The Federation Tribune - April 2007
Rob Versteegt
chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com
Thu Apr 19 16:16:58 CEST 2007
==== The Federation Tribune ====
==== April 2007====
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Chief Editor's Notes:
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Apologies for this delay. I mean. welcome to the newest edition of the STFF
Tribune! Yes all you Frontier Fleet people, in this edition you will be able
to read everything you ever wanted to know about Frontier Fleet, and more!
Well, that would be the case, anyway, if anyone would send me any articles!
*sigh*. Ah well, once again you'll have to deal with what I'm writing.
Muahaha! Of course though, Ben has been kind enough to send me an article as
well! (one which I think you should all read, actually. ;-) ) Also, we have
quite an amazing result in the Tribune Competition... so have a look!
This month, in the Federation Tribune:
USS Calhoun Status Report, March 2007, by Adrien Rodd
USS Odyssey Status Report, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
USS Valkyrie Status Report, March 2007, by Rick Clogston
USS Atlantis Status Report, March 2007, by Ben Versteegt
Pandora Station Status Report, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
SF Academy Status Report, March 2007, by Martin Miller
Public Relations Status Report, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
Promotions in March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
Posting Stats, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
"Spending too much time at Frontier Fleet", by Rob Versteegt
"The Game", by Ben Versteegt
The Federation Tribune Contest, by Rob Versteegt
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USS Calhoun Status Report, March 2007, by Adrien Rodd
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STARDATE: 2393.02.12
EPISODE: #28, "Aryna"
LOCATION: trapped in orbit of an uncharted planet in the Beta Quadrant
The Calhoun has now been trapped for over a month, with limited ressources
and drastic rationing. The crew have come to an understanding with the
Cardassian vessel, and have survived as best they could. The sudden arrival
of a Borg scout vessel creates both fear and hope, as the crew must decide
how to deal with its presence. . .
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USS Odyssey Status Report, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
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Stardate: 2393.01.13 & 2393.01.15
Location: Tarakana II & USS Odyssey
Summary:
At Stardate 2393.01.13, the crew of the USS Odyssey was struggling to find
out what was happening to all those Tarakanans who just keep disappearing!
They had their hands full though, since besides riots, raging Roweg-beasts
and disappearing key-members of the government, they also had to deal with
an organisation known as the ToS movement: the Time of Salvation movement.
This organisation believed that it was wrong for anyone -including the
Odyssey- to meddle in what was obviously Devine Intervention. Ambassador
T'kella was even kidnapped by this group. . .
It had been two days now. . . two days since the Odyssey arrived at
Tarakanan II. That of course didn't mean that the Odyssey crew had all the
answers already: far from it! The situation got worse though: at stardate
2393.01.15, the Odyssey crew noticed that some of their own were
disappearing! With only 25 personnel on board the Odyssey -the rest of the
crew was on the planet, helping out with planetary ermergencies- how long
would it be before the Odyssey would be completely devoid of life?
Also, how long would it be before the entire planet -Tarakana II, which the
Odyssey was orbiting- would become a planetary ghost town? And where did
all the disappeared people -Tarakanans and Starfleet Officers alike- go to?
Questions, questions and more questions. No answers. Hopefully the Starfleet
crew will figure out what is happening, before none are left. . .
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USS Valkyrie Status Report, March 2007, by Rick Clogston
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The Valkyrie had been doing dull duty for several months, far away from any
kind of action or excitement. Suddenly, new orders came from Starfleet
Command. They were to proceed to Qo'nos, the Klingon homeworld. There,
they would pick up and transport the new Governor of Krios, as a show of
solidarity between the Empire and the Federation. They would also receive
an upgrade to their transwarp drive, courtesy of the upgrade's designer, Dr.
Athar Roque.
Many of the crew amused themselves during the dull times with holodeck
simulations. One of the most popular among the senior staff was a World War
2-era aerial combat program, put together by CONN officer Emile Schofield.
When the ship arrived at Qo'nos, FO PaRel made a trip to the surface to see
if his Klingon family would accept him back, or if he had been permanently
dishonored by being kicked out of Starfleet. He discovered that his case
had come to the attention of his grandfather's superiors, and he would have
to prove that he was a man of honor in personal combat. The warrior chosen
to fight him was the father of a man he had killed. He lost the fight, but
because he didn't use Vulcan techniques to gain an advantage, proved he had
honor.
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USS Atlantis Status Report, March 2007, by Ben Versteegt
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Stardates:
- 2393.01.08
Locations of the (crew of the) USS Atlantis:
- (Holding position at 3 AU from) the planet Acebi, which is the fourth
planet of the Aorya system in the Gamma Quadrant.
- Pandora Station.
Summary:
- 2393.01.08
Having weathered the ion storm with minimal damage, the Atlantis crew set
out to repair the systems that had shorted out when the storm of ionised
particles hit. However, Glitch, the hologram that was randomly created in an
accident a year and a half back, worked out a plan to create *another* ion
storm in order to study the way the ionised particles interacted with each
other and with matter and computer data. Since hir program was created when
the unpredictable ionisation effects wreaked havoc on the programs of the
original versions of Bart and the EEH, Glitch believed that studying these
effects would help hir better understand the nature of hir own program. Hir
own subroutines were slowly but surely degrading, and s/he wanted to study
these effects in order to come up with a cure and to prevent hir program
from being lost.
Meanwhile, on the surface of Acebi, the members of the Away Team were trying
to figure out how to contact the Borhyas. With all of their Starfleet
equipment now being examined by Acebi scientists back at the Temple of
Truth, the Away Team was in danger of being exposed as aliens. If the Acebi
figured out how to operate the equipment, their culture might be seriously
damaged. The Prime Directive would then be broken.
In order to stop that from happening, the Away Team had to find a way to
contact the Borhyas, beam back and then transport all the equipment away
from the Acebi laboratories. The only transmitter capable of contacting the
Borhyas in orbit was the transmitter at the mission control room at the warp
test complex -- the very same building the Away Team had been arrested by
the Adjudicators a few hours before.
With the help of a young Acebi woman named Idis, the Away Team was able to
gain entrance to the warp complex. One of the guards did not trust the team,
however, and after suspecting that the Away Team was holding back
information about their identities and their real reason for coming here,
the guard fired his weapon at the Away Team. Running through the corridors
of the huge building, the members of the Away Team find themselves fleeing
from the Acebi authorities... But this time, it is imperative not to get
caught.
On the Atlantis, Glitch and Bart proposed Glitch's plan to the Captain. This
forced Captain Torn to reflect on what it was that made a living being
alive. What was life? Could holograms be alive or not? Was Glitch merely a
malfunctioning tool, or was s/he more like a member of his crew? Ultimately,
Torn decided not to approve the hologram's plan to create an ion storm, but
not because he did not see her as a member of his crew. It would simply be
too dangerous.
After Glitch and Bart had left, Torn sent a subspace message on the matter
to Admiral Khatibi on Pandora Station, forcing her, too, to re-examine the
definition of life.
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Pandora Station Status Report, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
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2393.01.01:
Doctor Vok, who treated an Admiral when he came in with a swollen ankle, now
recognised who this admiral was: it was the father of Jessica Truesdale!
What followed was an emotional, angry discussion.
2393.01.08:
Admiral Khatibi received a message from Captain Torn of the USS Atlantis:
apparently Torn requested to extend the definition of 'sentient lifeform' to
include Glitch, one of the holograms on the Akira class Starship. . .
Admiral Khatibi knew that this decision wouldn't be an easy one to take. . .
2393.01.16:
Down under, on the ocean floors of Pandora II, CSO Vrass, AAO Ja'al and STC
Jaal heard from the underwater outpost manager, Dr. Bati, that they had
discovered a huge ancient door of some sort, with breathable air behind it.
This discovery was what lead Dr. Bati to contact Starfleet. CSO Vrass, in
turn, contacted Pandora Station, to ask Mr. Tiburo and an away team to join
them, under water. . .
Meanwhile, after being 'harassed' by the Andorian twins Tev and Tel, Klingon
Ambassador Kregel went to complain to his colleague Tyks, about these
Andorians opening an advisement agency, regarding diplomatic affairs. After
all, that might just put them out of a job!~
At the same day, something incredible happened in Sickbay: the former CMO of
the USS Odyssey, Rowan O'Gallagher, woke up from her coma! Doctor Vok made
sure to help O'Gallagher in any way he could. . .
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SF Academy Status Report, March 2007, by Martin Miller
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Active Instructors: (6)
Chief Instructor Sedaq, played by Adrian Rodd.
Instructor Aaron Mackinee, played by Martin Miller.
Instructor Dorvan Lar, played by Rick Clogston.
Instructor Vivienne Creenan, played by Rob Versteegt.
Instructor Joseph Thatcher, played by Blayne Welsh.
Instructor Tamlyn Marilus Nakamura-Gordon, played by Ann Montague.
==================
Instructors in Training: (2)
Chantal Gaudiano
Jeroen Nagtegaal
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New Signups: 15 (3 Entered the Academy)
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Individual Cadets: (6)
Cadet Sorek, played by Jason Frick (Blayne)(Since 7th of March)
Cadet Tanis Ver'Karos, played by Tony Ver'Karos (Bobby)(Since 9th of
October)
Cadet Arron Drexel, played by Elijah Caswell (Bobby)(Since 9th of January)
Cadet Polean Drenden, played by Polean Drenden (Martin)(Since 28th of
January)
Cadet Riley Westin, played by Justin Favela (Martin)(Since 25th of March)
Cadet Ryan Stabler, played by Michael Stevens (Rick)(Since 5th of February)
==================
Graduates: (1)
Cadet Maia Antares, played by Brett Schuitema => ACMO Maia Antares, USS
Calhoun.
==================
Cadets lost: (0)
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AcadCM Comments:
Hello all and welcome once again to my small section of the Federation
Tribune and also the Academy Status report. We've had an interesting month
16 signups one of them a double and yet only one replied to my first initial
email I have mailed the others back but to no avail can't force them into
the fleet can we.
Its been a quiet month and there are quite a few cadets being taught the
ways of the Fleet and I have been assured from a status report by our
excellent Instructors that there will be some new graduates this month which
will help fill out the fleet.
There have been no leaving cadets this month all though one did leave...
kind of, but has returned which is good news. I am really pleased with the
Academy and I hope we can get more cadets into the Fleet and also through
the Academy then ever before let's make April a good month.
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Public Relations Status Report, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
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This month we had. 16 signups! That's a couple more than last month. Hooray!
Where did these signups found us?
2: Unknown
5: Found us via a friend.
7: Searching via search engine (google, yahoo, etc)
2: Just stumbled upon our site.
Wow. 5 people found us via a friend! That's quite something. Continue
spreading the word, people! ;-)
Okay, now to add a new part in the PR Status Report: as Bram pointed out
last month, this is a PR Status report, not just a Signup status report.
What has been PR department been up to, last month?
Well. . . not a lot, actually. There have been quite some discussions about
how to organise PR in the future. Do I still have time for this? Maybe it's
best if someone takes over from me, as Chief of PR?
A couple of excellent suggestions have been coming to my attention, and I
really think those could help. For instance, it might be possible for me in
the future, to only *write* advertisements, while someone else sends them.
Also, the newspaper, which can indeed be PR too, might be getting a more
central role.
Another thing: I've been thinking about this a lot, and I've come to the
conclusion that there's external PR (advertising the game on different sites
and mailinglists etc) but also internal PR: informing new members of what
can be done in the game, supporting the relationships between different
dutystations, etc. The aforementioned newspaper can help in that regard.
All in all, while I haven't been putting out various adds this month, I do
think that this month has been productive. . . at least for me, evaluating
my position as Chief of PR. That resulted in me writing another ad in April,
although that is obviously something for the next PR status report!
One last thing: if any of you want to join me at the PR department, and/or
if you're interested in writing ads, posting them, and/or if you know some
ways of attracting more members. feel free to mail me at
pr at frontierfleet.com. I'll be looking over all your suggestions, and
responding to them as soon as I can!
Okay, that's about it. I won't remind you to vote, because you already know
you should. ;-)
See you in the next status report!
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Promotions in March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
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Well, there were quite some promotions. . . let's see what they were!
>From Cadet to Ensign:
Cadet Maia Antares, played by Brett Schuitema => ACMO Ensign Maia Antares,
USS Calhoun.
>From Ensign to Lt.Jg:
Ensign ACON William Masters, played by Don Draper, => Lt.jg ACONN William
Masters, USS Valkyrie.
Ensign ASTC J'n'ala Foster, played by Kelly Power => Lt.jg ASTC J'n'ala
Foster, USS Valkyrie.
Ensign ACOUNS Jerok Novia, played by Jaap Marsman => Lt.jg COUNS Jerok
Novia, USS Valkyrie.
>From Lt.jg to Lieutenant:
Lt.jg CONN Emile Schofield, played by Ruben Hilbers => Lt. CONN Emile
Schofield, USS Valkyrie.
Lt.jg STC Kayne Leeson, played by Blayne Welsh => Lt. STC Kayne Leeson, USS
Valkyrie.
Lt.jg CEO Marcus Finlay, played by Nick Bartkowiak => Lt. CEO Marcus Finlay,
USS Valkyrie.
Lt.jg CMO Brigit MacKenzie, played by Ann Montague => Lt. CMO Brigit
MacKenzie, USS Valkyrie.
Other promotions:
2O/CSO Lieutenant X'ok PaRel, played by Rick Clogston => FO Lt.Cmdr X'ok
PaRel, USS Valkyrie.
Well, as you can see, there were quite some promotions on the Valk! Congrats
all!
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Posting Stats, March 2007, by Rob Versteegt
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Calhoun players:
Adrian Rodd: 17 (Cal 15, Atly 2)
Kelley MacKinnon: 8 (Cal 8)
Laura Elliot: 3 (Cal 3)
Mark O'Bannon: 6 (Cal 6)
Aaron DeLay: 8 (Cal 8)
Jake Hanlon: 4 (Cal 4)
Benjamin Ditch: 1 (Cal 1)
Brad Wells: 7 (Cal 7)
Brett Schuitema: 1 (Cal 1)
USS Odyssey players:
Rob Versteegt: 32 (Cal 5, Ody 13, Valk 4, Atly 3, Panda 7)
Martin Miller: 6 (Ody 6)
Guido Dorssers: 0
Rob Verlinden: 4 (Ody 4)
Daniel Balding: 6 (Ody 6)
Jovan Gegov: 3 (Ody 3)
Jeroen Nagtegaal: 8 (Ody 8)
Chantal Whittington: 0
Jamie Davison: 0
Matt Juro: 0
Jon Hardy: 3 (Valk 3)
USS Valkyrie players:
Dennis Church: 8 (Ody 3, Valk 5)
Richard Clogston: 20 (Valk 20)
Ann Montague: 7 (Valk 7)
Nick Bartkowiak: 0
Ruben Hilbers: 20 (Valk 20)
Don Draper: 10 (Valk 10)
Blayne Welsh: 6 (Valk 6)
Abby Leib: 4 (Valk 4)
Kelly Power: 9 (Valk 9)
Jaap Marsman: 0
USS Atlantis players:
David Susman: 8 (Ody 1, Atly 6, Panda 1)
Ben Versteegt: 9 (Ody 4, Atly 5)
Bram Peeters: 6 (Cal 1, Ody 2, Atly 2, Panda 1)
Chantal Sellers: 0
Morgan Kadar: 3 (Atly 3)
Larry Ostwald: 5 (Atly 5)
Tim Mottishaw (Skeeter): 1 (Atly 1)
Hannah Brunefeldt: 1 (Atly 1)
SPC Only:
Merijn Donders: 0
Sussie Andersson: 1 (Panda 1)
Dawn Johnson: 4 (Panda 4)
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"Spending too much time at Frontier Fleet", by Rob Versteegt
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Outside, the air was cold. I kept warm inside, by putting an extra blanket
around me. Well, not only because it was cold outside: apparently yesterday
I got careless, thinking the weather was nice, and went outside without a
jacket. The result: I'm stuck at home with a cold, today. Figures. Ah well,
time enough to write the newspaper then. Why not use the time I would
otherwise use lying in bed, to do something constructive?
Anyway, here I was, at my computer, writing newspaper things. My head hurt,
and I was feeling light-headed. ~Great Rob,~ I thought to myself, ~Instead
of lying in bed, getting better again, you're making yourself more ill by
writing this newspaper.~ I spend *way* too much time in Frontier Fleet: that
much was painfully obvious right now. (literally)
Nevertheless, I kept working. If I could just finish this newspaper quickly,
then I would be able to go to bed again quickly as well. Ah, the warm bed.
Sleeping. sleeping.
I thought I had closed my eyes for just a moment. . . but when I woke up, it
seemed as if I had been gone for a *looong* time. I was still sitting here,
at my desk, staring at my computer screen. But something was different. It
was night time. . . yeah, that had to be it. Had I slept that long? ~All
that time, wasted.~ I thought to myself. And still, I hadn't had the chance
to finish the newspaper.
And now it was night already. Bah. Would I even be able to sleep now?
Probably not. No, I would most likely just stay awake all night, getting
tired again when dawn announced a new day. Figures.
I stood up, and walked out of my room, to the kitchen. I really needed
something to eat: if it *was* night-time already -which it seemed to be-
then I had skipped lunch and dinner! Truth be told, I *was* feeling a bit
hungry. A good sign of course: that cold was obviously being defeated by my
immune system at that very moment.
When I entered the kitchen, the feeling that something wasn't right just
kept persisting. How could I have slept this long? And why? I wasn't *that*
tired, now was I? And besides, even if I was, I wouldn't just fall asleep
like that at 11 o'clock in the morning! I. . .
~What time is it, actually?~ I wondered. I grabbed a sandwich to eat, walked
back to my living room, and looked at the clock. ~2 o'clock.~ I mentally
repeated what I saw on the clock. I had slept for about 15 hours! "Something
must be seriously wrong with me." I said to myself. "Maybe I should see a
Doctor, tomorrow."
"Why wait until tomorrow, if you can see one today?"
I turned around, startled at the sound of another voice in my otherwise
empty living room. Nobody else lived here. But then where was this voice
coming from? As I turned around, I realised that somewhere, I knew this
voice. But I couldn't quite place it.
When I saw the face of the person I heard, I swallowed, hard. My head
pounded with headache and confusion. I felt I had to sit down, otherwise I
would *fall* down. What I was seeing couldn't possibly be:
"Doctor Threnn Vok," The Andorian said. "How can I help you?"
I was speechless. Vok. . . a character I had created for Frontier Fleet. How
could he *possibly* be here, right now? No, that was impossible. I had to be
hallucinating, or something like that. Andorians didn't even *exist*! They
were just a fantasy race, created from the mind of Star Trek writers! And
Vok. . . Vok was just a character in FF. No, he couldn't be here.
And yet, he was! "Who. . . what. . ." I uttered, feeling threatened by the
tall, blue Doctor who was suddenly standing in my room. "I don't believe
this. . ."
"Believe all you want." Vok said, his face now displaying a frown. "You
needed a doctor, right? Well, I'm here. Now sit down, and let me have a look
at you."
"No. . . what. . . I. . . but. . . how. . ." The words which came from my
mouth made no sense. How could Doctor Threnn Vok order *me* to sit down? *I*
was always the one who wrote for him, right?
"Better do as he says." Came another voice. . . a familiar voice as well.
Now, I turned to where that voice came from. It was. . .
"Jalando?" I muttered. Right in front of me stood Captain Jeff Jalando, CO
of the USS Odyssey. . . and the first character I had ever created. Jalando
was my PC: the character I used the most. From Cadet to ACSO to CSO to
2O/CSO to FO to CO. . . I had written for Jalando for almost 4 years. And
now. . . now he was standing in front of me. How was that possible?
"Good, you know who I am." Captain Jalando said to me. "I for one, know who
you are too." He shrugged. "Although I *did* think you would be somewhat. .
. more imposing. But maybe that's because you're ill now, at the moment." He
gestured to the Andorian. "Now, if you would be so kind as to let the Doctor
here take a look at you?"
I hesitated. What was Jalando saying? And why was I even listening to what
two figments of my imagination were saying?
Jalando though, didn't budge. "Don't let me make it an order, Mr.
Versteegt." He said to me. It sounded strange, hearing my last name said
like this. Intimidating too, almost. So I sat down on a chair. Doctor Vok,
smiling faintly, began to scan me with a tricorder, while Captain Jalando
merely watched me, and smiled.
"You know," Jalando said, probably just to pass the time to wait for Vok to
finish scanning me, "There's one thing I always wanted to ask you."
"What?" I asked, still confused by what was happening. I didn't know if this
was real or not. The best course of action was, probably, to just
co-operate. Maybe this would all soon be over. "What's that then?"
"Why make me half Betazoid, if you won't let me use my empathic abilities?"
Jalando asked, looking serious. He really seemed to be upset by that. "I
mean, what's the point? You've clearly let me wonder about my Bajoran
heritage. . . me being uncomfortable with Cardassians, me wondering about
the Prophets, me having a *vision* of the Prophets even. But isn't my
Betazoid heritage important too?"
"I. . ." I stammered. "I'm sorry. I just always thought that. . . that if I
let you, the Captain of the ship. . . feel things that other characters
couldn't. . . well, you wouldn't need the help of the other characters
anymore, would you? And the other players of the ship wouldn't have that
much to do then, right?" For some reason, I was beginning to feel more
comfortable talking to Jalando. Why, I don't know. I just did. Maybe I was
slowly beginning to accept that Jalando and Vok weren't real. So what was
the harm in talking to them?
"Hmmm." Jalando said, nodding. "Well, you've got a point there. However,
wouldn't you think that as a Captain, I would make use of every available
resources I have, to get the job done? Including my own empathic abilities?"
He paused, but before I could say anything else, the Odyssey CO continued.
"I would even go this far, as to saying that by not allowing me to explore
my Betazoid heritage, and my empathic abilities, that you're being unfair to
me. You're denying me a chance to grow. Is that what you want?"
I blinked. Maybe Jalando had a point. "Uhm. . . no. . ." I once again said,
not really sure *what* to say. In posts, I can write a lot of good stuff,
use a lot of excellent words to make my point, because I have time to think
about what I'm going to say. When I just have to make things up, out of the
blue, at that very moment, my creativity is. . . well, shall we say, not as
developed as I want it to be.
Still, I managed. "But. . ." I continued. "Wouldn't a CO with empathic
abilities be. . . I don't know. . . a bad example to the rest of the crew? I
mean, you should have weaknesses too, you know."
At this, Jalando let out a frustrated sigh. "Oh come on! Have you ever seen
me *in control* of any given situation? You've given me so much weaknesses,
and developed those so much, that I can hardly function as Captain of the
Odyssey! By the Prophets, don't you think a Captain should at *least* be a
little sure of himself? The way you've made me now, is that even Doctor Vok
here is more comfortable with himself and his decisions than I am! And he's
not even a Captain!"
"Sorry Sir," Vok then said, taking a step back. "But the 'great writer' here
also seems to have violated me. I mean, look at me. First I was oh so happy
with Truesdale, and then he and other writer decided to let us break up. And
if that wasn't bad enough: Mr. Versteegt here *continuously* let me be in a
bad mood, crying whenever possible, and making the once-so-tough Doctor look
like a. . . an immature, unprofessional cry baby! No Sir, I am clearly *not*
happy with myself either."
"Apologies Doctor," Jalando said in response, "I didn't know it was that
bad." He paused, looked around, and smiled. "Ah, apparently there are more
characters here with complaints." He picked up a PADD from my desk, which
apparently had just appeared there. "Let's see. CSO Jomorr of the Atlantis
writes that while he's enjoying his position, he wishes he wouldn't always
have to be reminded about his terrible results with women. SCC Sally Simpson
of Pandora Station states that she wishes you'd pay more attention to her:
you've been neglecting her, Mr. Versteegt!"
I swallowed. What was going on here? My very own characters were
*complaining* to me? "I'm sorry if I. . ." I started, but Jalando continued,
without mercy.
"Then there's Counsellor Linda Lando and her family." The Odyssey CO shook
his head. "By the Prophets! What kind of mess have you gotten them into?
Sure, you let her make a mistake, but by your hand she has to suffer from
that mistake *every* single time you write with her. Show some mercy, man!"
He paused, and bit his lip. "Ah, here's an entry from Alan Nerell, AOPS of
the Odyssey. He says that you're trying to let him become stronger,
emotionally. While that's a good thing, he also writes that you're making
him suffer, to do that." Jalando glanced at me, while Doctor Vok moved away.
"Don't you know that this is torture, Mr. Versteegt? Punishable by a lot of
time in a Federation penal colony?"
"I. . ." I started. "I'm sorry! That was just interesting character
development! Nothing more!" I swallowed. "I. . . I just wanted to make an
interesting story, that's all. A good, interesting, realistic story. I never
meant to hurt any of you!"
"But you did." Jalando continued, reading off of the PADD again. "Here,
Ensign Hequill of the USS Calhoun. About to be sent onto a dangerous
mission. And instead of writing him being confident about his own abilities,
you've made him weak. . . making it more difficult for him to do his job."
He paused again, reading another bit of the PADD. "And what about this then?
You've deliberately killed a crewman on the USS Atlantis, just to let the
EMH have a difficult time with the consequences. What kind of a brutal,
savage man are you anyway?" Jalando was almost shouting now.
"And don't forget one of the worst things he's done so far." Vok
interjected. "Few people know this, and it's probably not on the PADD. . .
but he gave the reporter of the Federation Tribune, Iana Darnena, a terminal
illness. In a couple of years, she'll die. There's no known cure."
"WHAT?" Jalando shouted out loud. "To think that I'm the creation of someone
who committed such. . . atrocities. . ."
"Please. . ." I said, trying to make my voice sound anything but feeble. . .
and not succeeding in it. "I'm sorry. I'm terrible sorry! But they're all
parts of the story. *You* are all parts of the story. To make the story look
interesting, I *have* to add some dilemmas! I'm a writer! That's what I do!"
I paused, and swallowed, feeling slightly more sure about myself. "And if I
do say so myself, those stories were pretty good. . ."
The looks that Vok and Jalando gave me, will be left undescribed in this
article. The very thought about those looks still gives me the creeps.
Nevertheless, my little speech seemed to have helped. "You are the writer."
Jalando finally said after a lengthy pause. "We are 'just' your characters.
There's nothing we can do about that, now."
Another, ominous pause. "But be warned. We will be watching you. And some
day, some how, you will be brought to justice. You have until then to at
least make some amends. Make the good doctor's life less miserable, make me
more sure of myself. . . do that and more, and maybe, next time, we will be
forgiving." Another pause. "Maybe."
I swallowed, but I couldn't respond: Doctor Vok beat me to it. "Now," He
started, as if nothing had happened, "The results of my scans. You're ill,
Mr. Versteegt. But we knew that already. Also, you're hallucinating, which
is most likely why you're seeing us. Stop working on that newspaper for a
while, and go to sleep. Take it easy." After this rather confusing message,
Vok approached me with a hypospray, which he placed onto my neck. I felt the
cool touch, I heard the hiss. . . and then everything went black.
When I woke up again, I was sitting at my desk. Looking at the time, I
noticed it was a quarter to 12: I had only slept about three quarters of an
hour! Blinking, I looked around. No PADD to be found anywhere. No hypospray.
And most important of all, no characters of mine.
~I really am spending way too much time in Frontier Fleet.~ I thought, as a
response to this horrible dream.
I looked back at my computer monitor again, to continue working on the
newspaper. But when I looked there, I saw these words, right inside the
newspaper document:
"Until we meet again, Mr. Versteegt."
I swallowed, and decided that now, it might be better to go to sleep, than
to work on the newspaper. . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Game", by Ben Versteegt
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you remember the TNG episode with the Ktarian mind game? One by one, the
Enterprise crew was taken over by the seemingly harmless and fun game.
Everybody played it. It was insidious, treacherous and highly addictive.
Seemingly innocent as it was, it nearly delivered the Enterprise into the
waiting hands of the Ktarians. It was only due to the heroic actions of a
certain Academy cadet that life on the Enterprise eventually returned to
normal.
Real life also has its Ktarian mind games. One of them in particular is the
subject of this blog (or rant, if you want to call it that). I have become
aware recently of the dangers of this new game, and unlike the Ktarian mind
game, the dangers are not only apparent to me, but also to the addicts of
the game. But those who are addicted are not convinced that they will
succumb to the dangers -- they believe that the game doesn't have as big an
influence on their lives as I think it does.
And yet, even though it seems perfectly harmless and altogether fun, just
like the Ktarian mind game, it is really insidious and addictive. Those who
have fallen under its spell have a hard time thinking about anything else.
Entire conversations get stranded as the people I talk with are so engrossed
in their game that they forget to talk to me. The posting count throughout
the fleet drops drastically, as infected and addicted members decide that
writing stories is one thing, but living them is another one entirely. After
all, why settle for a world which consists of words and paragraphs, when you
can settle for something much, much more real? Why imagine that you're a
Starfleet officer, when you can actually be one? All you have to do is join
The Game and simply become a member of Starfleet.
Just like the Enterprise in the Star Trek episode, Frontier Fleet is in
great peril. And just like young cadet Crusher, I'm beginning to feel more
and more alone. Everywhere I look, I see people who are completely absorbed
by The Game. Remember when Frontier Fleet used to be our escape from
reality? It is an escape no longer. Instead of writing posts, people now
actually transport themselves into outer space to watch their home town from
orbit. Instead of coming up with stories, people now fly all over the world.
Instead of writing about adventures, people now actually experience them.
The Game offers a kind of freedom that Frontier Fleet can never offer. It
offers an escape from reality in a way that can never be matched by even the
most wonderful of posts. It becomes painfully clear to those of us left
behind that Frontier Fleet lacks something... Something that answers to the
fundamental urge of the human mind to leave the old world and move on to the
next... The urge to seek out new possibilities.
And so we stay behind. We watch as more and more of our members get sucked
into the new world that has opened itself up to them and is calling to them.
I cannot deny that it is calling me, too, but -- like Odysseus having
himself tied to the mast of his ship in order to withstand the call of the
Sirens -- I stubbornly refuse to give in to The Game. I hold on to what
makes Frontier Fleet unique: the writing. Unlike people who are trapped in
The Game, we in Frontier Fleet are forced to keep imagining. In order to
write quality posts, we need our imagination.
Armed with my imagination and a word processor, all I need to create a world
of my own is inspiration. But inspiration hasn't graced us all with her
presence much, lately. The Game calls with its sweet voice of seduction, and
invites us all to join up. It promises the end of all the long, painful
searches for inspiration, and shows us a world where everything we want is
right at our fingertips -- in The Game, achieving something you want is far
easier than in Frontier Fleet, because it requires less inspiration.
Charmed by the sweet promises of The Game, we become distracted. Distracted
minds, sadly, cannot easily reach out to inspiration. Distracted by The
Game, their inspiration leaves them, and they feel they cannot write posts
any more. Without any inspiration to guide them to post, they go to the
place where they know they can turn their wishes into reality with relative
ease: they turn to The Game.
Like the Ktarian mind game on Star Trek, there seems no stopping it. But
maybe it is time for those left behind to fight, despite the odds against
us. Frontier Fleet has its own rewards and its own strengths that are not
shared by The Game. Flying around the world is fun, but it doesn't compare
to the feeling you get when you have written a superb post, or when you read
a post that makes you want to read and write more. Vast as the world of The
Game may be, it can never match the quality and the beauty of the world we
can create while writing. No matter how many prims you put together, you
will never be able to express and create feelings or worlds as well as you
can with words.
Don't let the worlds and the stories we create become lost. Fight the
addiction, and win back the inspiration you thought you lost. For in the
end, there can never be any substitute for the creative power of words.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Federation Tribune Competition, by Rob Versteegt
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A very interesting result, this time, at the Federation Tribune Competition.
Only *one* person has responded to this competition. Just one. So this
person automatically is the winner. Nevertheless, he had *all* answers
correct. . . including the bonus question!
The winner of last month's Federation Tribune Competition, is. . .
Merijn!
Congratulations, Merijn!
Now, I'm sure you all remember the bonus question of last month's
competition:
-----
Bonus Question: What kind of articles will we see in the next issue of the
Federation Tribune? Will we just see the usual, or will we see other
articles as well? If so, what would those articles be? (Yes, this is a
difficult question, isn't it? You can of course decide about the outcome of
this question: just send in some articles!)
-----
A very difficult question indeed. Merijn though, sent me this answer:
-----
Mostly it will be the same; except that Rob (the twin one) will write a
strange article and Ben will write a LONG one. Merijn however will not write
an article and only submit his answers to the questions and he would like to
thank the search option in notepad for the help. <G>
-----
Well. . . Merijn *almost* got the entire bonus question correct: I *did*
write a strange article (well, it's true, isn't it?) and Ben also wrote an
article. . . but not a long one. So it's not entirelly correct. Nevertheless
Merijn, it's wonderful to see that you can look into the future. Got any
tips for what might be ahead? ;-)
Now, let's move on to the Competition of this month! Here are the questions.
As usual, you can find all of the questions in the newspaper. Please. . . do
*not* use any search functions, though! ;-)
Question 1: How long has the Calhoun been trapped in orbit?
Question 2: PaRel is promoted to. . . what?
Question 3: Who wants to create an ion storm, and why?
Question 4: How many people are left on the Odyssey, at the time of that
status report?
Question 5: What is the first name of the doctor who came to visit me in my
story?
Question 6: What did Odysseus do to resist the call of the Sirens?
Question 7: What does ToS mean?
Question 8: What's the Valkyrie's new mission?
Question 9: Which old enemy makes an appearance again at the Calhoun?
Question 10: How many participants were there in last month's Competition?
Bonus Question:
Ah yes folks, a tricky one this time: I will be reviewing all entries, to
see which I think is best. This is something that is only *mentioned* in
this Tribune. . . the answer cannot be found here. So you'll have to think
for yourself. . . Here goes!
What is the definition of sentient life?
There. Not bad, is it? That should keep you busy for a little while. ;-)
Please send the answers to chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com, before May 10th,
please. I'm hoping for a lot more reactions than last time! :P
=====
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