After a brief nod and word of welcome, they resumed their seats and discussions, albeit a little more quietly. The seats to which they were shown were scattered over the large table, obviously the original seats of those members who had not survived the attack.

Janeway surveyed the assembled station occupants, they were each dressed in overalls of sorts with badges, which the Captain assumed identified their field of expertise, on their sleeves. There appeared to be a well balanced mix of both age and gender. At the head of the long table, a white cloth covered an empty chair, a reminder to all that their chosen leader was no longer there to guide them.

Conversations continued back and forth and it soon became obvious that there was order in what initially had seemed like chaos. Talk progressed in groups around the table, each covering a broad range of topics. Each group put forward their own proposals, raising more questions and generating ideas. This method obviously allowed a larger number of people to put forward their opinions before confronting the entire council to begin the decision making process. Focusing her attention on the nearest speaker, Janeway listened intently, as her group discussed the progress of the planet's rejuvenation cycle.

After two hours of debate, Janeway was anxious for a break. She had learnt a great deal of these people's situation and was keen to discuss it with her own crew. From the look on Seven's face and the regular glances the young woman kept throwing in her direction, Kathryn knew she had heard something of interest. As Janeway frequently heard the Doctor's voice floating over those around her, she decided he seemed to have integrated himself quite nicely into his group's discussion. B'Elanna seemed a little quiet, although, like the Captain, the Jarkart officials seemed genuinely interested in her opinion when she spoke.

A small chime rang above them and after a few whispered comments, the room became silent. Eyes moved about the room restlessly until finally Aranni spoke.

"Merik, perhaps in the final stage of our Transition, you could speak for us in Rohan's absence." The room remained silent as Merik leant forward in his chair to be seen by those further down the table.

"Unless there is another who would rather....." he trailed off as others waved or mumbled in his direction. General opinion was that he was as good as any or someone had to do it so it may as well be he.

Janeway thought if it had been her in Merik's position, she may have been a little disheartened by the lack of enthusiasm by her peers. Merik seemed unconcerned though, so perhaps it was simply their way.

"A short break. We'll hear from Talgin first when we come in. Remember, don't leave the council sector, if you need documents or such, I'll arrange a runner."

In Seven's opinion, much of the information was irrelevant, a conclusion Janeway was determined to make for herself later, but for now, what details she did relate were quite enlightening.

Aranni had revealed that up until almost sixty years ago, her people had lived on the planet surface. As a somewhat technologically advanced society, they had developed virtually the entire planet. Where villages had started thousands of years ago, towns and cities grew until they had covered the entire surface of the planet's continents.

They developed vehicles propelled by carbon, experimented with building products, altered natural vegetation to suit their needs until eventually, they destroyed their world. Since the beginning of recorded history, scientists had ruled on Jarkart; the gathering of knowledge and the development of new technology the driving force of the people.

Almost two hundred years ago, they began to question their pursuit of knowledge at the expense of their planet. The natural ecosystems had been destroyed, the atmosphere was so polluted, it was unthinkable to go outside without protective suits. Domes were built to shield the people from the outside world as they continued to pump their waste into the upper atmosphere.

Eventually, common sense reasserted itself and the people attempted to undo the damage they had done for so many centuries. However, as factories closed and obscure avenues of research lost funding in order to finance their salvage operations, civil war broke out, eventually costing millions of lives.

Small groups of people resented the change, angered by what they perceived as an abandonment of their ideals, they fought to preserve their way of life. In time, the rebel groups formed under one woman, Brenna. Under her command, large scale assaults were launched against the purification facilities, destroying any hope they had of halting the planet's environmental collapse. The council reacted strongly to that attack and within two years every rebel leader was imprisoned. The best scientists were called forward to decide on the future of their planet and the station was what they came up with.

Sixty years ago they began building an orbital station. Its purpose, along with two other similar stations, was to house the entire population while the planet was re-seeded with new life. Unable to reach a balance or draw a line at what level of technology was acceptable and what constituted a threat to life, the government decided that it was to be all, or nothing. The people of Jarkart were to sacrifice their determined pursuit of science in order to restore themselves to a more fundamental way of life, or else leave.

While the Jarkart selected Custodians to oversee the Transition, a proposal was put to Brenna. Resources would be allocated to allow them to follow their own path. A small uninhabited planet was secured from the Aligned Planets in the region. Every citizen that was unable to put their heart into developing their new life was to be relocated. Two cargo vessels were built as construction continued on the stations. Eventually, the first transport built took a crew of eight hundred along with tonnes of equipment to begin settlement of their new home. It returned sixteen years later, ready for its final journey.

Brenna took an additional nine thousand people with her from a population of three million. Forbidden to have children during the Transition, the population although already drastically reduced from the war was still too great to be housed in only three stations. The Brennan refused to assist in the construction of a fourth and, in a final act of rebellion, they destroyed the orbital thrusters of the first station, already the resting place of twelve thousand individuals, as they left the system.

The huge station impacted in the planet's surface, with estimates of a million deaths. Two years later, the second station failed to maintain its orbit, whether by design or accident, and it too plummeted to the earth.

The hopes of the people lay solely in Valredo Station and, two years later, another twelve thousand people said goodnight to their friends and family as they entered their forty five year suspension, not knowing if they would ever wake.

Each of the Custodians felt an awesome responsibility in returning these people to their planet. The station had originally held the embryonic children of another eight thousand couples and of a number of animal species they would require in their new life. And as each hour past, the chance of the embryos developing to maturation decreased.

Readings were being taken of the planet. Ideally, they would have had another few years for the planet to complete its development. The biological weapon used to initiate the terraforming process could still have the potential to cause irreparable damage were they to colonize too soon. As things currently stood, there didn't appear to be too many options.

As Seven finished her narration her fellow officers stood in silence for a moment. To have only eight thousand people remain from what was once a population of millions!

"Seven, I'd like you to contact Voyager. I want updated scans of the planet. I want to know exactly what we're looking at here. Did anyone else get details of the weapon used to do this?"