The planet Hetgarot was the sector mapped by the USS CURIE under Captain Dapo's command. This sector adjoins the Amigine sector, towards Omega. That would put the sector within 2 light years of M'Sagro system. The size of the Hetgarot territory beyond their own solar system is currently unknown.
The sector contains 3 m-class planets, according to the USS Curie's survey of the area. L-class planets were not scanned for. From one of the posts of the time: "There was a class-M moon orbiting a gas giant in a solar system with a red sun. Though it had an atmosphere, there were no signs of life beyond algae.
"The second class-M planet that appeared from the scan to be mostly ocean, orbiting a yellow sun. There seemed to be an early industrial civilization on some of the larger islands. The oceans were teaming with life as well, some of which might be sentient
"The third class-M world seemed to be made up of mostly rain forests, with desert at the equator and temperate forests near the poles. There was a faint power signature indicating possible civilization on the planet. Whoever they were, they did not give much of an indication of their presence. Perhaps they were xenophobic or perhaps they were only in the first stages of an energy consuming culture. There was an abundance of life, but from this range, it could not be determined what type of life form was producing the power signature. They would have to get closer to find this out." This planet is in fact the Hetgarot home world.
"The O2 content of the planet Hetgarot is high, but the plant life has adapted to it, such that the leaves burn, but the bark is flame resistant
TThe Hetgarot evolved from a lemur-like creature. They are nocturnal, live in cities in the trees, and are highly sophisticated. They have and use warp technology -- their ships being a bit faster than those of the Federation. They are somewhat skittish and use cloaked ships to avoid hostilities, preferring stealth and speed to conflict. Their scanning technology is 20 years behind that of Starfleet (not bad, considering that the Enterprise-E was built only a few years beyond 20 years ago).
The Hetgarot refuse to use any kind of transporter technology, and even requested that there be no replicators in their embassy. There are likewise none on any of their ships. No Hetgarot would use a transporter given the choice. It is not that they never figured out how to make a transporter (though they never even thought to make a replicator), it simply is against their world-view. One does not kill a person by taking it apart, even if you are going to put it back together. To them, it simply is not the same person, nor are any other life-forms exactly the same, in their view. Food transported is viewed as less then fresh, even inedible.
Due to the higher oxygen content of their planet, the Hetgarot must use a device that provides them with additional O2 in low O2 environments such as Federations stations. The must also where special bright light eye wear in order to operate in daylight.
They are ruled by a council of elders from their capital city of Noncharot, a city in the trees. The chief elder is called a Melka and serves for 1 year on a rotational bases among 3 such elders. One must be born with certain instincts to become a Melka, and it is more common among female Hetgarot. The Melka at the time of first contact was Koph, a male. The Melka in the year the embassy was established on DS 101 was Heka. The current Melka is Chaka (ch being pronounced like the ch in the Scottish loch, German ich, or Hebrew Challah). The rotation order goes as follows Koph, then Heka, then Chaka -- the cycle then repeats until one of the three is replaced on retirement. Both Heka and Chaka are females. Occasionally, one of the ruling 3 will be replaced by another with the instinct, and who has first served in the council of elders. Not all elders have the instinct to be the Melka. The current ambassador (Shagrira) to the Federation is Naemah, a female. She is currently at DS 101, the nearest Federation station to the Hetgarot home world in the newly established Hetgarot embassy (level 1 and level2) there.
The Hetgarot elders originally warned the crew of the USS Curie of a rogue group of Hetgarot known as the Hetgarot Adamah, or red Hetgarot. The red Hetgarot began as a small group of Hetgarot that broke ties with the home planet about 200 years ago. They do not live on Hetgarot and their location is unknown, though it is said that they originally establised a colony on an unihabited class-M word. Some may also live in ships or have a SB somewhere in the cocoon region. Their ships, like all Hetgarot, would be capable of cloaking, but they are different from most Hetgarot in that they are not non-violent. It was not known why they took they name, but there was speculation that it was because of the bright red fur of the founding family. (BTW, this group will in the future -- or did, as it already happened to her, capture Galia Bitzalel currently of the CURIE, but at the time aassigned to the USS Garrett as a lieutenant, 34 years in the future.)
