...I just want to torment Everly - red shirts aren't supposed to have that much fun.
Ah, but that's partially why I did that, because the poor redshirts are almost always tormented. I thought it would be fun to "fly in the face of convention" and break the "redshirt curse" at least just once. (Also, when I had the possessed Kirk "zap" Everly, Vector expressed concern, even if he meant it just "tongue in cheek", that the security guard was doomed. Vector has produced such wonderful work for this board, I just couldn't "kill" a character he created.)
I'm reminded of a story Peter David wrote for the first DC Trek title that actually focused upon the death of a security guard. As the story unfolded, we learn more and more about the guard. He starts seemingly as nameless "phaser fodder", but by the end of the story, we learn about his life, his family, his friends, his goals that would never come to pass.
I do have to wonder, did Peter possibly take inspiration from a particular M*A*S*H episode? In that teleplay, a nurse with whom Hawkeye has just, ahem, spent the evening, leaves her tent to have a midnight stroll. Alas, she walks into an unmarked minefield and gets killed. The duty of performing her eulagy falls upon Hawkeye and he realizes he didn't even know her full name. He surveys various camp members to get details about her life, but since she tended to be reclusive (as well as one can in a military base), no one can tell Pierce much about her. Needless to say, Hawkeye is feeling rather sheepish when it comes time for her service.
Oh, when I prepared my first installment, it was my original intention to paraphrase a funny line from "The Princess Bride". Remember the scene when Wesley (aka "The Dread Pirate Roberts") overcomes Fezzig? When the giant collapses, Wesley actually feels sorry for him because his adversary is quite honorable. He leans close to him and says, "Sleep well and dream of large women." I was going to have "Kirk" say something quite similar, wishing that Everly might dream of naked Orion women. I was already overdue with my installment, so I cut it short. When my time drew close once again, I decided I'd expand upon that idea and actually have Everly dream of Orion women. And since I like Caitians, I thought, "Why not toss one in as well?"
Sincerely,
Bill