“They’re just standing there, sir.  They’re keeping to the agreed-upon lines.”   Lieutenant Seraphina Pearce had discovered the underground settlers were no longer underground.  It had been a week since they’d spoken to Captain Samson Bradley with a threat to revisit the deal they had made.  Bradley stood on the bridge, watching the images playing across the viewscreen.  They were indeed sticking to the agreement, for now.

He asked, “Status of the evacuation?”  They had completed their work ahead of schedule.  He was content to walk away without further aggravation or drama.

“Nearly complete.  The last groups are securing their equipment.  Estimate less than five minutes until they’re back aboard.”

Samson didn’t like the feeling in his gut.  “Motivate them to move faster, Lieutenant.  Your team comes up at the same time – no delays.”  He could hear the confusion in the silence that followed.

“Understood, sir.  We’ll get it moving.”

Samson leaned forward in his chair. “Mr. Kondo, what do you make of it?”

At tactical, Kondo De La Fontaine turned to face his CO.  “They made no moves until now – as we’re closing shop.  They were watching us, I have no doubt, sir.  Maybe this is their way of projecting strength as we retreat.”

The captain absentmindedly shook his head, “It’s possible.  We’re still not sure what they are, how long they’ve been here, or who they are.  Sensors?”

At the science console against the wall, Morrison was already ahead of him, “They’re humanoid, like us.  I’ve been throwing every scan I can at this range – they’ve got a different physiological layout than us, hearts are bigger, and brains are larger.  I’ll update the ongoing report.”

He chuckled at the bigger brain fact.  “They’re smart enough.  The question is – why haven’t they left the planet?  What’s stopping that intellect from creating systems and devices with which to take to the stars?  They saw the colonists land here to take what they wanted.”

Next to Lita was Ensign Alayna Bertrand at communications. She had been staring at the screen and the images of what had played out over the past hour or so.  Bertrand wondered, “What if they can’t?”  Her face flushed in embarrassment as the collective bridge crew turned toward her.  The captain joined them, an expectant look on his face.  She swallowed some of her stress.  “They’ve been here for quite some time.  What if, after being a part of this planet for so long, there’s something in the water, the air…or something that prevents them from ever leaving?”

Morrison turned to face her friend, the possibility revealing itself.  “We weren’t down there without suits for very long originally – we went through the highest decon available…from that point on, everyone was in protective suits.  We wouldn’t have known it was a problem because none of us were exposed for long enough.”  She swung back to her console and began to pull data from the suits and the sensors since they had arrived.

“Transporter Room Three, sir.  All crew accounted for.”

Captain Bradley thanked them and turned back to his chief science officer, “It’s not a theory until we test it. What do you see?”

Lita’s eyes were searching the displays wildly as she pulled data from every source possible, including the autopsies done on the bodies in the wreckage of the Borg Ship and of Walter Morgan.  “We didn’t know we needed to look for it, and the computer classified it as benign because after ten years, the bodies had decayed enough that the relevancy wasn’t current.  However, Doctor Morgan’s body,” she scrolled until she found what she was looking for and put the data on the screen.  “That data is fresh and unfiltered.  You can see it here, here, and there.  The reason his body was failing was partially due to his old age, but a contributing factor was the growing infection that was pushing his internal organs to the limit.  I’ve set the computer and my team to identify the variable infection, causes, symptoms, and how it would interact with a human body over forty years.”  She shook her head in disbelief, “Captain, I think Ensign Bertrand’s right.  They can’t leave.”

Bradley asked ominously, “Which begs the question – who was the one or two that tested the theory…and died in the attempt?  How long ago was it?  And why did it cause them to be so cruel?”  He changed the screen to show the video of the gathered group down below.  “Ensign Morrison – find out the truth for certain – test it.  Get me a theory.  I’d like some answers before we drop warning buoys all over this system.”