Ancestor's Eve
Aboard the U.S.S. Voyager, April 22 is the date for the celebration of Ancestors' Eve. Its purpose is to honour those who have gone before by recounting tales of their adventures. One such account is that of Ensign Kim's uncles, Jack. Jack was a pilot on a mission to Beta Capricus around 2210. In those early days of space travel, crews had to go into stasis on long voyages, and so Jack spent the six month journey alone, piloting the craft while his crew slept, and without even the comfort of radio communications (subspace transmitters were not yet in general use). Upon arriving at the site of Beta Capricus, Jack discovered that there was no planet, only an electromagnetic echo of a distant galaxy. Without waking his crew, Jack turned the ship around and flew another six months back to Earth. His crew awoke wondering why they had not left orbit!

Ancestry
The ancestries of many bipedal lifeforms in the Alpha Quadrant often contain similarities that indicate a genetic connection between their races. In particular, Vulcans, Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans have remarkable similarities in their genetic coding which suggest the possibility that they all share a common ancestry. Professor Richard Galen, one of the greatest archaeologists of the 24th Century, spent many years gathering genetic data from planets spread across the quadrant and discovered startling similarities within the DNA of the many varied species. His greatest discovery, however, was the 'message of peace' embedded within the coding of these lifeforms which he believed came from some long lost race of progenitors.

Dictatorships
Even though 24th century Earth has evolved beyond the need for military dictatorships, some other worlds are still driven to this style of leadership out of desperation. On stardate 3156.2 Captain Kirk visited a planet called Beta III, located in star system C-111, ruled dictatorially by a computer. It had been programmed by their successful leader, Landru, in the hope that it would maintain peace following his death. Unfortunately, the programming was not adequate to the task and the society degenerated into a harsh autocracy controlled by the computer. Longtime adversaries of the Federation, the Romulans, live in an empire where codes of conduct are ruthlessly enforced by the Tal Shiar, a secret police. Military regimes do not, however, lost forever as the Cardassians discovered when the civilian population deposed their dictatorship following the destruction of the Obsidian Order. Benevolent overseers such as the Caretaker can bring benefits to races but narrow-mindedness may still cause problems in the long term.

Distant Origin Theory, The
Believe to have been developed exclusively in the Delta Quadrant, Voth culture is founded on the First Race Assumption: that the Voth were the first race in their sector to evolve to their level of civilisation. The Distant Origin Theory opposes the First Race Assumption by proposing that the Voth race actually evolved on a distant planet and then relocated to the Voth homeworld. Although this theory has been repeatedly renounced by the Voth Ministry of Elders, some extremely persuasive data has been produced to support it, including the findings of Professor Gegen, who has demonstrated that Voth DNA shares 47 genetic markers with a mammalian race from the Alpha Quadrant.

First Contact
Diplomatic first contacts between Starfleet personnel and alien races are frought with possible difficulties. Despite the universal translators' capability to facilitate verbal communication, there is always the possibility that a peaceful human gesture or other form of body language may be misinterpreted with quiet unintentional consequences. Officers must always keep the Prime Directive to the forefront of their minds. It was a bungled first contact mission which caused the initial hostilities between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Sigma Iotia II's indigenous people, compulsive mimics, changed their society to imitate the gangster style of 1920s Chicago after early human contamination Commander Riker of the U.S.S. Enterprise D disguised as a native on a first contact mission, was captured by inhabitants of Makor III. Captain Sisko runs a continual gauntlet of diplomatic first contacts as various races visit Deep Space Nine, some from the Gamma Quadrant via the wormhole. Voyager's contact with unreasonable and aggressive Vidiians and Kazon has been less than successful.

Friendship One
"We, the people of Earth, greet you in spirit of peace and humility. As we venture out of our solar system, we hope to win the trust and friendship of other worlds." The famous message of the starship Friendship One has been memorised by many 3rd grade schoolboy. Launched in 2067, only 4 years after Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight, the Friendship One was designed to reach out to other species, to pave the way for the manned missions to follow. Packed with information, Friendship One was a flying "How To" manual for advanced technology. Its impact on less advance races was potentially devastating.

Milllennium Gate, The
Heralded as "the world's first self-sustaining civic environment", work on the Millennium Gate started on the site of Portage Creek , Indiana in January 2001, and continued until 2012 when the structure was dedicated. Although the company behind the Millennium Gate project was Texan, Portage Creek was chosen because the city fathers made life easy for the developers, granting them free building permits, deferred taxes, and new roads. In return, the developers offered townsfolk 20% above market price for their properties. On completion, the Millennium Gate was 3.2km at the base, and stood over 1km high. With its surface covered completely in reflective solar panels, it was one of the few man-made structures that could be seen from space with the naked eye.

Rain Robinson
At first sight, Rain Robinson may appear laid-back with her use of jargon and her youth culture mannerisms but, in fact, she is a highly intelligent young woman. Ever since her brother showed her the rings of Saturn through a small refracting telescope she has been smitten by astronomy. She remembers thinking that the stars looked like jewels in a pirate's treasure and she has harboured the desire to somehow reach up and touch time. To this end, she has become an astronomer and now works at Griffiths Park Observatory on the search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence programme.

Shannon O'Donnel
Date of Birth: 1958
Race: Human
Occupation: Engineering Consultant
An ancestor fifteen generation removed from Kathryn Janeway, her 24th century successor, Shannon O'Donnel was a gifted woman who had high hopes of joining the space pioneers of the early 21st century. Although O'Donnel did train to be an astronaut, she did not make the cut for actual mission duties and eventually lost her job as an engineer in the aeronautics industry. Dispirited and virtually penniless, she headed for Florida to stay with a cousin. It was on this journey, and specifically on 5 December 2000, that O'Donnel's car broke down in the town of Portage Creek, Indiana, following a minor accident there. Seeking warmth and shelter while she waited for the tow truck, O'Donnel wandered into Alexandria Books, a fading bookshop run by Henry Janeway and his son, Jason. O'Donnel and Janeway's relationship held strong for over 50 years, and resulted in a family that was to survive for over 300 years.