"Who speaks for your people?"

"I do, shall we continue this after the ritual greeting?"

"Fine, but only because I know for a fact that we won't get any answers otherwise, the fact that a Jedi team has disappeared is quite troubling, second only to the fact that people are still starving and dying despite Republic aid having been sent"

As soon as Ashland said that there was a wince amongst the whole group which told the Starfleet officers that something was seriously wrong. After tea was served they all saw Ashland wince and realized just how dangerous it was for Ashland to be on the planet

"Don't try and break my shields any further sir, it won't be pretty for either of us if you try"

"Of course...Sentinel I believe you're called, are you the leader of this group?"

"I am the designated speaker yes, the officers here are security officers sent with me for my protection, we also have food and medical aid ready at a moments notice once you explain the situation to me so that I know how best to distribute the supplies"

(Sighs) "I think the first thing you should know and understand is that none of us here wanted to represent the government in an official capacity, unfortunately we're the only ones left available"

"What happened?"

"It all started with the plague that affected our food supply. As a farmer I started noticing my crops going bad early on but since it was such a small portion I didn't think much of it because it happens every year, insects get into the crops making a portion of the fields unusable and farmers expect it. Unfortunately that was only the first sign that something major was happening and I ignored it, all of us farmers did, until it started spreading. The crops failed us within two months and that was the physical evidence something was wrong, all of us did our best to save what we could when we realized that the disease was spreading and rapidly, we thought we had saved at least some of the crop to last us a month of emergency food while waiting for Republic aid. What we didn't realize was that the crops were still affected though it took some time to realize that. The first sign of trouble with the secondary process of our crops was actually with the animals, they started attacking people at random, frothy mouths and all, some didn't even have visible signs that they were sick they just attacked"

A Starfleet officer interrupted but with good reason, several of the officers needed a reference and he had a good one

"Like the rabies virus of old back on Earth"

"Exactly like that, though we didn't realize it at first because the people bitten seemed fine, until they started attacking people as well or simply killing themselves. We managed to keep about three fourths of the planet from eating the food but by the time the Jedi team had arrived all form of government had collapsed. Those still alive and not affected elected us as the officials until the emergency had passed and we could hold real elections again, the Jedi team though wasn't as prepared because we forgot to warn people and as soon as they drank our water they started to be affected by what they were feeling but they succeeded in helping until they were attacked in the middle of the night in what was supposed to be a safe zone. Two were out right killed and the other two were injected with the virus, they seemed fine at first during the emergency meeting but they soon started acting erratic and we called them on it and told them that if they didn't stop we would defend ourselves if necessary. That snapped them out of it long enough for them to use their lightsabers on themselves so that we didn't have to deal with the emotions of killing our protectors"

"I see, I think I know what to do now, do you have blood samples from the Jedi affected? it might give us a start on figuring out a cure"

"No we don't, the only way you could get a blood sample is if you're bitten yourself but like I said you'll go mad soon enough"

"Yes, but I should have sanity just long enough for the ship to put me into the Force inhibitor cell that all Starfleet vessels are required to have now a days"

"The security precautions the Captain told us about"

"Exactly, now then sir, we'll be teleporting down food and people to help distribute the supplies but not as many as we normally have and not until we have a cure, a way to protect them, once that's done we'll make enough to help the animals and what people are still alive because I have a feeling you've succeeded in keeping some of the people affected alive"

"Yes, but they're in carbonite freezing and those that we succeeded in doing that were lucky breaks"

"Don't worry we'll have a cure to help them, any of the government people survive?"

"No none, they killed themselves pretty quickly"

"Understood"

She then turns to the Starfleet officers with her and hands over her belt while putting on the inhibitor bracelet

"You keep that belt with you at all times, and I need to be quick about it because I probably won't be able to keep the bracelet on for long...how long did the Jedi affected by the virus last?"

"Thirty minutes"

"Got it, Portland to New Hope"

"This is the New Hope go ahead"

"I finally found out what's going on and it's not good I need you to lock onto my commbadge so that when I give the signal you beam me directly to the brig and the special cell, also have a security team and medical team both on standby in the cell so that my blood can be taken immediately. The virus that affected the crops also affects people and I won't be able to remain sane for long, also make sure I have nothing that will allow me to kill myself or others"

"Understood, standing by for your signal"

"OK we also need open comms because I might not get a chance to contact you guys again"

Five minutes later she found a rabid dog and allowed herself to get bitten

"New Hope beam me up now!"

She's soon inside a Force inhibitor cell and there were two security guards and a medical team on standby, and the medical team quickly took a blood sample and did basic wound cleaning and managed to get out of the cell before Ashland lost it

"We'd better find a cure fast, but at least she can't kill us or herself"

"How is she going to eat until we get the cure?"

"I don't know, for all I know we'll have to sedate her until we find a cure just to keep her from hurting herself by constantly trying to escape and hitting the force field"

"Well let's hope we don't get to that point"

"Agreed"

Fortunately the medical team found a cure within two days and soon gave her the cure and inoculated the rest of who would be part of the away team so that everyone else would remain safe while on planet. All they had to wait for now was Ashland to wake up because she had lost consciousness soon after being given the injection

"How long will it take for her to wake up?"

"I don't know Captain, all I do know is that the supplies are wearing out but we have the cure and are waiting for Portland to wake up so that we can give it to the planet, I heard something about carbonite freezing being involved for people affected"

"Yes they were the lucky ones"

"I see"

"Captain, what should we do about Sentinel Portland until we can confirm that the cure worked?"

"Keep her in here, and then if we find out that it didn't work you're going to have to tweak your inoculations for the away team"

"I know but don't worry I already have a plan in place"

That's when another person joined in on the conversation because they didn't notice it but Ashland had woken up while they were talking

"What plan would that be doctor? I know for a fact that tweaking an inoculation after having already given it to someone is hard work, trust me the medical team has been doing that for Sentinel's since I joined years ago, but fortunately for you this time tweaking isn't needed"

"So it worked then good, now then Portland can I send more people besides the others that went down with you the first time?"

"So long as you follow the restrictions that I set for the away team"

"Okay then let's do it"

"One more thing and this is for the doctor, the inoculation might have worked, and so far there doesn't seem to be any side effects but just how long ago did you give the rest of the away team injections?"

"Three hours ago, I did them before you because we weren't sure how long you would be out"

"And how long ago did you do my injection?"

"Two hours ago"

"So I've been unconscious for a while I presume and woke up two hours after inoculation yet you haven't decided to wait to see if there are any side effects before giving the rest the inoculation?"

"Yes because even if there are side effects I know that the inoculation works and some inoculations simply come with side effects and you know that"

"True, but you should wait until you know all the side effects if any before giving the inoculation to others so that they have a warning"

"Well it's too late now, so how are we going to do this then?"

"Well like I said the restrictions still stand so I'm about to be very clever in figuring out who is and is not allowed on the mission because we need as many people available as possible yet still maintain the security of the ship especially if we have to bring any Tranaxa on board"

"Portland are you insane?"

"No sir I'm being practical because that actually is a huge possibility and you know it Captain"

"Okay if that happens what about the people who are Force sensitive, telepathic or empathic what am I supposed to do about them?"

"Easy let them go about their duties because it's your ship and that means they're the minority, and it also means that you're in charge not them"

"But the safety factor?"

"Won't be in play as much on board this ship because of established protocols, after all if it gets too bad we Sentinel's have Force inhibitors and the telepaths and empaths can help shield each other"

"What about Johnson? I thought you said he's an untrained and under developed empath"

"He's definitely untrained and still learning about his abilities, that's why it won't be a fellow empath or telepath that will shield him. I developed a...technique while in the Academy for people with telepathic or empathic abilities that are new to said abilities and are strong enough to need training. This was done under the supervision of the Admiralty and one of my teachers who needed help with a student who was an undetected empath until an incident during his class one day. They needed her abilities bound and controlled by someone else who was much stronger in their own abilities until she was awake and able to begin training to handle said abilities, once the training was begun the person that bound the cadet's abilities would slowly break the binding so that the cadet could use her abilities to their full potential. While I was working on the technique the medical team kept her in a medical coma for everyone's safety and had a Betazed check on her daily to make sure they weren't doing more harm then good. Once I finished and explained the technique to a Betazed that had worked with me on said technique so that I didn't make a mistake we went to the cadet and explained the situation and gave her a choice of whether or not she wanted her abilities bound until she could handle them"

"What would have happened if she had said no?"

"We simply would have had her check in more often and urge her to have the abilities bound before she went insane from her empathic abilities and then slowly begin the training so that she could control what she felt when. Fortunately she understood where we were coming from and agreed from the start so the Betazed bound her abilities and temporarily became a resident of San Francisco until she managed to control her empathic abilities on her own, the Betazed was her special tutor whom she met three times a week for two years due to the fact that she picked things up quickly. Due to the fact that I invented the technique I too can and will use the technique at need and if ordered to do so, if you want I can also teach the technique to an empath so that they can bind Johnson's abilities until he can control them on his own"

"No you're the best option we have, but Portland at the first sign of trouble you are to hand over those responsibilities to someone else and that's an order"

"Oh don't worry, we have a Jedi team on the way that will handle the binding should I need someone to take over, I discovered that the technique is mandatory training for all Jedi healers, optional for everyone else even the Council and the team that's on the way will have at least two Jedi healers with them"

"How do you know they're on the way?"

"That's part of why I stayed unconscious so long, the Council made contact with me once I was well enough and gave me some details about the new team headed this way, we're still the primary people in charge but we're about to get some more help and supplies courtesy of the Republic"

"So Jedi healers will use your technique to help Johnson?"

"Yes, but only after it's confirmed that I can no longer manage"

"Actually I don't want you to use the technique yourself"

"But Captain..."

"Not when you're vital to the ground mission"

(Sighs) "I understand sir but we'll also need the Jedi healers"

"What if you explain the situation to them will one of them manage to do their job and still control an untrained empath?"

"Not in the way you're thinking"

"What do you mean by that?"

"The Jedi healer you choose will be able to give medical aid but they'll spend at least three fourths of the day each day in meditation to keep Johnson's abilities under control"

"Okay I need a plan b then"

"Yes you do"

The Commander spoke up then

"Captain, we all agree that telepaths, empaths and Sentinel's can't work and the Jedi healers also won't work but what about a medical device that helps control violent offenders?"

"That won't work on telepaths and empaths Commander"

"Why not Sentinel?"

"Because of what goes on in the minds of people like that. You have to understand that when I was developing this technique we talked about temporarily using a medical technique but we found out that not only does it not work on the brain like it would a violent offender but there's a huge risk of either increasing the persons ability or outright killing them because of the fact that there minds are way too attuned to those abilities. Johnson was given those abilities at age ten but the way it was done means we can't use the technique"

"And Soketh can't do it either because he's a touch telepath and a Sentinel"

"Exactly, not to mention he's not trained in the technique even though it would be helpful"

"So how long will we be stuck on Tanixi?"

"Not sure, but for now we need to rotate everyone who's allowed"

Five weeks later things were finally stable enough that the New Hope could leave and do other things and that's when they were informed that another Federation vessel had come