AMY FOWLER'S TALE

by

JONFDUDE

Can the Startrek Universe and the Battlestar Galactica 2003 Universe be compellingly combined without violating canon from either universe and without using gimmicks like space/time anomalies, wormholes, and flux capacitors? I think so, but I'm not sure about the compellingly part.

To all suits; I do not own any of the subject matter in this presentation.

()()()()()()

Admiral Xavier Ruiz Gomez, the current Starfleet Academy Commandant, walked from stage left to the small podium located in the center of the main stage in the Academy's Capistrano Auditorium. As Gomez stopped behind the podium and faced the large audience in the auditorium, the humming noise caused by hundreds of individual conversations in a confined space fell silent. He said, in a booming voice that was picked-up by his comm-badge and amplified throughout the auditorium, "Good evening cadets. My sincere gratitude to all of you who are taking time away from your studies to attend this presentation, and to the few of you who are taking time away from your Saturday night leisure activities as well," sporadic chuckles sounded throughout the auditorium.

"I would also like to welcome and thank the members of the general public who are joining us on this warm September evening, the two Federation council members who are honoring us with their presence, and the rather large contingent of Starfleet officers lining the back wall of the auditorium."

After a brief pause, Gomez continued, "Our speaker tonight has just recently concluded a seven year research project, and she has graciously decided to release the findings of that project to the Federation, and the Galaxy, here at Starfleet Academy. She has provided me a brief synopsis of her findings, and I must say they are very enlightening, rather provocative, and, unfortunately, very disturbing. I fear, and also hope, that these findings may cause us, and maybe generations of future cadets, to re-evaluate the methods we use to implement one of our most basic guiding edicts; the Prime Directive."

After allowing time for surprised murmurs to subside, Gomez continued, "Let me present to you one of the Federation's leading experts in the fields of Anthropology and Archeology; Professor Amy Hera Fowler," the audience responded with polite applause as Professor Fowler appeared on stage right. She nervously smiled at the audience and then at Gomez as she walked to the podium.

Once she reached the podium, she shook the departing Admiral's hand, turned to the audience, and said, "Thank you Admiral for your kind introduction."

"Good evening everyone," she continued, "thank you Cadets for allowing me to speak with you this evening. Tonight I would like to share with you a fantastic tale involving social and cultural interference on a grand scale; involving a species with an insatiable need for knowledge; involving some well-meaning yet catastrophic decisions; involving two unimaginable tragic events; and involving, thankfully, a glimmer of hope. This tale touches the lives of intelligent species that have lived on, or are currently living on, no less than eighteen 'M' class planets." On a massive view-screen behind Professor Fowler, the image of the Starfleet Academy logo, the image of the United Federation of Planets logo, and the current displayed date of '18 September 2376' faded from view and the images of eighteen grey circles of varying sizes lining the top of the view-screen appeared.

"Now, if I were to present this tale to you as a work of fiction, most of you would probably declare it as unbelievable...too coincidental...to far-fetched. However, I will not present it as fiction, but as nonfiction; a true story."

"This tale shale be presented to you in chronological order. Thus, some of the early events presented, and our knowledge of those early events, during the narration of the tale may seem preposterous; even impossible. However, rest assured, once the tale is complete, everything will fall into place. Also, once I finish the tale, but before a question and answer session begins, my complete report, including all support documentation, will be released on the Public Information Network; available for anyone to immediately access and study."

"One last item; all the evidence which supports these findings and conclusions are based on four distinct disciplines; logical conjecture, eyewitness firsthand and secondhand testimonials, physical artifacts, and irrefutable facts of record. In an effort to preserve the timeline while relating this tale, some of the evidence which supports my statements will not be introduced until later in the tale. So please, bear with me until the end."

"Incidentally, Admiral Gomez was in error when he said I just completed a decade long research project. The project did start about a decade ago, but it only took seven years to complete. This project was sponsored and supported by Starfleet; so Starfleet, once they reviewed the project results, decided to classify those results as 'secret'. Thus, for the past two plus years, I, with the support of a few more progressive minded senior Starfleet officers and eventually two Federation council members, have been lobbying Starfleet to de-classify the results. Finally, about a month ago, they buckled under the pressure."

After a brief pause to sip some water from a glass at the podium, all the lights in the auditorium, except a spot light shining on Professor Fowler, dimmed.

"A long time ago, around the year 1100 BCE, a large group of humans, possibly as many as a hundred-thousand, who lived near the eastern Mediterranean, was taken from this world by unknown aliens." One of the grey circles on the view-screen was replaced by a beautiful image of the Earth captioned as 'Our Earth'. "We do not know if these humans were taken forcibly or if they left voluntarily. However, we do believe that the sudden loss of so many people from that one area of our world caused a 300 year time period known to Earth historians as the 'Greek Dark Ages'."

"Okay, I'm sure you are all wondering which alien race took these humans. Many members of my team, and I myself, initially suggested that this event was orchestrated by the mysterious alien race known as The Preservers."

"As many of you may know, The Preservers had relocated a large group of Native American Indians from Earth to the planet Amerind. This relocation seems to have occurred due to benevolent reasons. For example, they were relocated just before the 'Old World' disease of small pox ravaged the populations of the 'New World'. Also, The Preservers left an anti-asteroid protection screen on Amerind, and they gave the relocated humans the knowledge of its use. Unfortunately, the group of humans relocated from Earth around the year 1100 BCE seem to have been taken for more malevolent reasons."

"Where were these humans taken? Legends say...and please remember I can discuss the origins of these legends in the question and answer session later...legends say they were taken to a planet called Kobol," a second grey circle on the view-screen was replaced with an artist rendition of a planet captioned as 'Kobol'. "These legends further indicate the aliens did not just deposit the humans on the surface of Kobol and leave, but they took on the guises of Gods and lived amongst the humans for more than half a millennium."

"By 500 BCE, about 600 years later, the humans on Kobol had socially and culturally divided themselves into twelve distinct human tribes; each of these tribes worshiped a specific alien as a god. In addition, a thirteenth alien-god had created a race of human-type androids that were so perfect; they could actually reproduce by biological conception. They even had the ability to transfer their consciousness to the body of another human-type android if their current body was destroyed, thus offering them a form of immortality. In fact, the only way the natural humans on Kobol could distinguish themselves from the human-type androids was by observing which god the androids worshipped."

"As you can probably imagine, the natural humans began to envy, and fear, the androids. Quickly friction developed, and the bigotry and persecution suffered by the androids became intolerable. To the credit of those androids, and their creator alien-god, instead of fighting the natural humans on Kobol, they simply packed-up and left the planet."

"Where did this thirteenth tribe, the human-type androids, go? Legends say they settled on an uninhabited planet and named it Earth. This, of course, is not the same Earth that we are currently standing on, so, in an effort to avoid confusion, I'll call that planet Earth13." Above Professor Fowler, on the view-screen, another grey circle was replaced with another artist rendition of a planet captioned as 'Earth13'.

"More than 800 years later, about the year 325 CE, after the alien-gods of Kobol had fought amongst themselves and then abandoned the humans, the remaining twelve tribes of humans left Kobol; they considered the planet cursed. This event is known as the 'exodus of the twelve tribes'."

"Now, let me break the timeline here for a minute to say that of the eighteen planets involved in this tale, only the locations of Kobol, Earth13, and one other planet are unknown. However, we believe they are located near the border between the Alpha and Beta quadrants of our galaxy; somewhat closer to the galactic core than to the galactic edge. For those of you out there who like adventure, you may want to contact Stan Halverson. Stan is one of my former project team leaders and he is currently in the process of organizing an expedition to find and explore those planets."

After pausing for a sip of water, Professor Fowler continued, "Okay, back to the timeline. So, where did those twelve tribes of humans go after leaving Kobol? They certainly did not come back here to Earth, nor did they go to Earth13. Instead, they went to a star system they named Cyrannus. Now, the Cyrannus star system is...amazing. In fact, its star and planet configuration is so unique, so special, it may spark a debate among Federation scholars that could last for generations; it certainly sparked a lively debate amongst my research team. Did the Cyrannus star system naturally evolve into its present form, or was it created by some type of Supreme Being, a god, or was it constructed by a super advanced alien civilization billions of years ago? I have no idea, but let me explain its configuration so you can marvel for yourselves."

"Simply put, the Cyrannus star system is a dual, binary star system with twelve 'M' class planets. What do I mean by dual binary? I mean this star system has four stars. All four stars are named Helios, but they are differentiated by the designations Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Gamma." On the view-screen, below the line of planets and grey circles, the images of four captioned stars appeared. "The stars Alpha and Beta orbit around each other like a normal binary pair, and the stars Delta and Gamma orbit around each other like another normal binary pair." On the view-screen, the stars began to move; simulating Professor Fowler's description.

"What's so unique is that the Alpha/Beta star pair and the Delta/Gamma star pair orbit around each other." The two pairs of stars on the view-screen then began to circle around each other. To the audience, the images resembled two couples enjoying a waltz.

As Professor Fowler continued to explain the configuration of the Cyrannus star system, a grey circle on the view-screen was replaced by a captioned image of a planet as she spoke each planet name. "The planet Gemenon and the planet Caprica orbit around each other. This Gemenon/Caprica planet pair, the planet Picon, and the planet Tauron orbit around the star Alpha. The planet Virgon and the planet Leonis orbit around the star Beta."

"As for the other star pair, the planet Aquaria, the planet Canceron, and the planet Aerilon orbit around the star Delta. Finally, the planet Scorpia, the planet Libran, and the planet Sagittaron orbit around the star Gamma. Also, a gas giant called Ragnar orbits around the Delta/Gamma star pair."

"In addition to Ragnar, there are also other large non-'M' class planets in this system, as well as a plethora of planetoids and moons. How, with all the massive and conflicting gravity wells of all these celestial bodies, do the twelve habitable worlds stay within the Goldilocks zones of the four stars? Another question you may want to ask yourself is why do these planet names all sound familiar? Any old-fashioned astrology buffs in the audience tonight?"

After a few moments of unrestrained murmuring amongst the audience, Professor Fowler continued, "The location of the Cyrannus star system falls within the current recognized border of the Romulan Empire. The system is located near the edge of the Empire; galactic core-ward side. The Romulans have not yet given us permission to investigate this system, but they have provided us with detailed charts and the spectacular images you see above me. Incidentally, those charts do not use the planet names I just mentioned, those names were garnered from a different source that I will discuss a little later."

"It's time to move on by jumping back to Earth13. In approximately the year 500 CE, a tragic nuclear war was fought on Earth13. The war resulted in the total annihilation of all intelligent life on that planet, and an almost complete, and possibly permanent, ruin of the plant's eco system. Who were the combatants of this war? My source states that the war was fought between the human-type androids of the thirteenth tribe and the mechanical robot machines they had developed."

"Some of you may be wondering, 'why didn't the human-type androids simply transfer their minds to new android bodies?' It seems that during the 1000 years between the initial colonization of Earth13 and the nuclear war, the knowledge of, what the androids termed 'resurrection', had been lost. Coincidentally, five human-type android scientists on Earth13 had, just before the outbreak of war, rediscovered the resurrection technology. They, however, did not have time to share that technology with the other androids, so only those five survived, via resurrection, when the war ended."

"Once the shock of the total destruction of their world was processed, the five surviving human-type androids decided to warn the other twelve tribes of Kobol about the risks of developing intelligent machines. They left Earth13 aboard a sub-light space ship that could travel at almost the speed of light."

"Alright, now I am going to answer the question I bet most of you are thinking, namely, who is the source I just mentioned and how can that source have so much detailed information about an undocumented event that happened almost two millennia ago?" On the view-screen above the stage, the image of a very old women appeared. Although hints of classic beauty could be seen in her face, her appearance suggested a long and tough life. "Meet Ellen Tigh, the sole surviving member of the group of five human-type androids that left Earth13 after the war in 500 CE," the audience, after a moment of silence, erupted into unrestrained verbal disbelief.

Following several failed attempts by Professor Fowler to bring order to the audience, Admiral Gomez appeared on stage and said in a calm and steady voice, "Cadets, stand down." An immediate hush fell over the crowd, and Admiral Gomez turned to Professor Fowler and said, "Professor, I would like to apologize for the conduct of my Cadets; they will soon regret their unacceptable behavior of this evening." He then turned and glared at the audience.

Finally, Admiral Gomez continued, "however, I can understand their reaction. This women in the image is obviously human, androids don't age like that. Thus, respectfully, how can she be 2000 years old?"

Professor Fowler replied, "please, before I answer your questions, let me say that I to understand the reaction of your Cadets and let me ask of you not to punish them for exhibiting normal humanoid behavior." Admiral Gomez reluctantly nodded his head in agreement as Professor Fowler continued, "you are correct in implying that androids 'we have created' don't age like Ellen has obviously aged. However, we did not create Ellen. Her kind was created by an advanced alien race to be...human. Medical tests conclusively confirm that Ellen is artificial. In addition, the time-travel effect people experience while traveling long distances at nearly light speed have been proven. Thus, even though Ellen has been alive for over 2,000 years, biologically, she is less than a hundred years old."

Admiral Gomez thought for a few seconds and then nodded his head in understanding. Before leaving the stage, he glared at his Cadets again; insuring that verbal pandemonium would not again visit the auditorium that evening.

"Okay," Professor Fowler continued, "it's time to make a rather large jump in both time and space; a jump of more than 1,700 years and of more than 300 light-years. Let's go to the year 2251 CE; on the date of November 26; to a location here in our own solar system. What happened on that date? A well intentioned but seriously flawed interstellar probe designated as EtB137 was deployed."

After a few subdued groans among the audience subsided, Professor Fowler continued, "Ahhh...Ladies and gentleman; those groans you just heard indicate that some of you have deduced the direction this tale is now headed. Why the groans? It's because those people are aware of Starfleet's ill-fated 'Exploring the Beyond' project of the mid 23rd century. For those of you lower classman who are not aware of the project, let me give you a brief recap."

"In 2249, Starfleet approved a project that was the brain child of two of Dr Richard Daystrom's former grad students. The project was intended to make deep space exploration safer and more cost effective by sending unmanned, warp drive equipped, probes to uncharted regions of space. During their planned thirty year missions, these probes were supposed to chart solar systems, find 'M' class planets, and study newly discovered civilizations."

"The phase one deployment schedule of the project lasted for three years. A phase two deployment schedule was proposed to start in the year 2280, but it was cancelled due to an abnormally high failure rate of the phase one probes. Of the approximately 200 probes that were deployed, more than 75% of them were never heard from."

"Subsequent investigations revealed two design flaws which doomed the project from its inception. The first flaw dealt with the inferior computer systems in the probes. The systems could not learn, thus they couldn't develop a sense of real AI; they couldn't evolve any instinct or intuition. Consequently, when forced to deal with situations that were not included in their original programming, they made incorrect decisions or made no decisions at all."

"The second design flaw dealt with the lack of cward radiation shielding; cward radiation is a type of radiation that was unknown to the Federation in the mid 23rd century. Of the few core-ward sent probes that actually returned to Earth, all of them showed signs of silicate pathway deterioration. Severe deterioration could cause complete system failures, but less severe deterioration could cause unexpected computer glitches."

"History books record that the EtB probes discovered five civilizations. Of those five civilizations, the probes initiated premature first contact with two of them, and sparked a brutal internal war with another. However, this tale that I am sharing with you does not relate to these five civilizations; it, in fact, introduces a sixth civilization that suffered because of EtB contact."

"On June 27, in the year 2275, about 24 years after its deployment, EtB137 shut down. We have no idea why it shut down, but we do know it was in the Cyrannus star system."

"We assume that sometime after it shut down, the non-functioning EtB137 was discovered and confiscated by someone in the Cyrannus star system. Note, by this time, the people of the tribes of Kobol were referring to themselves as Colonials (they considered their twelve planets as colonies), so I will now refer to them as Colonials as well. Portions of the computer hardware in the EtB137, specifically the isolinear chips, were then reverse engineered by the Colonials and integrated into their own computer systems."

"At this point in Colonial history, computer hardware and architecture were far behind the technology level enjoyed by the Federation. However, their computer programming abilities far exceeded the programming abilities of the Federation. Thus, the marriage of our hardware with their software allowed the Colonials to develop truly intelligent machines; machines they named Cylons."

"As you can imagine, the Cylons were built to take over menial and dangerous jobs the Colonials did not want. Example Cylon occupations included farming, mining, and soldiering. By January of 2283, being fed-up with their status as 'slaves', the Cylons rebelled against the humans. The rebellion, which was later referred to as the First Cylon War, lasted for about a dozen years. Hundreds of millions of human and Cylon lives were lost."

"In early November of 2295, Ellen and the other surviving human-type androids from Earth13 arrived in the Cyrannus star system. Being 'machines' themselves, they immediately made contact with the Cylons and brokered a deal which basically promised the Cylons resurrection technology and human-type Cylon technology in return for an armistice with the Colonials. Once the armistice went into effect, the Cylons left the Cyrannus star system. They eventually found and colonized an uninhabited 'M' class planet in a star system about 40 light-years, in the galactic core direction, from the Cyrannus system. This planet, which they called The Cylon Home World, is also currently within the borders of the Romulan Empire and thus is not accessible to the Federation at this time." On the view-screen, another grey circle was replaced with a poor image of a planet captioned as 'Cylon Home World'.

"On November 15 of 2332, about 57 years after EtB137 shut down, it, for some unknown reason, reactivated. A few of the system checks performed by a reactivating EtB probe included a hull integrity check and an environment check. During the reactivation of EtB137, both these checks indicated a problem; i.e. several hull panel coverings were removed and the probe was located in an atmosphere/gravity environment. Both of these problems indicated the probe may have been physically compromised by intelligent life. Subsequent checks did not verify these problems as authorized system maintenance, so the probe entered self-destruct mode."

"When self destruct mode begins, an audio ten second countdown is externally initiated. If the self-destruct mode is not disengaged by the end of the countdown, all current probe system information, all information gathered since the reactivation process started, and all archived mission information is encoded and broadcast via an omni-directional sub-space message. Upon completion of the message transmission, the EtB probe would self-destruct by burning-out all its circuitry."

"Listening posts stationed beyond the Keiper belt of our solar system received the self-destruct message sent by EtB137 on the April 27 in the year 2332. Unfortunately, EtB137 did not include any of its archived mission data; we believe the archival storage device on the probe may have been the device that was removed and reverse engineered fifty plus years prior. However, the current probe system information, which included its last known coordinates, and ten seconds of very compelling information gathered before self-destruction was transmitted."

"Most compelling of the information received were 470 seconds of recorded audio transmissions. Because these 470 seconds of language sampling was divided into unrelated ten second clips, our universal translators could not build a language database and thus translate the clips. However, linguists who studied these clips reported that there was a significant probability that the languages used were based on one or more ancient Earth languages."

"Now, a twentieth century dictator once said, 'One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic'. Up to this point, with the exception of the android Ellen, the tale I've been sharing with you has just been a collection of statistics and impersonal events. It is time, however, to humnaoidize it," on the view-screen, the image of Starfleet, Oberth class starship appeared. "First of all, I would like to introduce to you a few of the 55 crew members who served aboard the Starfleet science vessel U.S.S. Minnow in the year 2332; about 44 years ago."

"Meet Commander Amanda Sharky-Johnson-T'Roc," the image of a dark haired, middle aged woman wearing an old-style Starfleet uniform appeared on the view-screen below the image of the Minnow. "She was the 37 year old, 1/4 Vulcan, 3/4 Human, captain of the Minnow. Next, meet Lt Commander Jonas Grumby," the image of a sandy haired man in the same type of Starfleet uniform appeared to the right of the image of T'Roc. "He was the 31 year old anthropology specialist and first officer of the Minnow. Finally, meet Ensign Aileen O'Mulligane," to the right of Grumby's image appeared the Starfleet Academy graduation image of an auburn haired women wearing an old-style Starfleet cadet uniform. "She was the 24 year old communications officer of the Minnow who specialized in linguistics and computer science. Incidentally, this was Ensign O'Mulligane's first assignment aboard a starship since graduating from Starfleet Academy."

"In addition to these three Starfleet officers, let me also introduce you to Lieutenant Collin 'Wizard' Burgees," the image of an old man wearing tattered, rustic, civilian clothing appeared to the right of the images of the three Starfleet officers. "In 2332, he was a 24 year old raptor-pilot assigned to the Colonial battle-escort Indefatigable," below the image of Wizard appeared artist renditions of two unfamiliar ships captioned as 'Colonial Raptor' and 'Colonial Battle-Escort'.

After a few moments to let murmuring in the audience subside, Professor Fowler continued, "So, on September 16, 2332, the U.S.S Minnow began an 18 to 48 month secret mission. The goals of the mission included; travelling to the last known coordinates of EtB137 (this location turned out to be in the Cyrannus star system), determine if there was a Romulan presence at those coordinates (if a Romulan presences was indicated, the mission was to be immediately cancelled), determine the fate of EtB137, and study the local civilization with emphasis placed on its history. The mission was classified as secret because the target coordinates of the mission were very near, yet at that time still outside, the recognized border of the Romulan Empire."

"Once the Minnow arrived in the vicinity of the Cyrannus system in July of 2333, her crew began a detailed passive sensor sweep of the area to search for any signs of a Romulan presence. Finding none, Captain T'Roc ordered the crew to begin a standard covert study of the space fairing, non-warp civilization inhabiting the system."

"To this end, towards mid August, the Minnow and her crew found themselves in a hidden orbit in the atmosphere of the gas giant Ragnar. While studying Colonial ship activities, they stumbled upon two Colonial ships flying down the eye of a storm in the Ragnar atmosphere. On closer inspection, the crew of the Minnow was able to determine that the smaller of the two Colonial ships was a military escort and the larger a freighter. These Colonial ships were travelling to a hidden space station which was orbiting in a geosynchronous orbit in the Ragnar atmosphere. Due to a low level of cward radiation emanating from Ragnar, the space station had not been detected by the crew of the Minnow prior to the arrival of the Colonial ships. Once the Colonial ships finished their mission and left the area, Captain T'Roc sent an away-team to the unmanned space station in order to recover any biological samples that may have been left by the Colonials and to study the colonial equipment aboard."

"While six Minnow crewmembers, divided into three teams, explored the space station, the Colonial raptor pilot Wizard and his electronics-communications-officer aboard the battle-escort Indefatigable were ordered to return to Ragnar Anchorage-the space station in the Ragnar atmosphere-in order to activate the anchorage's security system which the Colonial freighter crew had failed to activate upon departure. In an effort to save time so he could watch the scheduled broadcast of a triad sporting event later that evening, Wizard ordered his ECO to plot a faster-than-light jump directly to the anchorage; thus eliminating the normal one hour flight time needed to traverse the eye of the storm down to the anchorage."

"Now I know you all have a bunch of questions right now, the most pressing being 'what's a faster-than-light jump?' A faster-than-light jump is the type of 'propulsion' system used by the Colonials instead of warp drive. Although we currently don't know how it works, some Starfleet scientists speculate Kreiger waves are harnessed in the Colonial FTL drive systems because Minnow crewmembers detected Kreiger wave bursts during each observed FTL jump. The maximum distance of an individual jump seems to be about 15 to 20 light-years, and it seems to take at least 33 minutes to 'recharge' the jump drives before they can be used again. Incidentally, a covert test initiated by Captain T'Roc using a sub-space transponder attached to the hull of a Colonial ship indicated that these FTL jumps actually travel back in time. In other words, that transponder appeared at the jump destination 55 milliseconds before it left its departure location."

"Although Wizard's order to jump directly to the anchorage was contrary to Colonial SOP, it did fall within acceptable emergency operating procedures because the last known coordinates of the anchorage were less than two hours old. According to Wizard, he had a large sum of money wagered on the triad game se he didn't want to miss it; thus the emergency."

"Unfortunately, the anchorage had drifted slightly since its last exact coordinates were recorded. Consequently, Wizard's raptor jumped to within a few meters of one of the anchorage's stabilization pods. The energized spatial displacement caused by the raptor jump briefly interfered with the stabilization pod, thus causing the anchorage to lurch violently."

"Within the anchorage, two members of the Minnow's away-team, while investigating a cargo area, were struck by falling items which had been stacked haphazardly. One of these members was killed instantly, while the other was seriously injured. During this event, the comm-badge of the dead crewmember was torn from his uniform."

"Captain T'Roc, aboard the Minnow, immediately ordered a recall of the away-team. However, the cward radiation emanating from Ragnar prevented transporter sensor lock, so the recall transports had to be based on comm-badge proximity. Thus, the away-team, including the injured crewmember, was transported back to the Minnow; all except the dead crewmember who had been separated from his comm-badge."

"A few minutes later, the dead Minnow crewmember was found by Wizard and his ECO; they had entered the anchorage via a docking port adjacent to the cargo hold. Wizard noticed the Starfleet comm-badge on the deck and, while picking it up, accidentally activated it. The activation immediately caused Wizard to be beamed to the Minnow."

"Wizard's sudden change of location caused him to panic, so he drew his projectile-based sidearm and began to struggle with the Minnow crewmembers in the transporter room. One crewmember was shot and killed, another crew member was injured from a fall, and Wizard himself was wounded (and knocked unconscious) by his own sidearm."

"Aboard the anchorage, we believe the Colonial ECO, after witnessing her pilot disappear before her eyes, also panicked. She apparently hurried back to the raptor in an escape attempt. Unfortunately, in her panicked rush, she did not de-couple the raptor from the anchorage properly; she died almost instantaneously when the raptor violently depressurized."

"Now, just try to imagine the discussions Captain T'Roc and her officers must have had at the end of that dreadful day:"

"Discussion One: Two Minnow crewmembers had just died; should their deaths end the mission? Operationally, the loss of two crewmembers from a 55 member crew was significant, but not significant enough to warrant an end to the mission. Emotionally, however, the loss of those crew members must have been devastating."

"Discussion Two: What should be done with the unconscious member of the Colonial military currently recuperating in the Minnow's sickbay? Should he be transported down to one of the Colonial planets before he regains consciousness; thus limiting his experience on the Minnow to his panicked encounter? Should he be transported down to one of the Colonial planets after he regains consciousness but before he has a chance to observe more of the Minnow? Should he be kept on the Minnow either voluntarily or involuntarily for an indefinite length of time?"

"Discussion Three: How should the prime directive apply to Wizard and his people? It's logical for us to assume that the chief medical officer of the Minnow, Dr. Roy "Professor" Hinkle, had already run basic DNA tests on Wizard, the dead Colonial ECO, and perhaps any biological samples found and collected from the anchorage. Those test results would have indicated that the Colonial humans share common ancestry with Earth humans, and that these two groups of humans were separated from each other more than three thousand years earlier. Thus, because the Colonials were human, and, because they had the capability of inter-stellar travel, did the prime directive really apply to them?"

"Discussion Four: What should be done with the dead Colonial ECO enshrouded alongside the two dead Starfleet officers somewhere in the Minnow? Furthermore, what should be the fate of the captured Colonial raptor parked in the Minnow's shuttle bay?"

"Ultimately, Wizard was given a choice; stay on the Minnow and learn about Earth and the Federation, or return to the colonies. Citing reasons of friendship and understanding, Wizard chose to stay on the Minnow. He did, however, later confess that he stayed on the Minnow in an attempt to steal Federation technology; technology that could make him a very wealthy man in the colonies. As for the dead Colonial ECO, Wizard attended a memorial service held for her and the two dead Minnow crewmembers. The raptor, incidentally, was jettisoned into the Ragnar atmosphere before Wizard regained consciousness."

"Around the end of August in 2333, Captain T'Roc ordered a long-term away-team assignment for the purpose of gathering the information needed to complete their mission. Unfortunately, the required information could not be gathered remotely. The Colonials operated less than a dozen wireless data networks in the whole star system, and the security on those networks was so tight that they could not be hacked without detection. Furthermore, according to Wizard, wired data networks on the planets used the same type of security, so the only way to gain access to these networks was through legitimate usage."

"The plan involved establishing Ensign Aileen O'Mulligane, as a visiting college student, and Lt Commander Jonas Grumby, as her husband, in one of the large metropolitan areas on the planet Caprica. Aileen was selected for the mission because she was a linguistics expert; she had already developed fluency in the Colonial language. According to Wizard, Aileen's fluency was very accented, but the accent was similar to the accent of the people on the Colonial planet Aerilon. Jonas was selected because he was one of the only two surviving Minnow crewmembers who had an inner-ear universal translator installed. Captain T'Roc also had a UT installed, but the differences in her 1/4 Vulcan internal physiology created an unnecessary detection risk: what if she needed medical treatment on the planet and her biological differences were discovered?"

"About a month after Aileen and Jonas began their away-team mission, while the Minnow was orbiting near the planet Picon, a low powered, sub-space message directed at a star system 40 light-years away was detected. Although the highly compressed message was not encrypted, it could not be interpreted. However, the engineering officer on the Minnow claimed that its format was similar to the data streams used by transporters. After careful consultation with the away-team, Captain T'Roc decided to leave the away-team on the surface of Caprica while the Minnow followed the message to that unexplored star system."

"Now I know all of you are probably dumbfounded by Captain T'Roc's decision. How could she, a Federation Starfleet Captain, leave two of her crewmembers on Caprica while she left to explore a different star system? According to Wizard, Aileen and Jonas both agreed they were safe on the planet. Although the Colonials were not as culturally advance as Earth, their ethics and morality seemed to mirror the ethics and morality of 23rd century Earth. According to Jonas, they were making good progress with their information gathering, and there was no reason for the locals to fear them because they were not silver and shiny. Remember, at this time, the Colonials, and thus the crew of the Minnow, were unaware of human-type Cylons."

"In early November of 2333, the crew of the U.S.S. Minnow found the Cylon Home World. Within about a week of their discovery, while they were gathering information about the planet, the Cylons found the Minnow. We don't have any details about the ensuing encounter, but the results are known: The Minnow was destroyed in an explosion caused by a breach of her warp-core; of all the evacuation pods and shuttles aboard the Minnow, only the damaged shuttle U.S.S. Guppy escaped the warp-core explosion and subsequent Cylon raider hunts (onboard the Guppy were Captain T'Roc, Wizard, and two other Minnow crewmembers); and, the Cylon leaders, after years of debate, finally approved and accelerated the time-table for a proposed attack on the Colonies."

"About a year and two months later, sometime in January of 2335, the Guppy finally returned to the Cyrannus star system. Captain T'Roc's plan at this point was to make contact with Aileen and Jonas, find a place to effect repairs and resupply of the Guppy, cut Wizard loose, collect Aileen and Jonas, and either return to the Federation if the repairs were successful, or travel to a Romulan outpost if not. Unfortunately, Captain T'Roc did not have time to complete any of those tasks because within a couple of days of her return, the Cylons launched their attack on the Colonies."

"Some of you may be wondering what Aileen and Jonas had been doing for the last fourteen months. Around the beginning of 2334, after missing four scheduled sub-space communications with the Minnow, Aileen and Jonas knew something was seriously amiss. They decided to continue their assignment for as long as their monetary resources remained. But, after about six months, they were forced to abandon the assignment and find employment on Caprica in order to survive. Thus, Lt Commander Jonas Grumby and Ensign Aileen O'Mulligane, both Starfleet officers and citizens of the United Federation of Planets, for all intents and purposes, also became citizens of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol."

"On the day of the Cylon attack, while Jonas was at work, Aileen was enjoying the first day of her maternity leave in her obstetrician's office; an office which happened to be located near one of the smaller space ports in the Caprica City metropolitan area. Although Aileen was afraid she would never see Earth again, the thought of the baby in her womb, the baby that she and Jonas created together over eight months earlier, gave her hope and courage. With this hope and this courage, Aileen survived the chaos which was Caprica City on that day. Somehow, she made it aboard one of the last ships that escaped the destruction of Caprica City; the destruction of Caprica; the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. On a tragic personal note, Aileen never saw Jonas again; we believe he died in Caprica City that day."

"Yes, the Cylon attack, which was a complete surprise, was a success. Using a large, modern, space armada with a huge nuclear arsenal; it destroyed almost every Colonial fleet asset, it killed an estimated forty billion people, and it rendered twelve 'M' class worlds as nearly uninhabitable. It was almost complete genocide."

After a few moments of silence, Professor Fowler continued, "The next day, about 60,000 survivors of the attack, those who were in space when the attack commenced or who evacuated to space during the attack, and those who were not subsequently hunted and killed by the Cylon raiders, gathered around Ragnar Anchorage; the Colonial space station in the Ragnar atmosphere where the Colonials and the crewmembers of the Minnow first met. Amongst the gathered three-score FTL civilian ships was one old, semi-retired, Colonial fleet capital ship; the Battlestar Galactica. Above the station, beyond the atmosphere of Ragnar, loomed several Cylon capital ships (known as Cylon Basestars); in addition, hidden around the curvature of Ragnar, loomed several more Basestars. Further out in space, acting like a piece of space wreckage, floated the U.S.S Guppy."

"To all aboard the Guppy, the immediate future of the Colonial refugee fleet looked hopeless. Wizard, who was the only Colonial fleet expert aboard the Guppy, thought the Colonials had a fair chance of escaping through the Basestars patrolling above the refugee fleet if they were unmolested by the hidden Basestars during their escape attempt. Captain T'Roc, after quickly weighing options, decided that she had no choice but to ignore the Prime Directive and help the beleaguered Colonial refugees."

"Thus, she maneuvered the Guppy to the far side of Ragnar, entered the atmosphere, and flew back to Colonial refugee fleet. With Wizard's help, she was able to convince one of the refugee civilian ship Captains to allow her to land in the hangar bay of his ship. There, she off-loaded all the remaining food and medical supplies from the Guppy. She then thanked Wizard for all his help and left him on that ship. The Guppy, with three Starfleet officers aboard, was going to be used to attack the hidden Baseships when the refugee fleet started its escape attempt. Incidentally, the other two officers aboard the Guppy volunteered to stay with their Captain; Ensign Ghee th'Zarath, an Andorian, could never live amongst the Colonials, and Lieutenant Paulo Preciado wanted to fight with his Starfleet comrades."

"The fate of the Guppy is not known. However, the refugee fleet did escape through the Cylon blockade, so I tend to believe that Commander Amanda Sharky-Johnson-T'Roc, using the damaged and exhausted U.S.S. Guppy, was at the least able to delay the use of the hidden Cylon Baseships against the refugee fleet."

"A few days later, aboard the refugee ship Olympic Carrier, Aileen gave birth to her son; Jonas T'Roc O'Mulligane. To me, it seems ironic that not only was the first birth in that Colonial refugee fleet a Federation citizen, but that the leaders of the refugee fleet decided to find the lost thirteenth tribe of Kobol, the tribe that their legends say colonized a planet known as Earth."

"Within a few weeks after their escape from the Cyrannus star system, Wizard and Aileen stumbled across each other's paths aboard the Olympic Carrier. Aileen, with her infant son, was in a very frightened state, so Wizard placed her under his care. Eventually, their relationship became romantic, and within a few months, they were married."

On the view-screen, another grey circle was replaced with an artist rendition of a planet captioned as 'New Caprica'. "In early 2337, while in the midst of a Cylon occupation force on a planet dubbed New Caprica by the people of the refugee fleet, Aileen died at the hands of the New Caprica Police; an anonymous human police force working for the Cylons. Her death devastated Wizard, but, honoring Aileen's wishes, he adopted little Jonas and raised him as his own son."

"A month after Aileen's death, most of the refugees were able to escape New Caprica and the Cylons. For the next two years, the refugee fleet, along with the Battlestar Galactica and eventually a rebel Cylon Basestar, were able to elude the perusing Cylons."

"In February of 2339, in an effort to escape a battle with a Cylon Colony Complex, the Galactica initiated a blind FTL jump. This jump brought Galactica to a lush, primitive world they subsequently named Earth. A Galactica raptor was then dispatched to bring the refugee fleet and the rebel Basestar to this new Earth. There, the Colonials decided to settle the new planet by intermixing with the planet's primitive, human inhabitants. In an effort to keep their location hidden from the Cylons, the Colonials destroyed all their FTL ships, including the Galactica, by flying them into the Sun."

"Well, you're all probably wondering where the Colonials actually settled 37 years ago. They surely didn't settle here on this Earth; after all, I think most intelligent life would not classify us as primitive. The approximately 39,000 surviving Colonial humans, a few score of human-type Cylons, and three human-type androids from Earth13, settled on the planet we know as Miri's World."

"Some of you, of course, know about Miri's World, but I'm sure many of you do not; so let me give you a brief history of that planet. On May 6 in the year 2266, The U.S.S. Enterprise, commanded by legendary Captain James Tiberius Kirk, after following an automated old-style radio distress signal to its origin, discovered a planet orbiting the star UFC347601. This planet, which was later to be dubbed Miri's World, is physically an exact duplicate of the Earth we are currently standing on. All landforms, from the largest continent to the smallest island, match the corresponding landforms here on Earth. In addition, the chemical makeup of both ocean waters and atmospheric gasses are identical. Finally, all the plant and animal life on that planet are identical."

"The crew of that Enterprise quickly discovered that the human occupants of that planet suffered from a highly contagious, artificial virus that had decimated the small human population that lived there. They learned that this virus, which was manufactured and released about 300 years prior to the arrival of the Enterprise, was intended to prolong human life. Instead, however, the Enterprise crew reported that the virus killed all the humans on the planet who had reached puberty, and drastically prolonged the life of all human children until they themselves reached puberty; at which time they would die."

"The landing party from the Enterprise, of course, became infected. It took several days of intense medical research to cobble together a vaccine for the virus. After inoculating themselves and the few score of surviving children, known as the Onlies, the Enterprise left Miri's World with promises to the children that Federation teachers from the old Space Central department of Starfleet would soon arrive to help and educate them."

"This promise, of course, was fulfilled. However, within about six months of their arrival to Miri's World, the Federation medical staff on site determined that the vaccine made by the Enterprise crew was losing its effectiveness; it turned out to be only a temporary fix. Onlie children, once reaching puberty, were beginning to show signs of the disease, as were all the Starfleet personal stationed on the planet. The decision was made to abandon Mirri's World. All the Onlies, and all the newly infected Starfleet personal, were relocated to a different planet that was then quarantined for the next 50 years."

"Because of their close call with death on Miri's World, the crew of the Enterprise had neglected to run a complete survey of the planet. The Space Central personnel sent to help the Onlies found that a large portion of the original human adults who contracted the disease did not actually die. Instead, the virus affected their brains in such a way that it appeared their minds had been 'rebooted'. In other words, they seemed to have collectively lost about 150,000 years of mental and instinctual development. These people, whom the Onlies called Wildlings, were left on Miri's World to re-evolve naturally on the planet. Furthermore, to protect their re-development from any influences from their past civilization, all traces of their past civilization which had not yet been reclaimed by nature were obliterated using ecologically friendly methods."

"On June 19, 2365, a team of scientists and specialists, including myself, arrived at Miri's World for a scheduled 50 year survey of the planet and its human inhabitants. For medical reasons, our mission was scheduled only to last three months, however, the two virologist on our team discovered that since the last 50 year survey, the molecular structure of the artificial virus that had decimated the previous civilization of humans had broken down into its natural core components; the most prevalent being a form of Chicken Pox. Thus, the planet was declared safe and our survey mission was extended."

"On September 26 of that same year, while we settled down to a nice dinner in our duck-blind survey complex, our local communication equipment activated. There were no ships scheduled to visit us for a few weeks, and all of our team members were present, so none of us had any idea who could be calling. Let me play you the recording of that communication:"

Over the speaker system of the auditorium, Professor Fowler's recorded voice said, 'Hello, this is Professor Amy Hera Fowler of the United Federation of Planets; who am I speaking too and how can I help you?' After a few seconds of silence, a male voice using broken English replied, 'Hi...hi...my name is...Wizard, you...help Wizard and Jonas?'

"Imagine our shock when we finally met and talked to Wizard. He had kept Aileen's comm-badge all this time; several times each year, he would activate it to see if he could contact any Federation ships that might be passing close to the planet. Yes, we had no idea that advanced humans had intermixed among the Wildlings. We had noticed some indications of abnormally fast development among some of the Wildlings, but our preliminary study suggested this development was due to the degradation of the virus."

"For those of you who like statistics, I sadly must report that of the 39,000 humans and Cylons who settled on Mira's World and intermixed with the Wildlings, less than 3,000 have been found to date. We believe that most of the missing 36,000 are dead, but we will continue to search. Incidentally, among the found Colonials is a DNA proved, natural born, Federation Citizen named Jonas T'Roc O'Mulligane; he is a middle aged man who is looking forward to visiting his relatives here on Earth."

"I'm sure all of you young cadets are wondering why I decided to release the findings of this research project here at Starfleet Academy. It's because you are our future explorers, and I wanted to tell you this tale in person. There comes a time when we can't run from the things that we've done. Instead, we must embrace those things, understand those things, learn from those things, and make every effort not to repeat those things."

Professor Fowler then switched off the PADD that was guiding her through her presentation, stepped to the side of the podium, and said, "I want to thank you all for coming tonight. Do any of you have any questions?"

As many cadets politely raised their hands, Jean Luc Picard, captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, registry number NCC-1701E, while standing in the back of the auditorium, glanced over to Lieutenant Commander Data, second officer of the Enterprise, and asked, "have you accessed Professor Fowler's report from the information net Mr. Data?"

"Yes Captain," Data responded. "A preliminary analysis of the textual data in the report yields no contradictions with the message from Dr. Soong."

"I couldn't pick out any contradictions in Professor Fowlers presentation either. However, the lack of contradictions does not necessarily indicate confirmation," Picard mussed.

"I concur Sir. However, the obvious coincidences cannot be ignored either. If Dr. Soong was not privy to the U.S.S. Minnow's last mission, then, at least some of his message must be factual," Data countered.

"Oh, I agree with you Mr. Data. I just hesitate to jump to any conclusions before all avenues of investigation are exhausted."

"I understand Sir."

"So Mr. Data, since you are now officially on a leave-of-absence, what is your next step," Picard asked.

"I would like to talk to Professor Fowler in person about the message and then invite her to go to Omicron Theta with me to search for the items."

"Well Mr. Data, you're in luck tonight. Although I wasn't able to get us actual seats for her presentation, I was able to get us invitations to her after-presentation reception," Picard said.

"That may suffice for my needs Sir," Data responded. "However, it may be difficult to engage her in a private conversation at the reception."

"True, Mr. Data. However, you may want to have a more public conversation with her. Remember, I cannot legitimately delay my report to Starfleet Command about Dr. Soong's message anymore. Once Starfleet receives my report, the same people who classified Professor Fowler's report findings as secret may try to classify Dr. Soong's message as secret."

Data thought for 13 milliseconds and then said, "I did not consider that Sir. I suppose if enough people know about the message before Starfleet tries to classify it, Starfleet's efforts would be moot; as if I had let Spot out of the bag already."

"...yes Mr. Data," Picard said in surprise. "Once we get to the reception, I'll enlist Admiral Gomez's help to coral some of those progressive thinking admirals and hopefully those two Federation council members."

"Wonderful Sir; thank you."

"No problem Mr. Data; anything for a friend. Oh, by the way, I must say your ability to craft jokes is improving rather well. That Spot comment was completely unexpected. However, in the future, you may want to consider whether your jokes are appropriate for your current situation."

"I...think I understand Sir, thank you."

On the auditorium stage, Professor Fowler was saying, "...although things in the beginning were a bit impersonal, our relationship agreement finally yielded some very satisfactory situations. Are there any more questions?"

()()()()()()

In a small annex conference room, standing near a wooden, oval shaped conference table, amidst a cluster of people which included three Admirals, one Commodore, two Commanders, and one Lt. Commander, Professor Fowler said, "I must say Mr. Data, although you are not the first sentient android I've ever met, you are certainly the most...interesting."

"Thank you Professor; besides Ellen Tigh, did you meet any other sentient androids on Miri's World?"

"Technically, all Cylons are sentient androids. Thus, in addition to Ellen, I have met seventeen others; all of whom, incidentally, are aging like Ellen."

As Data was about to respond to Professor Fowler's answer, the door separating the annex conference room from a crowded reception area opened and Captain Picard, Admiral Gomez, and both of the Federation council members present at the lecture entered. After some polite introductions and handshaking, Picard said, "Well Mr. Data, we shouldn't keep Professor Fowler from the guests who are not privy to this little meeting for too long; I suggest we begin."

"Of course Sir," Data said as he turned to face the admirals and Council members. "As everyone here is probably aware, I was created by cyberneticist Dr. Noonien Soong. While he designed and built me, he included in my programming several hidden messages that could be triggered by certain actions or phrases. In general, these messages have dealt with certain aspects of my ethical development. A few weeks ago, while reading the Starfleet Academy announcement for tonight's presentation...my information-bot had flagged that announcement as important...a new hidden message from Dr. Soong was triggered by the words 'Cylon' and 'Cyrannus' which appeared in that announcement," the few people in the room who had not been giving Data their full attention focused on him intently as he continued."

"I have loaded that message on my PADD and have connected my PADD to this view-screen so you can all see it firsthand," Data said as he pointed from a PADD resting on the conference table to the view-screen installed in the far wall.

As Data tapped his pad, the image of a middle aged Dr. Soong, standing in the midst of a laboratory, appeared. Dr. Soong, looking at the device recording the message, smiled and said, "Hello Data, you've just triggered another one of my Easter-egg messages. This message…"

Data stopped the playback when he heard the glass of wine that Professor Fowler had been drinking break on the floor after it slipped from her fingers. "Professor Fowler; is there something wrong," he asked with android concern.

Professor Fowler replied, "Data...that man in the message; was that Dr. Soong?"

"Yes Professor."

"And who is the women in the portrait on the wall behind Dr. Soong?"

Data responded, "that is Dr. Soong's wife; Juliana Tainer."

While waiting for a reply, Data unsuccessfully tried to read the emotions which seemed to race across Professor Fowler's face. Finally she said, "Mr. Data, could you please continue the message?"

"Of course Professor," Data said as he tapped his PADD a couple of times.

"...of my Easter-egg messages. This message, unfortunately, is not to congratulate you for reaching another milestone. It is intended to warn you of possible difficulties you may experience resulting from some of my past actions. Because you are watching this message, certain historical facts must have come to light; thus, you need to know the truth."

"I am not Dr. Noonien Soong. My real name is Leoben 394 and I am a Cylon. Because this message has been triggered, you are probably already aware of the Cylon race and its technological achievements; therefore, I'll restrict this message to my personal experiences."

"In the Federation year of 2323, I had just completed my first main-line assignment on the Cylon Home World; I had been a member of the design-team tasked with developing a new Centurion model. One of my duties during that assignment was to design physical aspects of the new Centurion model that would be especially frightening to humans. The research I performed to complete this task intrigued me, and it left me with a desire to learn more about humans."

"Thus, for my next main-line assignment, I volunteered to be an undercover observer living among the imprisoned humans in one of the many agricultural/human-study compounds on the Cylon Home World. This assignment was supposed to last for three years; however, the Cavil who directed the project decided to keep me among the humans for an indefinite period of time."

"At first I accepted the Cavil's decision, but after a few years I began to resent it. When I threatened to commit suicide so that I could be resurrected elsewhere, away from the compound, the Cavil indicated that I would only be boxed for my efforts. Thereafter, the Cavil blocked my access to the Leoben communication net and he severely restricted my Cylon projection capabilities. At that point, the only thing separating me from the human prisoners I lived among was my covert authority over the old-style, Centurion, compound overseers and my monthly debriefing with the Cavil."

"After a few more years of intensifying hatred and scheming, I realized that if I died accidentally, the Cavil would learn of my hatred and scheming during my subsequent resurrection. Thus, I would be branded as a traitor and boxed. It seemed I was literally stuck among these humans for the rest of my life."

"On November 15 of 2333, while enjoying my one monthly day of rest, I was wandering in the hills above my compound when I stumbled across three injured humans who did not speak Colonial Standard. We were, however, able to communicate through the use of a small electronic translator they carried. At first they did not want to give me any information. However, they eventually told me they were prospectors from the planet Picon and their scout ship had crashed landed in a secluded valley about 10 kilometers from my compound."

"I, of course, did not believe these humans; it was obvious they were not Colonials. It was also obvious they needed help. Thus, preserving my undercover identity, I befriended these humans and rather quickly gained some of their trust. Between the information they gave me and the information I was able to finesse out of the Cavil, I learned that these humans were the sole survivors of a small space battle that took place over the Cylon Home World on November 10. Due to the explosive destruction of their primary ship, a ship I later found out was called the U.S.S. Minnow, these humans were able to escape in a small shuttle undetected. However, the shuttle sustained significant damage and they were forced to crash land on the planet."

"I then endeared myself more to these gullible humans by helping them to survive and by supplying some of the materials they needed to repair their shuttle. To keep their suspicions at bay, I did have one of the humans covertly killed after a few weeks; this kept the attention of the surviving humans more on the Centurion overseers then on my seemingly ease of material acquisition. Don't miss understand me Data, it was not easy to acquire the necessary materials without causing undo notice from the Centurions or the Cavil."

"When the repairs to the shuttle, known as the U.S.S Seahorse, were near completion, I had another one of the Federation humans killed. This death made it fairly easy for me to convince the sole surviving human to take me with him when he left the Cylon Home World. Thus, on July 29 in 2334, the Seahorse, carrying one Federation human and one human-type Cylon-myself-left the Cylon Home World. Our destination: the Federation."

"In April of 2339, while nearing Federation space, I killed the last remaining Federation human that had crash landed on the Cylon Home World. I eventually destroyed the Seahorse, the only remaining item that could tie me to the Minnow, and slipped into the fringes of Federation society as a vagabond."

"In August of 2339, I met the real, and disgraced, Dr. Noonien Soong on a transport ship while he was fleeing from the public, academic life he once enjoyed. After getting to know him, I soon came to realize that, with my Centurion designing experience, I could successfully use his life as a means to infiltrate Federation society legitimately. Thus, I killed Dr. Soong and took his identity when he was about to transfer to a ship which was headed for Omicron Theta."

"Well Data; you know the rest of the story. I hope you believe me when I say that I now regret killing those three Starfleet officers. At the time, though, my hatred and hopelessness completed suppressed my compassion and humanity. Killing is something I hope I will never do again."

"As the Vulcans say, 'live long and prosper' Data. Oh, by the way, I've hidden some items for you that I brought from the Cylon Home World here on Omicron Theta; access nested memory location 235A31DB in your long term personal files for the location."

As the image of Dr. Soong faded on the view-screen, one of the Admirals present asked, "Could this be true? Was Dr. Soong a Cylon?"

Professor Fowler slowly answered, "I believe so. Although he looked much younger in that message, I think...no, I'm positive the man in that message was a copy of the human-type Cylon model known as Leoben. Hell, I've interviewed three different Leobens on Miri's World; I have no doubt that man was another copy. The women in the portrait behind Leoben though...I can't be sure...but she appeared to be a young version of the copy of the human-type Cylon model known as D'Anna."

Data asked, "Did you interview any D'Annas on Miri's World Professor?"

"Yes," she responded, "but only one. According to D'Anna, her line was boxed by the Cavils, but she was later unboxed by the Colonials and the Cylon rebels."

"Fascinating," Data said.

Professor Fowler then asked, "Mr. Data, have you retrieved those Cylon items Leoben...I mean Dr. Soong...hid on Omicron Theta?"

"Not yet professor; because of the destruction wrought by the Crystalline Entity on Omicron Theta, those items may be lost forever. However, I do intend to search for them and I was wondering if you would like to join me in that search," Data replied.

"Mr. Data," Professor Fowler said with eagerness, "I would be honored."