"What in the world IS this stuff?" said Commander Artixes. He was looking at a massive pile of repulsive debris that filled the 3rd containment pod next to the science lab on light cruiser 7769, and flinching at the dreadful smell that came forth from it. Visible were numerous remnants of plastic bags, plastic and styrofoam containers, bits of clothing, filthy paper, magazines, bottles, cans, and all sorts of revolting organic material that could have been just about anything once, but was clearly well past its due date.

"It's what the humans call "garbage"", said Ensign Gl'nat. "They produce vast amounts of it and then look for places where they can store it. I think it's considered a 'growth industry' of some sort. The richer countries produce more of it, after all."

"And the Shane is somewhere in there?"

"Apparently."

"Well, get busy then. I want his DNA isolated by Stardate 12:31:7705 at the latest. What about the soul retrieval process? Is it under way?"

"We are working on it as you speak," replied K'tankh. "I expect we will achieve full memory retrieval in time to cross reference his consciousness, moral imperatives, and genetic structure and produce a satisfactory result. Then it's a simple matter of physical reconstruction. A piece of mooncake."

"Very good. I shall await your report with keen anticipation." Artixes quickly fled the science deck, covering his nostrils with one slender grey hand as he went.