Chapter 1:
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Vierra Prime: Named after my maternal grandmother's maiden name. The setting of the following scene has varied from planets like Vierra Prime, Earth, Bajor, even to the ship's holodeck in different drafts. In every case, this scene was meant to introduce/reintroduce us to the principal characters in a relaxed setting.
Well, there was also the modest sized yacht he was sitting at the stern of, rocking gently as he dangled a fishing line in the water while occasionally taking a sip from his bottle of beer or a puff from his half-finished cigar: The activity being enjoyed shifted primarily between golf and fishing. Fishing was finally settled upon since the golf versions of the scene made it look like the characters had the abililty of Tiger Woods. Stanley's beer drinking and cigar smoking harkens not only to my tastes but that of Captain John Kincade from YORK. In many ways, Captain Stanley is like an older version of him; plain-spoken, blue-collared, and a bit quicker to lock phasers, which is meant to contrast with the sort of man Henderson is. Stanley's last name originates in the TNG/X-Men crossover novel
Planet X by Michael Jan Friedman. Memory Beta's personnel listing for the USS
Venture places Stanley's tenure of command between 2374 to 2380; his first name, gender, and background were all developed by me.
As if on cue, Stanley heard the unsteady footsteps of his first officer, Commander Mark Henderson, emerge from the main cabin of the boat he had rented for the day: Obviously, if you have read the entire story like I told you to before hand or you've read AOTF, you'd know that Henderson assumes command of the
Venture some time in the same year as the series begins. Henderson's first name and background were developed by me, based on the implication in AOTF that Henderson wasn't an experienced captain during the novel since he and his ship were replaced for the second visit by the Trinni/Ek by Captain Robert DeSoto and his USS
Hood. DeSoto, first mentioned in "Encounter at Farpoint" (TNG) and later seen in "Tin Man" (TNG), would have, assuming he's been commanding the same
Hood all this time, have had more experience in command of that one ship than Jean-Luc Picard had in two
Enterprises. Therefore, it's my assumption that by March, 2380, Henderson hasn't been in command of the
Venture for that long and we'll see just how that comes about later on.
In many ways, Henderson reminded Stanley of what he was like at that age; serious and dedicated to duty: Henderson is, as you'd assume, the central character of the VEN storyline. I felt it important to distinguish him from his "predecessor," Kincade, from the get-go. As mentioned later on in this chapter, he views himself as an explorer; in many ways he's a younger Jean-Luc Picard. Like the captain in TNG, Henderson may come off as reserved when on duty, perhaps a bit Vulcan-like as Ambassador Spock commented on Picard in "Unification, Part II" (TNG). However, like Picard, he's deeply passionate and can become quite emotional when put to the limit ("The line must be drawn HE-YAH!") and certainly in CT, he will be. But, he's also young; he hasn't had the command experience that Picard or even Kincade has had. As VEN progresses, he'll be learning a lot about what it takes to be a starship captain and sometimes asking himself if he's cut out for it. Sometimes, he'll hesitate; other times he'll commit himself to a solution while at the same time second-guessing his decision. Henderson by no means is as roguish as Kirk, Kincade, or certainly NF's Mackenzie Calhoun; he believes in the rules of Starfleet and if finds himself being forced to bend them, it'll be the ultimate last resort. To sum it up, Kincade in many ways was a reflection of Kirk, whereas Henderson is a reflection of Picard. If the two leads from YORK and VEN meet, don't expect them to get along so well.
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“Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the water?” Henderson's distaste for water activities harkens to my own similar phobia. Given how Henderson, as we'll learn, grew up on starships and space stations, he wasn't often near large bodies of water.
“They’re offering you command of the USS Essex
:” The
Essex was one of many various names for the central ship in the series, back when it was set aboard an Akira-class starship. The name itself comes from many vessels of the US Navy and UK Royal Navy, along with a Daedalus-class starship from "Power Play" (TNG). When the
Venture was settled upon, the
Essex became the name of the ship being offered to Henderson. This was meant to parrallel William T. Riker being offered his own command during the first part of "The Best of Both Worlds" (TNG), a ship he ultimately turns down because he has his eye on the
Enterprise. Like Henderson (who isn't all that thrilled about commanding a border patrol ship) later, Riker did get what he wanted, though not in the way he did.
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“If you play your cards right, inside of five years they could bump you up to a Galaxy or even one of those new Sovereign-class ships:” Blatant foreshadowing, I know.
“The way things have been going lately, it may not be long before patrol ships like the Essex
are allowed to carry families on board:” The subject of starships carrying families has been a somewhat controversial subject, given the dangers faced in the final frontier. It's been generally assumed in licensed Trek media and fandom that there was a ban on it after
Star Trek Generations, something by the time TTN began was lifted. Families aboard the
Venture open up many storytelling possibilities, which is presumably why they did it with TTN.
The Venture
had been tasked with following up on initial discoveries made by the starship Io
, which was headed deep into the Alpha Quadrant: The
Io was first mentioned in the design notes for the Luna-class published in the back of
Taking Wing (TTN) then later played a role in AOTF. It was the ship that made first contact with the Trinni/Ek, the same species that Captain Henderson and the
Venture escorted back to Earth. The reference to the
Venture being in the same general area as the
Io will help explain why she'll be later reassigned to that diplomatic mission in March. The Alpha Quadrant reference is an inference on my part; TTN states that the titular starship and her sister ship
Ganymede are exploring the Beta Quadrant, thus I felt that the
Io and another Luna-class starship would be boldly going in the opposite direction.
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The object was unmistakably a Starfleet shuttle of the newer Type-11, with a long, sleek body and large, low-slung warp nacelles: This type of shuttle was featured in
Star Trek: Insurrection, though its class name is from licensed works.
“This better be somebody’s idea of a really bad joke:” Every iteration of this scene ended with the main characters being interrupted. All the fishing versions ended in much the same way, with the captain and XO getting drenched by Vasquez's showboating. During the golfing versions, the shuttle would land on the green just as a character was making a critical putt and thus ruining it. Whenever the sequence was set on the holodeck, the characters were merely interrupted from the bridge. This version was picked mainly for its humor value.
“Somebody’s bucking for a captain’s mast:” A captain's mast is a naval term for a form of nonjudicial punishment. Under Article 15 of the US Uniform Code of Military Justice, it allows commanders to discipline their subordinates without a trial. Whether there's an equivalent in Starfleet isn't known, though most likely Stanley's joking in this case.
“I’m…Ensign Antonio Vasquez, sir:” Obviously, in losing the frame story in the future, we miss the insight into the man Vasquez will become. However, he'll move on from this gaffe and take steps towards perhaps becoming a captain of his own ship in the future. His last name is an homage to Vasquez Rocks, a filming location in Southern California made famous not just in Trek but in many other films and television programs.
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Starbase 514: Mentioned in "Hero Worship" (TNG), the
Star Trek Star Charts by Geoffrey Mandel place this facility in the Alpha Quadrant near the edge of Federation and Breen space. That it's located in the Vierra System is an invention of the author.
The music of a species told much about whom they were and how they thought, which gave him valuable insights into his potential adversaries: Another homage to Grand Admiral Thrawn, though he studied an alien species' visual art rather than music.
Few other species in Nelveth’s experience had such a myriad of genres and styles of music: Most of the species encountered in Trek appear to be monocultured; one language, one religion, one style of architecture, etc. This section was in reference to that and my way of possibly explaining it by saying that humanity is unique in the galaxy in that regard.
The Seladus
was of the same class as the Teramnus
and also served under Nelveth’s command: It's also the name of the commander of the
Teramnus from the same SFC story.
Late last year: Most of this paragraph is a rehash of the events of
Star Trek Nemesis from Nelveth's point of view. That Suran was in command of a fleet was implied in the film and confirmed in both
Death in Winter (TNG) and
Taking Wing (TTN), though obviously Nelveth being one of his subordinates is my idea.
It was quickly filled by the only surviving senator, Tal’Aura (also one of Shinzon’s co-conspirators), who unilaterally declared herself praetor in the wake of the clone’s death: Again, mentioned in
Death in Winter (TNG) and
Taking Wing (TTN).
The two of them sided with Admiral Braeg: Referred to in
Taking Wing (TTN) and later depicted in
Death in Winter (TNG).
Tal’Aura then called upon the Federation: Most of the remaining of this paragraph and the next relate events from
Taking Wing (TTN). Suran's death took place in
The Red King (TTN).
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the Jovian Run: Mentioned in "Chain of Command, Part II" (TNG) as being prior assignments of Geordi La Forge and Edward Jellico.
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‘Titan’s Turn:’ Also from "Chain of Command, Part II" (TNG). Apparently Geordi and Jellico were better at covering their tracks than Vasquez.
Jupiter Station: First mentioned in "Tuvix" (VOY), later seen in "Life Line" (VOY). That the Jovian Run originates there is something I came up with.
Academy Flight Range: Reference in "The First Duty" (TNG) as being near Saturn. I infered that this area is one of the stops on the Jovian run.
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shuttlecraft Samson
: Named for Brock Samson, the bodyguard of the Venture family from the Cartoon Network animated series
The Venture Bros. No, don't ask if we'll be seeing a shuttle named
Monarch or
Dr. Girlfriend. In all liklihood, the in-universe source of the shuttle's name is the mythological figure Samson.
The Venture
was supposed to be part of the initial batch of six ships, but construction was halted and her frame was put in storage: Referred to in the
Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, though the
Venture wasn't specifically named.
After the Yamato
was destroyed: As seen in "Contagion" (TNG).
With her upgraded armament and her history, the Venture
was sometimes regarded as a “black sheep” among the Galaxy-class; a vessel repurposed as an instrument of defense rather than exploration: Time for a little bit finally on the ship that the series is named for. The
Venture was first seen in "The Way of the Warrior" (DS9). She was a redress of the four-foot model of the
Enterprise-D, though for some reason she sported warp nacelles modified with phaser arrays likely left over from her appearance in the anti-time future from "All Good Things" (TNG). That sequence was recycled as stock footage in future episodes of DS9. However, apparently she was made into a CGI ship for battle scenes during the run of the series and that computer model lacked "bumps" on the warp nacelles. Allegedly, the ship seen in the sequence of images at the bottom of
this page from TrekCore is the
Venture, though one can't clearly see the ship's name and registry and the angle she is in obscures the top of the nacelles, so either that's not the
Venture or it is and we just can't see the modifications. I assume said modifications are unique to the
Venture or rare, hence the "black sheep" line.
As mentioned before, the
Venture was referenced in AOTF, first with the Trinni/Ek debacle in March of 2380, then later in December taking the Federation president to admit a new world in the Federation (one just wonders why the president picked her, eh?). The word "Venture" is a synonym for "Enterprise," which was probably the reason this name was given to a Galaxy-class starship. Her name, her references in both canon Trek and licensed fiction, her different appearance than the
Enterprise-D, and all the story-telling possibilities instantly made her appealing to me; I was struggling with what ship to pick, bouncing around from various classes and names. The final thing that sold me on the
Venture was
this beautiful model for BC created by modder DJ Curtis; an accurate recreation of the four-foot Galaxy-class model. I hope you'll enjoy as much as I have putting the
Venture and her crew through their paces.
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The Galaxy-class, like the Constitution-class and NX-class before her, was the mainstay starship of her generation: Another inference by me, given how many we've seen of them in all the Trek series set in the 24th Century.
