Prologue: The Settlement

Captain's Log, Commander T'Lara Tucker, Star Date 47653 point 3

Our survey ship USS Maverick has arrived in the Eta Scorpii system to investigate the remains of an abandoned early Federation settlement believed to have been constructed and inhabited for many years by some of our direct ancestors. We have investigated early Federation history for many years in search of information about our fore-parents, most of which are believed to be original crew members of humanities first deep space mission. Since the current time would have been the year 2372 in their calculation of time, we are investigating events that took place over two centuries ago.

Unfortunately, such research is a rather laborious process with little reward in terms of results. Through genetic profiling and what little information was left after the destruction of the Federation's early central archive by fire in the year 2170 of the old timing scale, we have sought out and hired the following crew members in addition to the ship's standard crew:

Myself – T'Lara Catherine Tucker, age 80 years, ancestry 80% Vulcan, 20% Human

Charles Anthony Tucker VI, age 45 years, ancestry 60% Vulcan, 40% Human (personal annotation: While his anatomy makes his Vulcan ancestry quite obvious, his personality certainly does not)

Mayumi Sato, age 30, ancestry Human

Elizabeth T'Les Tucker, age 32 years, ancestry 57% Vulcan, 43% Human

Mary Jane Sato, age 22, ancestry human

As we speak there is a survey team on the surface of a planet designated Liberty IV, the ninth planet in orbit around Eta Scorpii, and the only Minshara class planet in the system. I admit to certain impatience in regards to hearing the results of the survey team's investigation.

-=/\=-

"As it appears, all members of the meeting are present," Commander T'Lara noted after surveying the attendance. "Lieutenant Nira, would you please provide an overview of the observations your survey has made?"

The young Vulcan female acknowledged the order with a nod and called up her first schematics.

"From climatologic simulations, we know that with a certainty of ninety-nine point seven percent the meteorological parameters of the planet have undergone little to no change over the last three hundred years. The planet would therefore have been most suitable for human and Vulcan colonization, if perhaps fairly warm for humans. Its average temperature seems to vary little all year and is comparable to the mean temperature of the Shi'Kar province on Vulcan in early summer."

"Have there been signs of settlements."

"Indeed there were," the young lieutenant replied. "We have found dwellings in various states of deterioration. Most provided us with artefacts that hint at both Vulcan and human inhabitants, or of course settlers of mixed heritage. We also found relics that prove the presence of children. The most striking find was, however, that one dwelling was significantly better preserved than others. The explanation presented itself in the form of the skeletal remains of its last inhabitant."

"Now there's a find," Lieutenant Commander Tucker interrupted. "I guess you're havin' a lead as to who he or she was already?"

T'Lara could see the momentary confusion on Lieutenant Nira's face. Charles Tucker VI was on a temporary assignment to this ship and many Vulcans, especially full-blooded ones still encountered problems to adapt to a Vulcan looking male with blond hair, unusually blue-colored eyes, and a pronounced human accent.

"We are not aware of the exact identity of the individual yet, our team is working on it as we speak, but based on the genetic decay rate, we could establish that the remains are of a Vulcan female, who died on this planet approximately thirty to forty years ago most likely at an age in significant excess of two-hundred years."

"Hm," Charles Tucker intoned. "Let's say she made it to two hundred and twenty. That's not unusual for Vulcans these days. That would mean she'd been born sometime between 2110 and 2130 – she could well have been one of the original settlers, if that story is true, o' course."

"Lieutenant Commander, what you call 'a story', is a proven scientific fact," Commander T'Lara admonished him for his scientific inaccuracy. "It is already established that ancestors of ours have settled somewhere near what is now the edge of Federation space. The only question we need to find an answer for is whether or not this planet is the correct location and if the settlers were those we are looking for."

"I believe we can answer both questions affirmatively," Lieutenant Nira explained. "According to the genetic profile created by Doctor Pheral the remains we found are those of Lieutenant Elizabeth Tucker's third foremother. We can further deduce that the human who bequeathed the designation Tucker did produce offspring with at least three females. The third forefather of Lieutenant Elizabeth Tucker, the second forefather of Lieutenant-Commander Charles Tucker VI, and the fifth forefather of Ensign Mary-Jane Sato are one and the same man, in fact his genetic profile can be found in all of you to varying degrees, which means you are all descendants of a man, who, if the numbering scheme of Lieutenant Commander Tucker's forename was already used at the time, would have been called Charles Tucker III."

Silence descended around the meeting table.

"Bridge to Commander Tucker."

"Tucker here," T'Lara acknowledged, not entirely ungrateful for the interruption."

"Commander, we have managed to salvage the memory core of the best preserved dwelling."

"What are your findings?"

"It appears the settlers have kept an extensive log of their lives. We could so far identify at least five different authors, who have provided detailed descriptions of events, in fact extremely detailed at times. The individual whose remains we found on the planet seems to have spent her final years assembling these logs into one monumental historic account of their lives."

"Ensign, please prepare copies for each member of the research team. It appears we have found our answers."

"Hold it," Lieutenant Commander Tucker interrupted against all protocol. "Before we go off and rummage around in our ancestors' diaries, we gotta give grandma a proper funeral."

There were affirmative gestures around the table, now that they had learned that they were all related much closer than initially expected.

"Ensign, did she put her name in somewhere? Something we can write on the tomb?" the 'human' Vulcan asked.

"She did, however, I am unsure of the veracity of the claim, Lieutenant Commander."

"Why? Did she write she was the tooth fairy or somethin'?"

"No, the female identified herself as T'Pau of Vulcan."