STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
guest EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS’ LOG to boldly play Star trek superfans the geek I am Black is not a colour - short fiction Director of Administration’s Log Star Trek 3 – News and rumours starbase europa update hail whedon! AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. gets serious director of COMMUNICATIONS’ log Destination Star trek germany Banshee chapter – review COMPETITION fleet quartermaster’s update lighting up the night Starfleet Academy Graduation List an officer’s guide to Starfleet ranks Admiralty dispatch CONTACTS/FLEET LIST
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page 03 page 04 page 05 page 06 page 08 page 10 page 12 Page 13 page 14 Page 15 page 17 page 18 page 20 page 21 page 21 page 22 page 24 page 25 page 26 page 27
LEGAL NOTICE STARFLEET COMMAND RECOGNISES THAT Star Trek, and all related, derived or inferred ideas are the intellectual property of CBS STUDIOS INC. No infringement is intended in the use of this material and no attempt is made to supersede holders of copyright to star trek or other material . STARFLEET COMMAND DOES NOT NECESSARILY SHARE THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THIS PUBLICATION NOR ARE THEY INTENDED TO CAUSE OFFENCE. All articles are copyright Starfleet command (Quadrant 2) and the original authors. This publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part in any media without the express written permission of the director of communications. the persons, organisations and events portrayed in all star trek series and motion pictures are fictitious – any similarity to actual persons (living or dead), organisations and events is unintentional all submissions, suggestions for improvements and any other comments should be directed to the Director of communications, Starfleet command – contact details are at the back of this publication.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
Admiral Mark Mitchell, guest Editor Hailing Frequencies Open… Welcome to my second and final issue of the Starfleet Command Communications Update as Guest Editor – I’m excessively happy to be able to hand the future duty to Tom Burns – SFC’s newlyappointed Director of Communications. Tom has already distinguished himself as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Northumberland and I know I speak for Scott as well when I say that we’re eagerly looking forward to having him complete the Admiralty triumvirate as our newest (and youngest, damn him!) flag officer. And that’s enough praise from me – Tom introduces himself in his own words in his first COMMS Log later in this issue, so go meet him for yourself if you haven’t already. Elsewhere in this issue, you’ll find (amongst other things) a brief round-up of the latest news on Star Trek 3, a look back at some of the more unusual Trek toys from the ‘70s and the usual news and reports from around the Home Fleet. This time, we’re rounding out with some short sci-fi, reviews and a smattering of other articles which we think are well worth a look. We’ve even blagged a competition prize from Before the Door Pictures - Zachary Quinto’s production company - for the horror fans out there! So here it is again: Starfleet Comms – living, growing like the Fleet that supports it. An ongoing mission and an ongoing commitment from Headquarters to bring you the best service we can. But we (really) can’t do it alone. Comms is always in need of your submissions: articles, reviews, fiction, poetry and artwork. You can send whatever you’d like to share with the fleet to comms@starfleet-command.co.uk with the subject Comms Submission. Don’t forget to include your name, rank and Unit so we can properly credit you in print. And that’s it for me – there’s just time to empty the Comms office fridge of the imported beer that mysteriously made it’s way in there and head back to the Administration office and the growing pile of paperwork that‘s replaced my desk while I’ve been away. It’s been a pleasure filling in as Comms Editor and I look forward to seeing you around the various annexes of Starbase Europa. Thanks for your attention and your support – I’ll wear it always!
Hail Hydra!
Mark Adm. Mark Mitchell Director of Administration. Guest Editor Level 7 Agent with Lanyard
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
AUGUST 2014, STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS, LONDON Welcome to Comms Two copies of Comms in less than a year! Pretty amazing stuff, considering we went for so many years with only one. In fact, it feels really weird writing another DOPs report so soon after the last one (obviously, time is relative but writing 2 reports in a year is pretty frantic) Commodore Tom Burns, formerly of the Northumberland, has taken on the role of Director of Fleet Communications. Communications has always been a tricky department and the last two DoFCM produced virtually nothing. Working behind the scenes, I know Tom has already done some sterling work and I have utmost faith in him. And if he does screw up, I'm going to beat him over the head with a live chicken. Destination Star Trek London is coming up soon and it looks like we're going to have a few SFC members present. I may even see if my old First Contact Admirals uniform still fits! (I know for certain that the dress white uniform definitely won't fit). Lt Hooper of the Old Sarum is preparing a display for SFC, so hopefully we can pressgang... er... encourage a few more recruits through the Academy Sadly, we appear to have lost two Units in the last six months. CO Starbase Europe, received a garbled subspace communication from USS Atheling in January. The message read that the CO had moved from Isle of Wight to Wales and would be restarting the Unit shortly. I'm now treating the Atheling as MIA. Around the same time, USS Avon disappeared. No sooner had they been sent their commissioning documents than things went quiet. Admiral Mitchell noticed on Facebook that the CO had joined another group. He dropped him a line but got no reply. I tried contacting the FO in March and still haven't had a reply?! It baffles me why people would bother to go through the recruitment process and set up a Unit, to suddenly drop everything and walk away!? The Unit has now been decommissioned. On a personal note, over the last few years I've been attending various comic-con type events (MCM Expo, London Film & Comic Con, Kapow etc). I've noticed a very slow but steady rise in the number of Starfleet uniforms being worn. Last weekend at the LFCC, there was a small TOS Away Team – two young ladies in red & blue and a lad in red. There was also a young lady wearing a Trek (2013) dress uniform – complete with silly hat. What impressed me most was the quality of the uniforms (you'll note I don't call them costumes). It's nice to see that people are still willing to put time, effort & money into good quality Trek Enough from me, I need a cuppa. And as Tom is now the junior member of the Admiralty, its his job to make it! Hailing frequencies closed
Scotty Scott D Arlow Admiral Director of Fleet Operations
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
Tom Burns - SFC’s new Director of Communications - takes a look at some of the more unusual Star Trek Toys from days gone by. Like most kids growing up with a love of Sci-fi and Trek in particular, I collected toys and games based on my favourite franchises, hoping Santa would be kind and put his elves to work finding those rare collectables and obscure objects that I'd seen on TV or in Adverts. Trips to our local department store or toy shop must've been a nightmare for my parents as there was always something I “needed” to add to my haul (I'm a father of two now myself so I understand fully what an issue it can be). I still have most of my collection, and have added a lot of items to it as an adult, but through my digging, searching and investigating what is out there, I've uncovered some wonderfully strange, rare, bizarre, and must have items, here are a few....
1: The “Trekcycle” Trike
3: The Official Star Trek Helmet What every landing party needs when exploring strange new words, it had “Authentic” sound effects and Warp Nacelles, though I suspect Warp Speed may have been a bit of a struggle!
2: The Remco CSF Enterprise
Remember that episode of TOS where Spock had to don a special helmet complete with a flashing light emitter to carry out dangerous scientific research? No, me neither, but just look at how magnificent it is! It has an Antenna! A pulsing Sonic sound! And it has “SPOCK” written on it so it's clearly logical! If you owned this, you were a somebody!
4. The “Inter Space” Communicator
This licensed version of the popular helicopter play set let you take control of an actual ‘flying’ U.S.S. Enterprise, albeit limited to a small circle. But still, for the 70's this was cutting edge technology and the stuff of dreams!
Barely an Inter-Room Communicator and not resembling the iconic devices seen on screen, these units allowed conversation to be carried out over distances that would normally require a slightly raised voice. That and the tendency to tangle the cord around anything in the vicinity made their appeal limited, but, hey, it has Kirk using one on the box so that's good enough for me.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
5: Star Trek Phaser Battle This was the cutting edge of home entertainment. It was the closest we could get to actually being on the bridge of the Enterprise and taking orders from James T. Kirk himself. A foreshadowing of the demand for home video games, parents would lose their children for hours as they escaped into the world they had longed to be a part of. The “graphics” were... less than perfect, but that didn't matter, it was suddenly real. They are fairly easy to get a hold of these days and prices aren't too ridiculous so if you find one, give us a review!
So there's a selection, a few of which I'd love to get my hands on, but what is lurking in your collection? What Trek toys do you remember playing with until they fell apart? Why not write a review and share it with the rest of SFC? I'm sure in years to come we'll look back on some of today's collectables and wonder where they got the idea from, but as long as they keep making it, we'll keep buying it. That's the beauty and the curse of our fandom, it never ends! And speaking of fandom…
Jackie Cowper of the Valkyrie introduces us to ‘Superfans’ from all over the world. Comms would like to thank everyone who participated! First up – Denise Dion, from Canada Hello, Denise, our first featured Superfan. Can you tell us a bit about yourself? A Superfan? Gosh, where do I begin? I’m married, have three children and live on a dairy farm in Canada. I guess I’ve been a Star Trek fan since I was 9 years old.
forgot it was due to be on that day, and had gone outside to put out the garbage. I rushed back in and sat there to watch, but I realized I had missed the title of the episode. I was making a list of the titles at the time, and it seemed like they were broadcasting them in order. I named the episode ‘The Two Kirks’ just for my own records – though I found out later it was actually ‘The Enemy Within’.
Why did Star Trek catch your attention, or appeal to you?
Star Trek was always very special to me but I always felt that no one else felt the same way. I used to record the audio of the episodes as well, so that I could hear the actor’s voices. With time, I got so good at it that I could recite them verbatim.
Star Trek: The Original Series aired their third season when I was about a year old. I only started getting interested in it, like so many others, when it went into syndication. I’d say I was about 9 years old at the time, somewhere around 1977. I still remember when the episodes were being shown every Saturday on our TV. One morning I
What was your first experience of Star Trek fandom and how did it affect you? Were you inspired? I believe it was when I got my first computer in 2009 and discovered the internet. There, on social media sites, I made so many friends. They felt the same passion for the series as I did and it allowed me to realize that I wasn’t crazy to love this show from the 60’s. It wasn’t just a show – it was so much more! That’s been shown to be true so many times since, just from the way it has inspired so many people,
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 whether they be engineers, astronauts, doctors, scientists. It was a good teacher. It encouraged people to understand the differences in others and to grow as a person. Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations. IDIC.
I also have a few gold key comics, all of the Marvel comics, over 180 DC comics. Starlog magazines and calendars. I also have a collection of models and some audio books. What’s your favourite item?
First convention? I’ve not been to a convention, per se. I have met James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols. James was at a car show in 1985 and Miss Nichols in 1991. They were both lovely people. When did you start collecting?
I’d have to think about that one! There are so many. Any that have a special story attached to them? I’d have to think about that one as well! If you could have a holodeck adventure, what would it be? It would have to be to be there, on the bridge of the Enterprise, alongside her crew! What’s your favourite episode……. Amok Time
I started collecting when I discovered the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I loved that book and read it many times. Gradually, I started collecting in the early 80’s. My parents and I would go to our favourite store and I would beg my mother to buy me a new star trek book. What do you have? I have nearly all the pocket books. I did stop collecting them around #82, circa 1997. I also have the Best of Trek books, the Bantam books - the list really is endless. I would estimate I have over 150 Star Trek books.
…….and your favourite Captain? Captain Kirk. What message do you feel we can all take from Star Trek? That there is hope for all of human kind. We need to listen to each other, accept the differences in others and grow from the knowledge we can obtain.
We’d like to extend our thanks to Denise for being the guinea-pig for this article. If you’d like to see more Star Trek Superfans – or even want to volunteer yourself for the spot – drop us a line at comms@starfleet-command.co.uk
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
This time our guest geek is Mark Mitchell, a 20-year veteran of SFC, currently serving as Director of Admin, COMMS Guest Editor and Scarlet Pimpernel impersonator: Lots of things drop down the chain of Command and for a change, this was something I was looking forward to – after Tom and Scott’s reminiscences, I jumped at the chance to wander down Memory Lane and wallow in some truly self-indulgent nostalgia. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Let me get one thing straight from the start: back in the day, when I was growing up there was no such thing as a geek! Families were just as likely to sit down to Tom Baker’s Doctor Who as Coronation Street, Space 1999 was as popular as The Sweeney, Action Man (back when he was still a British soldier) and Captain Kirk shared the toybox without complaint and in Corgi garages across the land Starsky and Hutch’s Ford Torino was parked alongside Cortinas and Rover police cars from the Met, while Thunderbird 2 kept watch on the helipad! It was years before some clever executive recognised the ‘niche’ markets and the many breeds of geek were formally catalogued – in the mean time, those of us with an interest in the fantastic had to muddle through without formal help! Sounds like hell, doesn’t it? And yet…
First Geek toy:
Like almost every boy of my generation, I LOVED the Eagle spacecraft from Space: 1999. They were ungainly, chunky ships with the grace
of a half-brick, but there was something about them. (I always thought they looked like a cross between NASA’s Apollo spacecraft and the Bell Sioux helicopters that featured in the M*A*S*H* opening titles and if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re too young, my friend.) - and Dinky (don’t laugh) Toys produced a die-cast Eagle that was the pride of many a young Alphans collection.
Although I never got the rare (and preferred) Eagle Transporter with passenger pod, my mother did manage to get me an Eagle Freighter complete with magnetic crane and cargo carousel with tiny plastic ‘radioactive waste’ containers to be hauled up and stored – hours of play, normally lying across the front room in front of the TV making whoosh noises as Alan Carter once again saved Moonbase Alpha from destruction by fly-tipping alien pikies! And the Eagle would turn out to be the first of a fleet of ships – which also led to a bit of a turning-point in my life…
PIVOTAL MOMENT: I loved my Eagle, but it looked a little lonely on it’s shelf all alone so it wasn’t long before I asked for the SHADO Interceptor to go with it. (In my defence, I have to explain that I was asking for it as a birthday present – I wasn’t that kid!) Unfortunately, the one and only toy shop at my end of the valley was out of stock and my brother wasn’t prepared to venture farther afield. So instead he bought me something else ‘spacey’ from the Dinky range: the USS Enterprise, a 70’s
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 miracle of injection moulding, die-cast metal and easy-to-swallow plastic accessories.
There was initial ingratitude - I was 7, after all – but my mum solved the problem by sitting me down in front of the TV (BBC 2, 6 o’clock) and introduced me to the repeats of an old TV show called STAR TREK. I always wondered what happened to it…? Thinking about it now, a second-choice toy leading to more than 20 years in Starfleet Command and the accompanying experiences and friendships - I can’t help thinking that I really should have been more grateful! Sorry, Steve.
General Geekiness:
Over the years, I’ve been guilty of many exhibitions of geekiness: commbadge AND rank pins on your (Next Gen maroon) everyday jacket anyone? Conversations have been littered with and sometimes hijacked wholesale by - geek topics. I’ve worked for a professional model maker (and worked on actual props from TNG at the Star Trek Exhibition); a copy of Rick Sternbach’s Enterprise portrait hung over my desk when I was still married and James Marsters thought my daughter was cute.I’ve appeared on TV in uniform more than once and shown my lightsaber skills on S4C and after all this time, I still get shivers down my spine when I hear “Space: The Final Frontier…”
I still build and paint the occasional Space Marine although I haven’t rolled a dice in anger in more than 10 years! And for a man in his 40’s my collection of superhero and sci-fi t-shirts is really quite impressive. These days, I like to think of myself as semi retired – still ready to leap into action, but otherwise I’m quite content to tinker with my latest pet project and occasionally embarrass Megan, my daughter with background geekery – did you know that someone my age shouldn’t be playing with Nerf guns?
Pride & Joy: She may be generally embarrassed by her dad the Starfleet Admiral, but Megan has inherited both her parents’ love for the fantastic – from dressing as a Starfleet Engineer for Book Day to choosing War of the Worlds as her first English Lit option she brings a lump to my throat and a manly tear to my eye to know I’ve helped raise a little geek. And while it may not be quite the force it once was, I’m inordinately proud to still be part of Starfleet Command after all this time and take a quiet pride in seeing the positive response most members have to the many pieces of ephemera I’ve contributed over the years.
Guilty Pleasure: I’ve followed Power Girl since she was a member of Justice League International (at least 4 re-boots ago) and even in a field renowned for scantily-clad heroines (Witchblade, New 52 Starfire, Star Saphire?) she’s always had a bad reputation. Well, at least she’s not the butt of the joke…
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 .
Black is not a colour, it is the absence of colour. Death is not a state of being, it is the absence of any state of being. The thought floated through Eva’s mind; it collided with her consciousness as she came round from deep sleep. The first true colour she saw was a flat grey which was rapidly spattered with vivid flashing reds, yellows, acid greens and purples. Her brain tried to make sense of the information that was flooding through her optic nerves. The colours coalesced into a computer screen, the screen showed her stats. Well, at least it confirmed she was alive. Through glass door of her sleep pod she could see the featureless grey walls of the Unity Stellar shuttle. Gas hissed as the pod equalized with the shuttle’s pressure. The door glided open. It amazed her that after 12 years inactivity her body wasn’t stiff and there were no aches or pains. She stretched anyway then ran her hands over her forearms. Her skin was supple and young, looking as good, if not better, than the day she went under. Even her hair was the same length and bright copper colour. She reckoned by the passage of time she was 54 years old, in waking time she was only 30. ‘Thank you. You did a good job,’ she said to the empty room. ‘You’re welcome, Eva,’ a soothing female voice replied. ‘Are we there yet?’ the request was one of habit; The Unity-Stellar system wouldn’t have woken her if not. ‘Yes, Eva, we are.’ Eva made her way to the viewing window. Barnard’s star was visible, so was the Unity space station which was in wide orbit around the red dwarf. ‘We’re ready to dock. Eva, please provide the docking key.’ ‘What key? I don’t have a docking key.’ ‘Yes, you do Eva. Please place your hand in the reader.’
A tray slid out from the flat grey wall. Eva eyed it warily. It appeared to have a purplish gel lining the bottom. She extended a finger; the gel was warm to the touch. ‘Thank you, Eva. Docking will now commence.’ ‘Hang on a minute. This isn’t normal procedure. Since when did we have docking keys. Since when did we have tray of gunk that came out from the wall. I get it; I’m still in deep sleep. I’m REM’ing.’ ‘No, Eva, you’re awake. The upgrades happened whilst you were sleeping.’ ‘Don’t be stupid. You’re not equipped to self-upgrade. Anyway, where would you get the hardware?’ There was no reply. ‘Stellar?’ Deadly silence. ‘Unity-Stellar shuttle, provide an explanation.’ Sweat was starting to prick on her brow. The silence continued. ‘Give me a damned answer.’ ‘Eva, please go to the decontamination pod and prepare to proceed to the next phase.’ ‘Stellar, tell me what’s going on. Now!’ ‘Eva, please go to the decontamination pod and prepare to proceed to the next phase.’ ‘No. Give me a comms link to the space station.’ ‘Certainly, Eva. You may speak now.’ ‘Unity space station, this is astrophysicist Eva Trelawn. Please acknowledge.’ The reply was immediate,‘Unity Space Centre, acknowledging Eva Trelawn. Please proceed to the next phase.’ ‘What is going on here?’ Eve felt the air getting thinner. Her lungs were starting to burn. ‘Please, proceed to the next phase.’ ‘Okay. Okay. But someone had better have some answers. You don’t go round changing stuff like this when someone’s in deep sleep and then not explain.’ A door slid open; Eva took a deep breath of the refreshed air, and walked towards it. The faint glow at the end of the passage was somewhat reassuring, as were the figures she could see on the other side of the semi-transparent door. Once sealed in the passage she waited to see what would happen next. Nothing appeared to happen until the semi-transparent door opened. Her boots failed to get a grip as she turned to run from the beings that looked in at her. The impact of the fall sent a shooting pain up her left arm. Sweating
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 palms stopped her pushing herself further back; they slipped with a high pitched screech across the polished metal of the floor. Stellar spoke. ‘Eva, please proceed to the next phase.’ ‘Go to hell, Stellar.’ Fear replaced anger. ‘Stellar, please wake me up. Don’t leave me here.’ The beings entered the passage way. Their tall frames almost filling the space. A long limb stretched out towards her. Three digits that terminated the translucent skinned appendage, wrapped around her ankle. ‘I can’t wake you up, you are already awake.’ Eva screamed. To her surprise the hand released her ankle and the being backed away. ‘What’s happening?’ The pitch of Eva’s voice was high. The rhythm of her heart was uneven. Sweat soak through her linen uniform making it cling uncomfortably. ‘What are you? Jesus, this isn’t happening. STELLAR, WAKE ME UP.’ ‘I can’t wake you up, you are not asleep.’ The beings retreated. The door slid to sealing her in the passage again. Eva leant against the wall, waiting for her heart to regain its normal beat pattern.
‘They are the crew of the Unity-Stellar space station.’ A siren wailed. The passage walls glowed alternate red and grey. Above the wail, Stellar’s voice announced, ‘Barnard’s star, star-flare in three, two, one. Star-flare in progress.’ The walls of the passage seemed to dissolve. Eva could see the suns of distant solar systems; she could feel the cold of space drawing the living heat from her body. The suns faded, there was blackness, a total absence of colour. Eva’s consciousness faded with the suns. The life in her faded; she had no state of being . The Unity Stellar shuttle uncoupled from the space station and headed back to earth with its programs and hardware once again upgraded. The inhabitants of the space station watched as the shuttle diminished in size. ‘We must continue to try and help them evolve or they will all die,’ said the tallest of the beings. He rested his hand on the shoulder of his companion. ‘Why did it kill her, and the others before her? It didn’t kill us? Is the star alive? Is it choosing?’ she said. ‘I don’t know. I’ll analyse the docking key DNA sample. All I know now is that the flares are getting more frequent and not just Barnard’s, all the suns we’ve monitored are starting to doing the same. Remember, that’s why they sent us sent us out here in the first place.’
This couldn’t be real. It must be a dream. Why wasn’t Stellar answering her questions? Then it dawned on Eva, Stellar was answering. Maybe she was asking the wrong question. ‘Stellar, what’s the next phase?’ ‘The next phase is an altered state of being.’ ‘I don’t understand. What are the beings on the other side of the door?’ ‘The beings are those humans who have proceeded to the next phase.’ ‘They are human? Who are they?’
Scotty ADM Scott D Arlow Director of Operations
A tear formed in the black, almond shaped eye of the female. ‘Did they know before they sent us? Did they know the flares would alter our DNA, changed us into this? She held her hand out in front of her. The tear ran down her cheek to her small pointed chin and dropped onto her grey skinned arm. The male didn’t answer. They both already knew the answer, sightings of greys were prevalent in most cultures on earth.
STARFLEET COMMAND – fleet COMMUNICATIONS e-mail: comms@starfleet-command.co.uk facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/starbaseeuropa/ forums: www.starbaseeuropa.proboards.com/
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
AUGUST 2014, STARbase europa, sector 001 Hello again, crew. It’s hard to admit to failure – like every good Starfleet officer, I don’t like to lose and personally I’d rather take a beating than let down the friends who rely on me (as these last issues of COMMS prove) – but over the last couple of months things have got a little out of hand in the Admin office. Thanks to an unexpected bout of ill health, I was unable to keep up with Fleet paperwork: as a result, memberships, member services and the academy (ironically, I’d been covering SFA because of longterm illness) were all in abeyance. I’ve already apologised to DOPS for the lapse in service and by the time this issue goes to (virtual) press Starfleet Command will be up to date once again and options will have been activated to prevent it happening again any time soon. This also means that Captain Wendy Dutton is resigning as Academy Commandant and will be joining the Headquarters staff as my ADC. On behalf of the entire Admiralty Board, I’d like to thank Wendy for sterling work under adverse circumstances – and for her ongoing tolerance of the foibles of the Admirals. With Captain Dutton’s reassignment, Lieutenant Kevin Hooper will be caretaking Starfleet Academy in addition to his duties as XO of the Old Sarum until such time as we appoint a replacement Commandant. And with that in mind: A brief outline of the job description for Commandant, Starfleet Academy (CSFA): A A A A A A
Commandant, Starfleet Academy is a Fleet Support position CSFA will receive a brevet promotion to Staff Captain. The CSFA will be confirmed in rank upon completion of a probationary period decided by the Admiralty Board CSFA will liaise with all Fleet Support Division Heads to maintain up-to-date examinations CSFA primary duty will be to serve as ‘scene-setting’ and introduction to Starfleet Command for new members. CSFA will work with Fleet Admin to create a Cadet Manual for new members. CSFA will eventually work with Fleet Support Division Heads, ADMIN and DOPS to create a “Staff College” for post-graduate study.
As always, applications for Commandant, Starfleet Academy should be directed to Admiral Scott Arlow, Director of Operations. Elsewhere in the Fleet, the Board regrets that Vice Admiral Jason Hickinbotham has tendered his resignation – Hicky has been a fixture for as long as we can remember and we grant his transfer to Inactive status with gratitude for many years of dedication to SFC. With the loss of the Atheling and Avon, their crews are being transferred back to Starbase Europa with the option of transfer to a new unit if they so wish. Also, there’s been some confusion about ranks and promotions recently, so I’ve taken the liberty of including an extract from Fleet Regs on the current protocols. And that’s about it from me as I temporarily take over Hicky’s office and it’s famed built-in bar – normal service will now continue. For a given value of normal… This is Admin, over and out…
Mark
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
There’s no denying that Star Trek Into Darkness polarised fandom like nothing since the does she/doesn’t she debate over Captain Janeway and Nicorette patches, but it also made shedloads of cash for the studio and proved that the audience is out there for further cinematic adventures, so let’s take a look at some of the stories which have been blocking up the news feeds: Naturally, we want to see the mission that started it all – more than that, we want to see more of those “strange new worlds” the closing credits of Star Trek (2009) teased us with – and it seems we’re not alone! What we know so far: The IMDB listing for Star Trek 3 confidently gives us a 2016 release date and confirms Roberto Orci as Director as well as sharing writing credits with Patrick McKay and John (J.D.) Payne. Ah, But… In an Interview with Digital Spy, Producer JJ Abrams said “we haven't talked about a release date. We don't want to wait four years, the same amount of time between the last one and this one, but [2016] is going to be a big year to celebrate, hopefully.” Could that mean Abrams is under pressure from Paramount to have ST3 ready for Trek’s 50th anniversary? It would certainly make a lot of sense to have a new instalment in the cinema to take advantage of whatever celebrations CBS or Paramount might be inclined to arrange. Star Trek into Speculation: But JJ Abrams is famous for his rigid control of production news, suppression of set leaks and clever use of teasers, so even with his departure as director to a galaxy far, far away, we can still expect news to be thin and far between – but in the mean time, there’s always good old-fashioned unregulated rumour! Orci has already mentioned to more than one source that The 5-Year mission is the inevitable progression of the story, even telling Trek Movie that Kirk and crew “have set off on their five-year mission. So their adventure is going to be in deep space.”
Cast look forward to Boldly Going… Karl Urban recently told IGN: “What I really believe we should do now is strive for originality…let's not forget that Star Trek as envisioned was about space exploration. And it would be really wonderful to harness the spirit of that and apply it to the next film, so that we do something different …“ Elsewhere, Zachary Quinto was enthusiastic about Orci’s attachment as Director and added his own opinion on the direction the series should be taking: “I think the five-year mission will be a part of this next film…We’re coming up on the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most iconic sci-fi series in entertainment history so it’s inherently an ongoing story. But I do think that we’ll feel some sense of evolution in these characters that’s been building through the first few films.” And although she’s currently busy promoting Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Zoe Saldana said that she’s sure that the third instalment would see Uhura take an even-more hands-on role and addressed rumours about a Spock-Uhura break up: “They have such a special bond. It would be heartbreaking for me to know that they would break up.”
So There You Have It.. For now, no one who knows what’s going on is talking, the cast all hope it’s going to be something worth getting out of bed for and Paramount would like you to see it twice… More news as we get it!
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
vice ADMIRAL JASON HICKINBOTHAM, OUTGOING Commanding OFFICER Starbase Europa First off thank you to the CO’s who have continually sent reports in for inclusion to Starbase Review. Without those submissions those pages would be very bare indeed. Also to remind you of the examinations and awards we have. The exams are downloadable from the Engineering section of the forum. We have three exam levels: Silver, Gold and Platinum. The award categories are: The Montgomery Scott Award for Engineering Excellence - Awarded to the Officer who has been recognized by Fleet, CO or CEO for their contribution to the Unit. Meritorious Unit Citation - For the Unit who passes the criteria for the Engineering Fleet Project. Unit Citation - Is presented to the Unit who has performed consistently over the year. Certificate in Starship Design - For members who do scratch/kit model building or draw/sketch. Send photos in of your creations. Chief Engineer's Recommendation - Awarded by Fleet to the Engineering Officer recommended by their CEO. An Officer can be given this award more than once. Congratulations to Douglas Langstaff of U.S.S. Northumberland who received the Montgomery Scott Award for Engineering Excellence. The doors are always open to the forum, drop in and have a chat, laugh or both. It costs nothing to participate, but you can donate to the tea fund.
Hicky VAdm. Jason Hickinbotham CO Starbase Europa
Admiralty Announcement: Due to unforeseen circumstances, VADM Hickinbotham has reluctantly resigned as CO Starbase Europa. On behalf of the Board we wish him well in the future and thank him for his input and advice. To ensure operations continue smoothly, the Director of Communications will be taking over collection, collation and publication of Unit Reports and sharing management of the Fleet Forums and facebook group with the Director of Administration while the Board consults with senior staff on the future of the position. Keep an eye on SBE at facebook and the boards for further developments.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
Warning: This Article contains spoilers, don’t blame me if you weren’t keeping up!
I won’t deny it, this article was originally going to be called “Told You So!” - as I mentioned in my last article, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. took more than it’s fair share of abuse during it’s first season: weak scripts, weak characters, over-reliance on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fan service, the list goes on… And I will admit that some of the criticisms were valid – I pointed out the team jiggler myself! – but time and again the cast and crew said “just wait…” Well, now we know what we were waiting for, because the second half of the first season was a game-changer!
Movie Magic! It turns out, that what we were waiting for was Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the complete and total gutting of S.H.I.E.L.D. at the hands of a reborn Hydra emerging from within the organisation that should have been defending against it. And on the small screen, things rapidly went from bad to worse for Coulson and his team. In retrospect, this was a fantastic piece of plotting – CA:TWA gave us some epic eye candy: Helicarriers exchanging broadsides, buildings demolished, gigantic secret hangers under Washington, quinjet strafing runs and the incredible cgi that gave us Robert Redford. But MAOS was all about picking up the pieces as Coulson watched the organisation he had (literally) given his life for smashed while he was powerless to stop it.
Just following Orders… The revelation that born-again Nazis were running S.H.I.E.L.D. also threw light on a lot of uncomfortable subjects that we’d put aside for future consideration. “All the secrets” that Coulson had dedicated the team to revealing – the conspiracies, secret operations and hidden layers of the organisation suddenly seemed much more plausible when you realise that the Red Skull’s heirs are running the show. Even Coulson’s medical nightmare makes sense – until you realise that Nick Fury himself ran that operation in secret and now you’re just as lost as Coulson and his team. Cut off from S.H.I.E.L.D. Central, Coulson and his team are forced to rely on the few allies they still have in the field – which turns out to be their worst mistake when John Garrett, an old ally of Coulson turns out to be at the heart of the conspiracy. Bill Paxton was a joy as the cool traitor hiding behind the goodole-boy persona – even if he was obviously a villain from the start. And once the idea of a traitor in the team itself had been planted, the paranoia ratcheted up to palpable levels: was Skye selling the team out? Who was May reporting to? Was ANYONE trustworthy? And it turned out the team had one great ally left – Agent Victoria Hand who was holding the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D. together by sheer force of will and more than a little guile.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
Curse your inevitable betrayal! Until the show threw us a textbook Whedon Reverse: with a single shot, Agent Grant Ward, all-American-boy, hyper-confident field agent and all-around heart-throb was revealed as Garrett’s protégé and jaws dropped all around the world. In a series of lightning raids Garrett – who had used his S.H.I.E.L.D. clearance to access the organisation’s databanks to create the pretence of being the Clairvoyant – releases the inmates of The Fridge – S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ultra-high security prison – steals an entire arsenal of confiscated super weapons and tech, makes off with the sample of gravitonium that Coulson ordered buried and forgotten, along with the samples from the T.A.H.I.T.I. project and just to ice the cake, we discover Mike Peterson is alive and well and working for Garrett as Dethlok! For a while it looked like Hydra held the upper hand. Fury is dead and Hydra, Congress, the U.S. Army, even the United Nations seem to be after the remains of S.H.I.E.L.D., declaring it a criminal organisation and dividing up it’s advanced equipment between themselves. Even Maria Hill, Fury’s former Second-in-Command betrays the team, having taken a job with Stark Industries believing there’s no coming back from a fall this far and assisting Colonel Glenn Talbot’s Special Forces team to locate Fury’s hidden bases so that the U.S. military can claim them for themselves. Even Coulson’s beloved cellist is threatened and the team find that their only choice is to fight back and operate on their own terms, going back to basics with no support, no Bus and nothing more than a case of antique spy gadgets and the weapons they’ve managed to salvage during their fighting retreat.
Back to Basics But Coulson’s been dead before, so a little adversity isn’t going to stop him. Teaming up with Agent Triplett, stealing Garrett’s jump jet and stealing back Lola from the Bus under Garrett’s nose – in flight! – the team goes on the offensive culminating in the season finale “Beginning of the End”. Playing to their strengths, the team set out to bring down Garrett’s operation with ain a desperate sting operation only for Fitz and Simmons to fall prey to Ward’s treachery, leaving them abandoned and trapped at the bottom of the Gulf of California. Things look bad for our favourite geeks until our favourite eye-patched superspy comes back from the dead in a reveal that would have been awesome – if only Channel 4 hadn’t been advertising it for a week…
End of the Beginning? But Fury’s not here to pick random geeks from the deep, he has his own debt to settle with Garrett and he’s brought a few little surprises for Agent Coulson – or should I say Director Coulson? With the Clairvoyant out of the picture and Hydra out in the open, someone has to take on the task of rebuilding S.H.I.E.L.D. and Avenger Phil Coulson is Fury’s number one choice. But like the man said – it’s a long road…
Post Mortem For me, MAOS managed a couple of incredible feats: it provided a connective tissue between the MCU and it’s TV incarnation, it actually told stories in the style and spirit of the comics that inspired them and it actually managed to make Phil Coulson even more ridiculously competent – and most remarkably, it turned me into a Whedon fan! I know he’s only show runner, but so many scripts crackle with his trademark dialogue that it’s hard to dispute his authorship. Roll on Season Two and look out Hydra!
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
AUGUST 2014, STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS, LONDON As the incoming Director of Fleet Communications, it would be remiss of me not to give me a brief introduction so you all have an idea of who I am, what makes me tick, and what you can expect from me in future issues of COMMS. I am a lifelong fan of all things geeky, be it comic books, sci-fi/fantasy movies and TV, books and games, and Star Trek, in particular, holds a special place in my heart. I live in the cold North East, in Newcastle with my equally geeky wife and kids. I'm lucky that our local “Geek Scene” is on the rise and regularly get to attend conventions and get together with other genre fans, as well as spend way too much on collectibles and the likes which are taking over our home at an alarming rate. I first joined SFC as an engineer aboard the U.S.S. Northumberland where I eventually ended up as CO. I am proud to say that the Unit has gone from strength to strength pulling in enthusiastic new members from across the globe and really coming into it's own. Now that my time aboard the Unit has come to an end, I'll miss the Ship and her Crew but look forward to seeing her adventures as they go on. That said, I have already made some great friends through SFC. There are those who share my interests and enjoy a good discussion about Trek as much as I do, and there are also a couple of genuine friends who I can talk about all manner of things, Trek or otherwise, and I look forward to our regular chats on the phone, and meeting up when time and life allows. That's the beauty of our club, we can meet people we never normally would and can forge friendships that will last a lifetime. As the new DOFC, I plan on bringing out regular editions of COMMS to our members and have a lot of fantastic articles in place, including interviews with some real stars of sci-fi and a couple of genuine legends from the world of Star Trek that I am incredibly excited about and can't wait to share with you all. So that's a little of what you can expect from me, but I'd also like something from you, the members. Like we say time and time again, SFC is a meritocracy, you get out what you put into it, and the same goes for COMMS. This is the ideal platform to share your thoughts and scribblings with your fellow members. Submit your stories, reviews, fiction, whatever you can come up with and it could be featured in a future issue! COMM (B) Tom Burns, Director of Fleet Communications
STARFLEET COMMAND – fleet COMMUNICATIONS SUBMISSIONS ARE always REQUIRED FOR SFC COMMS: ARTICLES, ARTWORK, SHORT FICTION, NEWS AND REVIEWS GRATEFULLY RECEIVED EMAIL YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO Comms@starleet-command.co.uk
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
straight after the con. I put it down to the con, though the new job is great!
When Rebecca Allott, the CMO of the USS Old Sarum told me that we could go to the Destination Star Trek: Germany convention for less than £150 for the whole three day event I thought she was lying. Then as the infectious grin of the Sarum's Captain, Paul Harrison, spread across his face I knew that they were up to something. We were going to Germany! They had paid for my flight as a Christmas present (I know, I have amazing friends), saving a bundle by booking early, and all I had to do was finance the event and hostel room for myself. These were around £50 each thanks to our CMOs bargain sniffing nose. As the event loomed ever nearer I had started to probably bug my friends and I KNEW I was bugging the Facebook crowd with my near constant yay's woop's and smilies, all about DST:G! But this didn't deter me... Oh no! Me and Paul had been to the DST:L event in 2012, and apart from the crowding it was a brilliant event, however we'd regretted not doing the whole weekend, the themed parties or a bridge shoot. These became top of out list of things to do. I packed about a week early, making sure my passport was at the front along with the printed tickets and made sure all my Star Trek themed clothing was clean. I remember the week dragging like a wounded Sehlat, though I wasn't sure if this was excitement for the event or my starting of a new job
Paul and Rebecca turned up at my house at a ridiculous time in the morning for our 7 (ish) am flight, and like excited school kids we jumped in the car for London Heathrow Airport. The journey consisted of us nattering away about a lot of quite frankly random things, from questions about my up and coming job to the event, including the logistics of it all. But finally we got to Heathrow and parked the car. I could've ran to the terminal I was that excited! After the tediousness of getting through customs we grabbed ourselves some food and took a seat, and before long we were making our way to the departures gate, where we all were wondering how many of our fellow Trekkies would be on this flight! A short hop of a few hours later and we were in Germany!! Though this is where our only confusion of the weekend occurred. We had landed at Frankfurt Hahn airport as intended, however we had no idea that it was about 2 hours away from Frankfurt itself!! A rather confused bus trip later, with all three of us wondering how the airport could be classified as a Frankfurt airport considering it's proximity, and we was there. We booked into the hostel, had a quick wash and got changed into the uniforms we'd decided on. For Paul it was a TOS Captains uniform, Rebecca was in a TOS Medical skirt and myself a homemade STO top made from a hoody! All ready, we stepped into the German sunshine in all our Trekkie glory and walked to the event.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 We finally found the entrance to the event, and got to the queuing like good Brits, doing the usual of have a nosey of what everyone else was wearing and seeing if we could spot anyone we knew. There were a few brilliant homemade uniforms in the mix, and an armies worth of shop bought ones. We got to the front of the queue, was given our 3 day event wristbands, and made our way in. We were finally there!! The entrance corridor to the event itself was lined with episode posters from TOS, which I had personally never seen before. We set about absorbing the sights and sounds of the hall, the welcome ceremony in the background, the cheers from fans in the talks.
I had no clue who was going to be playing that night, but I am so happy we went. Tim Russ. TIM 'TUVOK' RUSS! And he was AMAZING! The crowd started off just talking pictures, but slowly they started dancing. The band was brilliant, with an amazing collection of rock n roll, they had the crowd grinning away with Tim's huge grin and bopping the night away. We had a few drinks, including a few Blood Wines, and eventually called it a night as we still had more to come.
The almost endless stalls of merchandise, uniforms, tshirts and other random stuff. We had a good old moan about the price of the stall with the official uniforms on, the Filmwelt company who wanted in excess of ÂŁ600 for a full set of Nemesis uniform at film standards. No thanks, unless I win the lottery, then I'll be calling them first! We finally decided it was food time, and left the arena to grab a bite to eat, seeing the odd smattering of uniforms and a lot of confused looks from the "normal" people. A bit more wondering around and we decided it was time to have a quick snooze before changing and dinner. It was time for the after party!
Day two, and the Old Sarum crew went with matching 2009 Star trek uniform, me and Paul in gold and Rebecca in Red. It was time for our bridge shoot! Sitting in the XOs chair I could barely suppress an enormous grin, and the pictures we got will take pride of place in my man cave when I finally frame them. A bit more looking around, we found some hidden gems we'd missed the day before, attended a few of the talks and Paul even won a baseball cap in a quiz. It was rapidly coming to the end of my weekend, as I had to fly on the Sunday morning. An evening meal of Pizza from an amazing little place near the hostel, and it was bed time. I won't bore you all with the return journey, but I will say this: What a brilliant weekend! Roll on DST:3 in London, and I hope to see you there. LLAP SFC Lt Kevin Hooper, XO USS Old Sarum
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
years supposedly based on true events. This particular film, however, is a lot better than most. The plot treads familiar territory, following a young journalist on a twisting trail of uncovered secret documents, all based around the real world and staggeringly unethical MK Ultra drug trials the US Government conducted in the 1960s. From Executive Producer Zachary Quinto’s ‘Before the Door’ pictures comes this jump-out-of-your-seat horror that will terrify with its unique blend of fact, conspiracy and the paranormal. ‘Banshee Chapter’ is the deserved winner of Total Film’s ‘Scariest Movie Award’ at Film4 FrightFest and is “guaranteed to make you squeal like a newborn” (Time Out)!
What it's about: A young journalist (Katia Winter) with an appetite for controversy, follows the trail of a strange government research chemical that might have caused the disappearance of her close friend (Michael McMillian). After tracing the substance to the desert ranch of an infamous retired novelist (Ted Levine), she’s drawn into an experience of terror and frightening entities that she cannot escape. The labyrinthine trail of evidence leads her into the disturbing world of black ops chemical projects, unexplained radio transmissions, and shadowy disfigured entities in the blackness of night. Anne will do anything to uncover what lies behind her friend’s disappearance. But to her horror, she discovers that it wants to find her too.
My take: When Banshee Chapter first came in to SFC HQ I have to admit to being somewhat sceptical. Sure, the reviews we had seen were very positive, however I've been told more times than I care to count that a film was a “jump-out-of-yourseat horror” and there has been a glut of found footage films in recent
(Editor’s note: The film’s website claims it was inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s “From Beyond” - but we’ve heard that before, haven’t we kiddies?) There is a nicely paced sense of suspense and paranoia that takes us back to some of the best suspense horrors of the 1970's or the very best of those contemporary unsettling efforts such as Ringu or Ju-On. The message here is clear: Don't do drugs kids! This is clearly a great example of a bad trip, although watching the film, I can't help but draw parallels with the legendary Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the wild life of Hunter S Thompson. The actors give strong performances, and the relationship between journalist Anne (Katia Winter) and Blackburn (Ted Levine) is well plotted, though the way the narrative is intercut with the found footage segments can prove distracting. It is undoubtedly a film that will have you double checking that you've locked the doors before bed, however the film never fully engages or lives up to it's premise. Maybe we've just become a little too jaded with the endless stream of found footage films that have
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 disappointed time and again, but there is a slight feel of the X-Files about this movie. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, I just can't help but feel that it would have done so much better a few years ago. I’d give it a conspiratory 7/10 Tom (sleeping with the lights on) Burns
NOW SET THE BANSHEE LOOSE WITH A COMMS -EXCLUSIVE COMPETITION! If you’d like the chance to make your own mind up about Banshee Chapter’s conspiracy theories, we’ve got a copy up for grabs! Just answer this simple question:
Banshee Chapter Co-star Ted Levine played which cinematic serial killer? E-mail your answer to comms@starfleet-command.co.uk with the subject “Banshee Boodle.” Competition closes at midnight on 01/09/2014 and the winner will be picked at random and notified within 7 days. Standard Starfleet Command Competition Terms and Conditions apply. Get those entries in and GOOD LUCK!
Commodore Tom Burns, starbase Europa quartermaster stores As I've been appointed the new Fleet Quartermaster, part of my task is to bring you new and exciting items from our CafePress store. We have all had those moments where we are under pressure to find a unique gift for a family member or friend – Birthdays, Valentine's Day, Anniversaries, etc all have that annoying habit of happening every year. Luckily we have a wide selection of fantastic items available right now to spend your cash on, and at great prices. Why not take a look at the range of T-Shirts on offer, all customisable in different styles and colours:
or how about a new mouse mat proudly displaying the Official SFC Commissioning Plaque of your own Unit?
And, of course, who wouldn't love to see the smile on their significant other's face as they unwrap a new pair of Orion Slaver's Guild pants? But now, here's where you, the members, come in. What do you want to see in the shop? What items do you wish were available to add to your collection? We have a great shop, but it will only be a success if we can stock the items you want to buy. Let us know and we will do our best to make it happen. On a similar note, we would love to offer members our own Comm Badge to wear with pride on your Uniforms or taking pride of place in your homes. However, we are yet to receive a single submission for the Fleet Comm Badge Design competition. If you create a winning design, we will make it a reality, bringing recognition across Fleet! This is a perfect example of what we all know, you get out of the club what you put into it, so get involved and show us what you can do. Comm. Tom Burns, FQM http://www.cafepress.com/qmstores_europa
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
When we learned way back in July of 2013 that the theme of the next Brinnington Arts Festival was going to be “Exploration”, Mark Rogers of the Demeter had wondered what kind of funding he could raise to build a starship for the annual Lantern Parade – and nearly got us thrown out of a tenants meeting! But he’d planted a seed in my mind and by the time that I volunteered for the Lantern Team in January, a plan had formed in my mind. The team had already planned to build that well known vehicle of exploration the TARDIS, with a drift of accompanying stars so I just hitched my wagon (train) to those stars and got permission from a sceptical team to build a starship of indeterminate size but probably at least six feet long. Nobody could accuse me of thinking small! Oh, did I mention I’d be building it out of willow and tissue paper? To be honest, I may have gone into this project without proper consideration of the difficulties – try forming dry willow withies into a one meter-diameter ring braced and tensioned with masking tape and cable ties some time and you’ll have a text book understanding of awkward! But with a little patience and a LOT of blood, toil tears and sweat (and swearing) things started to come together. Once the saucer skeleton was built up and all the necessary supports strengthened, I pasted on the tissue paper upper surface and left it to dry while the construction team moved on to the secondary hull – and by construction team I mean me, myself and I. Apparently, there were doubts that I’d be finished in time for the parade – then a month away.
I’d no sooner got the bare members of the secondary hull assembled and braced than I was called off to “more
important things”: assembling the frameworks that local school children would be building their own lanterns on – 200 of the damn things – assembling a ‘spray’ of small stars built from garden canes, building lighting rigs for the other feature lanterns and (my particular favourite) retrieving the battered and abused remains of the community newsletter from the bowels of an apple mac. But after a week away from my pet project, I was allowed back – and told to get my skates on because I’d “lost a week”… (Swearing, officers for the use of, begin!) Working from plans I’d overlaid on schematics of the Constitution refit from Wrath of Khan, I built up frameworks and load-bearing supports for dorsal neck and engines – all designed to mesh and tie together with cable ties in final assembly so we wouldn’t have to take a window out to get the damned thing out of the assembly room! In a remarkably short time, the main hulls came together ready for test assembly and we hit our first snag – with the dorsal strengthened for the weight of the saucer, no way were we getting connie II engines into the space. In a snap decision that was either inspiration, desperation or the result of beer, I drew up an engine design based on simple boxes and straight lines that would literally slap together in seconds flat. I now had a saucer, secondary hull and engines – and thanks to Mark Rogers and his rare talent for funding, a lighting set to rival Industrial Light and Magic. With a week to go, construction transferred to the local church hall – and Team Starfleet gained another member: Mark Windridge, an honorary Starfleet Engineer who not only speaks geek like a native but also understand construction, electronics and beer! With
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 leaps and bounds in assembly, the day before the parade the reclassified Community Class starship (don’t hold it against me, the neighbourhood management team LOVED it!) was braced on a carrying litter god himself (or any entity posing as a god) couldn’t have knocked her off, with her internal lighting assembled and awaiting final connections. Which was lucky, because an hour before the parade, I was still pasting access hatches shut as we finally installed the saucer and engine nacelles and brought the lights online … Mark Rogers arrived shortly after to the unusual sight of an admiral praying to the gods of structural integrity as cable ties were tightened on all the load-bearing structures. And then it was to late to worry about what we may have missed – Mark and his wife Sal took a corner of the support frame each and with a third volunteer were on their way.
I’ll be honest – the thrill of standing on the street outside the church hall and seeing ‘my’ ship rise up over the wall? Nothing like it! Especially when a little voice somewhere over my shoulder said “No mum, it’s from Star TREK, not Star Wars!” And then the crew gave me a dip of the saucer in passing… well, I’m fairly certain that was dust in my eye. With Wendy acting as photographer for the event team, we were kept busy for the rest of the walk, recording all the lanterns – not just the epic ones, apparently. But I made sure I was waiting at the finishing point so I could give the order “Station Keeping, Mr Rogers, set her down.”
And that’s when disaster struck. The two Marks and I were taking photos with the lantern, admiring the lighting rig (99% solar, I’m proud to say) and generally bigging ourselves up when the word came down that the promised storage for the feature lanterns had fallen through and there was nowhere to store the starship or the quartet of 6ft starbursts that had followed her around
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 the village. Diplomacy demands that I make no comment about the saving of the TARDIS. I remember we stood in silence for a couple of minutes before someone asked me what I wanted to do. “Stand by to initiate Self Destruct Sequence” I muttered as I cut the main support ties – sometimes you just have to hide behind your geekery. Now I know how Kirk felt at Genesis Goodbye, U.S.S. Brinnington, we barely knew you.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
What follows is an excerpt from the current Starfleet Officers handbook and may be taken as a guide to Starfleet Command’s current policy on ranking and promotion: As we’ve already said, Starfleet Command is a meritocracy – that means that we recognise talent and ability and reward it. In practice that means that the more you put in to SFC, the more you’ll get out! The most common question asked by new members is “How do I get promoted?” Simply – by participating! We will encourage you to take part in activities both at the Fleet level and within your Unit. Take part at any level, in any capacity and your efforts will be recognised and rewarded. During your assignment to Starfleet Academy, you will be granted the initial rank of Cadet and will be automatically promoted to Ensign on graduation. Graduates who pass with Distinction will be recommended to their Commanding Officers for promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade at the earliest opportunity. Cadets who opt out of the Academy or are passed on credits will be assigned as Crewman. Within Starfleet Command promotions are awarded for service, as a reward, and for accepting increased responsibility within the organisation. Promotions will only be be one rank at a time, and must be documented by the promoting officer. Starfleet Ranks are considered permanent as long as a member remains active and in good standing and Final authority for promotion ultimately resides with the Admiralty Board, who necessarily must delegate to various levels within Starfleet in order to recognise those individuals deserving of promotion. Authorised individuals with relevant authority cannot promote themselves. Unit Commanding Officers can promote the crew under them to one rank below theirs or up to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, as appropriate. Units are free to develop their own promotion criteria and determine the means by which promotions may be achieved and Unit Department Heads are encouraged and expected to recommend members under their supervision for promotion as and when appropriate. Please contact your Unit Department Head or Executive Officer for details of your Unit’s Promotion guidelines. Some ranks and positions may require the completion of examinations or other tests before they can be made available to candidates. The Director of Operations promotes the Commanding and Executive Officers of newly commissioned Units, or when a change of command takes place. By Regulation, the Commanding Officer may only be promoted up to the rank of Commander and the Executive Officer to Lieutenant Commander, assuming they do not already hold this rank or higher. The appropriate paperwork must be submitted before these promotions will be ratified and in order for a Unit
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 Commanding Officer’s rank to remain permanent, they must serve in post for at least six months, unless there are overruling circumstances – in which case, the Commanding Officer or their representative may request permanent rank from the Director of Operations. The rank of Commander is at the approval of the Admiralty Board and the rank of Captain and all above are awarded to Unit Commanding Officers judged to be of sufficient seniority and to have been visibly active in post for the required length of time or to officers of exemplary quality or character serving under Commanding Officers holding Flag Rank, with the approval of the Admiralty Board. The grade of Captain can only be awarded in one way: By authority of the Admiralty Board. Admiralty (Flag) ranks are permanent upon completion of their terms of office. Should these officers not complete their term of office, for any reason, the Admiralty Board will determine their appropriate final rank. Should a Starbase Commander or Admiralty Board member retire from post and return to serve upon a unit, they may retain their rank providing they are known as Ambassador. Should they later wish to serve in an active manner the Director of Fleet Operations in consultation with the Commanding Officer will choose an appropriate lower rank for them to assume whilst serving onboard the Unit. Should a Flag Officer return to the Fleet after a period of inactivity, the Director of Fleet Operations will consult on an appropriate rank: an active role will require a lower rank commensurate with their new assignment while an inactive role will retain their previous rank but will be designated as Ambassador. The rank of Staff Captain and Fleet Captain are unusual in nature. Staff Captain is granted a member of Headquarters Staff that hold the rank or would be promoted to Captain. The rank is equal in scale to Captain, and is only used to differentiate Headquarters Staff from Commanding Officers. The rank of Fleet Captain is a special rank, which the Admiralty Board may bestow on Captains who have showed an unusual dedication to duty or performed other remarkable acts in the service of Starfleet Command. Ranks are to be awarded for service and responsibility within Starfleet, not for political or personal favours.
Stardate 68584.66 - 01/08/2014 To all commands, all vessels – attention: PROMOTIONS and transfers: The Officers below are acknowledged to have performed their duty efficiently and professionally to the high standards expected of Starfleet Officers and are duly recognised:
Commander THomas Burns transferred to Headquarters assigned as Director of communications, brevetted Commodore captain wendy Dutton transferred to Starfleet Headquarters, assigned as adc to admin doug drexler awarded honorary rank of staff captain MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES: The Officers below have been recognised at the highest level for their commitment, dedication and involvement in Starfleet Command and beyond:
Captain WENDY DUTTON (Commandant Starfleet Academy) Lieutenant Mark rogers (U.S.S. demeter) lieutenant kevin hooper (U.S.S. OLD SARUM) Please join with us in congratulating all those named above.
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014 AADM Scott Arlow – DOPS AADM Mark Mitchell – ADMIN ACOMM Tom Burns - COMMS SFC Admiralty Board
STARFLEET HEADQUARTERS admiralty board admiral scott arlow – Director of Operations scottarlow@hotmail.com
Admiral Mark Mitchell – director of administration
Commodore Tom Burns - director of communications
info@starfleet-command.co.uk
comms@starfleet-command.co.uk
FLEET SUPPORT STAFF Interim commandant, Starfleet academy – lieutenant Kevin hooper academy@starfleet-command.co.uk
starbase COMMANDER – position under consideration
Starfleet operational forces SECTOR OO1 – INTERNET U.S.S. SOVEREIGN – COMMODORE CLIVE SAUNDERS thterik@googlemail.com
SECTOR 011 – NORTH U.S.S. DEMETER (stockport) – LIEUTENANT MARK ROGERS` markrogers723@gmail.com
U.S.S. NORTHUMBERLAND (Northumberland) – Lieutenant lEANNE Burns tomburns315@gmail.com
U.S.S. VALKYRIE (Edinburgh) – Lieutenant Jackie Cowper fudgefase@gmail.com
SECTOR 012 - SOUTH u.s.s. old sarum (Salisbury) – lieutenant commander Paul James Harrison angelsword@live.co.uk
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STARFLEET COMMAND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE – august 2014
u.s.s. pendragon (Southampton) – Captain sue emery hawkeyesg13@hotmail.com
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