The Federation Tribune - August 2003 -revised- -discard prior edition-
Clare Bradley
clarerose at yahoo.com
Fri Aug 15 22:26:23 CEST 2003
==== The Federation Tribune ====
==== August 2003 ====
Got a question? Visit the Newspaper FAQ!
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The Fleet Turns Three by Clare Bradley
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August 26th will mark the third anniversary of Frontier Fleet. Since
that time, we have made a big impact on the universe. The Fleet began
with the original Delta One and USS Arakov, but they failed
miserably. Had they remained, the Borg would have assimilated Sector
001 for sure. Fortunately for us, the two duty stations were
disbanded, and their rag-tag crews combined to helm the first ever
Transwarp ship, the USS Calhoun.
Despite massive complications with the prototype transwarp drive, the
USS Calhoun succeeded in boldly going where noone had... well, ok,
where the USS Voyager went before. Even the untimely death of Captain
Sera Vaun did not stop this fledgling Fleet from pursuing their
mission. Captain Fox Main stepped up to fill the void, and the Fleet
flourished under his guidance.
With the addition of the USS Odyssey and the USS Arakov-A, the Fleet
began a period of growth that culminated in the founding of space
stations Pandora Station and Delta One. The tragic destruction of the
USS Arakov might have been a setback, but Starfleet quickly replaced
her with the USS Valkyrie. Some would claim there had need for a
place to send incompetent crewmembers, but in fact the replacement
ship speaks volumes of the confidence Starfleet has in our Fleet.
Frontier Fleet has gained such prominence that it has attracted
beings from all over the galaxy. The numbers of Klingon recruits
alone is proof of the honor of our organization. Unlike many
starships that have mostly human crews, Frontier Fleet is the only
one brave enough (or perhaps insane enough), to have a Romulan and a
Cardassian serve as First Officer.
So in honor of this third anniversary, I would like to say thank you
to all the crew that have made Frontier Fleet so successful. The
Fleet's future is bright, and I hope we continue to go where not too
many people have been before.
====================================================================
USS Calhoun and Delta One Status Report by Kelley MacKinnon
====================================================================
(USS Calhoun - 2391.03.10)
With Su finally getting married and going on her honeymoon Summers is
temporarily left in command of the Station and the Calhoun. The
Calhoun suits up for a training mission to a couple of M class
planets to studied the plant life. En route the Calhoun crashes into
a cloaked ship. Upon closer inspection it is found that the monster
ship they hit is a quagmire of pre Star Fleet ship including,
Klingon, Romulan and Cardassian as well as many others they don't
know. After stabilising the Calhoun the Calhoun send an away team to
the ship to render any help needed. Once inside they find a Borg hive
filled with thousands of Borg in stasis. However these Borg are not
what they are used to, they have not assimilated their body to be
more efficient as they Borg the Federation knows. The away team has
yet to discover and other differences. Suddenly it is found that they
are slowly waking and as they search for a way to reverse the process
they find what had waken them in the first place. A Borg the Calhoun
had once faced before. One that is stronger and faster than the
normal Borg. One with psychotic tendencies and one that has his eyes
set on the crew of the Calhoun.
Will the away team manage to reverse the waking process of the Borg
and avoid a war. Will Commander Summers and a small away team manage
to keep the "Super" Borg away from the command council. Will Harris
be able to put his baby back together. Will they get a pair of
glasses for the pilot of the Calhoun when it crashed......stay tuned.
====================================================================
Pandora Station Status Report July 2003 by Bram Peeters
====================================================================
*** Past Situation ***
Stardate: 2391.02.08 and beyond
The plan to safe Ensign Braff had to be executed earlier than
expected, but killing Braff worked. Only the 3 aliens were taken by
the Vortagoma, and Braff was later revived.
Both CSO Naragona and SciO Roberts wanted to resign from Starfleet;
both decided to stay in Starfleet but they requested to be
transferred to the USS Calhoun/Deep Space Delta 1. Former FO
Commander T'afek Sarin of Pandora Station did resign from Starfleet;
he is now Ambassador of the Federation in the Delta Quadrant, on the
USS Calhoun/Deep Space Delta 1. Commander Sarin's successor is
Commander Essar Quinn, who already was on the station for a few
weeks. He arrived during the Vortagoma crisis with the USS Solstice,
a science vessel assigned to Pandora Station.
Not role-played:
The engines of the USS Epimetheus have been repaired, and first warp
flights have been successful. The first transwarp test will take
place after every part of the engine is triple checked by two
different teams of Starfleet engineers.
*** Current Situation ***
A new mission started this month, on Stardate 2391.03.05
The entire senior staff has left the station on the USS Solstice. The
Solstice has been sent to the planet Tollaxana in the Tollaxa system,
where they will be surveying the entire planet before a team of
Federation archaeologists will arrive to study the lost Tollaxan
civilisation. En route to the planet the Solstice was hailed by a
shuttle, carrying two new crew members: ACSO Ensign Jeff Jalando and
ACSO Marcus Brannagh.
====================================================================
STATUS REPORT: USS Odyssey by Dennis Church
====================================================================
Stardate 2391.01.24
The Odyssey is assisting the Valkyrie in helping out the New
Amsterdam colony. The intruder aboard the Valkyrie has been
neutralized. Evacuation of critical areas is proceeding but the main
dam has burst, which promises to cause significant damage to most of
the colony unless a solution is found quickly.
====================================================================
USS Valkryie Status Report by Mark van der Laan
====================================================================
USS VALKYRIE STATUS REPORT - 2391.01.24:
The situation on the New Amsterdam Colony continues to worsen after a
series of geological disturbances, scattering the crew and
endangering the people below - especially when a dam is in imminent
danger of rupturing, flooding several settlements. To make the
situation even worse, most of the Valkyrie's systems have been
crippled because of a spy - a Suliban stowaway from the Valkyrie's
little trip into the past - rendering it helpless in aiding their
comrades. The USS Odyssey arrived on the scene as well to provide
support, but unfortunately Murphy's Law makes no favors: its
transporter system started suffering from malfunctions as well.
The Suliban has been neutralized and both ships are slowly recovering
from their technical difficulties, but the situation on the planet
surface still is far from stable...
====================================================================
Academy Status Report by Rob Verlinden
====================================================================
Current Stardate 2386.9.14 and 2388.10.16
==================
Lost Cadets (9):
Cadet Tali Moore, played by Charli Moore
Cadet Lynne Hill, played by Brenda Hill
Cadet Kurrgan, played by Joshua Smyth
Cadet Hadassah Langer, played by Jessica Langer
Cadet Kiri Sesh, played by James Rudd
Cadet Caleb Hoss, played by Caleb Hoss
Cadet James Stepp, played by James Stepp
Cadet Matthew Smith, played by Justin Powell
Cadet Aarone Rogue, played by J.D. Fichter
Standby (3):
Cadet Lily Barns, played by Garrett M.
Cadet Ryan Davidson, played by Brian B.
Cadet Todd Marshall, played by John Rodriguez
==================
New Signups (19):
4 useless, leaves 15
Individual Cadets (7):
Cadet Gareth J Dunsford, played by Gareth J Dunsford (Marvin)
Cadet Sean Dempsey, played by Sean Dempsey (Wes)
Cadet Bryan Lewis played by Paul Clark (Kelley)
Cadet Arta, played by Desmond Grier (Rob007)
Cadet Rendall, played by Tyler Rendall (Dennis)
Cadet Lorvok, played by Jake Hanlon (Kelley)
Cadet Karina Vestilla, played by Jessica Lynn (Merijn)
Advanced (1):
Cadet Ryan Adam Davidson, played by Brian B.
List Training (7):
Cadet Philip Kerris, played by Philip Billington (Eng/Sec/Dont)
Cadet Disk Driver, played by J. Scott Simants (Ops/Sci/Dont)
Cadet Shannon O'Dain, played by Shannon O'Dain (Sci/Eng/Ship)
Cadet Seth Knight, played by Luis Oyola (Sec/Ops/Ship)
Cadet Malcolm Walker, played by Danny Ward (Med/Helm/Ship)
Cadet Jed Cogan, played by John Coughlan (Ops/Eng/Ship)
Cadet Otto van Bracht, played by Vedran Marinich (Med/Couns/Ship)
Graduations (2):
Cadet Jeff Robert Jalando, played by Rob Versteegt => ACSO Pandora
Cadet Marcus Brannagh, played by Alastair Morris => ACSO Pandora
==================
End of Status Report
==================
====================================================================
The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 3 by Ben Versteegt
====================================================================
Summary: On Alpha Centauri, after the Dominion War, a Cardassian with
a phaser threatens to kill the Ferengi bartender Zaag, if he doesn't
help him. The next day, Starfleet Ensign Sandra Burke has to examine
strange, unknown samples. When she visits her friend Zaag, the
Ferengi seems a bit too interested in those samples, and asks Sandra
for help.
And now the continuation:
"What do you mean, 'I need your help'?" Sandra asked the Ferengi.
"What's going on here, Zaag?"
"I'll tell you all about it." Zaag whispered. He looked around the
room suspiciously. "But not here. Come with me."
Sandra followed the Ferengi to a small room directly behind the bar.
There were no windows, it was barely lit and it smelled like it
hadn't been cleaned for months.
"Why don't you sit down." Zaag said, trying to sound friendly. He
didn't fool Sandra.
"You sound nervous, Zaag." she said. "What's the matter? What do you
know about those samples?"
"Well..." Zaag said, as he started walking back and forth across the
room. "I wanted to ask you a favor..."
Sandra didn't feel comfortable in this small, dark room, alone with a
nervous Zaag. She sat down on what seemed to be a bed, only to stand
up again, surprised at what else she sat down on. "Zaag," she said,
as she showed what she sat down on to the Ferengi. "What is this?"
Zaag recognized what Sandra was holding and tried to hide his
embarrassment. "Er... what does it look like?" he said, knowing all
too well what it was.
"Looks like lingerie to me." Sandra said. "I'm surprised at you,
Zaag! Did you actually think that I would put this on? That you and
I..." Sandra really was upset, and began to yell at the Ferengi.
"I've known you for a while now, Zaag, and I never expected this from
you! You're just like every other Ferengi! Did you really think you
could get me into bed with you? You're even dumber than you look, you
Ferengi pervert! And I suppose you wanted me to give you Oo-mox too,
right? What do I look like to you, a Dabo-girl?" she paused. If it
wasn't this dark, Zaag could see the tears in her eyes. "I thought
you were my friend, but you are just a sex-obsessed, Oo-mox-addicted
little Ferengi!" After this, Sandra threw the piece of lingerie to
Zaag, and ran through the door in tears. Zaag was terribly
embarrassed, and wanted to correct this misunderstanding.
"Wait!" he shouted. "You don't understand! Sandra, come back!" He
followed her out of the bar. "Sandra!" he yelled. "I didn't want
to... The lingerie is from a... er.... previous business associate!"
But Sandra didn't seem to listen. She ran a lot faster than Zaag
could, and Zaag had almost lost her.
Finally Zaag knew of only one way to get Sandra to listen. "They're
trying to kill me!" He shouted as hard as he could.
It worked. Sandra stopped, and turned around to face Zaag. The
Ferengi ran towards her, catching his breath when he had caught up
with the Ensign. "It's true." he said, gasping for air. "I'll get
killed if you don't help me."
"This isn't one of your tricks?" Sandra said suspiciously.
"I swear it's not." Zaag said. "I wasn't trying to get you to sleep
with me." he paused, and a smile appeared on his face. "Although
you're welcome to try it if you want."
"That's it." Sandra turned around. "I'm going."
"No, wait! I was just kidding!"
"Spare me your jokes, Zaag, and get to the point."
"Fine then." Zaag said, and started whispering. "Yesterday night, a
Cardassian came in and threatened to kill me if I didn't do what he
told me to. He wanted me to steal some samples from the science lab
of the Starfleet Outpost you work on. He said those samples were
found recently, and that they were of the utmost importance to him."
he paused for a second, and looked around to see if nobody was
listening to their conversation. "Now, I don't know what he wants
with those samples, but I figured I'd better do as he said. And
honestly, a few rocks isn't really a huge price to pay for one's
life... especially my life."
"And you wanted me to steal those samples for you, is that it?"
Sandra asked.
"I have always said you were remarkably intelligent." Zaag said.
"That's exactly what I wanted you to do. Now, the first thing you
need to do is bypass their security, which shouldn't be that
difficult, considering you have the access codes..."
"Shut up Zaag." Sandra interrupted. "I'm not going to do it."
"What?" cried Zaag. "You won't? But isn't my life more important than
a few rocks?"
"These samples aren't just rocks, Zaag. They emit somekind of unknown
radiation. Our tests show that they might be a new source of power.
Properly used, it might even give more energy than anything we use so
far."
"That's all fascinating," Zaag said impatiently. "but you have to
steal those samples. If I don't deliver them to that Cardassian
tonight, I'll be found dead tomorrow."
"Forget it Zaag. I'm not going to do it."
"But what about my life?" Zaag sounded extremely nervous.
"Ask for Federation protection." Sandra said. "You will be assigned
some Security personnel. They will protect you from anything."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one getting killed tonight."
"Just ask for some Starfleet officers to protect you." Sandra
insisted.
Zaag refused, shaking his head. "No way." he said. "I'm in enough
trouble as it is. If that Cardassian saw me with a group of Starfleet
officers, I'd be dead for sure. If he even saw me talking to you, I
wouldn't be safe. No, Sandra, I won't ask Starfleet for protection.
They would only do me more harm than good."
"What if..." Sandra said, trying to come up with something. "What if
you did steal the samples, and delivered it to the Cardassian?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you," Zaag sighed. "That's
exactly what I have to do."
"I know." Sandra replied. "I will get you those samples. You'll give
them to the Cardassian."
"I knew you'd see it my way!" the Ferengi looked very happy. His life
was saved.
"...And I will be ready with a security team to arrest the
Cardassian." Sandra continued.
"What? No Sandra, that's too dangerous! Not only for you, but for me
also!"
"It's either that or no deal." Sandra said. "It's your choice."
Zaag doubted the plan would work. "Sounds risky." he said.
Sandra smiled. "The riskier the road, the greater the profit."
"Rule of Acquisition 62..." Zaag said with a soft voice. "All right.
It's a deal."
TO BE CONTINUED
====================================================================
The Adventures Of The Night Shift By Rob Versteegt
====================================================================
It was a quiet night aboard Starbase 311. Ensign Alan Jameson, who
was in command of the nightshift, sat in the Captain's chair, and
stared at the viewscreen. ~Man, I'm bored.~ He thought. He looked
around Main Operations. There weren't a lot of people. All the senior
officers were fast asleep. Only the most important stations were
occupied. "Crewman Mulkahey." Jameson said. "How’s everything at
Ops?" Crewman Mulkahey sighed. "Alan, that must be the 20th time you
asked me. You know everything is fine, so why bother me?" "Jane, I’m
sorry." Alan said. "But I'm bored. There's nothing to do." Jane
smiled. "So why did you accept command at the nightshift then?" Alan
sighed again. "I thought I would be a step closer to a promotion...
But if I had known that it would be this 'interesting', I wouldn't
have done..."
Alan was interrupted by the chirping of his communicator. =/\=
Crewman Ba'a'an to OPS, please respond! =/\= The crewman sounded
distressed, so Alan answered immediately. "Ensign Alan Jameson here."
He said. "What's the problem?" =/\= I'm not sure...=/\= the crewman
replied. =/\= But I'm sure I heard something, and...
AAAAAAAHHHH!!!=/\= "Hello?" Alan tried to get the crewman back on the
commbagde, but he didn't answer. He looked at Ops. "Jane..." he said.
He didn't really know what to do. Should he inform the senior staff?
No, he knew this was his chance to impress everybody. He knew if he
would wake the Captain and the others, he would be known as 'the
ensign who could, but didn't dare'. ~I must solve this myself.~
"Jane." He said again. "Can you trace that signal?" Jane started
tapping her console. "I got it." she said. "Deck 95, section 47. It
came from Crewman Ba'a'an's quarters." Alan stood up from the
Captain's chair. "Jane," he said, while he moved towards the
turbolift. "You have Ops. I'm going to check it out." Before Jane
could stop him, Alan stood in the turbolift, and the doors closed.
~Let's see what's going to happen...~
At deck 95, section 47, the turbolift opened, and Alan walked out. He
looked at a bulkhead nearby, and saw there was a phaserlocker. He
tapped at the console, which caused the locker to open. Alan got a
phaser from it, and closed it again. ~Maybe I'll be needing this...~
There it was. The quarters of Crewman Ba'a'an. He walked towards it,
and was about to open the door, when he heard a child's voice behind
him. "Hey mister, have you seen my Talarian hook spider? It has
escaped from his cage again!" Alan turned towards the child. "Did you
say a Talarian hook spider?" The child nodded. "I kinda collect them.
I already have 5 of them, and I want to have more, but my mommy
doesn't like that!" Alan smiled. "I can believe that." He knew that
those spiders could be as long as 1 meter and 20 centimeters. "I will
keep an eye out for it." Alan said. "But now I have to go. See ya
later..." He hoped the child would go away, but he didn't. He was
still searching for his spider. ~Ah well... Better concentrate at the
task at hand.~ Alan tapped the console next to the door of crewman
Ba'a'an, to let him know he was here. But there was no response.
~What has happened to him?~ Alan thought. Suddenly he thought about
something: Ba'a'an could be shot, or murdered. Alan closed his eyes,
and decided to go in. "Computer." He said. "Override securitylock on
this door, security code Jameson Alpha 1." The doors opened, and
there Alan saw Ba'a'an lie down in his bed, next to a huge spider.
"Ehm, kid?" Alan said. The child ran towards the spider, picked it
up, and hugged it. The spider didn't seem to like it, but he had no
choice. As the spider was carried away by the child, who was about as
tall as the spider, the child said: "Thanks for finding my spider!"
Then he ran away, shouting: "Mom, I have found him!"
Alan sat down next to Ba'a'an, and gave him a slight push. "Crewman,
wake up..." Ba'a'an started to blink with his eyes, and sat straight
up. "Where is that spider?" he shouted. "The spider is gone." Alan
said, calming the crewman. "But why did you call Ops? We heard you
scream." Ba'a'an looked away from the ensign. "Well, you see..." he
sighed. "I'm a bit... scared, when it comes to spiders. I heard
something, and I thought it was a spider from that horrible little
boy from next door. Well, it seems I was right..." He sighed again.
"I really hate spiders... I must have fainted when that big creature
walked in... I'm sorry ensign..."
The next morning the first officer came to Ops. Ensign Jameson stood
up. "Transferring command to you Sir." He said. "At ease ensign." The
FO said. "Did anything interesting happened last night?" Jeff grinned
a bit. "No Sir." He said. "Nothing out of the ordinary..."
====================================================================
SPACE WEATHER REPORT by David Susman
====================================================================
Here it is, as the people of Earth begin to expand from this small
planet we are becoming more aware of the "weather" and how it
influences our daily lives. I will be submitting forecasts of the
expected Space Weather that will affect us on Earth, in case anyone
is planning a long weekend to a lunar campground:
3-Day Forecast issued 1 August 2003:
Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be low.
There's a slight chance for an M-class flare from Region 424
(S18E77), but overall the disk will be relatively inactive.
Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to
be at active to minor storm levels for the next 24 hours. The coronal
hole which has generated the current activity will pass beyond
geoeffective range by the end of tomorrow, and the geomagnetic field
should settle to quiet to unsettled levels for days two and three.
---------------------------------------------
Long Range Forecast: 30 July – 25 August 2003
Solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels. Region
421 has the potential for M-class events through the first half of
the period. The block of active longitudes, which rotated around the
west limb this period, will return by mid-August and may produce
moderate solar activity levels.
No greater than 10 MeV proton events at geosynchronous orbit are
expected.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux is expected to reach high levels
on July 30 – 05 August, 10-11 August and again on 13-16 August, due
to recurrent coronal hole high.
The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm
levels during the period. A large, recurrent coronal hole high speed
stream is expected to become geoeffective on 28 July – 03 August and
produce active to minor storm levels. Coronal hole effects are
expected again on 7-9 August and again on 11 – 17 August.
====================================================================
Top Ten Posters in July by Clare Bradley
====================================================================
#10. Scott LeGros, 9 posts.
(CAL: 9)
#9. Michael Smith, 12 posts.
(PS: 12)
#8. Adrian Rodd, 15 posts.
(PS: 1, VALK: 5, CAL: 9)
#7. Bram Peeters, 15 posts.
(PS: 10, ODY: 5)
#6. Sandy Alexandra, 16 posts.
(CAL: 16)
#5. David Susman, 19 posts.
(PS: 8, ODY: 11)
#4. Laura Elliot, 22 posts.
(CAL: 22)
#3. Werner Kay, 28 posts.
(CAL: 28)
#2. Simon Osborn, 29 posts.
(CAL: 29)
AND THE NUMBER ONE POSTER IN JULY IS...
#1. KELLEY MACKINNON, 39 posts!!
(PS: 5, CAL: 34)
Top Three Posters of Pandora Station:
#3. David Susman, 8 posts.
#2. Bram Peeters, 10 posts.
#1. Michael Smith, 12 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Odyssey:
#3. Dennis Church, 7 posts.
#2. Rob Verlinden, 11 posts. (TIE)
#1. David Susman, 11 posts. (TIE)
Top Three Posters of the USS Valkyrie:
#3. Adrian Rodd and Jed Cohen, 5 posts each.
#2. Clare Bradley, 6 posts.
#1. John Wenerowicz, 7 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Calhoun:
#3. Werner Kay, 28 posts.
#2. Simon Osborn, 29 posts.
#1. Kelley MacKinnon, 34 posts.
DutyStation Rankings:
USS Calhoun: 175 posts total.
USS Odyssey: 64 posts total.
Pandora Station: 54 posts total.
USS Valkyrie: 42 posts total.
Fleet Wide Rankings:
1. Kelley MacKinnon, 39. (PS: 5, CAL: 34)
2. Simon Osborn, 29. (CAL: 29)
3. Werner Kay, 28. (CAL: 28)
4. Laura Elliot, 22. (CAL: 22)
5. David Susman, 19. (PS: 8, ODY: 11)
6. Sandy Alexandra, 16. (CAL: 16)
7. Bram Peeters, 15. (PS: 10, ODY: 5)
8. Adrian Rodd, 15. (PS: 1, VALK: 5, CAL: 9)
9. Michael Smith, 12. (PS: 12)
10. Scott LeGros, 9. (CAL: 9)
11. Aaron Delay, 9. (CAL: 9)
12. Tom Shilakes, 7. (ODY: 4, VALK: 3)
13. Martin Miller, 7. (ODY: 4, VALK: 3)
14. John Wenerowicz, 7. (VALK: 7)
15. Ivan Tsoi, 7. (CAL: 7)
16. Wes Buchanan, 6. (PS: 6)
17. Jonas Ljungberg, 6. (PS: 1, CAL: 5)
18. Ben Versteegt, 6. (ODY: 6)
19. Clare Bradley, 6. (VALK: 6)
20. Katy Crockett, 5. (PS: 5)
21. Dennis Church, 5. (ODY: 5)
22. Jed Cohen, 5. (VALK: 5)
23. Chantal Marie Sellers, 4. (ODY: 4)
24. Kealy Doyle, 4. (ODY: 4)
25. Dreamer Jopnes, 4. (VALK: 4)
26. Cody Ferro, 4. (CAL: 4)
27. Rob Versteegt, 3. (PS: 3)
28. Grant Lile, 3. (PS: 3)
29. Mark van der Laan, 3. (VALK: 3)
30. Brandon Allard, 3. (VALK: 3)
31. Merijn Donders, 2. (PS: 2)
32. Linia Saddington, 2. (VALK: 2)
33. Lucas Rowles, 1. (PS: 1)
34. Guido Dorssers, 1. (ODY: 1)
35. Rob Verlinden, 1. (ODY: 1)
36. Lauren Ragle, 1. (ODY: 1)
37. Henry Ward, 1. (ODY: 1)
38. Jonathan Hardy, 1. (ODY: 1)
39. Ann Montague, 1. (VALK: 1)
40. Claire Walsh, 1. (VAL: 1)
====================================================================
SCIENCE FACTS by Bram Peeters
====================================================================
======== Columbia ========
6 August - Asteroids dedicated to fallen Columbia astronauts
The final crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia was memorialized in the
cosmos as seven asteroids orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter
were named in their honor Wednesday.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030806asteroids/
31 July - Columbia board: NASA needs better imaging
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board has issued its fifth
preliminary finding and recommendation to the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, in advance of its appearance in the final
report.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030731etimagery/
22 July - Management team hardly discussed foam strike
Transcripts of meetings by senior NASA managers during the shuttle
Columbia's ill-fated flight show mission management team chairman
Linda Ham and other top officials, despite a dearth of technical
data, simply did not believe falling insulation from the ship's
external fuel tank could cause a catastrophic breach in the ship's
left wing.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030722mmt/
15 July - Crew module likely survived shuttle breakup
The astronauts aboard the shuttle Columbia, strapped into a
reinforced module built to withstand extreme forces, likely survived
a minute or more beyond the commander's final transmission, sources
say. Engineers believe the crew died when the module, buffeted by
increasingly extreme aerodynamic forces, finally broke open as it
plunged steeply into the thickening atmosphere above Texas.
Full story:
http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030715crewmodule/
11 July - Detailed failure scenario released by Columbia board
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board has released a definitive
scenario detailing the doomed shuttle's countdown, launch and re-
entry.
The result is the most complete picture yet showing how a foam strike
during launch punched a catastrophic hole in the shuttle's left wing
that led to the ship's destruction during re-entry Feb. 1.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts107/030711scenario/
======== Mars ========
8 August - Rover experiences instrument glitch
A US rover despatched to investigate the surface of Mars has a glitch
in one of its instruments. The problem in a spectrometer on the
Spirit vehicle was picked up during a routine checkout. But officials
at the American space agency's (Nasa) Jet Propulsion Laboratory say
they are not unduly concerned at this stage.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3135515.stm
4 August - 'Phoenix' lander headed for Martian North Pole
In May 2008, the progeny of two promising U.S. missions to Mars will
deploy a lander to the water-ice-rich northern polar region, dig with
a robotic arm into arctic terrain for clues on the history of water,
and search for environments suitable for microbes.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0308/04phoenix/
1 August - Earth set for Mars close encounter
Mars will make its closest approach to Earth for almost 60,000 years
at the end of August. Dr Robin Catchpole, senior astronomer at the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London, explains how to witness the
event.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3093693.stm
31 July - Mars orbiter captures view of stair-stepped mound
This Mars Global Surveyor image shows a stair-stepped mound of
sedimentary rock on the floor of a large impact crater in western
Arabia Terra.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/31marsmound/
28 July - New maps of Mars water
"Breathtaking" new maps of likely sites of water on Mars showcase
their association with geologic features such as Vallis Marineris,
the largest canyon in the solar system. The maps detail the
distribution of water-equivalent hydrogen as revealed by Los Alamos
National Laboratory-developed instruments aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey
spacecraft.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/28marswater/
Mars News Archive: http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/
18 July - Mars-bound Opportunity rover adjusts trajectory
NASA's Opportunity spacecraft made its first trajectory correction
maneuver Friday, a scheduled operation to fine-tune its Mars-bound
flight path. For the trajectory adjustment, flight team members
commanded Opportunity to perform a prescribed sequence of thruster
firings.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/merb/030718maneuver.html
14 July - Fresh, rayed impact crater seen on Mars
This Mars Global Surveyor image shows a fresh, young meteor impact
crater on the martian surface. It is less than 400 yards across.
While there is no way to know the exact age of this or any other
martian surface feature, the rays are very well preserved.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/14marscrater/
======== Other news ========
10 August - Ulysses spacecraft sees galactic dust on the rise
Since early 1992, Ulysses has been monitoring the stream of stardust
flowing through our Solar System. The stardust is embedded in the
local galactic cloud through which the Sun is moving at a speed of 26
kilometres every second. As a result of this relative motion, a
single dust grain takes twenty years to traverse the Solar System.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0308/10ulysses/
6 August - Source for major type of supernova explosions found
Astronomers have finally identified the progenitor star system of a
Type Ia supernova. The culprit that triggered the stellar explosion
is a surprisingly normal star just a few times more massive than the
Sun.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0308/06supernova/
6 August - First shape measurement of an exploding white dwarf
Scientists have established that the extraordinarily bright and
remarkably similar astronomical "standard candles" known as Type Ia
supernovae do not explode in a perfectly spherical manner.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0308/06supernovashape/
2 August - Deeply embedded stellar clusters found in Milky Way
Peering into a giant molecular cloud in the Milky Way galaxy
astronomers from the European Southern Observatory have discovered a
whole new population of very massive newborn stars.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0308/02cluster/
2 August - Search for life could include planets, stars unlike ours
The search for life on other planets could soon extend to solar
systems that are very different from our own, according to a new
study by an Ohio State University astronomer and his colleagues.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0308/02lifesearch/
31 July - Eyeing a post-Hubble Universe
"Not since Galileo turned his telescope towards the heavens in 1610
has any event so changed our understanding of the Universe as the
deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope." So says Nasa's official
introduction to the Hubble, but officials at the US space agency are
now planning its demise and that is upsetting many scientists.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3115159.stm
30 July - Ion engine records nearly five years of firing time
The future is here for spacecraft propulsion and the trouble-free
engine performance that every vehicle operator would like, achieved
by an ion engine running for a record 30,352 hours at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory. The engine is a spare of the Deep Space 1 ion
engine used during a successful technology demonstration mission.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/30ionengine/
30 July - Close encounters of the stellar kind
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has confirmed that close encounters
between stars form X-ray emitting, double-star systems in dense
globular star clusters. These X-ray binaries have a different birth
process than their cousins outside globular clusters, and should have
a profound influence on the cluster's evolution.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/30chandra/
30 July - Antarctic telescope delivers first neutrino sky map
A novel telescope that uses the Antarctic ice sheet as its window to
the cosmos has produced the first map of the high-energy neutrino
sky. The map provides astronomers with their first tantalizing
glimpse of very high-energy neutrinos, ghostly particles that are
believed to emanate from some of the most violent events in the
universe -- crashing black holes, gamma ray bursts, and the violent
cores of distant galaxies.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/30neutrino/
28 July - Wind and reflections from supermassive black hole
This composite image of the active galaxy, NGC 1068, shows gas
blowing away in a high-speed wind from the vicinity of a central
supermassive black hole. The elongated shape of the gas cloud is
thought to be due to the funneling effect of a torus, or
doughnut-shaped cloud, of cool gas and dust that surrounds the black
hole.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/28blackhole/
26 July - Next International Space Station crew named
Veteran NASA astronaut Michael Foale and seasoned Russian cosmonaut
Alexander Kaleri are set to be the eighth crew to live aboard the
International Space Station. They're scheduled to begin their mission
in October, when they launch into space aboard a Russian Soyuz
spacecraft.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/26exp8crew/
25 July - Giant gas cloud made of atoms formed in first stars
Astronomers studying the most distant quasar yet found in the
Universe have discovered a massive reservoir of gas containing atoms
made in the cores of some of the first stars ever formed.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/25atoms/
25 July - Canadian team maps halos around galaxies
Two University of Toronto astronomers and a U.S. colleague have made
the first measurements of the size and shape of massive dark matter
halos that surround galaxies.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/25halos/
24 July - China could begin manned spaceflight soon
China's clandestine manned space program could be just a few months
away from its first human journey into orbit, a feat the nation has
been striving toward for over a decade.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/24shenzhou5/
See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3090875.stm
23 July - Two options emerge for NASA's Orbital Space Plane
Advocates for two differing generic designs for NASA's proposed
Orbital Space Plane, a winged vehicle versus a capsule, made their
cases for their preferred concepts during a Washington forum this
week, debating the merits of advanced technology versus low-cost
designs.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/23osp/
23 July - Pluto explorer to launch atop Atlas 5 rocket
NASA has tapped Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 rocket to launch the
world's first robotic expedition to the planet Pluto. The New
Horizons mission is scheduled for launch in January 2006.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/23plutoatlas5/
22 July - A pancake shapes distant galactic center
While a person's shape can be affected by pancakes, especially if you
eat too many, you may not expect the same to be true on a cosmic
scale. As it turns out, at least for the Circinus spiral galaxy, a
pancake can shape an entire galactic nucleus.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/22galacticcenter/
22 July - Astronomers count the stars
Astronomers in Australia say there are 10 times more stars in the
visible universe than all the grains of sand on the world's beaches
and deserts.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3085885.stm
21 July - First stars had no planets
The first stars to form in the Universe had no planets. Only later
generations of stars, that contained more metal, were able to have
planetary companions, according to new research.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3083875.stm
See also: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/21parentstars/
20 July - One step closer to next-generation spaceflight
The kerosene-fueled RS-84 engine, one of several technologies
competing to power NASA's next generation of launch vehicles, has
successfully completed its preliminary design review. The RS-84
engine development is part of NASA's Next Generation Launch
Technology program.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/20rs84/
19 July - Cosmic mirage: Discovery of quasar with Einstein ring
Using the ESO telescope at La Silla, Chile, an international team of
astronomers has discovered a complex cosmic mirage in the southern
constellation Crater. This "gravitational lens" system consists of at
least four images of the same quasar as well as a ring-shaped image
of the galaxy in which the quasar reside - known as an "Einstein
ring".
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/19einsteinring/
18 July - Detailed maps reveal early Universe galaxy distribution
Peering back in time more than 7 billion years, a team of astronomers
using a powerful new spectrograph at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii
has obtained the first maps showing the distribution of galaxies in
the early universe. The maps show the clustering of galaxies into a
variety of large-scale structures, including long filaments, empty
voids, and dense groups and clusters.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/18maps/
18 July - 'Mass map' probes dark matter
Astronomers have made a 'mass map' of one of the most massive
structures in the Universe, showing how much more there is to it than
glowing stars and gas. The object is a distant cluster of galaxies
that contains 'dark matter,' the unknown component that comprises
most of the mass of the Universe.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3077449.stm
See also: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/17darkmatter/
17 July - Orphaned star clusters roam the Universe
US and UK astronomers have discovered a population of previously
unknown star clusters in what was thought to be the empty space
between galaxies.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/17orphan/
See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3074729.stm
16 July - Link between black holes, galaxies discovered nearby
By studying more than 120,000 nearby galaxies observed as part of the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a team of astronomers from Germany and the
United States has been able to show that the growth of supermassive
black holes is closely linked with the birth of new stars in their
host galaxies.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/16blackhole/
16 July - NASA seeks to discover if comets seeded life
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will lead the effort to discover
if comets supplied the raw material for the origin of life on Earth,
and if they could do so for alien worlds, as part of its
participation in NASA Astrobiology Institute research.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/16cometlife/
16 July - Origin of cosmic dust discovered
UK astronomers say they have unlocked one of the Universe's oldest
secrets - the origin of cosmic dust. Cardiff University and Royal
Observatory Edinburgh scientists found that some stars throw out huge
quantities of this dust when they explode.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3072121.stm
See also: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/16supernova/
15 July - Icebound telescope probes the Universe
The first ever map of the neutrino sky has been produced by a novel
telescope encased in ice at the South Pole. From beneath the
Antarctic ice, astronomers have been able to detect neutrinos -
particles that trace the most violent events in the cosmos - many of
them yet to be explained.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3068359.stm
15 July - Puzzle of empty galaxies
The Universe may be teeming with starless galaxies inhabiting its
most isolated regions, says an Australian scientist. Graduate
researcher Brad Warren, of the Australian National University, has
identified galaxies in our local region of space that are mostly gas
with very few stars.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3067693.stm
11 July - Catching a comet's tail in Earth's upper atmosphere
For more than 20 years, NASA has flown high-altitude research
aircraft to collect cosmic dust -- debris of comets and asteroids
that fills the inner solar system. In late April though, they made
the first attempt to collect dust particles from a very specific
target -- comet Grigg-Skjellerup.
Full story: http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0307/11comet/
====================================================================
Project Star Gate by Mark van der Laan
====================================================================
Introduction
Space, the final frontier. Or is it? In a remote corner of the Alpha
Quadrant, a new and unique project has been started. Here, in the
distant Bel System we find a new type of star base, one unlike ever
seen before. This star base, wielding the codename 'Maelstrom',
utilizes the sun's power to create a rift in space, a vortex much
alike a wormhole, for a brief period of time, allowing whatever
passes through it to travel to any part of the galaxy, or even to
distant galaxies. However when something goes wrong, the station and
its crew accidentally get transported to a distant galaxy. These
stories follow the adventures of its crew as they travel towards new
destinations, meeting new friends and encountering new foes, hoping
that their next teleportation will lead them home. These are the
adventures of the Star Gate.
Main Characters
David Rolans:
Commanding Officer of the Maelstrom. A young terran StarFleet
officer. Though still inexperienced at being in command, he is
anything but naive.
Captain Black:
Originally assigned to guide Commander Rolans to the Maelstrom, Black
turns out to be more than just an escort, always around to lend a
helping hand.
Jagh Ramen:
A trill with an almost impossible tranquillity; Jagh is assigned as
David's first officer and tries to perform that duty at his best
ability.
Argol Manck:
A tall Cardassian with a grumpy attitude; Why exactly he got assigned
to the Maelstorm is still a mystery, but he seems to do his job well
so nobody's really complaining. Argol is in charge of station
security.
Anya Maras:
A bajoran woman who mans the science station; her knowledge seems
varied, and her social skills well developed, even though she can't
stand Manck, for obvious reasons...
Daniel Jackson:
A human in his thirties in charge of engineering. His skills are
average, but his ability to improvise more than makes up for it, and
he's one of the people who helped constructing the Central Reactor
and one of the few who understands it fully.
Doctor Ragg:
A Ferengi as cowardly as they come, yet Ragg's medical skills and
techniques rank among the finest in medical circles.
Tal Rehu:
Romulan spy responsible for the accident on the Maelstrom's first
mission, causing it to get lost in space; was imprisoned in the brig
but has managed to escape captivity recently after an uncontrolled
'teleport'.
Summary:
David Rolans, a young StarFleet officer, has recently been promoted
to command the star base that goes by the codename of "Maelstrom", a
starbase that is equipped with a unique and experimental generator
capable of opening a stable wormhole.
The freshly appointed commander and his new staff are faced with
several problems shortly after Rolans' arrival, but all of these turn
out to be childsplay when the Maelstrom's first mission goes horribly
out of hand... A Romulan intruder manages to sabotage the station,
causing an overload in the main reactor, resulting in the entire
station being transported to a new, unknown destination, in a
completely different galaxy.
Their unplanned jump has them wind up near a pre-warp M-class planet,
inhabited by a civilization roughly comparable to medieval earth. On
the same planet they also met a strange being from an advance
civilization, one that in appearance looks lot like The Devil.
After a short dialogue, two Extras getting disintegrated and the
crew's upsetting of an entire planet's destiny by blowing their god
to bits, the crew returns to the Maelstrom just in time to see the
devil-like creature's ship disappear completely...
With no way of getting home, the crew decides to take a risk - an
uncontrolled jump without knowing where they would appear, with the
possibility of materializing inside a planet or even a star.
Their jump has them end up in the atmosphere of an alien world where
'magic' is common and where prophecy predicts the coming of the Evil
Ones - and a starbase appearing out of nowhere only aids in those
tales. Using the cunning only a Romulan could possess, the spy Tal
Rehu convinced some of the locals to aid him in infiltrating the
Maelstrom's reactor chamber, but things did not go as planned...
Previously on Project Star Gate:
The young magic user grasped his staff tightly in both hands, raising
it high: "You...shall...not.... PASS!!" With that Gary brought down
his staff hard, slamming it against the floor with a thundering boom.
It broke into pieces on the hard floor. Gary had no time to act
surprised, because Argol Manck was already in front of him, lifting
him off the floor with just one hand alone. He was about to fulfil
his promise of tossing the young wizard across the room when the
sound of the station computer interrupted him.
"Warning, Central Core Reactor activated. Wormhole opening in ten
seconds."
"Darn it!" Tal Rehu shouted, barely audible over the sound of the
humming main reactor, "It wasn't supposed to get activated. Not yet!"
And then everything was covered in a bright white flash as the
Maelstrom translocated itself again.
Project Star Gate --- Chapter XI --- ' Ascension '
by Mark van der Laan
David Rolans, Commander of the starbase known as Maelstrom grabbed
hold of a console, dragging himself up into a standing position
again. His face was bleeding from a cut just over his left eye, but
it hardly seemed to bother him. "Status report!" he demanded.
Anya Maras, the Bajoran woman occupying the science station did not
reply. Her console had been as rude as to explode while she was
operating it, burning her face and knocking her out cold. It was the
bald Captain Black who first reached her console to check on the
situation. "The Central Core went offline during our Jump, and as a
result it wasn't completed; the resulting feedback shorted out
most of our main systems, although backups are kicking in. Minor
casualties have been reported so far, no fatalities...yet."
David reply with a nod of the head only; few injuries, that was a
good sign, given the pounding the station had gotten. Then he
realized something else suddenly. "Our Jump wasn't completed? Then
where are we now...?"
"Unable to confirm, as these readings are off the scale," Black
replied, "Although if I had to guess, it is some sort of interphase
pocket dimension that the Maelstrom uses to leap from one point to
another." The Commander gave that information some time to sink, but
didn't get much of a chance for it as the Ferengi doctor Ragg started
touching him with his tiny hands. "Don't move," the Ferengi hissed,
"Let me see that cut of yours to see if I can patch it up?"
"Never mind me," David groaned, covering his cut, "Look after Maras
first, she's in bad shape."
"Perhaps," Jagh suggested as he crawled back in his chair as well,
"It might be wise to find the cause of this disaster before those
responsible for it do even more damage."
"That will not be necessary!" somebody roared suddenly.
The booming voice was followed by a curious silence, when the owner
of the sudden voice -Argol Manck- strode into the command room with
his phaser drawn, keeping a lock on the Romulan spy and an unknown
alien who looked remarkably humanoid. "These are the culprits. I
suggest we toss them out the airlock right away."
"Demons! Vile servants of evil! Republicans!" was all the alien had
to say for himself.
The tall Cardassian hissed, attempting to silence the angry wizard.
When that didn't help, he shot him. "Thank you," the Romulan replied,
"He was getting on my nerves."
"You've caused us quite a bit of trouble, much more than we can
afford," David replied to that, stepping towards the spy with firm
paces, "Give me one good reason why he shouldn't vaporize you next!"
"It was only a stun setting, you know..." Argol defended, but nobody
listened.
"I personally don't understand your frustration, Commander," Rehu
retorted, "Most would be honoured to have their duty station
sabotaged by one of Romulus' best, Tal Rehu."
"Tal Rehu? Never heard of you," Captain Black replied truthfully.
"See? That's how good I am."
At this point, the Cardassian also shot Tal Rehu.
"I suppose the interrogation will have to wait," David concluded and
returned to the other matter at hand - the fact that they had become
lost in some sort of interdimensional limbo. "All right -does anyone
have any suggestions on our current situation?"
"Commander!" Jagh shouted out suddenly. His eyes seemed fixated on
the small sensor display in front of him, as if he couldn't believe
his own eyes. "Commander!" he repeated at the lack of response, "Come
and see this!" "What is it?" David asked as he rushed over to his
second in command, but the Trill didn't need to reply, because he
could already see what was going on with his own eyes: a massive
collection of high powered energy was headed their way and would
collide with the station in less than two minutes. "Red alert!"
Unfortunately, the Red Alert was one of the systems that had broken
down which lead to a silence that was ended only by a cheering of the
entire base's crew, who were relieved that they wouldn't get their
ears tortured by the infernal noise of the red alert; a cheering that
quickly turned into cries of despair as the energywave hurled towards
the station, impacting on it and enveloping it completely. And then
there was a complete and total silence.
And then a booming voice spoke: "Choose and perish!"
"What?" every conscious and non-critically-wounded person in the
command room replied simultaniously.
"Choose the form of your destructor!"
"Ah, I get it!" Captain Black shouted suddenly, slamming his fist in
his open hand to enforce his statement, "Whatever we'll think of will
be coming to destroy us! So if we think of Guido Dorssers, the GM
will come and ban us from life itself. It sounds like the plot of a
silly 20th century movie. Clear your minds, it's our only..."
"The choice is made!" the voice interrupted.
"WHAT?!"
"Short Range Sensors have detected a large object just outside the
Maelstrom," Black reported, "It's... An enormous Cardassian woman in
bikini."
Every head in the command room turned towards Argol. "I couldn't help
it!" the Cardassian said defensively.
"I couldn't help it, he says!" Ragg groaned loudly while he was using
a dermal regenerator on Anya's burnt skin, "And because of your
raging hormones, we're going to be destroyed by a female in bikini!"
"Technically, when she came to mind, she was naked," Argol corrected,
"But nudity is forbidden on Star Trek."
They didn't get a chance to comment on his rectification, because at
that same point the station shuddered violently as the giant
Cardassian started punching at it, each blow doing significant
damage. "Mr Jackson, raise shields!"
=/\= What shields?! =/\= came the reply from engineering.
The Maelstrom shuddered violently when a gigantic Cardassian fist
impacted on the side, bending metal plates in all directions. It was
obvious that it wouldn't take long for the swimsuited gargantuan to
tear the station to pieces. With most of the systems still down, the
base had no way to defend itself against the skimpy glad being, and
all seemed lost.
"We have only one alternative!" Commander Rolans shouted at Jagh.
"Crossing the streams?!"
"What?!"
And then everything was enveloped in a bright, white light. And in
that white light there suddenly was the command staff of the
Maelstrom. And Tal Rehu and the unconscious wizard Gary Samdar. Why?
Because they are the main characters, which was good enough for any
interdimensional being. And international beings was exactly what the
crew was dealing here.
"Where are we?" Captain Black finally asked.
"This is the beginning and the end, nowhere and everywhere," a voice
with no particular owner boomed out of nowhere, "We have been
monitoring your corporal existence and have found great wisdom in one
of you; therefor we have decided he should be elevated from this
level of existence and ascend into an elevated consciousness."
"I have some sprays and potions that can do that, perhaps you would
like..."- Ragg started, but was quickly silenced by a deadly glare
from every non-ascended person present.
"We will free your station from the state in which it was captured,
for it was not meant to be there," the unseen voice continued, "At
the same time -although time is but a relative concept- we will allow
the Chosen One to ascend into our embrace."
"Chosen One..." Gary mumbled as he regained consciousness,
"Prophecy..?"
"Not so fast!" David shouted, "How do we know what you're not trying
to trick us? For all we know you could be in league with that giant
naked lady! I would at least like to see the beings we're dealing
with!"
And then suddenly an apple, a banana and a pear simply appeared out
of nowhere, levitating in mid-air (or mid-whiteness) as if they'd
always been there. "W-what's this?" Ragg muttered, his heart skipping
a beat as the tree pieces of fruit had appeared just behind him.
"Your underdeveloped intellect could not possibly comprehend what we
truly are," the apple spoke, "So we have chosen this form; it is the
best way for your minds to interpret our beings."
"An apple, a banana and a pear..." Gary muttered, still half dazed,
"Of course, it all makes sense now... this answers everything - this
is even more comprehensive than '42'."
"I see you have learnt the secrets of the universe that is 42," the
pear commented.
"Yes, yes, we're very enlightened, now can you please get on with it
- who's being ascended?" David grumbled, obviously getting annoyed
with the omnipotent pieces of fruit.
"He is the Chosen One," the apple said, hovering a few inches closer
to Argol Manck. The Cardassian's only response was a smug smile
directed at his companions.
"You must be joking," Tal Rehu commented, visibly disgusted, "He's a
Cardassian, and a bad one too. Surely he..."
"We make no mistake," replied the banana, "Now touch me, Cardassian
Argol Manck, and become one with us."
Of course Argol Manck wasn't the person to refuse such a request and
faster than you could say 'Fleet Admiral Jacon Dal' he had his hand
on the all-powerful banana. Bright light engulfed him and only
moments later the Cardassian was no more, and in his place there
hovered a crop of lettuce. "Yes... At last it all makes sense," the
lettuce said, "All is revealed now... I know true peace...
Hmm, I wonder if I have the power to make a star go supernova..."
-and then the lettuce disappeared.
"so it was done," said the apple, "We will now transport you back to
your own dimension..."
"Wait!" David interrupted, "Could you please do us a favour? We were
stranded due to an accident far away from home. Perhaps you could use
your power to send us home so we will not be forced to wander..."
"Such a feat lies not within our unlimited power..." started the
apple.
"There's a paradox," Ragg mumbled.
"..for it would upset the greater scheme of things and end your tale
prematurely. Instead, we will drop you off not too far from where you
last were before leaving your dimension. For no reason apparent."
"Then grant us this," David continued, gesturing at the wizard Gary,
"This man is not one of us, accidentally taken from his world when he
entered our starbase. Can you at least send him home, for he is not
meant to be here?"
"That we can do," agreed the pear, "And so it will be done."
And then the whiteness that surrounded them engulfed everything and
they could all feel their consciousness fading.
When David Rolans regained consciousness, they were back in normal
space, with no signs of inhabited planets nearby, nor was there any
sign of the enormous Cardassian lady. "I suppose those strange aliens
kept their word," David concluded while others started waking up as
well; one of them was Gary Samdar, the mage. "Oh well... I guess not
even omnipotent characters are perfect..."
...TO BE CONTINUED...
====================================================================
Behind the Scenes Facts by Michael Smith, Clare Bradley,
& Guido Dorssers
====================================================================
Tim Russ...better known as the USS Voyager's Chief Security/Tactical
Officer, Tuvok, is now making calls. For $30 you can have Tim Russ
call you...your mom...your brother...or anyone!
I'm not sure of the website...but several b-list cellebrities are
signing up to do this. (Submitted by Michael Smith)
************
Do you remember that killer robot from TNG's first season episode
"The Arsenal of Freedom" ?
Well, in real life that killer robot wouldn't get so much killing
done. Why? Well, for starters this deadly and sophisticated drone
robot was made from a plastic Easter egg, a Sesame street shampoo
bottle, and a L'Eggs pantyhose container. Not enough for you? Well,
perhaps you also want to know then that this sophisticated drone
robot did not move on itself, but that Dan Curry, TNG's
visual-effects producer, moved the robot as a puppet in front of a
green screen using tai chi motion. (Submitted by Guido Dorssers)'
************
Rene Auberjonis (Odo Ital), Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), and
Armin Shimerman (Quark), were among the 104 celebrities who signed a
letter urging the White House to seek diplomatic options in Iraq and
to avoid military action. (Submitted by Clare Bradley)
************
Did you know that the circular shape of Deep Space Nine was
originally a mistake? When designers were trying to come up with a
concept for the series, production designer Herman Zimmerman drew a
rough sketch of a circular station, believing it would need to rotate
to create gravity. When Zimmerman was informed that artificial
gravity generators had existed in the Star Trek universe for some
time, the idea was discarded, but it was picked back up later when
the other concepts proved not distinctive enough. (Submitted by Clare
Bradley)
If you come across any interesting Behind the Scenes facts, email
them to chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com, and we will add them to next
month's article!
====================================================================
Member News by Clare Bradley
====================================================================
============
Promotions:
============
>From Cadet to Ensign:
ACSO Jeff Robert Jalando, Pandora Station, played by Rob Versteegt
ACSO Marcus Brannagh, Pandora Station, played by Alastair Morris
>From Ensign to Lieutenant Junior Grade:
COUNS Syllvania T'Phar, USS Calhoun, played by Sandy Alexander
ACONN Luke Callahan, USS Calhoun, played by Laura Elliot
====================
UpComing Birthdays
====================
Frontier Fleet Birthdays:
August 19 – Merijn Donders, FO T'afek Sarin, Pandora Station
August 22 – Zeke Mowbry, CSO Fyndobar CuChulainn MacCumail, USS
Calhoun
September 8 – Tom Shilakes, ASTC Rybek, USS Odyssey
September 14 – Martin Miller, ACONN Martin Miller, USS Valkyrie
Star Trek Birthdays:
August 12 – Jane Wyatt, Amanda, Star Trek
August 16 – Josh Clark, Joseph Carey, Star Trek: Voyager
August 19 – Jonathan Frakes, William T. Riker, Star Trek: The Next
Generation
August 19 – Diana Muldaur, Katherine Pulaski, Star Trek: The Next
Generation
August 19 – Gene Rodenberry, Creator of Star Trek
August 21 – Kim Cattrall, Valeris, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country
August 24 – Jennifer Lien, Kes, Star Trek: Voyager
September 9 – Jeffrey Combs, Weyoun, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, etc
September 11 – Roxann Biggs-Dawson, B’Elanna Torres, Star Trek:
Voyager
September 14 – Walter Koenig, Pavel Chekov, Star Trek
September 14 – Bruce Hyde, Kevin Riley, Star Trek
September 23 – Rosalind Chao, Keiko O’Brien, Star Trek: TNG & DS9
September 27 – Roger C. Carmel, Harry Mudd, Star Trek
Editor's note: If you would like to see your (or another player's)
birthday here, send a note to chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com and we
will add it to our list. Thanks to Mike Smith for providing some Star
Trek birthdays.
=====
clarerose at yahoo.com
ICQ# 58898832
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