Reporter Issue 11
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Submissions are welcome. Please submit by the 19th of each month to Fleet Captain Elinor
Captains, please submit plot outlines for your ships by the 19th of each month.
FROM STARBASE 118
Central Intelligence reports that the following information was gleaned from Federation Listening Station LOKI 932, near the Cardassian Borer.
( ): ...irmative. Affirmative. Gul D'Mek wants the prisoners transferred to the TATAR secure facility on the double.
( ): Alright, SHADKIR, clear for passage through to TATAR IV. Keep your speed below warp 4 and keep your ID beacon on at all times to avoid any misidentification by the sentry ships. How many you have?
SHADKIR: We've got two, Station 6. Earthers grabbed from the jaws of death (a chuckle) when thier shuttle crashed. They've since been made to wish they'd dies with the rest of them. (Laughs).
STATION 6: Keep the chatter down, SHADKIR. This isn't a code 1 station. Have a quick trip. Station 6 out.
If any officer has information about who these Terrans could be, or what mission they could be on, please report to Fleet Captain Elinor for a full transcript and further details.
The USS Nova, training ship to many officers based here with the fleet of Star Base 118, was scuttled in a recent battle against the Maquis. Although it is with great sadness that the Nova was destroyed, her destruction helped to end a Maquis threat long lingering over our sector of space.
PROMOTIONS
Congratulations to the following officers for their promotions.
- Dan, Lieutenant Commander, USS Centris
- Selak, Lieutenant, USS Centris
- Valeris, Lieutenant, USS Centris
- Cory Corumdun, Lieutenant, USS Centris
- Jasen Rendary, Lieutenant, USS Panther
CURRENT SIM PLOTS
STAR BASE 118
none submitted.
USS ALLIANCE
none submitted.
USS ARIZONA
Training ship replacing the Nova. It leaves on its first mission today.
USS CENTRIS
We are currently in the Gamma Quadrant, near the Alpha Axis, far from Galatic Core. We have encountered the Defiant, a Constitution class ship thought lost on Stardate 2269 when it was apparently destroyed by the Tholian web. Actually, we have encountered two Defiants, duplicates except for the fact that one is now devoid of crew. And one of my officers, Alexander Wilkens, has assumed the identity of a Defiant member.
USS FREEDOM-A
The Freedom is now in the Delta Quadrant. After being taken there through, what we think is was a man-made wormhole, there was a brief encounter with the Jem Hadara and Founders. Once we were able to, what we thought, rid them from our ship, one changling remained. Acording to Q, who paid us a visit, this was not a Founder by a "Ph" called Dell. The destruction of a space-time loop apparently destroyed him, but it also destroyed the events that happened. This entire report is resting on the honesty of Q. We are now on our way back to DS9 but have found we are missing a crew member. A search is under way for Ensign Progemm.
USS NOVA
lost on Stardate 237404.15. Schuttled in the SB 118 battle against the Maquis.
USS PANTHER
none submitted
INTERVIEW
This month I am interviewing Lieutenant Sally Strange, Chief Engineering Officer aboard the USS Freedom - A. A Terran woman, she comes from a long line of Federation workers. I will warn you, this is a very different interview.
Why did you choose a career in StarFleet?
It was either that or hang around the house with my grand-mother and her friends who insist on teaching me the very outdated game of Bridge. Actually it was really a last minute decision on my part. Of course Starfleet has been a part of my life before I was even conceived. My father being a prominent Starship designer and engineer, my mother a member of the Federation Council and my grandfather an Ambassador made me no stranger (no pun intended) to the life of this galactic organization. My careers plans originally centered around the world of competitive sailing. It was only after an unfortunate boating accident, an episode that afterwards forced me to spend several months addressing my future, did I begin to consider alternatives to my initial career goals. It was during that period that my fatheris endless push for me to apply to the academy brought me to Starfleet. I have yet to regret the move but I am sure sometimes my Superior Officeris do.
Why do you say that?
Ha, Ha, Ha (she nervously laughs) Don't get me wrong, Starfleet certainly keeps the boredom at bay. As for my Superiors, some seem to think that my ideas are a little on the.... unorthodox side. Rules and regulations were never my specialty, in fact I have had some trouble with them in past. I find that they serve their purpose in keeping order and discipline but terribly stifle the imagination. The ability to think outside of realms of the guidelines to solve problems, this to me is epitome of progress. Besides it is fun to keep them all guessing what is going to happen next.
But surely without boundaries, rules as you say, we have no cohesion, we cannot exist.
True. Rules provide the framework in which we can exist in an ordered society. They give us the cohesion and the starting point from which we can grow. They allow us to learn and live just outside the abyss of chaos. Unfortunately these boundaries also isolate us from the discombobulated state of the cosmos which in itself has its own order. In other words, rules in regards to space travel and space faring societies are abstract ideas that are meant to emulate a terran culture in space. Of course these guidelines are needed to allow for various degrees of control and cohesion, but the whole of the universe works on laws of nature and chaos so different from our own conceived limits of order that the two are like matter and anti-matter. Both can exist but cannot integrate easily. Perhaps that is why we cannot comprehend the meaning of the universe and its origin, because the rules and boundaries that give us cohesion and existence in physical form do not allow us to see higher meanings in all of everything itself.
This is all very philosophical so I shall digress a little. Yes, rules and boundaries are needed to keep order and cohesion in society so we may amicably exist. However at the same time they handicap our view to the possibilities of our species in evolution. Our species has existed for millions of years which in terms of the universeis lifetime is perhaps not even middle age. What will happen when the universe begins to die? If terran culture has existed in the boundaries of its physical order throughout adulthood than how are we to save ourselves? How are we to understand what is happening to our world if the rules and boundaries that closed around us nurtured us crumble? Like a child, rules must be strictly enforced so that he or she understands the limits. But as they grow in to an adult, they develop the ability to analyze those rules and decide whether or not they are relevant to his or her existence.
As physical beings rules, laws, boundaries, etc. are what define us as terran They allow us to perform effectively with a certain physical framework. Most importantly they provide the growth to eventually critically analyze that framework. Once that analysis stage is reached we can then look beyond the framework, using it as a stable leverage point in order understand the universe. The point I am trying to emphasize is that as terrans and other species we should be always striving to get a view of the chaos that exists outside the boundaries. Push the limits as one might coin a phrase. In a way it is really part of our existance and we have done everything to isolate ourselves from chaos. We refuse to understand it because of its apparent disfunctional state. As Starfleet officers we face this chaos in the new frontier everyday. Should we not now be trying to change or culture to suit that and continue to explore by breaking down some of those barriers?
It is true that the natural state of matter is chaos. However, civilization exists definitionally as the creation of order out of that choas. Although it is limiting to see order as two dimensional, we must still give dimension to have order, even in space. After all, we do not float freely in the cosmos, we exist in tiny cubicles, ships, of order within the choas of the heavens. I can see no other way.
Wonderful imagery is it not? Much like the cells of the body existing in what appears to them to be a sea of chaos. Little do they know that their ordered cubicles are actually part of a greater thing. And the organs. They themselves as well do not float freely but are made of the cells. The organs know this. They too have specific boundaries of function. But again everywhere outside of the organ is viewed as chaotic, unexplainable. The Heart does not know why it pumps blood. The stomach does not were the food comes it just knows what to do with it when it arrives and when there is no space left. Are we not the ordered cubicles exploring the bodies of the heavens? Why do we explore? Why is there this need to seek out new possibilities?
The organs of the body cannot answer these simple questions. Why? Because they serve a specific purpose and were not meant too ask such things. As terrans we have the ability to look beyond the confines of our order to ask the questions such as why do we do this? To see chaos? At first yes but then the order of chaos becomes less confusing and the next stage does not seem so baffling. But this order in chaos only comes after we understand how our rules structure us.
Yes to answer point blank, order is needed BUT as explorers it is our duty to access that order and its relevance. Little things such as notifying Superior Officers of the Engine status are tedious but important. However pulling out a rule book on how to handle a hostage situation and following it step by step can be very counter-productive. What I am trying to express is that rules in a traditional sense can be a crutch or an excuse not to venture into the unknown. Why can we not break the rules, to stand above them and look out over them instead of letting them block our view. On a personal level this is a question that I continue to ask myself and practice. On a metaphysical level it is a question that races of the universe must address in order to evolve. If evolution is not the sole purpose of our existence then we all might as well sign up to be organ donors for the species that do.
You are certainly Terran, Lieutenant Strange. Multivariant in so many aspects, but bivariant when it comes to those issues you care most deeply about. Tell me then, has following rules been the most challenging aspect of your career here in StarFleet?
I have never seen myself as being Black or White about an issue but than again I do not enter in such conversations often enough to tell. Perhaps as my career continues I will begin to see the gray. But I digress, you have asked me whether I find the rules of Starfleet the most challenging? In some instances I do have problems with them but that is just my personality. I have never had the ability to deal with strict authority very well. However my not being able to deal with them and not understanding them are too different things. I understand why Starfleet is the way it is and therefore I can more readily accept and respect it.
Captain Kirk did not become the controversial figure of history without having problems with the rules. In my mind those who push the limits and in some cases break the rules our are heroes. They inspire us to go beyond ourselves. If all I can achieve in my career is to break every rule in the book I would not see that as a bad thing. Unless the disrespect of those infractions was unethical and criminal. You may disagree with these statements, consider it to be reckless but I have won a lot of races by pushing the limits to their breaking point. That is why I consider myself good at what I do.
And what is it you hope to acheive?
::Thinking for several moments:: Everything I have not. ::Curling her lips into a smile:: For now though I will be satisfied not to get Court Marshaled.
Do you want to become a Captain one day?
For some reason I find that more difficult to answer then any of the previous questions. I certainly do not want to stay a Lt. for the rest of my life but at the same becoming a Captain is the beginning of a journey to the other side of the fence. I have to say and this is very arrogant I know, that I would only accept such a position on my own terms. And the post would have be unique. A special assignment or elite strike crew would certainly make me consider a rank of Captain.
What, then are your plans for StarFleet?
To create an army of clones and take over the world. No, not really. Eventually I would like to design ships like my father but only after a long tour of duty out in the field. Ultimately I would to create a class of ships to head the exploration of extended deep space missions. More specifically the ships and space stations that will chart the expanding frontiers into the Delta and Gamma Quadrants. New ideas regarding space travel and defensive systems must be considered if we wish to continue to chart the universe. As people spend longer and longer periods traveling on Starships design and engineering must gear itself to more self-sustaining and durable systems. This will call for new technology to develop old materials. I want to be a part of the Starfleet Design and Engineering Teams that will allow species to travel deep into space. Perhaps even be a part of the first long term mission to test these new ship designs. In that respect I would readily accept the position of Captain.
OUT OF CHARACTER
"Want to see a more professional version of your profile in StarBase 118? Contact Admiral Wolf and he'll send your profile, and career records with UFOP to Steve Bullock (aka- Cmdr. Treetus) who'll make your profile into an elegant graphic. If you attach a personal picture of yourself, he'll add that to your profile also! Contact Admiral Wolf ASAP for more information and an example!"
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