ASHALLA, BAJOR – Several former Starfleet science officers living on Volan III during the Dominion War were arrested yesterday under suspicion of collaboration with occupying forces.
Home to a successful Federation colony within the Demilitarised Zone, and third inhabited planet in the system, Volan III was the centre of much controversy during the Dominion War. It is also known to history as the birthplace of the Maquis. Several Starfleet officers found themselves stationed there under the command of Lieutenant Commander Calvin Hudson, amid the formation of the Maquis and contention involving the ladarium mining sluice embedded in the mountains.
Following the handover of the colony from the United Federation of Planets to the Cardassian Union, Cardassian Central Command ordered the armament of their stationed citizens in the wake of a suspected Starfleet plot to take the colony by force in 2370, hampered by the involvement of the Maquis resistance. The inhabitants of Volan III endured significant hardships applied by the Cardassian Union, including the sabotage of replicators, leading to several deaths.
Stationed on the colony during the turbulence, the arrested Starfleet scientists remained there in the years after the war, retiring from their prestigious careers to support the local community.
However, records recently unsealed from the Bajoran Central Archives include Cardassian records of suspected Starfleet collaborators — those with the means and access to deploy war secrets and fleet movements to the Dominion during the occupation.
“We have uncovered what we believe to be concealed communications between the Starfleet element stationed on Volan III, and the Obsidian Order — the Union’s former intelligence agency,” explained Yama Toreni, Director of Acquisitions for the Bajoran Central Archives. “Bajoran authorities are moving to uncover further evidence while we continue our search into the archive. For now, there are continued implications of involvement from Starfleet on a level we didn’t expect.”
Director Yama refused to elaborate further on the suspected content of the communications, and has deferred all further inquiry to the Bajoran government.
In a surprising move, Vedek Elian, who voiced concerns over the leaking of the recently uncovered involvement of Iba Sizo — restaurateur and owner of the popular Bajoran-Terran chain known as The Orb of Taste — issued a statement to the wider press regarding the suspected involvement of the Starfleet scientists.
“The assumptions and allegations made toward Starfleet involvement during the troubled era for the colony is worrisome,” the statement led with. “While the Bajoran authorities continue their investigation, we implore Starfleet and the Federation to take some accountability for the actions of their former officers, and involve themselves in the process early.”
Archivists are certain there are more records to uncover as they continue their cataloguing efforts.
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