Subject: Answers Date: Mon, Mar 30, 1998 21:52 EST From: RonDMoore

<<In Bajoran families when two people marry, whose name becomes the family name?The father's name??? Or the mother's name???>>

I think we've established that it's the paternal family name.

<<Are there any blood relatives left from Kira's family with the Kira surname who are of childbearing age who could perpetuate the family name?>>

Not that I know of.

<<Of is Kira Nerys the last Kira left? And when she dies, will the Kira name die with her?>>

I believe so -- but all of this could change, of course.

<<Do the Founders have any plans of ridding the quadrant of one Major Kira who has been the one major reason as to why Odo has not returned to the link? >>

You'll have to wait and see next season...

<<I have a question regarding a recent post saying you did not post to TrekWeb. I was wondering if this is the only board you read? For instance, do you read the ST: Continum usenet boards? Do you ever look through the Trekweb.com boards? >>

I have surfed the Trekweb boards on occasion, as well as the Usenet boards and those at The Great Link, but that's about it. I have never posted directly to anything other than AOL, however, and any messages to the contrary are not to be believed.

<<I had a question about the makeup of the Federation. From what I understand, the Federation is comprised of many different worlds and Starfleet is basically the military or exploratory service that makes up the entire Federation fleet. What about the other worlds that belong to the Federation. Are their own ships also part of the Federation fleet?>>

This would be a reasonable assumption, but for clarity and (most of all) monetary reasons, we'll only show the established Starfleet-type vessels on screen.

<<I have read 2 stories in the last few weeks saying that that B.B. plans on bringing Voyager back to Earth next season.....assuming everything is being carefully organized by someone for this to happen.....do the DS9 people have anything to say about it considering the Dominion War?>>

I believe Brannon was misquoted and that Voyager is not returning to Earth next season.

<< RDM: <Bottom line -- if you hate the direction we're going in, don't watch.>

I know I'm going to get socked in the mouth for saying this, but isn't this a little arrogant and irresponsible? I mean, to disagree with a viewer is fine, but is it wise to turn away your customers? I know that the whole, "Gene would never approve" argument gets a little old, but do you, Ron Moore, believe that Gene would approve of the direction that Star Trek has gone, whether or not you think it matters? >>

I'm not turning away any "customers." If you're interested in what I, and the rest of the DS9 staff, have to offer you in the way of entertainment, have a seat and enjoy the show. But if you hate what we're doing, if you completely reject our vision of the series, and you think that we are sullying the name of Star Trek with our dark deeds, then I don't see why you should continue to waste your time with us.

The question of whether Gene would or would not like what we're doing is virtually impossible to answer. Contrary to popular belief, Gene did not have a single, consistent vision of Star Trek and what he wanted it to be. He was a creative man, and his thinking constantly evolved and changed, even in the last years of his life. Would he have even liked the concept of DS9? Maybe, maybe not. I don't know if Gene would've ever wanted to see stories told about anything or anyone not connected to a starship named Enterprise. On the other hand, I would like to think that he'd appreciate good storytelling and that he might be proud of us. I honestly don't know the answer and anyone who says they do is full of superheated deuterium.

<<Star Trek fans are the reason Ron Moore has the job he has. It's a pity he apparently doesn't care what we think of the show, and it does make me wonder why he bothers with this board.>>

This is a silly statement. Obviously I care or I wouldn't keep doing this. I'm very interested in what you all think of the show, but I'm not going to beg you for your patronage, nor tell you that I agree with you when I don't. That's the respect I have for this forum -- if I'm going to participate, I'm going to tell you the truth.