#reference stardates

[ebonysolcum]

Anyone want a complete (I hope) list of all of Voyager's Stardates?

Also includes dates for "Year of Hell".

Earth dates calculated using This Converter.

[thewomancallednova]

Hide and Q

ohhhhhh okay that's interesting!

I am once again really enjoying Riker, especially how differently he interacts with Q (vs. how Picard interacts with Q)

Data turning around and being Q is literally the scariest thing I've ever seen (in TNG)

Okay so the meat and potatoes:

Is this the first time Data expressed a desire to be human? Like, not just be better at laughing or whatever, but like. be human? Ironically his immediately going "no" to Riker before he even offered anything and his speech afterwards is perhaps the most human Data moment yet. <3

Seeing adult Wesley is so weird, now that we know what adult Will Wheaton looks like and he just kinda... looks like Wesley still? I mean, obviously they couldn't cast future Will Wheaton in the role, but it's still so funny how different they turned out.

Also Crusher's expression at Wesley turning down Riker's gift is 10/10 like look at her she is so proud

also i mean like what a horrible gift. Like unless you die you're gonna be ten years older in about ten years. He's literally just taking away ten years of your life wtf?

Worf is a stronger man than I am, I would have absolutely failed that test ngl (and then died afterwards for obvious reasons)

With Geordi, I am not blind, but I have to imagene if you're used to not seeing your whole life and then seeing the whole electromagnetic spectrum, like Geordi is, seeing just what humans normally perceive would maybe not be terribly interesting? I mean, again, I'm not blind, so I don't know, but that's what I would assume

Also it feels kinda rude that Riker's gifts are all "I'll take the thing that distinguishes you in the context of this show away from you" except Worf who gets sex

Also why don't Crusher and Tasha get anything? Like, I get Picard, he's obviously anti-Riker and wouldn't accept anything, but we just skip them? Did time run out? Could no one think of something the women on the show could want?

Okay, so that's the very significant gift giving scene, now the rest:

I hate to say it, but I though Tasha's "breakdown" scene on the bridge was not acted greatly. Like, I think Crosby generally does a good job in the realm of being a tough and alert security chief, but I didn't think she did a good job with this emotionally vulnerable scene. Also wtf was that "If you weren't the captain" scene, like that is not at all what the rest was building up to? Huh? wtf?

Incidentally, Picard's comforting Tasha was really quite lovely and well done and well acted and all that.

I find it extremely funny that this is the first episode where Troi is missing (apparently the actress was unavailable). Like her ex becomes god and she's just hanging out on Betazed. Amazing!

(Also apparently Troi's lines were partly transferred to Tasha, so I'm wondering if that penalty box thing was originally for Troi. Although she doesn't strike me as in need of encouragement frm Picard)

Also it felt a bit weird that Riker just like, gets away with it? Like they take his powers away and they just put him on the bridge again? As if the rest of the episode didn't happen?

But I guess it's good for them to establish some flaws in Riker, to give him a reason to stay on as XO, instead of becoming the captain he so clearly deserves to be

god the things i would do for this man

uhm anyway

is it just me or does Riker kinda look like Gary Mitchell? I mean, maybe it's just the obvious plot similarities, but the shot just after he teleported the away team to safety. That was some Mitchell shit.

In general I'm glad Picard didn't have to kill him with a rock

and of course Troi wasn't here, so the Where No Man Has Gone Before comparisons can only go so far!

[tkbrokkoli]

just thought about that sherlock relapsed without his support system after being "dead". he's not wearing his sobriety pin anymore. he hasn't told watson about it. watson says he seems happy and he says that working as a detective abroad but not as himself was the best time of his life. I'm not sure if that's actually true????

[firstservepercentage]

fedal + carlos iga casper tennis family

but its my tennis x star trek au

them with their very famous dads. yes that is casper, i used his side quest era as reference. as you can see iga is probably still 2 yrs older than carlos but casper here is probably more than 2 years older than iga. idk why it turns out like this maybe its because he is so sane my brain assumed hes quite a bit older 😭

so, casper studies medicine at uni, and the med school courses arent exactly chill. but his dads are busy af and he gets the responsibility of taking care of the kids bcs 'its not like you're going to the starfleet academy, uni is just chill'. he comes home after 8hrs of lectures and 2hrs of lab, and finds out the kiddos have decided to take out their parents’ medals and awards from the safe and use them as puzzle pieces. he thinks about how life cant get much harder. it can and it will. 

these three after the commendation conference of stardate 2★22. so yea in this au the ranks given to these tennis people are basically their big title count, so here iga got promoted to a lieutenant bcs shes become a multiple gs winner that year, and carlos got promoted to lieutenant jr bcs he won his first gs, but their bro aint got nothing. hes still a normal civillian here, hes not a starfleet academy graduate and not enlisted until quite recent. 

and casper FINALLY got ranked. but guess what, promotion is just the start of more suffering.

casper attends his first important-ish people meeting, and gets absloutely roasted but this guy that might be his brother's boyfriend?? (he is not sure, they have a thing going between them for years hes given up asking for updates) so it got very awkward. but luckily this guy is quite sensible and he talks to carlos about it, but it turns out that a particular communications officer is very interested in this too

(dress uniform copied from AOS but normal uniforms from TNG because i think those look good and im LAZY) 

more of my star trek au:

(1) them at the academy 

(2) iga and her girl that is not quite her girl yet (ship: qinweniga)

[whirligig-girl]

Reference sheet for Eaurp Guz for ArtFight 2025.

More about Guz: -Tumblr Tag -Guzcomic: AO3 / Tumblr -Surviving Schwil AO3 / Tumblr

STARFLEET COMMAND PERSONNEL DATABASE ACCESS Name: "Eaurp Guz" Full Legal Name: Eaurp Eugigathlia Waralslaupwormn't Guz Date of Birth: Stardate 33013 (2356-January-06 A.D.) Place of Birth: Twin Slime Hall, Southern Gurfluint, United Mellanus, Zwo-Nmu System, Zalda Sector, Alpha Quadrant. Species: Mellanoid Slime Worm Age: 26 Earth Years Height: variable, roughly 1.4 meters. Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade Division: Operations (Engineering Subdivision) Academy Class: 2379 Assignment: U.S.S. Cerritos NCC-75567 (2380-2382(present)) Previous Assignments: Douglas Station (2379-2380) Honorifics: Lieutenant, Miss, Ma'am. Pronouns (Federation Standard Language): She/Her/Hers/Herself. Sex: N/A. Gender: Woman, Xenogender, Transgender, Female, Girl Parents: Mx. Waral Slaup, Mx. Eurgus Fleud, Dr. "Worm" Zugui   (Bio below the cut)

Bio: Eaurp Guz grew up in the turbulent time immediately following first contact with the United Federation of Planets, during a time when much of the world of Mellanus was struggling to adapt to a new political situation. Her world had united under a single umbrella, and one of the unifying principles was that of a desire to do space exploration on Mellanus' own terms. Guz had always loved machines, and made a hobby out of robotics, model railroading, and model rocketry.  Through the latter, she gained an aerospace scholarship and went to gooniversity at Flugoz, where she became an intern for the United Mellanus Space Program. At the end of the Dominion War, she pivoted, realizing that she would have better career prospects--and accomodations for her neurodivergence and gender--in the futuristic Starfleet than she would on her homeworld. After four years of academy, where she excelled at engineering topics but struggled with other aspects of the curriculum, she graduated as one of only a small handful of Mellanoid Slimes in Starfleet, and an even fewer number of fully trained officers.  After a year working at Douglas Station as part of their maintenance and repair crew, she fell in love with the Cerritos while assisting in its refit after its run-in with the Pakleds towards the end of 2380. During 2380 and early 2381, she served on Delta Shift, but in late 2381 she transitioned to Beta Shift. Due to her original training and upbringing, she is a sublight propulsion systems specialist, and spends most of her time tweaking the impulse engines and maneuvering thruster control system to keep them operating at ideal efficiency and smoothness.  In a report given by Lt. Cmdr. Andy Billups in late 2381, he noted "She is a skilled engineer, but she only seems to want to apply herself to this one specific subfield. She'll make an excellent specialist, but I am not considering a promotion at this time." END REPORT. APPENDIX TO PERSONNEL BIO Since the previous report, Eaurp Guz has been promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade following a harrowing experience on planet TE-92f, in which she demonstrated a high degree of technical mastery over a wide variety of engineering domains. She has been transferred into an Command and Operations training track to ensure she is better equipped to get herself out of the situations she has proved to be able to get herself into, Starfleet Command having determined that she, quote, "slipped through the cracks, pun intended" of Starfleet Academy's career assignment program. Lt. Guz herself was hesitant to accept the promotion, claiming to prefer such tasks as crawling around in Jeffries Tubes, optimizing impulse engines, and tweaking maneuvering thruster PID controller values. Personal Section: Hobbies: Model rocketry, model starship engineering, railway modelling, holographic aerospace flight simulation, technical artist, amateur astronomy. Sexual orienation: asexual (or possibly demisexual, for a broad definition of 'sexual') Romantic orientation: polyamorous lesbian demiromantic Notable Friends: * Slamtha Uzgoel (Childhood friend, 2368-2376) * Dyani (Academy Roommate 2375-2379) * Marta Martinez (Academy classmate 2376-2379) * Eyluss Iris (Crewmate 2380-) * Lisdolin Kerman (Crewmate 2380-) * Samanthan Rutherford (Crewmate 2380-) * D'vana Tendi (Crewmate and Medical Provider 2380-) * T'lyn (Crewmate 2381-) * Zhandar Ghel (Stranded on Schwil Together 2381) * Doctor Promised Vision (Schwil, 2381) Enemies:  * Slamtha Uzgoel (Syndicate pirate with a grudge 2381-) Love Interests <3: * D'vana Tendi (Guz's crush 2381-2382, Guz's girlfriend following Tendi's return to the Cerritos 2382-) * Slamtha Uzgoel (childhood friends in a QPR 2368-2376, so into Guz it ruined her life 2376-) * Marta Martinez (had a crush on Guz 2375-2379) * Zhandar Ghel (survived a traumatic experience together 2381)

[catogorizing-like-no-man-before]

TOS S1E6 The Enemy Within

Aired October 6, 1966

Stardate 1672.1

Rating - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Putting this one right after The Naked Time was really smart. Themes from The Naked Time about the demands of leadership are carried over and explored as Kirk is literally split and examined.

GIF by sirellas

We get to see what makes up his character, guides his leadership and challenges him.

I've got such a soft spot for this dog too. I love the corny costuming.

GIF by relar-fela

And some of the fun cuts and lighting decisions they made with evil Kirk.

GIF by chaos-cam

The one complaint I'll make is I still don't understand how putting the two halves of Kirk back together fixed the transporter problem keeping them from transporting the planet-side crew back up. Are we to assume all four of them were also split apart and put back together?

Summary

The transporter breaks when a crewman is transported up with highly magnetic ore on his clothes. This goes unnoticed until after Kirk is transported up. The transporter split Kirk into a "good" but indecisive side and an "evil" but cunning side. The crew must figure out how to restore their captain and fix the transporter before the remaining crewmen freeze on the planet.

Well for the time - ��🔘🔘🔘🔘

Mostly fine. My girl Janice continues to be at risk. There is some weird dialogue between Janice and Spock towards the end where he says "The imposter had some interesting qualities, wouldn't you say, yeoman?" speaking about Kirk's animalistic side that tried to assault her. Perhaps he was just referring to that animalistic side being willing to acknowledge his attraction to Rand.

This dynamic between Kirk and Janice is weird. It's clear she would be into a relationship if he was, but she also knows it would be inappropriate. I guess the vibes should be weird for anyone and Kirk, but Janice's clearly secretarial role bothers me. There's a very clear power imbalance.

Ships

USS Enterprise

Characters

Kirk

Sulu

Fisher

Scotty

Uhura

Bones

Janice Rand

Wilson

Farrell

James

Spock

Planets

Alfa 177

The other kind of ship

Kirk x Janice - 🫤

This episode makes it clear there is reciprocated attraction. I think mixed with the assault and the power dynamic, this is a complicated relationship. Kirk is smart to not indulge any desire he has.

Spirk

Spock does a lot of baby sitting in this episode where he's mostly just trying to make sure Kirk is okay. It's touching to see how hard he tries to make sure Kirk is upholding his own values in this situation and putting the ship first. There were two things that caught my attention.

1. The scene where Kirk is getting out of the shower and is shirtless when Spock comes to check up on him.

GIF by kaiidth-1701

2. The scene I mentioned before when Spock said "The imposter had some interesting qualities, wouldn't you say, yeoman?" Tell me more, Spock. What qualities were you thinking of?

McKirk

This wasn't really romantic, but I just wanted to flag that McCoy always puts Kirk's life first, even if no one else - including Kirk - is. I love that.

[quasi-normalcy]

*Prodigy spoilers*

I actually really like how they handled the attack on Mars in Star Trek: Prodigy. Like, it wasn't the central focus by any means, but there were constant references to the Romulan evacuation and how thinly spread Starfleet had become throughout the Federation as something that was just going on in the background. And if you're an absolute timeline obsessive like me, you were just kind of eyeballing the Stardates when they appeared on screen, like, "Oh dear, we're getting pretty close to the point where everything goes wrong, aren't we?" And I almost figured that, maybe they would use some kind of timeline jiggery-pokery to get around it. But then they didn't, and it became what they used to set up the third season, and, ugh, I really love this show.

[lady-sci-fi]

The Timeline of Changeling Julian Bashir

(I'll refer to real Julian by Julian, and Changeling as C-Bashir)

I often see people say or act like the switch between Julian and C-Bashir is obviously when they switch the uniforms. Because Julian is wearing the "old" one in the prison camp and he says he's been there for over a month when Garak and Worf get there.

But that timeline for the replacement is clearly not the case. Without touching the stardates and using only context clues-

The uniform switch happens between "The Ascent" and "Rapture".

In "Rapture", Sisko needs an emergency complicated unconventional brain surgery, which Julian does.

I can't believe that a Changeling magically gets all a person's skills/knowledge/memories/personality when they physically change to look like them. A newly-arrived C-Bashir wouldn't be able to do this surgery, or even come up with the idea. At best, he could quickly look up how to handle low-level medical stuff like broken bones or burns. Anything complicated like this surgery would quickly expose him. So this has to be Julian.

Another "Rapture" reason is because it would be an amazing opportunity for the Founders to want Sisko to die here. He's clearly a known obstacle for their plans. What better way than to let him die because an experimental brain surgery failed or C-Bashir doesn't come up with the surgery idea to save him? No murder or foul play needed.

"The Darkness and the Light" has Julian dealing with Kira's late-stage pregnancy and stresses. While C-Bashir would have access to Julian's notes about it, I think this is again another too complicated and unique situation for C-Bashir to handle effectively. This isn't at all a "by the book" pregnancy, and Julian has to keep a very close eye on it. Also remember that Julian's med-school specialty was pediatrics, making him even more uniquely equipped to handle this.

In "The Begotten", the baby Changeling dies. There is no way C-Bashir would let this happen. Wouldn't that break the rule of "no changeling harms another" by not doing anything to save it? He could've discreetly done something to strengthen or heal the baby, and he had opportunities to. The other Changelings have done that for Odo. This also has to be Julian.

Julian isn't seen in "For the Uniform" to make any observations.

So, if Julian was kidnapped after the uniform switch, why is he in the old uniform in the Dominion prison? Two possibilities.

1- The conference attendees were meant to wear the older uniform. In reality, the old one really isn't that old, anyway, having happened a few episodes ago. When Sisko went to Earth mid-season 4, he wore the older TNG style one the entire time, so entirely plausible for the same situation here. Then Julian was allowed to keep it to wear at the prison.

2- Julian says he was kidnapped in his sleep from the conference. "I went to bed one night and woke up here." Meaning he would've been in his pajamas. From here it's still plausible that he had the old one with him and they still let him keep and change into it.

But what I've gone with in my headcanon/writing is that C-Bashir kept the uniform(s). He'd want to be able to study and perfectly replicate it, and also have it in his quarters so it isn't missing when anyone is at his place and might notice that. C-Bashir could even actually be wearing it for the role. Julian was forced to change into an older style one at the prison that belonged to a dead officer. After all, many Starfleet officers have gone missing in the Gamma Quadrant and the Changelings might keep their uniforms for infiltration reasons. Since the uniform switch was recent, they wouldn't have any of the new style ones. And it makes sense he'd pick a blue one that was close to his size.

If you are looking at the episode stardates, the Changeling switch happens after "For the Uniform."

That is 79 DAYS between these two episodes. More than enough time for the 5 weeks needed for Julian to be kidnapped and spend that time in prison.

So there's all my evidence for this timeline question.

[cerveaumou]

Personnal log

Stardate 47941.7

I have only two episodes left of TNG to watch and feel dread at the idea of it being finished.

I started watching it after seeing memes of Data and Spot almost a year ago. I had told myself i had watched the first two seasons ironically but after 5 seasons the excuse started to run thin. I now speak to myself with the voice of Captain Picard making logs.

It will be the first star trek series i watched. I did watch episode one of TOS a few years ago and gave it no further chance. I realise now i mistook Pike for Kirk and thought he looked very different from the other images i saw of tos but gave it no mind back then.

I hated viscerally some episodes, i got bored by a small yet non negligible part, i laughed on rare occasions, i overreacted to simple characters interactions as if they were gosspis , and i cried a few times. And i do not cry easily. By writing this i am reminded of Lal, or that episode where Picard lives a full life on the extinct planet in the span of 20minutes.

I would watch tos now but unfortunately i have seen one too many bashir x garak post. I must therefore endure once again the dread of starting a new series, which i usually refrain from when the length is more than a season. I haven't gotten over my imposter syndrom and will therefore not refer to myself as a trekkie.

Ironically the licence that made it cool to be an engineer has made me neglect my actual irl engineering studies. I do realise it is unfair to blame it all on the show given my history of doing anything other than studying when i have to.

As a final point i must express that as a french woman of earth origins i shall pray i never hear another character singing Frère fucking Jacques ever again.

[ectogeo-art]

Rules: You will be given a word. Share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that start with each letter of that word. My word was STAR.

Tagged by @pinkgrapefloyd

S - sloanshir soulmate AU 💖💕🥰

STARDATE: █████.█

AGENT: S████, L█████

TARGET: B█████, J██████ S███████, M.D.

REQUEST: Soulmark-mirroring implant to aid in the Agent’s ongoing mission to secure the Target as an asset for Section ██.

JUSTIFICATION: The Target is a high-priority individual to acquire and control, as established in previous observations (refer to reports with the following codes: DBIP, INQ, IAESL). He is an accomplished doctor who serves as Chief Medical Officer on the frontlines of the Dominion conflict, and his medical knowledge covers key areas of interest for Section ██ (xenobiology in general, Cardassian and Bajoran medicine, ketracel white, and the Dominion’s genetically engineered viruses).

T - Sub Rosa sloanshir

The door to the shared bathroom was ajar and he didn’t think before pushing it open.

Steam rolled over him.

Garak turned his head to stare back at him from the shower, but didn’t stop running the washcloth over himself. Though Julian could see his face, the water droplets and the steam made the transparent shower curtain translucent lower down, leaving only the suggestion of his gray body below the swell of his chest.

A - Garak gets interrogated (Sloanshir noncon whump)

“Anastasia Komanonov,” Garak said as though he was forcing himself to give up someone real rather than a fictional name from Julian’s spy holoprogram.

R - Sleep Awake

“Really? I can’t think of much happier a circumstance than Sloan’s gruesome death.”

(As a side note, I keep referring to my wips lately “sloanshir whatever” when really they are still primarily garashir for the simple reason that the specific type of sloanshir dynamic present in each of these fics is the feature that distinguishes them best from any of my previously posted 50+ garashir fics lmaooo.)

Anyways. My word for you is TREK (couldn’t help myself) and I'm tagging @nostalgia-tblr and @sapphosewrites and @ernmark and @hellostuffedtiger and anyone else who sees this and wants to grace us with snippets of your WIPs! ^_^

[deepspacedukat]

The Lifeline - Part One: The Message

...Yes this is another plot bunny. Yes I still have a ton of requests to get out. It's fine. Blame the brainrot.

If anyone wants to be added to or removed from my taglist, please feel free to let me know.

Cross-posted to AO3 here.

~*~

Vreenak (DS9) x Reader

[A/N: This will contain smut, so 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI!!!]

Warnings: Spoilers for ST:VOY S1E7 "Eye of the Needle", references to Romulan politics, references to an interspecies relationship, Romulan/Human relationship, interspecies romance, threats, espionage, angst, time travel bs (it'll make your head hurt if you analyze it too much, or at least it made mine hurt), references to marriage/a mating bond.

~*~

**2367 - Stardate Classified, Late afternoon - Romulan Senate**

Listening to Sabrun drone on and on about the threat of the Federation-Cardassian peace treaty was usually something Vreenak would enjoy, but today, his head ached. He'd been in nothing but meeting after meeting for weeks on end, both for the Senate and the Tal Shiar, and the tedium was finally getting to him.

When was the last time he took leave? Years, most assuredly - before he was elected to the Senate seven years ago.

Wasn't that about how long Sabrun had been talking? Consciously straightening in his seat, he forced his shoulders to release some of their tension. He relished the opportunity to serve his people, to protect them, but he hated long-winded sessions like this.

A tap on the arm knocked him out of the deep, sinking morass of his thoughts, drawing his attention to the aide who'd approached him. He wore not the uniform of the government, but that of the Tal Shiar.

Elements bless Koval for saving him from such an utterly dull session!

Quietly, he gave the Praetor a deferential nod and slipped out of the Senate building. The fresh air caressing his face sent a bolt of relief through him. Even though he would likely not be allowed to rest for some hours, he couldn't find it within himself to be resentful. He did need to take some leave, no doubt, but for now, he'd gladly accept the moment's respite that his position with the Tal had just given him.

"Ah, the Chairman summoned you, as well?" Vreenak smirked at the sound of Letant's voice, and he slowed long enough for his friend to catch up.

"Luckily. I thought Sabrun would never shut up. He makes good points, obviously, but does he never tire of the sound of his own voice?"

Letant let out a tired chuckle of his own at Vreenak's ire, but both men were too relieved to be free to dwell on their frustrations.

"Any idea what this might be about, Mr. Vice-Chairman?" Letant's use of the title brought a genuine smile to the other man's lips. Vreenak had only earned it a year prior, and he was damned proud of his success. "Am I to finally be silenced for knowing too much about you?"

"Never, old friend. We may disagree on some points, but I value you too much to ever allow it to come to that." Vreenak murmured as they walked.

"Thank you for coming so promptly. I hope that I have not inconvenienced the Senate too much by pulling you both mid-session," Koval called the moment that the pair of Senators stepped into his office, shrugging off their outer robes. A smirk played across the Vice-Chairman's lips.

"You and I both know that inconveniencing others is one of your favorite pastimes," he called taking a seat before Koval's desk and allowing himself to sink into the cushioned chair with a relieved groan. Letant took the other. "I must thank you. One of our colleagues had become...tedious."

"You will not thank me in a moment." Koval's tone was graver than Vreenak had heard it in some time. Uh oh. That was always a bad sign. "What I am about to show you goes no farther than this room. One of the Empire's scientists - Telek R'Mor, Captain of the Talvath - died recently."

Vreenak's brow furrowed slightly, and Letant tilted his head.

"His family has our sympathies, but I, for one, fail to see the relevance," the latter remarked.

The Chairman stood and poured both of his guests generous servings of kali-fal.

"There was a data storage device found in his belongings. It was accessed, and the contents were...intriguing. You see, it contained personal messages from the crew of a Starfleet ship to their families," Koval continued, "a Starfleet ship that has not yet been built."

At that, Vreenak froze with his glass halfway to his mouth, and Letant's lips parted in surprise.

"They were messages from the future?" Vreenak hadn't meant to ask the question, but it slipped out anyway.

"Indeed, but that is not all. Computer, play visual message one-three-one-alpha," Koval ordered, and the screen before on the desk before the Senators lit up with the image of a woman - a Human woman.

Mentally, Vreenak acknowledged that she was actually quite pretty for a hevam.

"Hi, sweetheart. I know you're probably surprised to hear from me...after such a long silence, I mean. I doubt you'd write me off so quickly, but, well, I'm sure by now you've worked out that something is wrong." Vreenak glanced at Koval, not yet grasping the significance of this seemingly random message, but the Chairman simply nodded back at the monitor. Letant seemed intrigued by the woman on the screen. "It's been a few months since Voyager went missing, and while I can assure you that I'm physically alright, I...Vree, honey, we're stuck in the Delta Quadrant."

His eyes widened at a single syllable amongst the mess of her rambling. 'Vree.' Was...? She was talking to him? Why the hell would a Starfleet officer - a Lieutenant Commander, by the look of her rank pips - be contacting a Romulan Senator? He'd never seen her before in his life. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Letant look at him curiously, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"We're doing everything we can to find a shorter way home, but it might take years," she admitted, and he noted that tears had slowly gathered in her eyes. "I understand if you want to petition the Praetor for an annulment. After all, it's not much use having a wife who's stuck in a whole other quadrant of space. But, I...I want you to know that no matter how long it takes, I will make it home to you. You're in my thoughts every day and night, deyhhan. I love you. Give Koval and Letant hell for me, okay?"

She blew a kiss to the camera just as a tear rolled down her cheek, and Vreenak set his glass aside just as the message cut off.

"Computer," Koval called, "display addressee for visual message one-three-one-alpha."

Vreenak's stomach clenched as he saw his own name and rank pop up on the screen along with the stardate on which the message was recorded - nearly four years in the future by the Federation's calendar, assuming his mental calculations were correct.

"Well, my friend, you seem to have gotten quite lucky. As far as Humans go, she seems delightful," Letant murmured as he downed his drink. "She's stuck in another part of the galaxy, of course, but she obviously cares for you–"

"This is a joke," Vreenak rasped, feeling anger bubble up inside him. She seemed to know about all three of them, but that couldn't be possible. "I've never even seen her before! Why would I marry a...a hevam?"

"I assure you, I would not have called you here if I had not already verified that this was not a joke," the Chairman stated, and he handed the Senator a data pad containing the results of the inquiry he'd conducted into the subject. An encrypted visual message from Telek R'Mor himself detailed the encounter he'd had with Voyager in 2351, including his logs, and even a covert visual recording he'd snagged from their communications with his ship. Apparently, the man had left instructions for the delivery of these personal missives, but his daughter had turned them over to the Tal Shiar as soon as she'd discovered that one of them involved three well-known Romulans.

A wise choice.

Farther down, he found a report on the woman in the message. She was a Lieutenant currently serving aboard a science ship. Having received high honors at Starfleet Academy, she also had several commendations on her record from various superior officers. There was no indication that she was involved with Starfleet intelligence or Section Thirty One, though.

How odd, given the circumstances. How else, hypothetically, would they have met if not through clandestine contact?

Koval was nothing if not thorough, and the fact that he'd already looked into this meant that there truly was no chance that this was a deception.

Vreenak had a wife. A Human wife. Or, at least, he might end up with a one at some point in the next four years.

Just in time to lose her to the Delta Quadrant.

"I take it you're interested in having this looked into, then?" Koval asked, and the sound of his voice spurred Vreenak into action. He downed the kali-fal he'd been served, then got to his feet.

"You're damned right, but I'll do it myself," the Senator said, straightening his tunic before donning his robes once more. "If this woman really did send a message from the future, then I need to know more about her. Her intentions, motives, possible schemes... This isn't just a mystery, it's a personal one."

"Of course. Do what you have to. I'll have transportation and an alias arranged, as well as a surgeon," the Chairman confirmed. "I trust you'll want a Vulcan persona to save time?"

"Naturally."

"Oh, and Vreenak?" Through Letant's opening inquiry, he could already hear the mischief in his voice. The man in question glanced back at him over his shoulder. "If you don't like what you see when you meet her, do feel free to send her my way. She is rather alluring."

The Vice-Chairman let out a gruff huff of laughter.

"Be careful what you wish for. I'm certainly not marrying a hevam, but if you're willing to debase yourself in such a manner, then by all means, have at her," Vreenak said as he strode to the door.

Pledge himself to a Human? Ha! He would never disgrace himself like that. His taste was much more refined.

~*~*~

Romulan words:

hevam = derogatory name for a human

deyhhan = husband

~*~

Taglist:

@akamitrani @android-boyfriends @attention-bajoranworkers @bigblissandlove1 @darkmattervibes @emilie786 @groovyqueer @horta-in-charge @live-logs-and-proper @slutty-slutty-vulcans @starrynightgardens @toebeans-mcgee

[electronickingdomfox]

"Corona" review

Novel from 1984, by Greg Bear. I had my doubts about this novel during the early chapters, but it grew on me, and by the end I was pretty enthralled. More slow-paced than the usual TOS adventure, it presents truly interesting ideas, and their ethical ramifications. The most scientific concepts may be hard to grasp for the uninitiated like me, but the language is never dry. In fact, many passages dealing with physics come off curiously poetic and beautiful.

It doesn't delve much into characters, save the new introduction (a journalist girl named Mason), and at times McCoy, who is revealed to be a much more tormented man than normally assumed. Though in the case of Mason, she's a mere observer for most of the novel, and doesn't have much to do until the end, when her true role in the story is revealed.

What the narrative does fine, however, is creating an increasingly disquieting mood, once the Enterprise crew comes face to face with the dead-eyed Vulcan researchers of a distant station. In particular, their creepy children. The titular "Corona" is easily one of the most alien (one could say, Lovecraftian) entities that have appeared so far in these books. At first only obliquely referenced, its true nature and purpose are revealed in a gradual, pretty effective way. The reader doesn't really know what's going on, and it's not like anything terrible is happening (there are no murders or monsters around, nobody is injured). Yet I appreciated the feeling of lingering horror behind it.

The technology presented is a bit baffling, and it tends to play loose with canon. For example, we have the Enterprise sustaining warp eleven for seventeen days! Kirk is said to have a brain implant to receive directly certain transmissions (a gadget that was introduced, I think, in the TMP novelization). And the Federation has developed a new device to implant a person's memory in a new body, should the worst happen in the transporter. In all aspects, it's a cloning machine, but is much better received than I'd expect (after all, cloning machines are usually the domain of villains). All these things, as well as the misleading cover, made me think the story was set some time after TMP. However, the stardate firmly places the events during the five-year mission.

Another point of interest, is the introduction of novel ideas in regards to Vulcan culture. In particular, a coming-of-age ritual that awakens dormant conditioning in Vulcan children, to help them become adults. There are also full sentences in Vulcan. I don't know if all this was invented by the author, or taken from some reference material (or even fandom ideas!), but it's certainly the first time I encounter it.

Overall, this was a solid story. I'm surprised the author didn't write any more Star Trek books.

Spoilers under the cut:

A remote scientific station in a nebula has been cut off from communication for ten years (funny how nobody cared to check on the poor losers during all that time). But now, Starfleet has received a distress call sent from the station a decade ago, through conventional radio. The scientists at the station were studying Ybakra radiation, and were all Vulcan: T'Prylla (a distant relative of Spock, and presumably the woman depicted in the cover), her husband Grake, their two children Radak and T'Raus, and two other scientists. Besides them, the other members of the scientific expedition had been put in hybernation chambers, until the radiation in the nebula subsided. The Enterprise is tasked with a rescue mission. Though, after ten years, I don't know why the mission is so urgent: either everyone's fine, or everyone's dead by now.

However, Kirk has his own problems aboard the ship. Starfleet wants him to test a new monitor system, for command and medical decisions, capable of overriding the Captain's orders if it considers them contrary to Federation policies (so imagine how well this sits with Kirk). The monitor computer is imbued with the personalities and memories of several renowned admirals, who supposedly would find together the best course of action. Also, sickbay has been equipped with that new "cloning machine" I mentioned above. On top of that, journalist Rowena Mason will travel in the Enterprise, to cover the results of the new monitor system. She's a true country bumpkin that has never left her home planet, has all sorts of prejudices about non-human races like Vulcans, and feels pretty anxious about being in a starship. Kirk is annoyed by Mason sticking her nose in his business. But wants to keep her around as objective observer, to have some proof to rub in, in case the monitors fail (as he secretly wishes).

Once they arrive at the station, it becomes apparent that something doesn't add up. A redshirt glimpses a young boy, that the tricorder doesn't register at all, and the station seems at first deserted. When they later encounter T'Prylla and the others, they're in good health and polite, but also pretty stonewalling against any rescue attempt. And the children, rather than the adults, seem to be in charge of the compound. McCoy wants to revive the frozen scientists with the new machine in sickbay, but T'Prylla also objects to this. There's a further complication when the medical monitor registers the sleepers as legally dead (nervous system destroyed by radiation), and thus not elligible for resucitation.

Meanwhile, Chekov starts feeling influenced by a conscience inside his head, that forces him to do things against his will. He sends detailed plans of the Enterprise to the station, and later sabotages the shuttlecraft; the only means of transport for the landing party, since Ybakra radiation seems to be messing with transporters.

Tired of the newcomers' interference, Grake decides it's about time to show them their scientific achievements. The Vulcans have developed a transformer to control subatomic particles around the nearby area, which allows them to pop up anywhere in a certain radius. And through this transformer, they can also reproduce the conditions at the universe's birth. So they plan to start their own Big Bang. They show them a miniature demonstration of it. And there's an interesting insight into the characters, when each of them interprets different things in those images. Kirk realizes this is all madness, and blames it on the effects of Ybakra radiation on the scientists. He manages to get Chekov and T'Prylla inside an isolation container, which frees them from the radiation effects. And T'Prylla, again herself, tells them about the alien influence inside their minds. It manifests as a corona around one of the suns in the nebula, and its control is greater in the Vulcan children.

With the shuttlecraft dead, the landing party has to risk using the transporters. Almost everyone comes aboard the Enterprise, but the transporter can't retrieve Spock and Mason, who are sent back to the station. Spock feels Corona is about to control him, so in a last, desperate attempt, he transfers part of his conscience to Mason, though in the process, some of Corona's comes into her too. The journalist must overcome her fear of Vulcans, and use Spock's knowledge to awaken T'Raus, by means of imparting a coming-of-age ritual on her. For his part, Radak has materialized inside the Enterprise, and tries to sabotage the engines. But his mother imparts on him the same ritual. Once "adults" per Vulcan custom, Corona's influence on the children diminishes. But the Big Bang machine is ready, and starts the countdown to restart the universe.

Since Mason has part of Corona's memories inside her, she tries to reason with the entity. Through T'Raus, Corona explains its motives. Its race had existed in the first moments of the universe's birth, when everything was just energy in flux. As the universe cooled down and matter appeared, its whole race died. Only Corona survived in certain radiations, such as those in the present nebula. And all this time, it's been trying to go back to these initial moments of the Big Bang. The universe in its present state, is a dead corpse for Corona, and living beings are like germs.

In the Enterprise, Kirk hesitates about destroying the station while Spock and Mason are still there. But the fabric of reality is already starting to disintegrate at subatomic levels. The monitors consider that Kirk has failed for not destroying the station yet, and they override his command. The ship starts firing, but Corona controls all energy in the area, and deactivates both phasers and torpedoes. This gives Mason a bit more time to convince the entity of the worth of living beings. At last, Corona has a glimpse of her memories. And in the recollections of her planet's clouds, and the feeling of freedom she associated with them, the entity finds a parallel with its own world and memories. Corona decides to give living things a chance, and spares the universe. At least until the final moment when entropy reduces everything to nothing. Then it should be restarted. And it may seem corny to have the poor country girl saving the day against such an entity. But I think it's somehow fitting that precisely the most humble character, communicating with the greatest, is the one who achieves this. Also because, as a writer, her most distinct skill is that of communication.

In the aftermath, Mason has overcome her narrow views of the world. And McCoy finds out that the monitors will now let him revive the sleepers. As a parting gift, Corona tampered with the system to redefine what counts as "legally dead". There's also a funny moment when McCoy contacts one of the personalities inside the monitors: his (now dead) teacher from Academy days, who almost flunked him. And the teacher reprimands him for slacking off, when he learns that McCoy is still just a Lt. Commander. The monitors, however, proved to be faulty, and Starfleet will discontinue their use. But Kirk ponders what would have happened if they hadn't overriden him, and whether he could have fired at the station himself.

Spirk Meter: 2/10*. A couple of brief moments. At one point, Kirk feels he's almost in telepathic communication with Spock, and doing what he just would do. Later, Kirk is certain that Spock is still alive in the station, as he can feel his reassuring presence.

There's a bit of Spones too. This novel makes McCoy and Spock very similar at their most intimate level. We're told that McCoy also suffers because he can't control his emotions, too extreme in his case. And he has adopted brusqueness to disguise them, just as Spock has adopted logic. McCoy seems also pleased whenever Spock agrees with him. And when everything starts coming undone, described as McCoy's most terrifying experience ever, his last thoughts are reserved for Spock, whom he feels sorry about. He recognizes that, behind all their bickering, he hides a deep respect for the Vulcan.

Apart from this, Kirk really wants to fuck the ship. Take this passage into consideration:

"At the touch of his fingers -resting on buttons set into his chair arms-and at the sound of his voice, he could make the Enterprise come alive. Stroking... He put such errant nonsense from his thoughts (and a good thing neither Spock nor McCoy could read minds at a distance)"

Funny that he's specially concerned by Spock and McCoy's reaction to this...

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[rayond-ross013]

*screaming* Star Trek reference!!!!!!

stardate, the day after yesterday

Hunter even mimicked William Shatner's lines delivery!!

[zhakyria]

Misc. Scenes Pt. 2

This scene takes place about 17 months into Thrawn’s & Eli’s service aboard the Blood Crow. 

Thrawn heard the hatch open and footsteps approach. Their gait and weight indicated his visitor was Ensign Vanto. He finished soldering a component to the circuit board laid out in front of him and then set aside the soldering iron just as Vanto reached his worktable. 

He leaned against a nearby stack of crates. His shoulders held tension, but it did not appear in his face. His eyes held humor. “You know Sir, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you preferred sleeping down here with your toys.”

“They are not toys.”

Vanto let out an exasperated sigh. “In this context a toy refers to objects you are tinkering with for long periods of time, usually for enjoyment, though with you I don’t know if that applies.” 

“I see.”

Vanto pulled out a couple ration bars. “Anyways, you missed first-meal.” He held out one of the ration bars to him. “I also suspect you haven’t slept in two rotations.” He motioned to Thrawn’s eyes. “Your eyes are not as bright as they usually are.”

He smiled inwardly at that observation. The Ensign certainly picked up on things quickly. He took the offered ration bar. “I apologize, Ensign. I did not mean to cause you concern.” 

Vanto smiled. “I wouldn’t be much of an aide, Sir, if I didn’t keep track of such things.” The tension in his shoulders still remained and his smile faded soon after; concern crept into his voice. “Was it the nightmares again, Sir?”

Thrawn looked down at the ration bar he held. He nodded. Vanto had been away on shore leave during the two week refueling and resupply break. Thrawn had remained aboard the Blood Crow for the duration and the nightmares had become more difficult to manage. 

Vanto made a frustrated sound. “There must be something that will help reduce their frequency, Sir.”

It’ll be better now that you have returned.

“You are not here just out of concern for my well being.” Thrawn changed the subject.

Vanto shifted his posture. An unfamiliar expression crossed his face, a mix of embarrassment and something else. 

“Is something wrong, Ensign.” 

“No, Sir.” Vanto grinned sheepishly. “It’s just. I don’t know your starday, Sir, and we’ve now served together for close to 2 years.” He put up his hand. “And you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I know you value your privacy, Sir.” He pulled a small object from his pocket. “I thought…. I thought I could get you something instead for the day you were rescued.”

The day they’d first met.

Heat bloomed in Vanto’s cheeks and spread to the tops of his ears. “I know you appreciate art and there is this old custom on Lysatra….” He held out a small medallion. 

Thrawn took the medallion from Vanto’s hand. Their fingers brushing against each other briefly in the movement. Vanto cleared his throat and looked away. The medallion was a small metallic disk engraved with a intricate and finely detailed sun motif on one side, and a stardate on the other. 

“It’s called a Lysatran Sun Disk. They are typically given as tokens of appreciation and friendship.” He shuffled his feet. “I had this one made while I was home. There is a local artist that still makes them. Each one is supposed to be unique with subtle differences in the sun design based on the client's input.” He was rambling, rushing his words. 

Thrawn looked up at the Ensign. Vanto was watching him, his face guarded; the muscles in his neck were tight, but the heat in his cheeks lessened. 

“You did not need to give me any sort of gift, Ensign.” 

Vanto’s shoulder’s dropped slightly. 

“However, I do appreciate the gesture and I always appreciate learning more about your culture. It sounds like an interesting practice and the craftsmanship of this medallion is quite remarkable.”

A brief scowl appeared on Vanto’s face before disappearing and returning to a more neutral state. He ripped off the wrapper of his ration bar and took a bite. “So, what can you tell me about the artist?”

Thrawn looked back down at the medallion, running his thumb over the delicate lines. “They are very precise in everything they do. No line is ever out of place. Organized. Deeper lines are created by making several shallow cuts so that the tool won't gouge and everything remains uniform. This speaks to someone with patience and years of experience working with the medium and tools.”

Vanto swallowed another bite of the ration bar. “Sounds about right. Her studio was impeccable and incredibly organized. She claimed that she had been making Sun Disks for over 50 years, though few requested them anymore.”

Thrawn frowned. There was no mistaking it. The base of the sun motif had an uncanny similarity to the Mitth emblem. 

“Is there a problem, Sir?”

“Tell me Ensign, how did the artist decide upon the final design?”

Vanto’s brows came together as he considered the question. “She asked me questions about the kind of relationship we had, and a few specifics about your personality.”

“Did you mention my species or name?”

Vanto shook his head. “No Sir; she never asked and I never gave that information.”

“I see.”

“Did I do something wrong, Sir?”

Thrawn folded his fingers around the medallion and smiled. “No, Ensign.” He looked up at Vanto. “Thank you for the gift.”

Vanto visibly relaxed. “You’re welcome, Sir. Now, how about we finish our meal and you can catch me up on the progress you’ve made with the latest buzz-droid?”

“Very well.” 

/ //

>Query: Lysatran Sun Disks > >Lysatran Sun Disks are small disks carved or engraved with a sun motif on one side and a message or date on the reverse side. > >Sun Disks originally symbolized the love and devotion one has for the recipient and their commitment to stand by their side for whatever the future may hold. They were customized to the individual by artists trained in their creation. They were often exchanged between couples in order to express their love and commitment to each other.  > >However, since they have become popular among tourists as tokens of friendship, much of their original meaning no longer applies. Due to mass production, few artists remain that are trained in the techniques used to create them.  >

// /

[uptoolateart]

Voyage! Tales of the USS Miraculous

Episode 2 - Part 1 - PREVIEW:

Adrien’s Personal Log – Stardate 47316.4

I…don’t really know what I’m doing, here. I’ve never recorded a personal log before. Not that I can remember, anyway. But the Captain instructed me to do this, in case it helps jog my memories. So I guess…here I go.

Yesterday was…eventful. After the Captain decided to keep me on the ship, she told me to return to sickbay, where Dr Lavillant and Nurse Beauréal ran me through more tests. Then Lieutenant Lahiffe came to take me to my temporary quarters. They’re nice rooms. In fact, my first thought was that they were the nicest place I’ve ever lived…though I can’t explain how I know that.

Anyway. I expected him to drop me off and go, but he stuck around for a while. He kept complimenting my piloting skills and thanking me for getting us out of the Neutral Zone earlier. When he left for the evening, he asked me to call him Nino, which was…. It was nice. I don’t…I don’t recall having a friend before….

If that’s what he is….

When he was gone, I took up the Captain’s suggestion to do some reading via the ship’s computer – a machine the crew affectionately refer to as Markov, as if it were alive.

I became engrossed and stayed up far too late. When I finally went to bed, I was asleep almost the instant my head hit the pillow. Then I had a…a dream. I was in another bed in another room. Everything was stark and white, and there was no other furniture. There was just me, lying on that hard bed and staring up at a light, so bright and blinding that it was consuming me, until I…I woke up in a sweat.

This morning, I checked in with Dr Lavillant as agreed, and I told her about the dream. She wants me to start seeing Counsellor Lee. She might be able to help me unlock my mind.

In the meantime, Nino is due to arrive any minute to take me on a tour of the ship….

Read at Ao3

[spymeister]

εїз

---------------------------- [[ I П D Σ X I П G ]] ----------------------------

Cybertron is the only remaining planet of the Hadeen Solar System on the edges of the Theta Quadrant, about one hundred and fifty-seven trillion astronomical units from the UFP homeworld.

A Class L world, it is primarily unhospitable to organic forms of life, orbiting around Hadeen, a G-Class star at the edges of what the humans affectionately refer to as the Andromeda Galaxy [sic... see Galactus Wikimodium]. The planet's relative size is up for debate, as what had been a once rocky core had been hollowed out by ancient mining forces eons ago.

What is theorized is that in the distant past, a refining and factorial drone had been dispatched to the system to mine whatever raw materials were needed to complete the manufacturing process. It is unknown if the Preservers had a metaphorical hand in sparking sentience, though it seems to have sprung up almost overnight.

Scientist T'vork of the Shi'khar branch of the Science Academy on Vulcan is continuing her ongoing research and has this to say:

'It seems there are thirteen distinct layers upon the planet, each corresponding to a different point in history, or 'age'. It is not known how these 'ages' correspond to each other, as the history of the species is nonlinear and somewhat illogical.'

Observation and data gathering are still ongoing.

---------Lt. Marissa Fairborne, N.C.C-1647(USS Farragut- Science Officer) Stardate: 2955.6