Fleet Diplomats and Ambassadors

The TOS Veterans Fleet would like to wish an Fleet Diplomat or Ambassador a warm welcome. We are visitors in your time from the 23^rd Century and realize that we are indeed guests in your time however, we are under orders from your Starfleet to help fight a war that is our future as well.

Please feel free to visit our Mariner 10 Space station. This space station was built for us over the last 150 years in a secret Starfleet operation to bring a fleet of decommissioned starhips (most of which are the Constellation Class) and handpicked captains to the 25^th Century.

Mariner 10 was named after an early 20^th century Earth’s robotic space probe launched by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (Which later became part of United Earth Space Probe Agency) The Mariner 10 was launched on November 3, 1973, to fly by the planets Mercury and Venus. The Mariner 10 probe was the first spacecraft to use the gravitational slingshot effect to reach another planet, passing by Venus on February 5, 1974, on its way to becoming the first spacecraft to explore Mercury.

The Slingshot effect, also known as the Light-speed breakaway factor, is a method of time travel that requires a starship to travel at warp speed towards a star. As the ship approaches the star, it begins to travel back in time, using the gravitational field of the star, then breaking free the starship is sent forwards or backwards in time. It requires very precise calculations - variables include availability of fuel components and vessel mass through a time continuum.

Our ability to achieve our goal of forth dimensional travel is due to the courage and risk taken on by Captain Kirk and his crew of the USS Enterprise. After being hurled into the 20^th century and gambled on a theory that he could return to 23rd century. We are also aware that this has been done a number of times since our time but never at this scale and never this well planned out.

We would like to offer our hand in alliance with whatever fleet wished to accept us into your time. We are willing to make diplomatic sacrifices to do so however, we will not deviate from our orders to help to bring an end to this war.

Please contact any of the Council members or state your alliance or treaty offerings on this thread.

Again we would like to thank you for visiting.

Fleet Ambassador Katra

Episode 3: Romulans, Vulcans and Ghosts...Oh My!

“Captain's Log
Stardate: 86355.9
Captain Selenia Reporting
Commanding Officer, USS Erbrus

We have just finished our second slingshot jump from the Traelus System 200 years into the past. We are assigned to find and bring to the future the USS Exeter. I have the first member of the “Ghost Fleet”, Lt. KATRA, with me on this trip. He is a little too vulcan for my tastes, but he is a Vulcan after all. Bailey and Fanklin thought his insights would be a help on this trip, so here he is.

The Exeter is one of the original 12 Constitution class ships Starfleet had comissioned it the mid 23rd century. It was lost with all hands in the 2260's, presumably because of a warp engine malfunction; a very rare “quantum bubble” had formed in the reaction chamber causing a catastrophic overload of the warp core. This ship is a perfect candidate for Section 31's “Ghost Fleet”.

The commanding officer is Captain Richard Allen Cleary. He seems a bit of a stuffed shirt to me. According to Starfleet records, he had won most major medals that were given out at that time. He was also reported to be a stickler for the regulations. Not my cup of tea, but if Franklin and Bailey want him, then “Yes Sir!” I have to admit, there are times regulations should be obeyed.

I have ordered my first officer to set course for the last known location of the Exeter. According to the last report made by Captain Cleary, their orders were to study the effects of a black hole cluster on a stellar nursery. It just so happens that the stellar nursery is in a nebula in the Hromi Cluster near the Romulan Neutral Zone. The last communication Starfleet had was from an emergency beacon near the black hole cluster. That beacon said they strayed too close to one of the black holes and a “quantum bubble” was forming in the warp core from the extreme gravity sheer. My best guess says that near that black hole cluster is where we'll find the Exeter.”

***

Captain Richard Allen Cleary intently monitored the readout on the console in front of him. The Quantum Bubble in the dilithium chamber had stopped growing, but showed no sign of diminishing. Sweat beaded on his brow as he glance at his Chief Engineer, Lt Cmdr. Vilnar, who was frantically beating on a tricorder, modulating the subspace guide wave that directed the matter/antimatter reaction in the warp core. He waited for the signal from Vilnar to perform a hard restart of the warp engines. If this didn't work, the Exeter and all it's crew would either be sucked into a black hole or become permanent fixtures in the stellar nursery they were studying.

“Captain, that should be right, DO IT NOW!”

Knowing his life depended on it, Captain Cleary keyed in his command code, hit execute on the EPS console and held his breath. The entire ship went silent and dark. The only noise and light coming from the “Red Alert” that the ship was still under. After a moment that seemed a life time, the warp core thundered back to life, and main power came back online. All the crew of the Exeter let out a collective breath they'd all been holding. Laughter and cheers broke out all over the ship.

Cleary hit the com panel in front of him, “Bridge, this is the captain, stand down red alert!”

As he turned, Cleary felt someone slap him on the back and turned to see his best friend and Chief Medical Officer, Harmon Blaise. Blaise reached out his hand to shake Cleary’s. “As one surgeon to another, more or less, that was a fine bit of work. And to think, if Ensign Sul hadn’t taken that tumble I wouldn’t have seen you at work.”

Cleary smiled broadly. “Thank you, Harm. And Sul?”

“She’s fine.”

Turning to Lt Cmdr. Vilnar Cleary said “Nice job, Lieurenant Commander, I am putting you in for a Citation!”

“Thank you, Si....”

Vilnar's reply was cut short as the ship was rocked by weapons fire on the hull, everyone in engineering lost their footing. Red Alert came right back up, and the com panel crackled to life, “Captain to the bridge!”

Picking himself up, Cleary hit the panel on his way out of engineering, “On my way! Ensign Torman, Tactical Report?”

Running full speed, Richard made it to the turbo lift. As the door to the turbo lift closed as the Captain received his reply.

“Sir, 4 Romulan Bird's of Prey have decloaked around us. We are taking heavy fire. We have managed to get shields up, and have only sustained minor damage to the plasma relays around the starboard nacelle. Weapons are not ready yet, Sir!”

The turbo lift doors opened and Captain Cleary ran onto the bridge of his starship. “We need to buy some time,” taking his seat, he addressed his communications Officer, “Hail them Lieutenant Belsing,” he ordered.

The turbolift doors swished again and a statuesque blue-skinned woman ran onto the bridge. The Captain nodded to his Andorian first officer, Commander RaeThrasa Sh’Aanil, as she relieved Torman at Tactical.

“Aye, Sir. Frequency open, Captain.”

“Lead Romulan ship,” began the Captain, “This is Captain Cleary of the Federation ship Exeter. We are doing peaceful research on this stellar nursery. Your firing on us constitutes an act of war.”

The only answer the Exeter got was another volley of plasma torpedo's. Just then, the tactical readout on his captain's chair came to life. Weapons had been restored. Richard looked at the readout, and realized there were not just 4 warp signatures in the space nearby, but 6. One appeared to be Federation, but was unlike any he had seen before. The 6th was unmistakably Klingon. Captain Cleary couldn't worry about the other ships right now. He had 4 Romulans hellbent on destroying him.

“Con, take us to heading 342 mark 7 and accelerate to maximum impulse. Commander sh’Aanil, ready Photon Torpedo's, full spread and high yield! Also, overload the phaser banks and fire at will on my mark. Belsing, see if you can get that Federation ship out there up on screen. I want to talk to her captain!”

“Yes Sir!” came the three replies simultaneously. The shields took another volley from the Birds of Prey. Cleary gazed steadily at the screen on the arm of his chair, the shields were down to 20% and would not survive another combined blast from the Romulans. As the Exeter came to it's new heading, the Federation warp signature on his readout moved into the fray.

“Sir. I have a message from the Federation captain on board that mystery ship, audio only.”

“Put it on, Lieutenant.”

A female voice came over the com, “Exeter, this it Captain Selenia of the USS Erbrus, maintain your heading and concentrate your fire on the ship directly in front of you. I'll handle the rest. Selenia, out!”

“Orders, Sir?”

“Do as the lady says, not that we have a choice! Ensign, fire all weapons on the lead Bird of Prey!”

The Exeter brought all weapons to bear on the lead Romulan ship. The Bird of Prey's shields melted away under the barrage of the phaser banks. The Photon tube on the underside of the Exeter's saucer sent three torpedo's hurtling at the exposed hull of the enemy. The first torpedo smashed the port nacelle, the second hit mid body, and the third popped the Bird of Prey like a grape under a vintner's foot. The Exeter accelerated through the cloud of gas and debris that was a starship moments before into empty space, free of the noose the Romulan's had slipped around it's neck.

“Con, what is happening behind us? I want to see, now! Onscreen!” Ordered the Captain. “Yes Sir!” The reply.

The bridge crew of the Exeter watched in amazement as a ship that was no bigger than the saucer section of their own ship turned on the three remaining Birds of Prey. Short bursts of Phaser fire and Disruptor fire erupted from the nose of the Erbrus. The first Romulan exploded in a matter of seconds. The small ship nimbly turned to bring it's forward weapons down on the next ship. What looked to be a blue-green phaser tore into the hull of the second ship. A plasma fire erupted from the gaping hole left in the hull by the beam. Three torpedo's, with a whitish hue that Captain Cleary had never seen before, hit the Bird of Prey mid ship. The ship exploded before the third torpedo even made contact.

The Erbrus had passed by the last Bird of Prey. As it circled back, another torpedo, this one of a yellow hue, shot from the aft of the ship, along with another blue-green plasma beam. These impacted the enemy ship, started a plasma fire and seemed to slow it down to nothing. The Erbrus finished it's circle and fired all forward weapons at the hapless Bird of Prey. The Romulan didn't stand a chance, the ship exploded in a cloud of fire and debris. The battle was over.

Shaking off his amazment, Cleary started giving orders, “Engineering, Damage report? Lt. Belsing, hail the Erbrus. Stand down Red Alert!”

The com came to life, “Captain, this is Vilnar in engineering, we sustained a fair amount of damage to the EPS relay system all over the ship. Sir...Dr. Blaise..." Vilnar's voice broke as he choked the next words out, "He was helping the wounded caught in an EPS rupture, when there was a secondary explosion....I'm sorry sir, Harm didn't make it.”

Richard hung his head, a single tear ran down his cheek, his gut tightened in grief for the loss of his friend. Just then, Lt. Belsing spoke, “Sir, the Erbrus is hailing us.”

“Put them onscreen, Lieutenant.”

Captain Cleary raised his head, composed himself, and looked at the view screen. A young Vulcan looked back at him. He was wearing a standard blue uniform, and something about him seemed familiar. Richard thought for a moment, and remembered going to Memory Alpha just before the Zetarian Incident for a seminar on the feasibility of a quantum-based weapon system and it's superiority to photon-based systems. This man was one of the panel members who spoke at the seminar.

“Hello Captain Cleary. I am Lieutenant KATRA. I believe we have met before at Memory Alpha. As I recall, you thought that quantum-based torpedos were a good idea, but could not be powered by current warp core technology. You were correct. But, as I told you then, theory and practice are never very far apart.”

“Lieutenant,” the Captain thought for a moment, “I thought you were lost in the Zetarian Incident. How is it possible you are here? And what about that fantastic ship? What is going on here KATRA?”

“Sir,” replied the young Vulcan, “I will explain all that to you momentarily. I would ask that you beam over to the Erbrus and speak to Captain Selenia.”

KATRA stepped aside and a relatively attractive Romulan stepped into the view screen. She was wearing a Vulcan uniform from the very early years of Starfleet, before the United Federation of Planets even existed.

“Hello Captain Cleary, my name is Gretta Von Selenia. I am from 200 years in the future. Your ship and crew have just been lost with all hands. Starfleet thinks the “quantum bubble” in your warp core caused a breach. There is no record of your battle with the Romulans, or of my presence here. I am here to offer you and your crew another chance. Beam to my ship and we can discuss your future, Captain.”

“What is this KATRA, some sort of elaborate ruse?” Richard was becoming extremely agitated, “Are you really even him? He is listed as killed in the line of duty on Memory Alpha 10 months ago! What is to say that you are not a Romulan in disguise trying to win my trust so you can capture my ship?”

“You might think that this is all a ruse,” began KATRA, “and we are in fact trying to capture you and the Exeter. But I implore you to listen to what she has to say. You have seen what this ship can do, and you know the Exeter would not stand a chance against it. You have a valiant crew, Captain, but logic would dictate that you should hear her out, try to buy some time, and not needlessly endanger your crew.”

“You are correct, KATRA,” Cleary acquiesced. “Not only logic, but Starfleet Regulations would also dictate that same thing.”

Captain Cleary couldn't help but chuckle loudly. How absurd was this situation. He helped pop a quantum bubble in his ships warp core. That “bubble” could very well have been a new Romulan quantum-based weapon system the bastards decided to test on the Exeter. His ship then survived an attack by 4 Birds of Prey, with an assist from a dead Vulcan and a ship that won't be made for 200 years. Only to find out that the official Starfleet record shows that his ship was lost with all hands. Now his fate rests in the hands of a Romulan who won't be born for another 2 centuries wearing a vulcan uniform from 2 centuries ago. What a day.

“I will beam over immediately, Captain Selenia. Cleary out.”

***

Captain's Log, Supplemental:

I have just finished the debriefing of Captain Richard Allen Cleary. He seems ok, a bit shell shocked, but ok none the less. I have ordered the Erbrus and the Exeter to set course for the Traelus System so we can jump back to 2409. He may be a stuffed shirt, but I think that Captain Cleary will help the “Ghost Fleet” tremendously. This is the first time in Project Christopher that we have saved a whole ship and it's crew. Once the Exeter is refit with modern technology, I think she'll be a great addition to the fleet.

I do have to wonder about that Klingon warp signature we caught a glimpse of just before all hell broke loose. It was there one minute, and gone the next. I can only assume they cloaked while we were pounding the GagH out of the Birds of Prey. I find it amazing that my race ever made it as far as it has when I see things like this. They didn't even want to talk, just fight. That is not the Romulan way.

Anyway, Franklin and Bailey had better appreciate this mission. I do not like to put my crew in harms way any more than I have to. Two mission now, and two battles I had to fight to save officers who are dead anyhow. Hurts my head to think about it. Time for a glass of Romulan Ale, and then to hit the rack.

Selenia out.

***

Battle Log
IKS Drak
Captain Kregan reporting.

I came across a very unusual situation today. 4 Romulan Bird's of Prey (the foul P'Taks, stealing the name of a glorious Klingon Battle Ship!) were attacking a Federation vessel. I remained cloaked and observed. At the start of the battle, the federation ship had no power and no shields. Seizing the moment, I decloaked and had a small party of my best warriors beam into one of their empty cargo bays.

I wish I'd waited a moment, because out of nowhere, a federation ship of an unknown configuration dropped out of warp and blasted three of the Romulans to nothing in seconds flat. Today is a good day to die, but not to foolishly give up my life and the lives of my crew. I recloaked and went to warp. The High Command needs to know of this new Federation threat to the Empire!

I hope that J'ole, K'lee, B'Ranna, Kronk, K'urg and Klang died well on board that federation ship. I shall raise a glass of Blood Wine and scream to let Sto'Vo'Kor know there are Klingon Warriors on their way!

Q'aplaH!

To be continued....

“Veteran's of the War” Episode 2.5: Off and Running

Stardate 5473.2
Chief Medical Officer's log
USS Faile, Lt B'Koth reporting for Doctor Roland

Two days ago, while on a patrol mission in the Gamma Orionas Sector, the Faile encountered an unusual distortion in the subspace field around a D class planet we were investigating. Captain Soloth ordered a full stop and a full investigation of the anomaly. It was found that the anomaly extended from low orbit of the planet through the upper atmosphere and down to the surface of the planet. The Captain, being the inquisitive Vulcan he is, ordered an away team to don EVAC suits and board a shuttle to the surface. Doctor Roland was among the team as was the Captain, Chief Engineer and head of Security. The shuttle launched from the shuttle bay, started to the surface and we lost contact with them as they entered the area around the anomaly. The last message we received from Captain Soloth was a broken up message about the structural integrity field of the shuttle going down and the hull was buckling.

The 1st officer tried to get a transporter lock on the on the inhabitants of the shuttle and transport them directly to sickbay. The only thing we got in sickbay was the lower torso and one leg of Doctor Roland, and the head and shoulders of the Security Chief. The shuttle was lost to sensors and believed crashed, though we have no proof.

I performed an autopsy on what was left of our crew members to try to determine what had gone wrong. Other than the obvious, the bodies seemed to have been distorted at the cellular level. I will need further study to determine what exactly happened to our shuttle and its occupants when it entered the distortion. Lt. B'Koth out."

That was the last transmission that Starfleet received from the Faile on April 7, 2268.

"Stardate 86264.8
Captain Selenia reporting
Commanding Officer; USS Erbrus

Today I finished the first mission assigned to me by Section 31. Unfortunatly, they don't exist, so this really never happened. I am finding it hard to believe it did, even though I was there. We were given orders to slingshot around the star in the Traelus System. That is the same star we used when we worked for Agent Franklin Drake and Section 31 a few months ago when we had to deal with the Devidian crisis. The destination and time were different this time, as we headed to Gamma Orionas in the mid 2200's. Our orders were to render any aid we could, up to and including evacuation, to any Starfleet ship from that era or ours that might be in orbit around a pretty plain class D planet. However, if the ship was too heavily damaged, we were to save any crew we could and destroy the ship.

Imagine my surprise when we dropped out of warp and immediately picked up a distress call from a Constitution class ship called the USS Faile. I had my science officer check Starfleet records for that ship only to find that it was lost with all hands on April 7th, 2268. It was presumed destroyed by a subspace anomaly. And wouldn't you know it, the Faile was being held in a subspace tractor field eminating from the surface of the planet, She was also under attack.

I remember reading in the Academy of a planet that Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise charted shortly after Picard had taken command of the Enterprise that had a holographic salesman on it that wanted to sell an automated planetary defense system. The Enterprise had had a real hard time defeating the program because it learned from all previous encounters. It seemed that the Faile had run into this 200 years before Captain Picard did, and because she didn't survive, there was no record of this battle.

I immediately ordered my Defiant Class's cloak engaged, and hit maximum impulse to engage the automated ship attacking the Faile. As I got close, I powered my forward heavy cannons and waited until the ship made it's attack run at the Faile. When it dropped it's cloak, I dropped mine, fired everything I had and destroyed the probe.

Remembering that the defense system would launch another probe shortly, I ordered a very quick scan of the Faile and locked onto any lifesign I could find in the ship. I transported all survivors to sickbay, destroyed the Faile with my forward Quantum Torpedos, cloaked, and warped out as quickly as possible. We went back to the star and slingshotted back to our time.

Captain's Log, supplemental

As soon as we were safe, I went to sickbay to see the survivors and try to explain to them what just happened, where and when I came from and exactly where they are now.

When I reached sick bay, the only thing to survive the last attack and our transport out was a Klingon Medic, one Lt B'Koth. He was really unhappy to see he was saved by a Romulan, but he got over it quick when I explained what had happened. According to him, the Faile lost it's Captain, Medical Officer and Security Chief in the hours that led up to us finding them in the situation they were in. It seems that the defense mechanism disguised itself as a subspace distortion and attacked when a shuttle was launched to the planet's surface. It took the mechanism about 2.5 hours and three automated probes to completely take down the Faile. Had we not arrived when we did, I don't think we would have even been able to save Lt. B'Koth. Somehow, I think that was the plan Franklin and Section 31 had all along, only one survivor. I am now transporting a very shell shocked Lt. B'Koth to the secret starbase Mariner 10, where I will turn him over to Admiral Bailey for debriefing, and await new orders from Section 31. I can't say I am happy about my reassignment here, but if it helps the Federation in the war with the Klingons, I am bound by duty to do it."

To be continued....

“Veterans of the War” Episode 2: Intentions in the Dark Matter Not

Stardate 86319.8
Captain Selenia Reporting
Commanding Officer, USS Erbrus

I have dropped out of warp and have engaged my cloak at the coordinates that Admiral Bailey left on the datapad for me. My First Officer, Commander Corpsa, is running a scan for any other ships in the area; nothing so far. I must say this Defiant Class ship they “chose” for me is a little Spartan. I am used to the luxury of a Cruiser, not the tight Taspar Egg-like interior of a Fleet Escort. This ship certainly packs a punch, though; combine that with a cloak and the fact that it can turn on an Energy Credit? It has potential. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Right on schedule, and there is nothing here, just an unremarkable dark matter nebula, the Comardie Nebula, if I am not mistaken. I hope I won’t be waiting too long for Admiral Bailey and the Klondike. Selenia out.

***

“Admiral, a Defiant Class Escort has just dropped out of warp and engaged it’s cloak. “ reported the baby-faced Ensign manning tactical, “Orders, sir?”

“Yellow Alert Ensign, “ replied Admiral James Bailey from the captain’s chair of his Flagship, “Did you catch the registry before she cloaked?”

“NCC–93833, USS Erbrus, Admiral,” reported the Ensign after a moment.

When did they get so young? Thought the Admiral, of his tactical officer, to himself. Then right on time, Captain Selenia…As he waited for the right time to reveal the Klondike's presence, the Admiral’s thoughts started to drift toward the fateful conversation that he and Admiral Jorel Quinn, his commanding officer, had had that sent him down this road, to this very day…

***

On Stardate 85668.8, September 1st 2408 by Earth’s old calendar, Admiral Bailey was presenting his assessment of the state of the war with the Klingons to Admiral Quinn and Starfleet top brass. He had been collecting data from the frontlines for a month or two now, and had come to the conclusion that unless Starfleet had an infusion of new and capable captains, the current class at the Academy would probably finish their training under the heavy hand of the KDF. The Klingon’s willingness to fight until the very end, no quarter, no surrender, had really put Starfleet back on it’s heels and off balance. It would only be a matter of one really well placed attack against Starfleet’s already thin front in Neutral Zone, and the Sirius Sector would be learning Klingon. Not the report Starfleet’s top brass wanted to hear.

“To conclude, gentlemen, the ugly truth is unless we do something radical, we really don’t stand a chance against an all out Klingon assault. I just don’t think the Klingon’s have figured it out yet, fortunately for us.”

When Admiral Bailey finished and turned off the holoprojection of the tactical situation of the Sirius Sector and the Neutral Zone, he looked up into some very crestfallen faces.

“Thank you for your report, Admiral,” said Quinn after a moment of uneasy silence, “That will be all for now, James, you are dismissed,” Quinn turned to the rest of the top brass sitting at the briefing table. “The rest of us have some hard choices to make.”

With that, Bailey snapped a salute and exited the briefing room and the building. Outside of Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco, the day had a decidedly late summer feel to it. Civilians and Cadets alike were going about their business as if nothing were wrong in the Federation's corner of the Alpha Quadrant. Their lives hung on a thread, they just didn’t know it yet.

Bailey sat down on a bench overlooking San Francisco Bay to collect his thoughts. As he was watched the sun on the bay, a Cadet, with no salute and no fear, sat down next to him. Taken aback, the Admiral looked the newcomer up and down.

“Can I help you Cadet?” asked Admiral Bailey, with more than a little annoyance in his voice at the obvious lack of respect.

“No Admiral, I believe I can help you," replied the Cadet coolly, "My name is Franklin, and I work for Section 31. Please excuse the uniform, but I had to blend in. We have a war to win, Admiral.”

“Wait a minute, Cadet, I’ve met LT Franklin and you are not he!” the Admiral stood and reached for his combadge to call security.

As Bailey hit his combadge, he felt the familiar feeling of a transporter beam. He found himslef on a transporter pad on an unknown ship. He tapped his combadge again, but nothing. He knew immediately that a dampaning field was preventing his attempts to summon help.

“I’m sorry, Admiral,” said Franklin, standing on the pad next to him, “but the less people who know of our meeting, the better for you and us. Please hear out my proposal in my ready room.”

“You say that like I have a choice, Franklin, if that is truly your name,” replied the Admiral drolly.

“Not really Admiral, just being polite," replied Franklin flatly, "Please follow me.”

***

The next couple of days were a whirlwind for Admiral Bailey, but much was accomplished. Agent Franklin had a plan to use a slingshot gate that Section 31 had built around a star to travel into the past and save Captains who’s lives were about to end, and bring them to the future to command new starships in the fight against the Klingons. Admiral Bailey and his flagship, the USS Klondike, were the first to test the Project, now called Project Christopher after a USAF Captain from the mid 20th century that the legendary Captain Kirk had returned to his time.

The First Captain that was returned to the future was a Vulcan, Captain KATRA from the mid 2200’s. It was a success. With that, Admiral Bailey had to go and convince his old mate from the Academy days, Admiral Quinn, that this project had merit, and should be attempted.

“James, are you sure…I mean really sure? What about the Temporal Prime Directive? What about screwing up this timeline more than it already is? What about…”

“Admiral Quinn,” interjected yet a different Agent Franklin, “what the United Federation of Planets doesn’t know about how they are being defended, won’t hurt them. In fact, if all goes well, it will save billions of lives.”

“I just don’t know, Franklin. You are asking me to go against 300 years of Starfleet protocol.” Admiral Quinn’s resolve was fading, Bailey could tell.

“Admiral,” Bailey began, “meet the first Captain of Starfleet’s newest fleet, The Ghost Fleet. We did it, Quinn, it works.”

Bailey could not keep the excitement out of his voice as a young Vulcan in a 200 year old Starfleet uniform entered the ready room.

“Admiral, this is Captain KATRA, born on Vulcan in the Earth year of 2231. Do you remember your Starfleet History Class from the Academy? On Stardate 5725.3, James T. Kirk, then just a Captain, in command of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, was transporting state of the art (for the mid 2200's, anyway) equipment to Memory Alpha. En route, they encountered an unknown energy storm that nearly took out the Enterprise. The energy storm, which turned out to be non-coporeal energy beings from the dead planet Zetar, engulfed Memory Alpha. All personnel on board Memory Alpha died a hideous death, but the station and machinery were left intact. This became known as the Zetarian Incident. Lieutenant KATRA here was one of the Starfleet personnel listed as killed in action. We just saved him from a nasty fate, and LT KATRA has agreed to help us in our cause. Jorel, for Pete’s Sake, it worked, and we can do it again!”

“You might be interested to know, Admiral Quinn,” interjected Agent Franklin, “Section 31 has control of an abandoned research station in the dark nebula called Comardie, in Delta Volanis that would be a perfect place to set up the fleet. The best thing is that this research station was built and fully operational in 2210. We can use it in the past, too, so our Captains from this time won’t be completely alone. If they need support, they can get it with no questions asked.”

Admiral Quinn was silent for a few minutes, wrestling with years of Starfleet training, weighing that against a real shot at getting enough manpower to take it to the Klingons for once.

“Make it so, James. we cannot breathe a word of this to anyone, not even our wives. Guard your thoughts around Betazoid's as well,” Quinn finished with a half hearted snicker, and beamed back to his own flagship from the Klondike's ready room.

So began Project Christopher.

***

Admiral Bailey finished his reflection, and with a grim caste to his face issued his orders.

“Helm, take us out of the nebula and hail Captain Selenia. It is time we started recruiting others to do the dirty work for us.”
The officer at the helm turned to face Bailey, “Yes Admiral,” replied Agent Franklin….

To be continued….

The Veterans of the War - Episode 1: The Die is Cast

"Due to your exemplary performance on the Klingon front, the Romulan front (which I am sure was not easy for you, personally), and most recently on the front lines of the struggle for Cardassia with the True Way, I hear by promote you to the rank of Captain with all the privileges that come with it," Admiral Quinn finished, with a crisp snap salute, "Congratulations Captain Selenia."
"Thank you, Admiral," replied Gretta Von Selenia, returning the salute, "I shall do my best to bring honor to the rank"
Gretta allowed her mind to reflect on the journey that brought her to this point in her life as the only full blooded Romulan Captain serving in Starfleet. At age four, after the Hobus Supernova and the destruction of the only home she had ever known, she found herself on board an old broken down transport ship with her 17 year old brother. They were the only two of her family to survive the destruction of the home world.
After a week in space, limping towards Federation Space in search of help, the transport was set upon by Orion Raiders looking for slaves to bring to market. The transport didn't stand a chance against Orion frigates, but ran into some tremendous luck. This was happening just after the Narada had destroyed the Federation aid fleet Starfleet had sent to help survivors of Romulus and Remus in any way. Because of that incident , a Federation Warship, the USS Crazy Horse, was within minutes of the transport when the Orion's attacked. The Orion's were beaten back, but not before the transport's warp core suffered catastrophic damage. The transports captain staved off a warp core breach long enough for the Crazy Horse to transport survivors from the stricken ship to the sickbay. The captain went down with his ship.
Selenia was unhurt, but her brother was caught in an explosion after a plasma conduit ruptured near the cargo bay of the transport. Weeping, Selenia begged a doctor on board the Crazy Horse to save her brother because he was all she had. The doctor, LT. Ghustav Von Heinrich, worked for many hours trying to save Selenia's brother, but in the end, his burns were too much for his body to take and he never woke up. Selenia was now an orphan, but the doctor's heart strings were tugged by this little four year old Romulan girl who had lost everything, and he decided to adopt her.
He added Gretta Von to her name and raised her as his own daughter. Because of the kindness shown to her at such a young age, Selenia decided to join Starfleet. Now 30 years after that fateful day, she had made Captain. She knew, somewhere, her brother was smiling down at her, proud of her accomplishment. She also knew her adopted father would be proud as soon as he found out.

***

Realizing that she had been reflecting on her past for a few minutes while holding her salute to the Admiral, she blushed a little and released her salute. As she turned to go to the shipyards of Earth Space Dock, Admiral Quinn caught her arm.
"Before you get your new ship, there are three people who would like to make your acquaintance in my private conference room. Please report there for your new orders, Captain."
"Yes Admiral," she replied as she headed not to the turbo lift, but to the conference room just past the Admiral's desk. She entered the room and found three officer's waiting for her. She recognized the Admiral, James Bailey, she had run into him in the corridors of ESD on more than one occasion, but the two never spoke other than to exchange salutes.

Selenia also recognized one of the two LT's in the room as LT Franklin of Section 31, she was not happy to see him. The third LT was a Vulcan wearing a Starfleet uniform from over 200 years ago if she remembered any of the Starfleet Heraldry class she took at the Academy.
Franklin spoke up, "I think you know Admiral Bailey, and I can tell by the look on your face, you remember me. Your lucky I am not Betazoid, judging from that look, Captain," Franklin chuckled, and continued, "This distinguished pointy eared fellow to my left is LT KATRA, and yes, he is from the time he looks like he is from. Admiral, if you please?"
Franklin ended his little speech with an overly dramatic wave of his from the Admiral to Selenia.
"First let me start off with a congratulations on your promotion, Captain, I am excited to be working with you. I have a copy of your new orders for you here, I also have a requisition order for your new ship. I realize you are an engineer and would probably prefer a Star Cruiser, but I have need of your talents in a Fleet Escort. Your new ship is a Defiant Class, USS Erbrus. Your new orders are to report to these coordinates in this datapad as soon as you finish your business on ESD. We'll meet you at these coordinates in my flag ship, the USS Klondike. Don't be late, Captain."
With that, all three were beamed away. Selenia thought it strange that the Vulcan didn't speak, but she did feel like he was sizing her up. Still a little confused, she took the datapad left by the Admiral on the table, and head off to the shipyards.

***

To be continued.....

Biography of KATRA

It was an extremely hot day on the planet Vulcan. A young Vulcan child protégé, KATRA, stood at the base of the transporter going over his career path options once again. His family was disappointed in him for enrolling in the Starfleet academy as a science officer cadet with aspirations of commanding a federation science vessel. His family had hoped that he would stay loyal to the Vulcan High Command as he was offered a superior studies position with the Vulcan Science Academy.

The name KATRA comes from a Vulcan word for "cheat death" and some Vulcans appear able to do so by implanting their katra, essentially their living essence or spirit, into an object or another person via a form of mind-meld just prior to death. As a young child KATRA had undertaken the initiation ordeal known as the Kahs-wan, where he was left to fend for himself in the hot desert for over a year. His survival abilities and his powerfully developed mind brought him back to his people with over 3000 hours of research on Tritanium.

He was able to take this very hard, yet bendable metal (which is one of the building blocks in space structures and spacecraft) and break it down into its purified essence. With crude, self made tools he was able to isolate the positive and negative atoms and reconstruct them into a more stable configuration. He was able to decrease its instability at atmospheric temperatures and helped to make this common element alloy into a more stable and useful product that was now able to be used for human habitats.

The Vulcan Science Academy was dismissive of these findings until the Vulcan High Command stepped in and ordered them to dedicate a team of scientist to it as well as doing an in-depth study of KATRA and his potential.

KATRA was assessed with the highest IQ ever recorded by a Vulcan. An average IQ for a Vulcan would be around 160, a nimber that KATRA has more than doubled. A lot of time was spent at the Science Academy, both studying as well as being studied. There was little time for socializing with his peers and when he did have free time he would rather spend it with his research.

He stepped onto the transporter with purpose in his step with his mind focused on his goals and convictions. He was sure that he was making the right choice and had already spent days meditating and assessed his future. If he stayed with the Vulcan Science Academy he would be able to climb up to academic top quite quickly however, with the federation and the possibility of becoming a commander of his own research vessel he would be able to reach out into new undiscovered words.

 The Enterprise had been assigned to ferry Lieutenant Mira Romaine to Memory Alpha to help work in the central library. KATRA had worked with Ensign Romaine in the Vulcan Science Academy during the last Vulcan winter. She was one of the people that peaked his interest in the Starfleet Academy. The Enterprise would then deliver KATA and three others to Starbase 39 where they would continue on to Starfleet Academy.  

After giving his 3rd and final series of talks, KATRA retired to the Memory Alpha library in order to read up on some of his Academy course in which he was enrolled.

As he reached for his computer key he was distracted by the yellow alert light and the audio alarms warning sounds. KATRA went through Starfleet measures in his head. He was aware that the planetoid was now in a raised state of alertness, which was either set by an officer or automatically by the station's onboard computer. Malfunction or by orders, the planetoid would have already raised the shields yet this station had no such defences. The computers would now be scanning for any possible signs of danger. An announcement form Memory Alphas' security section informed everyone that there was a strange energy storm on a course to the planetoid.

They also received subspace communication from the USS Enterprise that was on route to Memory Alpha.

The Enterprise had analyzed the storm but could not get any readings. They were not able to make a determination of its composition or origin. However, they could determine that, given the storm's superluminal speed, it could not be a natural phenomenon. Moments later the red alert was sounded and the same voice came on the comm. The energy storm had breached the shields,


Standing in front of him was a Human and a Vulcan in uniforms that he could not recognize. The Human officer introduced himself as Admiral James Bailey and welcomed KATRA to the USS Klondike. He gave orders to immediately report to sick bay before debriefing. Admiral Bailey assured Katra that he was safe and among friends.

The sickbay was located on Deck 5 and looked like that of a regular Constitution-class starships infirmary however, there was something different. There seemed to be equipment that KATRA had never seen before. The

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO), gave him the all clear and then he overheard her give the log entry "there were no abnormalities with the nervous systems and no signs of brain haemorrhaging."

The CMO and the two posted security officers then escorted KATRA down the hallway to Briefing Room 2. There was a conference table - with a tri-screen viewer, an inset computer and a wall viewer. Around the table sat Admiral Bailey, several other high ranking officers, all with peculiar looking uniforms all with a sort of Starfleet look to them. There was also an eccentric looking man gleaming at the end of the table with a science issued technical coveralls and loosely fitting, wrinkled lab coat.


Then came the explanation. KATRA was told that the so called space storm whipped out everyone on the planetoid including much of the library computers data. He was beamed up just before this happened. Precisely before this happened. That is to say we had past knowledge of the timing of this event and we were obliged to act in nana-seconds before so as to not alter any time continuum.

An eccentric looking man at the end of the table stood up and explained the light-speed breakaway factor through the use of an artificially-created time warp. He enthusiastically spouted off some of his equations and how it related to the speed of light base of 300 thousand metres per second. KATRA interjected “299,792,458 metres per second to be precise”. The man agreed and then reiterated that they had to be precise or they would not have gotten him.




A Starfleet Committee was formed and sent back to the present time to recruit just such qualified command personnel. The only biggest obstacle was the problem of not interacting with the timeline. We had to pre screen captains that show us great potential and more importantly find the ones that have absolutely no future. That way there is minimal disturbance in the time continuum as long as we are not detected.

Just then the ship communications officer came on the tri-screen viewer “sorry for the interruption Admiral but you told me to contact you when we have reached Starbase Mariner 10. We will be commencing docking procedures shortly but we are now in transporter range.”

KATRA was aware of every ship, satellite and starbase in the Federation and there was no Mariner 10 in existence. He was also grappling with the assumption that the members of the Federation would have no proclivity for such a secret society, however it is obvious that it does indeed exist.


They Beamed down to the mid size starbase and were greeted by the two security officers and four lieutenants. “Spevak, Tipeen, Thirin and Thylon will be your bridge officers and they will brief you on your orders. I hope you are ready to pilot a Constitution-class. We have just reconstructed the warp core engine and fitted it with odds and ends we have collected. You can upgrade it once you take get it to the future. We also christened her The USS Raal after your home City.”

and everyone was told to take full precautions.

KATRA ran to the computer to see what he could come up with. He downloaded the data from the Enterprises communications and was beginning to analyse when the computer screen went blank. He heard yelling, panic, footsteps and then running down the corridors. The next thing he knew he was materializing in the transporter room of what appeared to be a Consolation Class Federation Cruiser.

biofunction monitors were working exponentially quicker than he had observed on Vulcan and a large, sophisticated sensor cluster, directly above the bed was registering at great speeds. It was like everything was in an accelerated motion.

As he entered the room all of the officers stood up and saluted KATRA and then relaxed into a human emotional state of delight. The CMO announced that he was all good to go and then Admiral Bailey gestured for everyone to be seated.

He was told of the future war with the Klingons and their Gorn allies and the attacking of Cestus III. A Starfleet committee has determined that due to retirements, deaths and the increasing demands of the Klingon war, Starfleet was facing a severe shortage of qualified command personnel.

They determined that they must revise the rules to encourage more officers to seek command positions, increase enrolment at Starfleet Academy and revise the command structure to allow for the best use of experienced personnel. This was helping the situation however; it was flooding the system with sub-standard captains and increasing the loss of Starfleet lives and the destruction of our ships.

The Vulcan stood there realizing that he has not only cheated death but has the ability to jump into the future full of new scientific advancements and also has been given the opportunity to captain his own ship to stretch his pursuit for new discoveries.

Admiral Bailey replied that they would beam down and leave the ship docking to Number One. He then looked at KATRA and asked if he had any questions, please feel free to ask. As they were walking down the corridors toward the Engineering room and the transporter room he was suddenly very aware that there was something missing… The crew. Admiral Bailey looked at him as if he had read his mind and said “we have a ghost crew of 25 officers. Just enough to do what we need to do. No need to take a chance of letting too many people in on this.”

To be continued...

Biography of Richard Allen Cleary

Richard Allen Cleary was born in a small town in northern Wisconsin in 2227. His mother was a ranger in the wildlife refuge that had been established around the North American Great Lakes region after World War III. His father was a carpenter who chose to work with traditional tools rather than modern technologies. Cleary’s early life was filled with woodland adventures and he learned to be self-reliant, to value hard work, and to adhere to a strict code of personal ethics. Staring up into the clear night skies, he also began to dream of further adventures among the stars.

When he was 17, after failing his first attempt to enter Starfleet Academy, he decided to enlist as an ordinary crewman. His initial assignment was as an engineering mate on board the USS Stingray, an aging cruiser that had entered service in the final days of the Earth-Romulan war. The Stingray had been refit several times and it was filled with layer upon layer of barely compatible technologies. The ship’s chief engineer took an early interest in Cleary, and he quickly learned to finesse and, when needed, jury rig the Stingray’s systems.,

In 2245, the Stingray participated in the Battle of Donatu V. Cleary distinguished himself both in ground action, helping to organize a counterattack against a Klingon ambush, and in space. He was promoted to petty officer, second class, and received the Starfleet Award for Valor. He also caught the eye of Starfleet command.

Three years later, during the Battle of Orias 7, when the Stingray’s captain and first officer were injured, Cleary temporarily assumed command of the ship and successfully held off a Klingon battle cruiser long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Once again, he was recognized for his actions, earning a Citation for Conspicuous Gallantry. The damage suffered by the Stingray was too great, and the ship was decommissioned after the battle. Cleary, however, was called on to greater things. He was invited to participate in Starfleet’s Enlisted-to-Officer program and to enter Starfleet Academy. He accepted.

When Ensign Cleary graduated, he was assigned to the USS Fianna, a newly minted light cruiser. Though a few of his shipmates found him overly fond of regulations and unwilling to bend roles, he continued to excel and, during his more relaxed off-duty hours, became a popular companion in the ship’s lounge. When a medical officer named Leonard McCoy came on board to serve a temporary rotation, he and Cleary quickly became friends. The two were nearly the same age and shared a plainspoken style and, despite Cleary’s background in engineering, a belief in the human spirit and a subtle distrust of advanced technology. By contrast, they often clashed over Cleary’s insistence on obeying regulations as precisely as he could, and demanding that those around him did the same.

In 2259, at the age of 32, Cleary became the Fianna’s chief engineer. Two years later, during a conflict with several Tholian patrol ships, he remained behind when main engineering was evacuated to initiate a manual shutdown of the warp core and prevent a breach. When a hull rupture resulted in an explosive decompression, he was briefly blown into space. Fortunately, the Fianna’s transporters were able to get a lock on him and beam him to safety. After several weeks in sickbay, Cleary was awarded the Antares Cluster for Bravery Beyond the Call of Duty.

In 2262, partly in recognition of his actions, he was given command of the destroyer USS Eastwood. The Eastwood’s primary duty was patrolling the Klingon border. She brought aid to nearby colonies, investigated unusual long-range sensor readings, and participated in several small skirmishes. In 2267, five years after Cleary had assumed command, she was assigned to the fleet that confronted the Klingons in the Organian system. While separated from the main Starfleet force on a scouting mission, the Eastwood engaged three Klingon battle cruiser, fighting them to a draw just before the Organians intervened and enforced a tense peace on the Federation and Klingon Empire. Once again, Cleary’s actions garnered praise, including induction into the Grankite Order of Tactics.

Recognizing his abilities, Starfleet command decided to give Cleary the USS Exeter, one of the original twelve Constitution class starships. The Exeter had just returned from Omega IV, where its entire crew had been lost. The ship itself was unharmed, and after a brief refit she was reassigned to her own five-year mission of exploration. Cleary’s second in command, an Andorian named RaeThrasa sh’Aanil, was in many ways his exact opposite. She was impulsive and willing to bend rules that Cleary felt were inviolable. Though their relationship began in conflict, they soon found that they worked as an effective team, each complimenting the other.

Unfortunately, two years into its mission, the Exeter was lost with all hands. An emergency beacon recovered near her last known position indicated that she was likely destroyed by a an extremely rare condition—a quantum “bubble” in the antimatter containment field—and one that would have resulted in an unavoidable warp core breach within seconds.

In fact, Cleary and the Exeter’s chief engineer were able to burst the bubble through an entirely novel technique, by modulating the subspace guide wave that directed the matter and antimatter flows at the same time they initiated a hard restart of the ship’s power systems. Once they did, several Romulan battle cruisers decloaked around them. The bubble was actually the result of a new Romulan weapon that was being tested on the Exeter. At the same moment, a starship from the 25th century appeared, expecting to find the Exeter alone and to render aid. Instead, they discovered the Exeter taking heavy fire, many of its systems still offline. Together, the two ships defeated the Romulans. In the aftermath of the battle, Cleary discovered that he had been recruited by a secret project aimed at bringing captains from the past—including his present—into the 25th century to help protect the Federation.