#StarDate 240108.14 

While he sat there in his quarters having a peaceful dinner overlooking the orders, he had just received from Commander Uzoma Ekwueme, asking if I would take the USS Gilroy to the Delta Quadrant via the Barzan Wormhole to do a supply run to the Markonian Outpost.  

So they have tasked me to make a second contact with the races there, to establish stronger relations with them and see what we can learn from there. To pass letters from family and friends to Starfleet members to any other ship still in the Delta Quadrant.

I put down my PADD from which I was reading my new orders, tapping his badge to pause his recording. I stared outside, looking into the darkness of space, wondering what may happen on this next assignment, and what things we will come upon when there. Looking down at my meal, I picked up my glass of juice, took a sip, and then continued eating my steak meal.

A short time passed, and he finished his meal, tapping his badge to carry on his captain’s log, but not having anything else to add to it, he just ended his log and continued to look out the window of my quarters. Getting up to place my plate back in the Replicator, I called on the comms, “Commander Danvers, can you come to my quarters, please?” A few seconds went past “Yes Captain, I just finish off here and make my way down I be about 10 minutes” With this the Captain replied “OK see you soon, Telkir out” he tapped his comm badge and sat back down tapping a control panel on his table, which indicated to tell the computer to carry on playing music he had last asked for days before.

****

Almost to the dot of 10 minutes, Commander Danvers turned up at the Captain’s quarters. Relaxing in his quarters, listening to music, Telkir heard the comms of his door beeping. He sat up and said, “Enter” With that, the doors opened just as he muted the music. There stood a strong woman with strong Denobulan forehead riggers, standing at 5.7 with amazing emerald green eyes. She was one of the first Denobulan officer, Captain Telkir had ever served with. She dressed smartly and was always punctual. “Thank you for coming, Commander. We have some new orders” With that he held out the PADD to the Commander. Danvers made her way into the quarters more, took the PADD off Telkir, and took a seat on the sofa across from her commanding officer. Danvers put the PADD down in front of her a few minutes later, stood up, and walked toward the window. She expressed her surprise, “The Delta Quadrant! I never thought I’d get to go there. Are we still picking up Ensign Tior?” Taking a quick breath, she continued, ‘What about picking up our replacement Chief Medical Office in two weeks” With this, she turned back to the window and went quiet.

“I had this conversation with Commander Ekwueme. We have a 6-week deadline to prepare the crew and travel to the Barzan Wormhole, where we will start our journey to the Delta Quadrant. To inform the crew, I’m going to do a ship-wide message soon I just wanted you to hear it from me here and get your views on the mission first” walking over to his desk across from the windows and not far from the Commander.

There was a quiet period between the two that lasted a few minutes and the Commander then walked to the Replicator and said “Earl Tea, white one sugar 35° degree temperature” With that, his order appeared on the pad of the Replicator, and she picked it up and made her way to sit opposite Telkir while taking a sip of her drink. “What do I think about the mission? Well, it will be something different for us all, but is this type of ship the best to send there as we are not a warship or one of the state-of-the-art ships we now have in the fleet, we only a support ship that is designed for resupply and the occasion second contact missions when there are no other ships available for it.” Commander said her piece and then continued to drink her Earl Grey Tea.

A short while passed and the turbo-lift to the bridge opened up and out walked Captain Telkir and Commander Danvers, walking to their positions on the bridge. “Lieutenant Commander, open the ship-wide channel please,” said Captain Telkir. “Channel Open captain” Replied Lieutenant Commander Sharpe.

“This is your captain speaking. We received orders a short while ago, and I have been talking it over with Commander Danvers. We both decided that you all need to know, and I understand if any of you would like to take any holiday you have saved up. Our mission is to be at the Barzan Wormhole in 6 weeks to collect supplies from Starbase 38 and take them to the space station in the Delta Quadrant. From there, we will be doing second contact missions in the Delta Quadrant for about 2 to 3 months and returning to the annual opening of the wormhole.”

Taking a short break, he then continued to say “So like I said anyone that wants to leave, please say so to your department’s Commanding officer” With that, Lieutenant Commander Sharpe closed the channel at the sign of Captain Telkir nodding to close the comms.

****

A few weeks passed since the announcement from Captain Telkir, and only one crew member asked for leave due to a family member close to passing. Otherwise, the USS Gilroy has been on route from Planet Acamar near the Romulan/Klingon Border, not far from Starbase 86 heading toward the sol system to drop the crew member off, then they are to head towards Betazed to collect their replacement Chief Medical Officer Danielle Arias. “The crew’s morale over the last two weeks has been quite good considering that they are going to be travelling to the Delta Quadrant and not seeing or hearing from any of their friends or family for almost 2-3 months,” said Commander Danvers to Telkir while they were sitting having a nice drink after their last shift. “That’s good to hear, commander, and how do you feel about this assignment?” Said Captain Telkir. 

She took a sip of her drink as I asked her the question. She put her glass down to reply “You do it every time I go to drink, you ask me a question” With that they both giggled a bit and then the commander carried on talking 

“As I said two weeks ago in your quarters, it’s an assignment I never expected to be doing, but how I feel, I’m excited about it, it is nice to meet a new race that no one has met and it will be a change of pace instead of all these supply drops,” said Danvers.

****

A few days passed, and they finally made it to Betazed to collect their new Chief Medical Officer. Commander Danvers was on the bridge while Captain Telkir was in his office on the side of the bridge going over paperwork. The comms in the captain’s room went. It was Danvers. “Captain, we have arrived at Betazed. We contacted Commander Arias, and she said she would be ready for transport in the next hour. She’s just finishing off some last-minute paperwork for a while. She was there helping out.”

“Acknowledged, Let the Commander know when she’s aboard and store her stuff away to please report to me in my ready room.” With that, the captain ended the communication between him and the bridge. A short while passed, the turbo-lift doors opened, and Commander Arias walked down the left side of the bridge toward the captain’s ready room. Pushing the panel on the wall to activate the door chime and waiting to enter when told.

“Enter” comes out the door intercom from Captain Telkir, and with that Commander Arias entered. She walked up to his desk and said, “Commander Arias reporting as requested Captain” With that Captain Telkir waved his hand to sign to take a seat, and with that, the commander did.

“Thank you for coming as quickly as possible. I don’t know if you read the brief for our next mission, but we are heading to the delta quadrant. We won’t be able to just drop by to a starbase for any extra medical supplies,” taking a sip of his drink on his desk and then carrying on to say “So I need you to double-check our stocks and make sure we are fully equipped and if there is anything else, you can think you might need please put a request into Starbase 38 for collection on the way back from where we are to pick up Ensign Tior he’s on loan for a mission there”.

“Yes, Captain, not a problem. Is there anything else you need me for?” Telkir replied to the commander, 

“No, that’s all, and welcome aboard the Gilroy. I hope you enjoy your time here.” With that, the commander stood up, exited the ready room, and backed up to the turbo-lift.

A week passed, and they were coming up on Starbase 38. The captain was sitting in the conference room waiting for all his senior staff to arrive. Moments later, the entire senior staff came in, entering from both doors depending on where they were coming from. With everyone taking a seat, the Captain started by saying,

“Thank you, everyone, for turning up, and thank you to Dr. Arias for coming aboard the ship and taking the position of chief medical officer. I have asked you all here to ask you to do a total systems check, do a total inventory of everything we have, and get a report ready to broadcast to the starbase within the next two days. So they can get all we need readily for our return.” Ransom then stood up and took a look out of the window. Moments later he continued to say, “I want this mission to go as straightforward and by the book as much as we can, as we won’t have the chance for much backup when we are in the Delta Quadrant”. The meeting went on for a short while, not just for mission details, but just for a general chat after with them all, saying how they felt about their current and future mission.

Almost another two weeks went by, and all the senior officers had completed their reports and inventory requests and sent them to Starbase 38 as they went past almost two weeks ago. Since then, there has been nothing to report or do apart from travel to pick up Ensign Jabir Tior from Galadkail Minor, and still have another two weeks until they travel to the Delta Quadrant.

Time soon flowed past, and they had collected the Ensign from Galadkail Minor and made their way back to Starbase 38 with two days to spare. Captain Telkir gave the whole crew shore leave till it was time to leave, as they didn’t know when they would get the chance again.

****

The day soon came, but like always, all ships and even Starbase 38 went to yellow alert, ready for anything that might happen. This was the standard procedure for when the wormhole opened every month. Not knowing what was going to come through and if it was a threat to Starfleet or any of the races in the Alpha Quadrant. Standard orders from Starfleet were to implode the wormhole if any threat came through, but with this, it meant cutting any ship and personnel off from home and taking a long trip home.

“Captain, the wormhole is open and we had word from Starbase 38 that it’s clear to start our mission in the Delta Quadrant and they wish us good luck,” said Lt Commander Sharpe. “Thank you, Commander. Message back and tell them we see them in a few months and we radio back through when we reach the other side,” replied Captain Telkir.

“Captain, all stations report in ready. All supplies have been received and stored away from the station. All hatches are locked, and we have been cleared. As the Lt Commander said, we can leave standard orbit around the station,” said Commander Danvers.

“Thanks, number 1. Helm set our course to enter the wormhole and take us in at full impulse please,” said Captain Telkir.

#Stardate 240110.01 

As the USS Gilroy entered the wormhole, they had it on the viewscreen for everyone to see. It didn’t take long to pass through the wormhole; it was a fantastic sight. So many crew members were looking out of the port and starboard windows, and a few were using holo-cameras to record this once-in-a-lifetime experience. The trip was soon over and everyone returned to their stations, awaiting what was to happen next.

“Open ship-wide please, Lt. Commander. Seconds later, the comms had opened. We are through the wormhole. Can all department heads please check in? We aim to deliver supplies to the Markonian Outpost and meet with other races that Voyager and Starfleet vessels encountered last year during the Blood Dilithium incident.” 

He looked at the senior crew and others on the bridge, took a deep breath, and told the Lt. Commander to open a channel to Starbase 38. Lt Commander Sharpe opened the channel and confirmed it was open.

“StarBase 38 greetings from the USS Gilroy and the Delta Quadrant. We arrived safely and we will see you in a few months. Moments later, Gilroy received a message back from the Alpha Quadrant. This is Admiral Vailis. Good luck, Captain Telkir, and we will see you when you get back.” 

With that Captain Telkir said to the Ensign at the helm “Ensign plot a course to the Markonian Outpost please full impulse” With that the Ensign plotted the course and said, “Course engaged captain we be there in an hour”.

An hour soon went past, and the Gilroy had finally arrived at the Markonian Outpost, “Captain we have arrived at the outpost and I put us into a standard orbital course” said the young Helmsman.

“Thank you, Ensign and nice using your initiative,” replied Captain Telkir 

Turning around and looking at the Lt Commander stationed at tactical “Open hailing channel to the station, please Lt Commander Sharp.”

With that, you hear the Lt commander taped a few buttons on her console and within a few seconds, the federation liaison stationed there appears on the screen.

“Welcome USS Gilroy to the Delta Quadrant. I am Lieutenant Haywire. How can I help you today?” 

“Afternoon Lieutenant, greetings from the Alpha Quadrant. We have your monthly supplies from Starbase 38 and any corresponding subspace messages for all you guys on board the station. Can my crew come over for a day’s shore leave before we head off on our mission?” Replied Captain Telkir.

“Give me 5 minutes while I check with my commanding officer on your request to have a 24-hour leave. As for the supplies, please beam them over into cargo bay 5 and file the supply manifest with the station supply officer. I get back to you in a minute.” With that, the viewscreen went back to a view of space and the station.

A few minutes went past and the ship’s comb went with a message coming back from the starbase in response to the captain’s request. “Captain, it’s Lieutenant Haywire calling from the Starbase again,” Said Lieutenant Commander Sharp.

Turning around, he looked at the Lt Commander nodding his head to inform her to put the callback on the viewing globe. With that, he turned back around, looking at the viewscreen to see the Lieutenant back on the screen.” So what did your commanding office say then Lieutenant” asked Captain Telkir.

“He’s told me that you can have shore leave but only on a 6-hour visit, so split the crew down to 4 visits and that be fine. Stay in high orbit and transport the supplies over to cargo bay 5, as I informed you.” Replied the young lieutenant. And with that, the viewscreen went back to viewing space and the space station.

Stardate: 240110.07

After 24 hours, everyone on the crew had managed to get some time off the ship. Even the senior crew got a 6-hour break before starting their mission in the Delta Quadrant. We start off our day in the conference room where the senior staff meet to discuss their mission and what planets from the database to visit. We set our sites on a tall dark-skinned Vulcan standing looking out of a window in the conference room, waiting for the rest of the senior crew to arrive. He was a tall man standing roughly at 6Ft 2 with a muscular build, dark short hair and Dark Brown eyes. He always stood proud and kept himself an upstanding character. Unlike most Vulcans, he didn’t have long hair and preferred a shaved head due to constant irritation.

Chief Engineer Ramsey finally arrived, and they all sat around the conference table. “After we leave here, our first mission is to visit the Shivolian homeworld and establish a second contact with them,” said the captain.

With that, Telkir tapped a button on the side of the desk, bringing up the screen behind him, showing all the info they had and a photo of one of the Shivolian male species on the screen. “You also have all the information on your PADDs in front of you, so you can study the information ready for when we make contact again.”

Looking at the screen behind the Captain, the senior staff took in all the information they could. One of the senior crew giggled slightly while looking at the PADD before him. With that giggle, the rest of the crew looked around at Lieutenant Allen. “Why the giggle, Mr Allen?” asked Commander Danvers.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, but we will see actual live-talking dinosaurs. Something no human has ever seen before the crew of the USS Voyager did in 2376. It’s been 25 years in the making since then.” Said Lt Allen while looking at everyone with a strange look on their faces.

From that comment, a few of the senior staff saw the scientific and funny side of the statement and smiled at the Counselor, a few even nodding at him.

“Well, with the funny side put to a side, I want this first/second contact to go as straightforward as possible and to the book,” Said Telkir

“Can I ask what you mean by first/second contact, captain?” Said Dr Arias. Sitting there with a puzzled face, looking at Telkir. “Dr Arias‌, basically we have been asked to make a second contact with races that the USS Voyager made contact with years ago. But on the meaning of first contact, we are to make first contact with any race that we run into that voyager never did get around to meet due to their ability to jump light years ahead with the receiving of advanced alien technology,” replied Telkir.

With that statement, a few of the senior crew nodded their head along with Dr Arias to acknowledge they knew what the captain was saying. 

“Right, our first point of contact with the Shivolian Race is the Chancellor in the northern hemisphere of the planet at their city capital and the leader of their race.” Taking a sip of his Plomeek tea, he then turns around and looks at the big screen displaying the information about the Shivolian race. 

After a few seconds of looking at it, he turns back after a few seconds and looks at his PADD and carries on by saying “Dr Arias can you go through all the limited information we have and what we have received from the outpost. Make sure that there are no contaminants that might affect any of the ship’s crew and if so can you please come up with any workarounds/antidotes to what possibly could happen please.” with that the Dr looking over at the captain nodded her head again and replied.

“Yeah, of course, Captain. I received the species here in Delta Quadrant and already got a head start on any possible side effects the crew might contract or even the visiting races might receive from us,” replied Dr Arias. 

“Glad to hear you taking the initiative Dr. and getting things done ahead of time,” Telkir said with a smile. Well, what was classed as a smile for a Vulcan?

“As for the rest of you, I want you to check all systems, lock anything down that is important and check anything we have in the supplies that we could use for trade, without species,” Tapping his comb badge and said “Bridge set course for the Shivolian Homeworld warp factor 2,” Said Telkir.

“Course set, captain, and engines are engaged. We estimated to be there in 2 and a half hours,” replied the ensign at the helm. 

“Thank you helm” and with that, he tapped his badge cutting off the channel he turned around to the rest of his senior crew and said, “Right we have 2 and a half years and you have your orders make sure everything is ready and make sure that you up to date on any customs for the races we are to meet.”

*****

Stardate: 240110.21

 A short time passed and the Gilroy finally arrived around the homeworld of the Shivolian. The ensign put the ship into a standard orbit around the planet, following a standard Starfleet orbital routine. “Captain, I placed us into a standard orbit,” said the ensign.

“Thank you, ensign, Lt commander open hailing frequency please,” said the Captain.

With that, the Lt Commander opened the hailing frequency and moments later, the viewscreen went from a view of space to a view of the administration office to the chancellor and the chancellor’s secretary. 

“Welcome. This is the administration office of the chancellor. How can I help you?” Said what seemed to be a young female Shivolain. She sat behind a long curved desk that had a screen mounted on the wall behind her with displayed loads of statistics of information to situations down on their planet. Her appearance resembled close to a reptile-like dinosaur with a slight lump coming out from the back of her head. With ridges that were not as dominant as the Male part of her species. But they both had the same colourings on their forehead. 

The female ridges were a lighter shade of grey than the male counterparts, but both halves of the species were a pinky shade of red among the rest of their face. Her clothes were mainly blue, with a red patch over her right shoulder. Along with what looked like a chain that came over her shoulder, down across her chest to her left side and clipped there onto her clothes.

“I am Captain Telkir, Commanding Officer of the Uss Gilroy. I have a meeting with your chancellor. Is it possible to be put through to him?”

“One moment please,” said the young Shivolain female and put the call on a form of hold displaying her culture’s seal on the screen. Moments later, the viewscreen came back on and there we saw the chancellor on the screen.

“I am Captain Telkir, commanding officer of the USS Gilroy. My crew and I have come a long way to meet you. And would like to carry on what would be the second contact with your race following a brief first contact your race had with the USS Voyager 25 years ago.”

 “Welcome to Shivolain, I’m Chancellor Meiki welcome to Shivolain. My predecessor met your other sip all of them years ago. But I like to make my first contact with you. So please come down tonight for a meal and a formal chat.”

“Me and my senior crew will be down later upon your request and thank you for the invitation. If you let us know when you would like us down, we will be there,” replied Telkir.

****

A few hours went past, and the time came and the senior crew assembled in transporter room 1 all dressed in their formal uniforms, ready to beam down to the planet. Commander Danvers Entered the transporter room. She was the first to arrive, but seconds later, most of the senior crew arrived only moments after her. The only one not to arrive on time is the captain. Not that he was late, but out of all the senior crew, you would have thought he would have been the first to be in the transporter room, waiting for his crew.

The captain finally arrived in the transporter room to find all his crew ready and waiting all in their formal smart dress uniform, and ready to beam down. The team finally stands on the transport pad with the captain standing at the front of the pad. Seconds later, the team materialized in the reception room, which was the designated destination for their beam down. As the team materialized on the planet, the chancellor’s secretary and the welcome committee warmly welcomed them. They then accompanied the team to the chancellor. 

The door opened to the Shivolain reception hall, which was quite large, surprising the size of the building. One end of the hall had a lovely arrangement of tables for the crew of the Gilroy and the Shivolain government to celebrate their first contact. At the other end of the room, close to where the crew entered, was best described as a bar where a few Shivolain staff stood ready to serve and offer out refreshments. The Shivolain secretary upon entering the room announced ‌the crew of the Gilroy in a somewhat proud and loud voice to the rest of the room.

“Hello captain, I am Chancellor Meiki. Thank you for agreeing to this dinner and this get-together. Please come in. Refreshments are over to your left and we will sit when the time comes.”

He sticks his hand out ‌to say thank you like the Shivolains had learned and taken on in their customs as a greeting they had learned all of years ago. Being surprised that the Shivolains knew an old earth custom. Captain Telkir also returned the gesture and shook his hand.

“Thank you, Chancellor, and may I welcome you in a Vulcan greeting also and say, Live long and prosper,”

Removed his hand and raised it in the typical Vulcan greeting of the famous ‘live long and prosper’ saying while holding his hand up in that same pose. With this, you saw the chancellor also raise his hand and produce the same greetings, even if it did feel a bit strange to him.

With that, Mr Meiki lowered his hand and said “Welcome please do come in” while gesturing to the captain to walk to their form of a bar. And continued to say, “Please try one of our drinks. We have soft beverages on this side and alcoholic ones on that side. Please help yourself,” saying this while looking around at the whole crew.

A few hours went by and the senior crew finally beamed back on board the Gilroy after having a fantastic few hours with the Shivolain government and their great host, Mr Meiki.

“Right, everyone, thank you for that fantastic dinner. It was different, and thank you for being on your best behaviour and showing what Starfleet is all about. All of you hit the sack. I want you up and ready for a briefing in the conference room at 09:30 hours,” said the captain. With that, the senior crew left, apart from the commander. The doors to the transport room shut, and she turned to the captain and said, 

“That was one different first contact and I, through second contact missions, were hard. I can now honestly say they are a walk-through compared to this evening. So you off to your quarter’s captain,” said the commander.

“No I’m just going to pop to the bridge to check in on things and then be off to my quarters, so I see you at 09:30 hours in the conference room commander,” replied Telkir.

With that, they both left the transport room and headed to the same turbo lift.

******

09:30 soon came about and the senior crew made their way to the conference room for their morning briefing and talk over how the night went with the Shivolain government.

Telkir walked into the conference room, looking around the table to see that all members were there and accounted for. “So what’s everyone’s views on how last night went down on the planet then?” the captain asked as he sat down at the table with the rest of the crew.

With that the commander was the first to speak out “I found things quiet Civil and pleasant I didn’t feel any hostility from them they were very forward and open if anything to open” looking at Commander Arias and saying “ Dr What did u find or even feel from them last night could you tell if they were hiding anything from us or trying to keep us off any subject”

“No I didn’t feel any remorse or any hint of hiding things from us, I would say I felt that some of the senior members of the government were very sceptical of us saying that it’s a possibility they could be very distant relatives of the dinosaurs of earth. They gave me the feeling that they didn’t like that, but others were excited to find out if we were related at all,” replied the Dr.

“Thank you, well it be an interesting report to read what you put down on how you guys all felt last night. Get them to me by the end of the day. Now down to business, the Shivolain government didn’t have many requests from us to get to know them or even ask for any help from us but they did ask if they could have a complete copy of our database on our different cultures and religions and also all that we know about the universe especially the alpha quadrant as they of course never been there to their knowledge. Commander, I leave that in your hands to complete and contact the Shivolain government to see how they wanna go about receiving the information, they also offered us in return the same a complete copy of their database.” He looked at the commander while he said this.

The commander nodded her head to say she understood and would make that happen. “Doctor, they also going to upload to us a complete medical history of their race and the changes they have on record so we can study it and see if they might or might not come from Earth. So can you please provide a complete medical report on anything that they ask? Thank you. They have asked if they could have a bit of help with their medical bay as they have a strange illness going about that they never encountered and would like some help if possible.” with that the Dr looked at the captain and replied.

“Certainly captain I arrange for myself and a medical team to beam down and help in any way possible while providing their chief medical officer the information they have requested,” With that, the captain looked at the doctor to say “Thank you doctor that be most appreciated” saying this while he smiled in his own Vulcan way at her.

“Well, unless there is anything else that you have to report on last night, I let you all get back to your duties,” said the Telkir. With that, the crew started to get up and make their way to their stations and jobs.

The rest of the shift went without any problems both the Gilroy and the Shivolain government had swapped their databases with each other and the Doctor had beamed down with a small medical staff to help them out with their minor outbreak.

A few days had gone by and the medical team of the Gilroy and the Shivolain medical departments had managed to find a cue for the minor outbreak. It was similar to the human/Vulcan disease of Choriocytosis. But with a bit of human and Shivolain combined genius after finding out that the outbreak looked just like the ones on Vulcan and Earth Commander Arias was able to show their doctor it in the Starfleet medical files and between them both they were able to come up with a cure. While they did a few test patients who had the outbreak the worst they did notice that in some but not all the patients they had side effects from the cure that was a slight mutation in the gene and made them have a mild case of an old Earth disease that was cured centuries ago called dementia which luckily didn’t have to be altered much to the Shivolain DNA and immune system. 

After a week of testing and patience, the Shivolain/human first joint medical intervention had worked and all the Shivolain’s were cured. That night to celebrate the success, the Gilroy hosted a dinner for the Shivolains to celebrate providing some of their planet delicacies and also providing a wide range of earth/vulcan and a few other race delicacies.

Stardate: 240110.22

“First Officer Log, the crew of the Gilroy have spent a week at the Starfleet Segment/sector of the Markonian Outpost debriefing the outpost senior officers about the latest mission to the Borg outpost, handing over a copy of all the Borg database and technology that we had recovered from the mission. Also, the doctor had to pass her patients over to the relevant races that had a delegation for their race at the outpost. And for the races that didn’t, I managed to provide them with quarters on the space station, until their species and arranged for them to be reunited. 

The captain was pleased with the mission’s outcome: there were no casualties, and we got all the information that Starfleet wanted while saving a few XBs. My mission to the planet was terrifying, but I’m glad my entire team came back with their lives. It was a bonus that we got our primary mission, also complete, was end log,” said Commander Danvers.

The commander sat relaxing in her room at her desk as she had not long returned from the outpost when her door chime went.

“Enter,” said the Commander. And with that, Councillor Allen entered her room.

“Commander, have you got some spare time to chat? I’d like to talk about our recent mission and how the crew has been dealing with the situation since I last gave the captain an update a few weeks ago,” said Lt. Allen.

Getting up from her desk and going over to the couch, she welcomed the councillor in to take a seat.

“Would you like a drink at all councillors or anything else while you are here?” Asked the Commander.

“I take an ice-cold lemonade set at minus 4. Please, and you don’t have to be so formal. Call me John.” replied the Councillor.

With that, Rose made her way to the replicator. The councillor took a seat on one of the commander’s chairs in the living room of her office. Rose walked over to the seats, placed down the drinks and sat across from John on the sofa with her leg crossed over the over while sitting on a slight lean to the side with one arm resting across the back of the seat.

“So how are the crew doing then, John? Is there anything to report that we might have to look at giving any support to? But I have to ask how are you doing with all this. You counsel the crew, but who helps you talk about things? You know you can always come talk to me if you have any problems, especially now that we are in the delta quadrant, and you can’t just contact one of your fellow councillors for advice,” said Rose while looking at John.

“Most of the crew are doing ok, thank you, but there are a few members of the crew that are struggling since our last mission as it is bringing back memories from when they were cadets for some and others when they were living on earth and starships that were sent to WORF359 and were lucky enough to survive the whole encounter” Replied John.

“Well, is there anything that we can do to help these officers? What do you recommend we offer to help them through these hard times they are going through?” Replied Rose.

With that, Rose leaned forward to take a drink of her tropical juice while John brought up on his PADD the names of the officers who needed help. He recommended his ideas and recommendations and sent the information to the commander on her PADD without breaking the Councillor and patient confidentiality. With that, the commander picked her PADD up and browsed over the recommendations that John had just sent over to her.

“OK, no problem. Give me a few days. I give these a proper look over and recommend what we can offer them after I have spoken to their commanding officers and see what they can recommend we do with them.

Elsewhere on the board the Gilroy, the captain was in his ready room going through mission reports from Captain Janeway and their first contacts on other planets within 5-10 light-years travel from the Markonian Outpost to see what would be the best place to visit next upon reading reports and with the time that they had left on their short mission in the delta quadrant, that recently got extended by the recent emergency mission issued by Starfleet. With so many races and unique cultures to explore, the captain was finding it hard to choose where to take the crew next. With such a wide selection of races to visit, the captain put it down to the senior crew to pick. So he asked them to decide what their top three races were from a list the captain had provided and requested they get it back to him by 11 hours the following morning so he could decide and set the course for their next mission.

Morning soon came. Lieutenant Junior grade P’Nell was walking down the corridor on his way to the science lab where he passed Commander Danvers and Chief Engineer Carlos, all dressed in workout gear, ready for a bit of sparing like they do a few times a week. You wouldn’t have thought that a Denobulan and a human would have sparing matches together, as it’s known that Denobulans have a stronger physical strength when it comes down to a humanoid. They had a few hours to kill till they had to be on shift on the bridge as the chief was taking a change of view today and working from the bridge’s engineering console while being able to take on the view even if it is just the endless of darkness space at warp.

Meanwhile, the captain was meditating in his quarters with a fellow crewmember, a distant cousin of the Vulcan race, a Romulan engineer called Tolesa. Tolesa had come to the captain a while ago when she came on board. Asking the captain if he could train her in the art of meditation and teach her a way to calm down her mind and her violent tendencies and nature. She found the captain very accommodating with this. He also offered her a way to release her violent tendencies with a holodeck simulation. 

“Take this, (as he hands her a PADD with the holodeck simulation on it) it’s a simulation I have come across in the Starfleet. Database. It was designed and used by Lt Worf now Captain Worf back on board the USS Enterprise-D when he was looking to practise hand-to-hand combat and help with his Klingon rage”,  and with that, the captain got up ending their time meditating and said to the young engineer. 

“I will see you tomorrow same time”. With that, the Lieutenant got up and gathered the few things she brings with her every day along with the PADD that she quickly accessed and sent the file to her private terminal, handed it back over to Telkir and made her way to the door. Before leaving, she turned and said “Maybe you can join me in the holodeck sometime when I’m running the program” With that, the captain nodded his head and she left his quarters.

A short time passed and it was almost 11 hundred hours. The senior crew were on the bridge and the captain had received all the suggestions back on where they wanted to go next.

“Helm set course for Brunali. I have sent your console the coordinates warp factor 6, please”.With that, Ensign Pemberton set the course and engaged the engineers. 

Replying “Course set captain and engaged”.

Stardate 240101.28

The USS Gilroy is travelling to Brunali as part of its few-month mission in the delta quadrant completing a selection of second-contact missions with races that the USS Voyager had come in contact with on their long 7-year mission to get home when they got stranded here by the Caretaker back in 2371 on Stardate 48315.6.

While here in the Delta Quadrant, the crew of the USS Gilroy have encountered some unfamiliar cultures/species in contrast to the ones they were familiar with in the Alpha Quadrant. Their current mission to the Brunali home world was to learn more about the culture as the only interaction Starfleet had with the Brunali race was when the crew of the USS Voyager found a damaged Borg ship that had been affected by a virus that was embedded one of their recent captured Borg drones DNA, leading the ships disconnection from the Borg hive mind and leading to the rescue of the young children including Icheb a Brunali child.

The mission today was to see how they were doing and to make further contact and see how they had changed their lives since the Borg had restructured their space and moved away from many of the inhabited planets including that of Brunali as they were less than one light year from the nearest Borg trans-warp conduit. The crew were there to perform their second contact mission, but also to see if the Brunali could start showing their technological advance in their day-to-day lives that they couldn’t do before, with the Borg transwarp conduit being so close.

All the people on board hoped that Voyager had also destroyed the nearby conduit when they destroyed the Borg transwarp hub in the Delta Quadrant all those years ago.

A short while passed and the USS Gilroy had arrived at the planet where they placed the ship into a high orbit around the north hemisphere. The captain then said to Lt. Commander Sharpe,

“Can you please do an up-to-date reading of the planet and correlate it to the ones we have from the database, please?” and with that, the Lt. Commander did as she was told. After a few minutes, she came back to the captain to say.

“Captain, most of the hemispheres have not changed apart from their size in the number of people living there, but the settlement in the Northern hemisphere is showing some advances in technology, but only a slight increase.”

“Thank you, Lt Commander, for the rep….,” as he said that a hail came in from that hemisphere from what we would have thought to be that community’s leaders.

“Sorry captain, we have an incoming hail from the northern hemisphere,” the Lt commander reported as she cut off the captain.

With that, the captain turned from looking at the Lt Commander and sat back in his chair and said “On the main viewer, please.”

With that, the main view changed from a view of Brunali to that of two people on the surface below them.

“Greetings I’m Captain Telkir, the Commanding Officer of the USS Gilroy and who do I have the pleasure of speaking to”. The captain asked as he stood up out of his seat, walking slightly toward the viewscreen, giving that formal strong Vulcan greeting.

“I’m Baalom and this is my partner Hedar, we are the community’s leaders here. Can I ask what you are here for as we have not heard anything from your ships or kind since one of my predecessors spoke to your fellow people years ago?” Baalom said, getting straight to the point and being very blunt about it.

“As I said My name is Captain Telkir and we are here on behalf of Starfleet and the Federation to make what we call Second Contact and check up on species that we have had contact with in the past and see if there is anything that we can do to help.” Replied Telkir.

Telkir continued to say whale walking from side to side of the bridge “According to what we know of your race from your previous encounter with one of our ships and the scans we had from surveying your planet back then, we have noticed that your technology is more visible and possible to find from scans. But only on this hemisphere that you are on now. Can I ask why that is and why not all over the planet?”

“Captain, I’m sure you have loads of questions, but why don’t you beam down shortly and have dinner with us where we will answer all and any questions you and your ship have and you can maybe answer any that we have?” Replied Hedar.

– – – – – – – – – – –

A short time passed and the Senior crew, led by the captain, appeared on the surface of Brunali. The away team consisted of Captain Telkir, First Officer Danvers, Lt. Commander Sharpe, Counsellor Allen, and a few of the Security team, including Lt Hill. Upon arriving on the planet’s surface, the team was greeted by Baalom, and seconds later, Hedar.

“Greetings, captain and welcome to our home. Who do you have here with you? We did not expect this many guests to be coming down here with you,” said Baalom.

With that, captain Telkir started going through the crew that he had brought down with him.

“May I introduce you to my first officer, Commander Rose Danvers. This is my Chief of Security Lt. Commander Sara Sharpe, our ship’s Counsellor Mr John Allen, and finally a few of our ship’s security personnel. That’s just standard away mission personnel.” With that, Baalom turned slightly, lifting her arm and inviting the captain and his senior crew into the village.

“As you can see, we lack the advancement of your starship, but we manage with what we have here.” We are a simple community, but we get along and survive,” said Baalom.

“Please Sit and eat. We will talk after we have some food,” said Hedar.

A few hours passed and the senior crew had enjoyed themselves with a lovely meal prepared by the inhabitants of the Brunali people. And with that, the Captain, the First Officer and Lt Commander Sharpe got up from the table and took a walk with Hedar and Baalom to a quieter part of the village but still in eyesight of the remaining senior crew still sat at the table with the villagers.

Upon sitting down the female Brunali spoke to the captain asking “So captain, what would you 

like to know about our village then?” with that Telkir replied, “It’s not so much what we want to know about your village as that we can determine everything from our ship senses, but what it is that we like to know is what’s changed in 25 years in the society that’s made you want to allow your technology to be detected more from space, compared to what we have on record that you don’t show any form of technology because you live so close to a Borg transwarp conduit.”

Both of the Brunali leaders were not only unsurprised by the question but also somewhat disappointed by what they heard. They felt disappointed upon learning that all species could scan and record their planet and people before even contacting them. With that, Hedar started to speak to answer the captain’s question.

“Captain, it’s a recent change to our way of living and that’s why it’s only done on one continent of the planet. A few months ago, the Wysanti visited us and delivered the news that the Borg were retreating into their own space, abandoning their boarding planets in their known space. But they also informed us that during their travels, they had gathered information from various locations indicating that many species had observed the collapse of Borg transwarp corridors over the past 25 years. Consequently, the Borg was no longer capable of instantaneously appearing or disappearing. So from this information, we started to bring our technology out into the open to all our society to get back on the path of technology and not just a society that lives from day to day and barely survives.”

Then Hedar took a sip of the drink he had brought over with him and stood up, walking around where they were sitting to lean on a support post of the canopy that they were sitting under, staring out into a beautiful sunset of their local countryside.

“So, captain, can you confirm the information we have received about the Borg and the abandonment of their outposts and borders?” Hedar inquired.” asked Hedar.

The captain then putting his own drink down replied “From what we saw recently first-hand and all the reports we were getting in from our part of space and nearby sectors and species, I can confirm that they have been withdrawing into their own space and closing off their borders for now. Why this is we have no idea. We don’t know if it’s because of a virus that was introduced to them over 20 years ago and the devastating effects it had on them back then or if it’s something new that happened recently. But yes I can confirm that they have withdrawn into their space and a lot of their transwarp conduits have collapsed because of the events of the virus from years ago it also might be because of whatever it is now that they are scared of, if they get scared at all.”

With that, Hedar turned to the group, smiled at the news, and replied, “That’s great news. I will inform the other communities that they can slowly start implementing some of their technology, but only on a small scale. I will arrange for word to be sent out at day’s break.”

And with that, Telkir stood up after finishing his drink and replied, “Thank you for the amazing food. It’s nice to have fresh cooked food from time to time instead of the replicated stuff we have on board the ship. But we must be heading back to the ship as we have a long journey back home and we can’t miss our window to get back to our side of space. But we will be in orbit for another day and if it’s ok with you, can we send some science teams down to help with anything you may need and do some geological scans something we can do from the ship but these scientists prefer to get hands-on them self as much as possible.” asked Telkir.

“Sure, not a problem, anything to continue our peaceful relations with our new friends,” said Baalom.

With that, the captain tapped his comb badge to say “Away team time to leave, say your goodbyes and form up on me.” Moments later the entire away team stood around the captain and Commander Danvers tapped her comb badge to say“Gilroy this is the away team 6 to beam up” and like before the crew disappeared as easily as they did when they arrived.

Shortly after arriving on board, the captain received a hail from the planet from Baalom and Hedar asking if they could speak to the captain in private, and with the captain taking some time to reflect on what he had learned down on the planet in his quarters, the bridge put through the call to him in his quarters.

A short while passed and everyone on the bridge, including the commander who was now in her quarters as her shift had just ended shortly after they got back on board when the communication came from the planet asking to speak to the captain. All discussing and speculating on the bridge what the communication could be about just like the commander was doing in her quarters to what it was about.

Moments later, the commander’s comb badge went, and it was the captain calling to let her know what the call was about.

“So Commander I guess you were wondering what the call from the planet was about.” without getting an answer the captain continued to say “Baalom and Hedar have informed me that a few of their members have shown an interest in wanting to leave their home world and join Starfleet.” This put a surprised look on the commander’s face, as it was not what she was expecting to get from them. 

“I’ve told them that I would love to take them with us but because of our prime directive and not being able to get in touch with Starfleet quickly for an answer I have said that I would have a load of information put together and sent down. So that they will have access to it and can read up on Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets before deciding if they are already.” 

He took a second and took a sip of his drink while getting up. Then he continued to say “I’m Going to drop a communication beacon in the nearby system with the same information and a communication relay set to contact the Starfleet personnel on board the Markonian Outpost or any other nearby ship and get them to relay the message to the station if any races nearby that do not have fast space worthy ships capable of warp to be able to request in person at the station.” with the captain taking another sip of his drink the commander took that as a sign for her to be able to speak before the captain started again.

“Well, captain what do I say that’s great news that the Brunali wants to join Starfleet after only two meetings with us. As for the beacon, I think that’s a fantastic way to allow other species the ability to communicate with us either for the first time or even for the second time and make contact.”

“Inform the bridge commander of what we are going to be doing and for them to have a communication beacon ready to be deployed within 6 hours, as that’s when we will break orbit and make our way back to the Alpha quadrant, please. Also please have them fit the beacon with a 2-way communication relay set to contact any Starfleet ship if nearby or have it set to beam the communication to the station directly if there is none.”

“Oh and have the science department put together a directory of information ready to be sent to the planet in the next 5 hours shortly before I send them a heartfelt communication from me about joining Starfleet and about their fellow member Icheb’s life in Starfleet and his life aboard the USS Voyager when he left with them almost 3 decades ago”

With that he tapped his comb badge ending the call and not giving the commander a chance to reply. Something he never normally does but he knew that he had a task ahead of himself and needed to get down to it straight away. The captain made his way to the holodeck to have himself recorded as a hologram so he could have the speech he was about to make sent down to the planet when he was finished.

– – – – – – – – – – –

To the Citizens of the Brunali homeworld, I have been informed that quite a few of you are showing interest in joining Starfleet. 

First, I would like to say it would be an honour for us to have you join Starfleet but I like to get you to take your time and think about it as this is a big decision for you to take on and a very far away from your home world. But for now, I would like to let you know what Starfleet and the Federation are all about, by doing this I am going to give you a brief understanding of what we are about and read two passaged from Earth’s history that will help with the understanding of what the Federation is about.

The United Federation of Planets is a supranational interstellar union of multiple planetary constituent political entities under a single central government, founded on the principles of liberty, equality, peace, justice, and progress, with the purpose of furthering the universal rights of all sentient life. Federation members exchange knowledge and resources to facilitate peaceful cooperation, scientific development, space exploration, and mutual defence.

I like to go back to an early Earth speech that happened 439 years ago by one of Earth’s leaders of one of their many different continents and variations of Earth cultures and beliefs.

It was a speech given by a man called John F. Kennedy at the time of the speech he was not a leader but later in his years, he did become one of Earth’s many leaders of a continent called the United States of America. This is where the Federation is based now, with its Academy and structures designed for teaching their current and future cadets.

I would say this speech by Mr Kennedy was Earth’s first push to get them into space decades before they eventually made their first Warp jump and got the notice of the Vulcans, which is the race that I am from.

“For the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon, and the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction but with instruments of knowledge and understanding.”

As I said before, I believe this is the push that gave the human race that drive to make for the stars, the same drive I and now seeing in you the Brunali people. I hope you take the wisdom that came from John F. Kennedy those 439 years ago in your stride to enter space and explore like many races and worlds have done before you are once of peace and exploration to make your planet, and your culture a better one not just for yourself but also for everyone that are ever to come in contact with you in the future.

Like I said before the Federation is a union of planets, this consists of over 150 member worlds, many that have been a part of the Federation since the beginning with the rest joining over time as the Federation explored the space and galaxy around them, in search for them to seek out a strange new world, new life and new civilisation, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

But in the very early days of the Federation before the Federation was formed and the United Federation of Planets was formed there was yet another man that I would like to mention that also gave the human race the final push to get out there in space and because of the amazing work he did and something he did by mistake also brought my Race to Earth for the first time. This man was Zefram Cochrane. He designed Earth’s first warp engine, this man designed it to be able to travel to another part of his planet so he could live out the rest of his life in peace. But by a miracle, he didn’t know that he had designed the warp engine.

This great guy as I said, gave the next amazing speech to push the people of the human race to not just settle for what they have but always look for the future and try to expand and improve on what they have. And here is what he said.

“On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us travel a hundred times faster than we can today. Imagine it. Thousands of inhabited planets are at our fingertips. And we’ll be able to explore those strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilisations. This engine will let us go boldly where no man has gone before.”

Again, as you will see, he also mentioned that the human race strives for the stars and seeks new life and civilisation. So from what I have said here and what I am trying to get to you life can be an amazing thing for you to explore especially when you head out into space if it is to join us the Federation or if it is just for you to improve your world and keep yourself to yourself.

The final bit I would like to say to you is about one of your own as I have had a few questions put to me on what happened to a fellow member of your race, how he is doing and where he is.

First off, he stayed with the crew of the USS VOYAGER and made his way with them back to the Alpha Quadrant where Earth is over time he entered Starfleet and made a career for himself. As to his whereabouts and his condition, I can not say but from the last records we have on file he was on an assignment and doing well he had passed the academy and made his way on board a ship of his own, serving under a new Captain and along with a new crew.

With that, I like to thank you, the Brunali people for your time and hope to see you one day among the many different cultures and races walking the halls of Starfleet Academy.

With this, the captain ended the holo recording and then transmitted it down to the planet, and made his way back to his quarters. On the way he contacted the bridge to set course for the wormhole and to remind them that they were to drop off the communication relay on the way and to inform him when it was done as he was going to go and retire to his quarters.