Deemanot



The Deemanot are a race of helminthic creatures that resemble giant earthworms who make an "S" shape when standing to their full height. They dwell on the planet Deema III and communicate telepathically by touching clitellum. They are covered in mucus to help them move from place to place. Their cities are built underground and consist of mainly tunnels. In the novelUnspoken Truth one particular inhabitant known only as "Worm" guides Saavik, Malek and Captain Galina Mironova through a museum that the Deemanot built to store their collected knowledge of other socieities. However the structure of the museum was built spirally to accomodate the Deemanot's cylindrical, legless bodies as opposed to the bipdel bodies of Saavik, Mikal, and Captain Mironova.

In the aforementioned 2010 novel, a wedding is performed between two Deemanot (referred to as "Scolex" and "Cina") who stand upright in the "S" posture facing "mouth to mouth". Their clitella change colors from reddish pink to bright orange. The couple then touch and their bodies slowly start to intertwine from the "head" to the rest of the body. The union can cause a mild electrical current to be felt by the other telepathic guests present which causes a type of "chant". The couple then lowers their bodies and then they slither over each other until they're joined head to tail. This procedure lasts all night and up until morning. The guests bless the couple with wishes of health, fertility, longevity and joy. The wedding concludes when the couple separate. Just like the hermaphroditic worms of earth, both partners are impregnated.

It should be noted that before the events of Unspoken Truth the inhabitants of Deema III were a mystery to Starfleet and so Federation regulations forbid the crew of Chafee to make contact with the Deemanot. However, it is the Deemanot themselves who approach Saavik and even allow the Chaffe to record the ceremony.