Here they are, as promised:
---------------------
Subj:  A Quick Post
Date:  97-03-19 17:28:24 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking, but I'm
deep in my last script for the season -- show #25, a Jake & Nog story -- so I
haven't been able to post for a while.  Bird of Prey has very kindly
downloaded your questions for me from the last folder, and early next week
I'll try to get to them and post the answers.  We're trying to finish up the
last few episodes before hiatus, so everyone's pretty busy and pretty tired.
 Sorry it's taking me so long to get back to you, but when I'm writing, I
tend to go into "deep focus" mode and I tend to lose track of life around me.
 Take care and I'll be back soon.

Ron
---------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-21 19:00:51 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

Okay, I'm back before I thought.  I turned in my script today (and there was
much joy in the Kingdom of Ron) so it's onto to the backlog of queries:

<<Now that eveyrone knows about Bashir's secret (I assume everyone
knows, not just Sisko, O'Brien and Zimmerman), will we see any effects of
this (or his Jem'Hadar improsioment) in the future?>>

I think we'll play some of the genetic enhancement issues next season, but I
don't think we're going to do a post-traumatic stress show or something
related to his time in the prison camp.

<<Did PresidentMorn accept illegal campagin contributions from the
Ferengi or the Romulans?>>

This is the subject of a special counsel investigation and I cannot comment
at this time.

<<Why didn't O'Brien recognize Scotty in "Trials and Tribbleations?"  In the
fight scene?>>

Two reasons:  O'Brien and Scotty never directly interacted in "Relics" so
although O'Brien probably knew he was aboard he never met him face to face;
and the Scotty in "Tribbles" looks MUCH different than the Scotty in "Relics"
so I think we can cut the Chief some slack on this one.

<<In an episode from the first season (pardon me I as I can't remember the
name, but Odo and Lwaxana Troi were caught in the turbolift) there was a
computer virus/program that caused havoc on the station.  O'Brien named it
*Pup* and put it in a *doghouse* in the computer.  Unless I am mistaken,
*Pup* is still there.  Are there any plans to let *Pup* out of it's
*doghouse* prison to cause problems again?>>

We don't have any plans at present to revisit this storyline, but you never
know.

<<Hey, Ron...if there is no crime on earth, why are there established penal
colonies in New Zealand?  Hmmmmm??>>

Actually, the only criminals left on Earth are in New Zealand so it only made
sense to put the prison there.

<<I know you have no idea on how many more years DS9 can last,
in part due to the rising costs of employing actors who may want to do other
things with their lives...I would suggest that one way of coninuing the
adventure is to allow the preformers who wish to leave,(due to salary
considerations or other reasons) to do so...and replace them with new faces,
in very different roles. Other long running series (All In The Family,
M*A*S*H) took this route.  Some of the supporting characters could become
regulars (Andrew Robinson as Garak comes to mind). >>

This not something we're contemplating.  If they want to do a seventh year,
we want ALL our own cast to come back.  DS9 has developed a fairly tightly
knit narrative at this point and I don't think we'd like to do something like
develop a "new" or "replacement" Emissary, or a new Bajoran representative on
the station or a new security or whatever.

<<Just a quick question.  Will the Worf/Troi break up book by Pocket Books
scheduled for 1998/99 be canon as to the ending of the relationship?>>

We still haven't decided whether or not to deal with the Worf/Troi breakup on
the show or what our take is on the subject.  (And no, I haven't read the
book.)

<<My class liked your answers.  May we write you a letter?  I told them we
could.  I have one question from Zackery.  He wants to know if the board is
like Nick Pickers Guide?>>

You are more than welcome to write me a letter at:

Ronald D. Moore
Co-Executive Producer
Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Paramount Pictures
5555 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA  90038

And tell your friend Zackery that, yes, this board is like an ENORMOUS Nit
Picker's Guide.  And it's also fun.
----------------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-21 19:01:55 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

<<A long, mournful sigh here from one who really REALLY dislikes [the
Worf/Dax] pairing.
This question has probably been asked and answered before, but... when/how
was the decision made to put them together, and is do you have any scrap of
hope for us poor souls still clamoring for Dax/Bashir?>>

The decision was made when we did "Looking for par'Mach" and you can lay the
blame chiefly at my doorstep since I was (and still am) the biggest proponent
of this relationship.  I'm afraid that Dax/Bashir is a thing of the past.

<<How does Quark's bar survive contact with the Federation?  Since the Feds
can
create anything with replicators, why do they eat or drink at Quark's?  And
how do they pay?  They don't even have pockets to keep money in, after all.
If they have a "tab," what currency is used to pay it?
Also, is gold-pressed latinum unable to be replicated, and is that why it is
so precious?>>

Our assumption is that gold-pressed latinum cannot be replicated for whatever
reason and that's why the Ferengis are still in business.  Starfleet
evidently honors tabs run up by its officers and where the Federation gets
its latinum is anybody's guess.  (Personally, I think they're running a
numbers racket.)

<< <Oh, well.  At least they've finally broken the unwritten rule that TREK
regulars can't get involved with each other...>

  A rule that I think should never have been broken.  When I look at Dax and
Worf I see two characters that have suffered greatly because of this
relationship.>>

I completely disagree.  I think that Worf and Dax are great together, that
 the characters have both been enhanced by the relationship, that the actors
have a great chemistry together, and even more importantly I think it's GREAT
that we have two regulars involved in a steady relationship.  I, for one, am
sick of the "alien guest star who falls in love with one of our characters
and then is unceremoniously dumped by the fade out" episodes.  It's been done
and done and done on all the Trek series and I think what we're doing is a
breath of fresh air.

I don't buy into the idea that having Dax enter a relationship with Worf has
"demeaned" her in any way.  She's still Dax, opinions to the contrary
notwithstanding, and we have done NOTHING to suggest that she's been
"bimbo-ized" or "lobotomized" just because she's in love.  Theirs is a unique
relationship among the characters and not one that I want to lose.

<<Why was Carol Marcus not used in Generations?  It seems to me that
there was a HUGE thread that was left left to be explored, and the perfect
opportunity in Generations was just not taken, and instead Antonia was born.
Why?>>

The part of Kirk's life which he was "lost" in, took place after the end of
TOS and just before TMP.  Kirk and Carol's relationship evidently took place
way before this time period since they clearly hadn't seen each other for a
long time in TWOK and David was unaware that Kirk was his father.  Therefore,
Carol didn't seem like the right choice.
<<When is Worf going to start acting like an honorable STARFLEET
OFFICER?  I've always liked Worf (not counting season 1 of TNG) but I'm
getting just a little sick of, "Today is a good day to die!!!"... I
realize its a part of his herritage for him to be acting some what the way he
is, but isn't there a fine linbetween Klingon and Starfleet.  It seemed that
before DS9 he was on this fine line, and since his been into the Klingon
side, if you will.>>

We have pushed further toward his Klingon heritage, it's true, but I don't
think he's crossed over the line too far yet.  In my opinion, Worf had been a
little "defanged" by the end of TNG, and we wanted to get some of that edge
back that makes the character so interesting.
----------------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-21 19:03:27 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

<<I've been wondering this since I saw FC: What ever happened to Federation
Standard Credits as established in "The Trouble With Tribbles," and, I
believed, mentioned (though I don't remember where) in TNG>>

All I know is that by the time I joined TNG, Gene had decreed that money most
emphatically did NOT exist in the Federation, nor did "credits" and that was
that.  Personally, I've always felt this was a bunch of hooey, but it was one
of the rules and that's that.  Fortunately DS9 isn't part of the Federation,
so currency could make a back-door re-entry into our story-telling.

<<Worf is doing nothing but blathering about it being a good day to die.
Personally, I'm waiting for the time Worf says "today is a good day to die"
and Dukat appears and says "Fine!" and clobbers him.>>

We have definitely over-used this line.  It will be stricken from his dialog
until further notice.

<<It seemed like the Klingon's return to the Federation was, while logical,
rather rushed. Likewise, the return of Odo's powers. In the end, did you all
decide that the changes you'd made in the characters just weren't working?
Why the penchant for eliminating the traits that make a character or premise
interesting? (ie. Odo loses his powers; Kes and Neelix split up; The holodoc
gets a portable image inducer.) Do you just run out of ideas?>>

The Klingons realigning themselves with the Federation was, like you said,
logical and that's why we did it.  The return of Odo's powers was something
we had always planned to do about mid-point in the season, but we had thought
that we'd be running out of story ideas for him in humanoid form by then and
in fact, just the opposite took place -- we hadn't mined nearly enough
stories  for him without his powers.  So, the best laid plans, etc. etc.  As
for Kes/Nelix spliting up and the Holodoc getting the portable whatsit -- I
DON'T WORK FOR VOYAGER AND WON'T BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE!!!!

<<Any idea where we can find copies of the various Trek writers' bibles?>>

I believe they're available from Lincoln Enterprises which is located
somewhere here in Hollywood.

<<I've noticed there's only been one episode 
with an economics focus in any of the
Star Trek series ("Sanctuary", on DS9 I believe,
which only went out as far  as 2025 AD -- it was
right on, by the way.)... I'm a student of ancient civilization, social
evolution and  economic design here in Cambridge, Mass.
Who would I talk to about fleshing out Star Trek's
economic backstory for over a period of the next 5 centuries?>>

A therapist.

(Okay, that was a little harsh, sorry.)

<<Why does the federation, who is at WAR with the Dominion, and from time to
time with the Borg, and who seems to always be at war with someone only have
one WARSHIP.  WHy does the Federation not build a battle fleet?>>

This also is a legacy of Gene's.  He felt very strongly that the Federation
would not build warships per se, but rather a fleet of scienctific
exploration vessels with weapons designed for defense rather than offense.
 It was quite a fight just to get the Defiant designated as a pure warship
around here, much less trying to go for an entire fleet of ships like it.

<<And why are there not like 30 Federation warships sitting at the
mouth of the Wormhole.>>

I think Starfleet is stretched pretty thin around the Alpha Quadrant and
doesn't have 30 ships to do nothing but sit next to the wormhole unless
there's an identifiable threat (like in "Pergatory/Inferno".
-----------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-21 19:04:58 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

<<The relationship between the Jem'Hadar, the Vorta, and the Founders leads
me to believe that you are opposed (and rightly so) to genetic engineering of
humans (and humanoids).  Do these feelings apply to non-humans?  How does
your staff feel about the cloning of sheep, etc. and the genetic engineering
of mammals (such as creating pigs that carry human-like internal organs)?>>

Let me first say their is a distinction between what I think and what the
Federation thinks.  The Federation seems to feel that as a result of the
Eugenics Wars that tampering with humanity itself in an effort to "improve
the breed" is a mistake.  You could say that this is a direct descendent of
the "don't play God" school of thought.  That seems to be humanity's own
specific experience and philosophy, so while they may not approve of other
races' efforts to genetically engineer themselves, they don't try to stamp it
out either.

As for the writers on the staff and our point on view on cloning etc., we
haven't really had a full-blown discussion on the issue so I can't speak for
everyone else.  I personally think that cloning opens up a disturbing set of
questions for which we have no answers regarding our uniqueness, the nature
of life, the right to enlarge upon and improve ourselves, etc.  However, I
also believe that genies are very hard to stuff back into small containers
and that we're going to see cloning and genetic engineering in our lifetimes,
so we better get used to the idea and come up with moral and legal ways to
deal with it.

<<There are rumors flying around that Bill Shatner might be returning as
Captain Kirk on screen. How do you feel about the idea of him coming back? Do
you think it would be a good idea?>>

I'd rather not see it.  I personally felt a little cheated when Spock came
back to life in Trek III -- it seemed to take all the impact out of one of
the great moments in Trek history, namely the death of Spock in TWOK.  To me
(and I know not all of you share this opinion) the death of Kirk was a moving
and touching moment, and I'd rather not see it just swept away with a magic
wand.  Then again, that's just my opinion and what Paramount wants to do with
the Captain is up to them.  And no, I have not heard anything that would
indicate a return by Kirk to the screen.

<<One question.  It is fashionable these days to add or alter scenes when
they shift from the big screen to video.   (Star Trek VI is a good example,
though I did not like the changes overall.)  Is there a possibility of this
happening to First Contact?  If so, what scenes?>>

I don't think so.  Additional scenes added to the video release are usually
scenes that were dropped for time and/or pacing in feature films, but I don't
think there are any scenes cut from First Contact that we'd be putting back
into the film.  The movie came in at a good running time right from the first
cut, so I don't think there are additional scenes sitting around that could
be re-inserted.

<<What if aliens landed here on earth on March 28, 1997.  They came in
peace,and help us with our problems.  How would that fit into the startrek
world? Would you put that race  into DS9?  What would that mean for "First
Contact"?>>

At that point, if anyone's still watching our show instead of spending every
waking moment taking in the enormous changes such an encounter would bring, I
weep for our race.

<<will we see anymore of the Bajoran political scene this season?  I for
one would love to see some more of Kai Winn this year!>>

You'll definitely see more Bajoran manueverings this season and there's a
very good chance the Kai will come back before the year is out.

<<When can we see Majel Barret again?>>

Not until next season.
--------------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-21 19:08:12 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

<<When scriptwriting, do you have access to what, for lack of a better term,
I think of as "archival" materials (ie ST scripts, videos, etc.)? Is there,
and if so what is in, your (the show, Paramount, etc.) reference library?
 And do you "fact" check more closely when making a major vs. minor reference
to ST history or lore?>>

We have all of the above available to us here and we do try very hard to keep
everything together.

<<When does DS9's hiatus start?  when does it end?  >>

We stop shooting April 22 and resume sometime in early July.

<<By "now"  (the time of DS9, Voyagaer,  TNG) humans must be a small minority
of the Federation's population.  Does the composition of Starfleet reflect
that, or it is a majority or plurality human organization.>>

For production reasons, Starfleet on TV is a predominantly human
organization, but we presume that it's a far more heterogenous outfit that we
can normally afford to show.  The exact proportions have never been discussed
to my knowledge.
------------------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-21 19:52:08 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

<<Will Q be making another appearance of DS9 anytime soon?  What about
Lwaxana?>>

Neither one will be coming back this season.

<<I was wondering who made the GREAT choice for the music in First Contact?
Meaning Magic Carpet Ride etc. I figure it was either you, Brannon, or Rick.
If that is the case was there any particular reason why these songs were
chosen?>>

The decision was ultimately made by Rick with input from Jonathan Frakes and
Peter Lauritson.  I'm not sure why they chose the songs they did, but I liked
them, especially Magic Carpet Ride.

<<I just saw on a web sight that modern Star Trek (Since TNG's Premier) has
lost over 60% of it's viewers and that Star Trek, in all it's incarnations,
is in serious trouble.>>

TNG's premiere was a looong time ago and TV itself has changed radically,
especially the first-run syndication market which really didn't exist until
TNG blazed the trail.  Also there's a great deal more sci-fi on the air today
than there was in TNG's first year and there's a lot more Trek around these
days as well.  All of which is not intended to deny the fact that I wish our
ratings were higher and that Xena wasn't beating us in first-run syndication
(nothing against Xena, BTW, it's a fun show, I dig Lucy Lawless and I wish
them well).  As for Trek "being in trouble" I think that's over-stating the
case.  DS9 is definitely getting a 6th year (and possibly a 7th), Voyager is
getting a 4th year, and they're definitley going to make another TNG film.
 Reports of Trek's death have been greatly exaggerated.

<<Are there still families and children on board starships?>>

Perhaps on some Galaxy-class ships, but I think this was an experiment that
failed.

<<What has become of the Cardassian dissident movement that we have seen
mentioned in the past? Does it still exist? Or was it crushed by the Dukat
regime? >>

You'll hear more about the fate of the Cardassian dissident movement in "Ties
of Blood and Water."
----------------------
Subj:  Answers
Date:  97-03-24 13:54:27 EST
From:  RonDMoore       

<<Now that Dukat has alligned the Cardassians with the Dominion, where does
that leave the treaty between Cardassia and the Federation - and the
Maquis?>>

The new relationship between the Federation/Cardassia/Maquis will be examined
in detail in "Blaze of Glory" the next Michael Eddington show which is
episode #23.

<<What are we going to see in the way of a finale. When will it air? Will it
be a cliffhanger?? Did you write it??? On a similar note: In the last few 2
part episodes (By Inferno's light/In Purgatory's Shadow, Broken
Link/Apocalypse Rising, and Homefront/Paradise Lost), They are seperately
titled, not the typical Part I, Part II Format, why is this? >>

The season finale is being written at this moment by Ira and Robert and it
remains untitled.  All I can tell you is that things are about to change...

As for the separate titles for two-part episode, it's simply a preference of
ours.  I've always liked giving each episode a separate title for some
reason, I guess it just makes them individual entities in my mind as opposed
to a single episode carved up into two parts.

<<Who's the hardest DS9 character to write for? Why?>>

Sisko is a tough one to crack because he's a complex man in a very unusual
situation (Emissary to an alien race).  But he's also fun to write for
because it's a challenge.

<<Is Avery Brooks a particularly demanding actor? Does he contribute his
ideas to your writing? Or, is he mostly just a gentleman that takes the lines
and delivers them as requested?>>

Avery, like his character, is a very complex man.  He is NOT a demanding or
ego-driven actor, rather he is a thoughtful and intelligent man who sometimes
has insights into the character that no one else has thought about.  He has
also been unfailingly polite and a classy guy in all my dealings with him.

<<For a ship that was designed to: (a.) take on the Borg and (b.) be the most
powerful warship in the Federation, the Defiant sure seems to get the crap
kicked out of her regularly. What's the deal? Just once, couldn't we see her
kick but and take names?>>

We try to keep the Defiant as a powerful and menacing ship and her
performance in "Die is Cast" "Shattered Mirror" and "Way of the Warrior" to
name just a couple would tend to bear this out.  But you do have a good
point, and we're definitely sensitive to having her knocked about too often.

<<In addition, some, if not all, of these [two-part episodes] have different
writers or combination of writers (or story/screenplay etc.), if I am not
mistaken.  Is this due to just to collaboration between writers, someone
coming up with that particular *piece* of the story in a writers brain
storming session, or are the ideas separate ones that are *joined*
together.>>

Usually, it's very difficult for a single writer to do both parts of a
two-part episode unless the shows in question straddle the end of the season
and the beginning of the next (like Best of Both Worlds and Redemption).  Ira
and Robert have done two-parters together because they're working as a team
and more able to carry the burden.  Otherwise, it's just too much work to
write and prep for production two hours back to back on your own.  We almost
always break (outline or structure) the two episodes together with both
writers present -- the exception that rule being "Improbable Cause/Die is
Cast" in which we set out to do a single episode and only after the first
draft decided to expand the story into two parts.

<<On a separate note, we used to see more of the other establishments on the
promenade (like the Klingon restaurant in "Melora").  These little glimpses
into station life are interesting, sometime humorous and lent a sense of
continuity to the everyday life on the station.  Were they discontinued due
to financial (i.e. cost of additional set) reasons,  because the idea didn't
*work* or just problems with individual script time constraints?>>

We like the idea, but usually cut these little sets for monetary reasons at
budget time.
-----------------------