to be any hostile actions currently between them or any of the other colonies, but we have yet to find the Romulan camp either."

Ensign Hurt noticed the Commander beconing him over, and left the group, with Lt. Sulu following behind. Taking his place with a tricorder, Rickard continued to scan the area.

This is very peculiar, Klaus thought. He adjusted his tactical gear as he considered what to do next. He didn't have a great feeling about this place and he could see the other members of his crew didn't either. Klaus spoke into his tactical communicator. "Klaus to team, standard defensive posture. Don't make any threatening movements but keep an eye out. Slowly and subtly form a perimeter around the away team."

"Aye, sir," they replied in unison.

Klaus made his way toward the Commander.

Captain Starkin followed her first officer's suggestion, getting a more detailed scan of the moon's interior. As before, the scan yeilded no useful results. And also, to be sure, she checked to see if there was any ship hiding behind the lunar shadow. There wasn't.

"Open all hailing frequencies," she finally said, standing.

"Open," replied T'Vala.

"This is Captain Uriell Starkin of the U.S.S. Cochrane to whomever... or whatever.. recently scanned our vessel." She spoke in a loud voice with just a touch of hesitancy, taking any edge out of it. "We come in peace." She paused to see if there was any response. She got ony a crewman's head shaking "no." Starkin continued, "We are as curious about you as you seem to be about us. We would like to know who we are dealing with, if you would please reveal yourself."

T'Vala was becoming slightly agitated. If this was a hostile threat, they certainly wouldn't reveal themselves and spoil their element of surprise. More to the point, the Captain just confirmed to whomever is out there that the Cochrane can't detect them. Her Vulcan discipline, however, kept her from openly second-guessing the Captain.

"Anything?" asked Starkin.

T'Vala answered, "No, sir. No sign of anything."

Pensive for a moment, Starkin replied, "Keep rebroadcasting my message, and continue to listen on all frequencies. Broaden the wavebands if need be." She sat back down again, saying quietly, "We need some clue to find out who's out there." She tapped on her chair console, sending the scan data/results to that display. She studied, listening, waiting for a response that never came.

O'Sanna was reviewing the work completed by the Cochrane's engineers when he heard the bell tone.

The claxtons could still be seen flashing on the boardwalk. Standing in the doorway was a blue-skinned male human dressed in a modified starfleet uniform specifically designed for the boardwalk personnel.

"Hello. I am O'Sanna. Sorry, but I'm not ready for patrons yet. But, I appreciate the welcome."

As O'Sanna made his way to greet his guest, a tall human female padded into the lobby. She stood about 6', had blond hair, and was the epitome of perfection in every detail. You see, every detail was available for scrutiny as she was naked. Perfectly naked.

Walking up to O'Sanna and cupping her bountiful breasts she spoke.

"Boss, you're right. THESE do look better!"

O'Sanna, flashing a smile to his guest, did his best not to beam with pride at the work of art standing before them in all it's naked splendor.

"Demeter, we have a guest. Be polite and put on something sensible." Demeter pouted, but looked at the guest and blew him a kiss...exentuating the shake of her bottom as she walked away.

"Sorry, she's a little tempestuous." O'Sanna says while extending his hand to his guest.

"Not a problem," the Bolian replied. "Though I'm not a potential patron. I'm married." His eyes had followed the naked woman out of the room, his jaw still half dropped. "Though I'm not dead," he said under his breath.

Taking the shopkeepers hand, he stated, "The names Marlo Salvitor, though everone calls me Moss. I'm head groundskeeper around here. Just wanted to make sure everything was to your liking. I noticed no orders for greenery, but figured I'd see if you needed anything to make your place more beautiful." Still looking toward the back, he finished with "I can see you brought your own."

Breaking the gaze, he smiles. "Exactly what kind of business you got here?"

As Lt. Klaus returned to the group, Monroe continued. "When we first entered the area, all that was available was the island and a few huts which the Klingons were using. After our ship was ...." Monroe stumbled over his words slightly before continuing with, "after the accident with our engines, we beamed down to the planet and began emergency preperations for shelter. Before we were able to begin set- up, however, the buildings appeared out of nowhere."

As the men turned back to the Commander, Bak noticed a pair of datadisks laying on the table next to him. Picking them up, his jaw dropped.

"Your video program disks?" Kazuta asked.

"Yeah. I... I was... jo... I wasn't expecting it to ..." Bak stammered.

::Convienient that an engine accident that destroyed their vapourised their ship left power to the transporters.:: Nganga thought.

"So the Romulans showed up after you? And any ideas why the Klingons only had simple huts? They hadn't activated... whatever it is? Or just their...rather spartan needs?"

"To be honest, Commander, none of us have really asked. They're not really the socializing type. Neither are the Romulans. I would assume that, based upon prior studies, they don't take advantage of some of the creature comforts that we are used to."

Turning to Bak, Monroe states, "I told you that our every need and desire are taken care of. But I wouldn't push my luck too far. Her .... er, the island's giving ways may have limits."

Pretending to have missed the pronoun, Nganga continued, "Socialising types or not, you are aware of one another's presence, yes? I'm suprised the Klingons and the Romulans aren't at each others' throats constantly. Wouldn't you think that too, Klaus?"

Nganga gestured to the security chief as he mentioned him.

The head of security also caught the momentary slip in pronouns. Obviously things weren't as they seemed. Even a first year academy puke would catch on to that. What concerned Klaus was the motivation for the cover up. It came down to two flavors: collaboration or coercion. Why would "SHE" need to hide anything?

Klaus nodded in agreement. "Absolutely Commander. Hatred between the Klingons and Romulans is centuries old. I find it hard to believe that they would both set aside their differences so quickly. Mr. Monroe, do these "limits" that you speak of have anything to do with the restraint in their behavior?"

Monroe replied with, "I can't speak for them, but I'm sure that this hatred that you spoke of is the reason why they have taken the two most distant points in the island to dwell on." Standing up, he continued with "I'm also sure that they would be worried about the ramifications of violence."

Ngnaga managed to stifle a snicker. ::Klingons worried about the ramifications of violence.::

Giving second thought to what he just said, he followed with "presuming that a force powerful enough to create could also be capable of the opposite."

"So the Klingons moved their camp when the Romulans arrived?" Nganga asked, wearing his best poker face.

"I'm sorry Commander, I think I misled you. The Klingons had already taken their spot, presumably to be close to the water and any possible food sources available therein. When the Romulans arrived, they set up camp at the furthest point away from the Klingons."

"Understood. Sorry about that," Nganga said.

"So how did you come to settle here? What happened to your ship? How much of your crew has settled on this island?"

Taking a seat once more (he seems rather fidgety), Monroe responds "We were fortunate enough to beam our entire crew to the surface when the ship's warp drive went critical. We then split up the settlements among the command crew and started occupying the huts provided."

"Handy that the huts started showing up as you arrived, eh?" Nganga said. "Good thing the Island knew you were having problems."

Without waiting for Monroe, Nganga continued, "Are you absolutly sure that there is no one, among your entire crew, in any of these villages, that would like to come home?"

With a strained smile, Monroe shakes his head no. "I'm certain that we are all very happy, and will probably live here until the day we die."

"Ahh, I see," Nganga said, "Well, we can't force you, so..." Nganga turned to Klaus, "Gather up your people, and follow us back."

With that, Jayngo, Sulu, and Bak followed Nganga, and in the fashion that has been taught in Starfleet for over a hundred years, the took up positions equidistant from one another and...

"Cochrane," Nganga tapped his badge, "Four to beam up."

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