Posted Aug. 8, 2022, 1:54 p.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Cara Meow (Ship's Anthropologist and Sociologist) (David Fergusson)
[snip]
Some of the children murmured evidently questioning each other or prodding someone to ask more things for the group.
The guy wearing the red shirt wondered why the child asked such a question ‘’Cmdr’‘ he whispered ‘’Maybe its possible that he was referring about our different skin color, hair and eyes and the child thinks we are a different species from each other ?’‘ the security finished with a gulp not knowing how the Cmdr was going to react, if not here then back on the ship and was quick to take a few steps back.
Joe gave the red shirt a sideways look complete with the copyrighted Milligan look of astonishment that anyone would ask such a question. “Indeed, that is what I was answering for the child. I’m pretty sure they understood. Each finger a different race or species. Singly not as strong as they all are together. I believe it was used by a fellow name of Winston Churchill if my old Earth history serves me correctly.”
By now the man in the red shirt was inspecting his fingers trying to solve this mystery. He opened the palm of his hand and gazed at it as if for the first time .It was then that the guy realized what the Cmdr had taught the boy who apparently had a higher IQ then him!
‘’Got it ‘’ he said excitedly ‘’The fingers are not of the same size yet we use them collectively ‘’ then wondered what would happen if he lost his thumb .
Gazing at the Cmdr the red shirt came to the conclusion that the man was exceptional intellectually .Joe simply smiled at the man and nodded his head. He also made a mental note to speak with the new security officer about the man. Joe sighed then as he stood and looked around at the children. He was feeling anxious and suddenly very cooped up as a number of things ran through his mind. He was concerned about Cross and how she was doing. He wondered as well how the captain and his team were doing. He disliked having everyone split up as they were.
Joe took a quick look around the area and hoped as well that that the new COS would survive being alone with Miriam. Turning his attention to the children once more he smiled and idly answered a few more of their questions. Many showing the mental sharpness and intuitiveness that only the young from anyplace managed to possess.
One of the children spoke up then once given permission by the assistant teacher, her attention seemed focused on the Cara, “..Um…how come you are so fuzzy? My great grand-mom told me a story once before she died when I was really young. She said once when she was just a bit older then me now. That some alien guests had come through on a big grey colored ship and they were not so friendly at first. But the Dol at the time, she was able to convince them that making trouble with us was not to their advantage and they calmed down. So then when two of the aliens came aboard, they had a third one that was really short! But she had fuzzy furry skin like you, but it was all white and um....she did not have a tail I think? Uh, the aliens decided to buy some supplies we had in excess and the Dol, she refused to accept other things in trade until the furry woman was part of the deal. After a bit more arguing the furry woman was exchanged with some other things in trade..” She said.
Sal spoke, “..I believe the child refers to a visit a bit under 100 years ago locally here. The race were representing a slaver union called ‘The Guild’, that has since been destroyed by other major powers in this religion we later learned..” She explained.
The girl nodded, “..Yes The Guild! That was it but um…” seeming to collect her question she turned back to Cara, “..sadly the furry lady passed away not long after they left because of her injuries being too bad for us to care for and not understanding her body and stuff. Um....but my question is are the people you are with they aren’t slave owners right? We don’t like slavers..” she asked.
“I’m very sorry to hear about the fate of the furry lady, but no we are not!” replied Cara to the child’s question, “We belong to the United Federation of Planets, and we have rules that say there can be no slavery any longer on any of those hundreds of planets. However, I’m sorry to say that there was slavery in the past, and there is still slavery on planets who are not members of the UFP. Like you, we also don’t like forcing a being into servitude against their will and without compensation, and we will act against it when we are able to and have the power to do so.”
-Cara Meow.
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