/||\ ----------------------------------------------
/ || \ UCIP Starfleet Command, Eighth Fleet
/ || \ U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
.-/ || \-. Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor, Commanding
./ || \. ----------------------------------------------
.-_-. || .-_-. Simulation Teaser
-_ \||/ _-. -[ SD 240205.20 ]-
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/ Simulation Teaser |
/ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
<<The story of this teaser begins with...
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro417c-t.html
and
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/simtrans/reports/coro505a-t.html
...and will be continued in future teasers. Foreshadowing: a valid
literary technique. ;) Enjoy.>>
=/.= June 4, 2431 -- Reunion Square, Churchill Downs, Reorsa =/.=
"But grandpa...? You said that there were four men in the circle,"
Annie said. "The statue has three men and a woman. Why is that?"
she asked.
Joe Fisher smiled at his young granddaughter. "Go over and look at
the statue of the woman, honey. Read the inscription and tell me
what it says," he instructed. Non-plussed, Annie did so, squinting
down near the statue of the woman and reading the inscription.
While she did, Baker looked over at the shortest statue.
"Grandpa Joe, was all of this before or after the Odyssey?" he
asked. "It must have been before," he reasoned seriously, "because
didn't Brian Aldur go with them?"
Fisher nodded. "He did. It was before, Baker. More than a year
before, in fact. The Stone hadn't even been discovered yet when all
of this happened, so you can imagine how scared we all were," he
said. "Think about it: lots of our ships had been destroyed, and
hundreds of people killed... the battleship hanging over us... we
didn't have any help or reinforcements, and the Pfhor were
threatening to conquer or kill all of us." Baker and his cousin
looked at each other, then up at their grandfather, wide-eyed,
realizing the implications and even looking a little frightened.
Suddenly, the sun didn't seem quite so warm, the screaming of the
crowds of children nearby turning to screams of terror rather than
ones of high-spirited play.
"Dad, don't scare them," Lorene said, her voice reproving and giving
her father an annoyed look. "It was a long time ago," she said.
"True," Fisher said, "but..." and he turned to the boys seriously.
"The way to ensure it never happens again is to remember those who
fought back... honor their courage. And to be prepared to emulate
it if it's ever needed. Understand, boys?" Fisher asked his two
grandsons. They both lifted their chins and nodded, solemn. In
that moment, Baker and Little Joe would have held the square against
a hundred Hunters had they been asked to. Meanwhile, Annie
returned, looking more confused than ever. "What does it say,
honey?" Fisher asked her.
"It says... 'I was never President of Reorsa. Though I was part of
the circle that day, I was a stand-in. It is not fitting that my
image be included; it was not my Presidency or my courage that saved
our people, it was the courage and the strength of Darine n'Chamba.'
and under that, it's her name inscribed below the statue. What does
that mean, grandpa?" Annie asked. "I mean, I know Mrs. n'Chamba was
killed by the Hunters..." Joe nodded. "...but he was President,
wasn't he?"
Fisher nodded. "Well, he was and he wasn't, Annie. He's right: he
was never President of Reorsa. So far as I know, in fact, Robert
Quiza never stood on Reorsan soil again after that first month,"
Fisher said, turning thoughtful. "You can call him the Mayor of
Alexandria, if you like. He held that title far longer than he was
President, and as far as the Jjaro are concerned, it's probably a
more honorable title."
When several nearby people nodded, only then did Fisher realize that
he and his family had drawn a small crowd of onlookers. Apparently
curious about the presence of a Destiny plankholder in their midst,
they had stayed to hear Fisher's story. Recognizing the curator,
Fisher gave the young man a questioning look. He had the good grace
to look somewhat embarrassed and shrug.
Lorene noticed her father's rather uncomfortable look, and she
smiled somewhat slyly. "Dad, you shouldn't be telling this story,"
she said, poking him. "You weren't even there. Dereliction of
duty," she teased, now grinning openly. "Abandoned your post...
left Reorsa defenseless!" Several of the onlookers looked a little
stunned. Joe Fisher abandoning his post? You might as well
describe Earth as being somewhat far away.
Fisher turned toward his daughter, almost growling, "Missy, you and
your mother have been taunting me with that for twen--" Suddenly,
Fisher realized he was still in the middle of a crowd -- a very
curious crowd. All four of his grandchildren were looking up at
him, curious.
"What does she mean, grandpa?" Fisher's oldest granddaughter,
Liselle, asked, somewhat confused. "You fought in the Defense of
Reorsa. PC one slash three, right?" she asked.
Lorene grinned up at her father, ignoring the evil look in his eyes.
"Yes, father dearest," she teased. "Tell your grandchildren..."
Lorene didn't mention the growing audience around them. "...what
you were doing while four men were raising swords in defiance of the
Hegemony on Reorsa."
Fisher quietly muttered something about getting his revenge one day,
which Lorene cheerfully ignored, then turned back to his
grandchildren. "As your mother," he said to Baker and Annie, "and
your aunt," he said to Liselle and Little Joe, "fails to mention
time and time again when she brings this up, I took my patrol craft
into the Quaatis Nebula chasing after a Pfhor strike craft flight
that was trying to get away from us after the Defense of Reorsa," he
said. He again turned a fierce look on Lorene, who again ignored
it. "In no way did I abandon my post -- the nebula is less than a
light-year from the edge of the system, well within the permimeter
of the battle."
Turning back to his grandchildren, Fisher continued. "As it turned
out, what happened next was caused by someone I didn't even know on
one of our ships called Coronado. We'd been noticing... odd...
things happening all winter, of course. By that time, my brother
Randall had somehow developed telekinesis and was being 'treated'
in a hospital on Meyer IV," he said. All the grandchildren -- even
Little Joe -- nodded. While the activities of the Watchers still
weren't understood, they were no longer regarded as unusual. "The
good news is that what happened destroyed the Pfhor ships. The bad
news is that it nearly got us, too."
----------------
"Computer, put the program to bed," Commander William Daren said,
satisfied. It had been a long time since he'd had leisure to
activate that particular program, but it hadn't seemed to have
bothered the program at all. Everything was still working perfectly
and from the perspective of the program, only a few hours had
passed, instead of the several months it had actually been.
"Relax," the Captain had said, after enforcing a 48 hour liberty for
everyone aboard. After the desperation of the battle in the H042
system and the tense situation in the Reorsa system afterwards, it
had seemed like good advice. But Daren had been unable to keep his
mind on the simulation and couldn't seem to relax. Part of it was
the ultimatum handed down by the Hegemony, of course, but another
part of it was how far the group was from home.
It had finally hit Daren that Earth was more than 19 million
light-years away. There would be no Starfleet reinforcements, no
falling back to a friendly border. Though Daren had many friends
aboard Coronado and in the other ships in the group, he'd probably
never see his family again. And the feeling of being watched all
the time was becoming truly maddening. William Daren finally
realized that he was in real danger of hating this place.
For several seconds, Commander William Daren just stood in the
corridor outside of his fantasy-based holodeck creation and wished
he were home. Any planet in the Milky Way would do...
\_________________________________________________________________________
\ End Simulation Teaser |
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
Crew Roster:
Commanding Officer: FCapt. Tebrun Lora Kor (Jester)
Executive Officer: Cmdr. William Daren (Daren)
Marine Commandant: Col. Jeremy Ironside (Fraser)
Command Liaison: Cmdr. Savant (Savant)
Chief of Operations: Cmdr. Olme Tlaloco (rev)
Chief Tactical Officer: LCdr. Sieven Drexler (Brad)
Chief Flight Operations: Lt. JG Ananda Wilk (Baralu)
Intelligence Officer: LCdr. Kariasa Ma'Aru (Kari)
Chief Science Officer: Lt. Kathleen Hammond (Kath)
Company Commander: MCpt. Jacob Prescot (Shadow-FjP)
Flight Leader: MCpt. Craig Serrold (Aggie)
Chief Engineer: Cmdr. Zunite Oswald (Sonya)
Assistant Engineer: LCdr. Jack C. Farley (CCC)
Assistant Engineer: Lt. Aramis Skylooker (LewisSharp)
Systems Specialist: Lt. Caring-Thoughts (Alffred)
Chief Medical Officer: Lt. (JG) Jason Vogel (Thompson)
Civilian: Alados ha-Soron (McC)
On Extended Leave of Absence:
Assistant Tactical: Lt. Kyle Marcy (Marcy)
Wing Leader: 2Lt. Andrew Stylus (JadeFalcon)
Positions Available:
None!
------
Jester
Fleet Captain Tebrun Lora Kor
Rear Admiral (Commodore) Selectee
Commanding, U.S.S. Coronado, NCC-97901
http://www.jestertrek.com/coro2400/