STAR TREK: CONSTELLATION...

[Warped9]

I floated this idea elsewhere, but here I've given it a bit more thought.


STAR TREK: CONSTELLATION

A hundred and forty years before Kirk’s five-year mission another starship pierces the interstellar frontier. These are the voyages of the Earth starship Constellation as it opens deep space for humanity to follow.


Backstory

Zefram Cochrane’s development of the first successful space warp in the mid 21st century opened the galaxy for humanity. But Cochrane’s first warp flight merely crested the speed of light. Even at just marginally faster than the speed of light other star systems were still distant. But now the window, and the secret of FTL, was now open. Research and development quickly ramped up to push the science and engineering forward and faster.

In the interim numerous agencies—many of them questionable—sprang into existence to exploit the FTL propulsion and cater to diverse interests. Reputable agencies used the new science to launch faster probes to survey nearby star systems. Others mounted the new propulsion systems to hastily built colonizing ships sometimes including hibernation systems for FTL “sleeper ships.” Some of these ships would reach their destinations yet many of them would never be heard from again, lost to whatever hazards awaited them in the deep interstellar dark.

It was a somewhat chaotic time for dreamers and fools and those trying to bring a measure of sense and order to proceeding into interstallar space. To that end a number of individual space agencies came together to form an encompassing cooperative know as the United Earth Space Probe Agency. UESPA’s goal was to promote and direct a focused and organized plan to space exploration beyond the Sol system. They utilized the best research, science and technology available to mount automated as well as manned exploratory expeditions to chart and investigate interstellar space for colonists and whoever else would follow. As UESPA grew they could also lend assistance and support to others who might have preceded them as well as those who would follow.

Fifty years later UESPA is a full fledged space agency overseeing numerous surveys of star systems by probes as well as a number of manned exploratory ships.

The Constellation is one of those vessels repesenting the best Earth can launch in that era.


The Present

The story begins with the Constellation already a few months into its second tour and manned with a new crew. Previously the ship had limped home with half the crew lost. One of the Constellation’s sister ships has already been reported as lost. The new era of exploration has had a discouraging start yet the new crew embark with a renewed determination.

The Constellation will encounter derelict ships, mysterious ailments, ancient ruins and unknown worlds, “lost” colonies as well as failed ones as well as new life forms both deadly and benign. The crew will wrestle to understand phenomena never imagined possible. This is the basic premise of the series: Star Trek with a strong X-Files/Twilght Zone vibe for deep space to feel remote, unknown and dangerous.

The Constellation will also be on the lookout for alien intelligence in light of humanity encountering the Vulcans in the late 21st century. The existence of the Vulcans argues for the existence of other alien intelligence even though the Vulcans are somewhat circumspect in sharing what they know. At this point Earth has no knowledge of other intelligent life beyond humans and Vulcans. But the discovery of alien ruins and other phenomena spurs human curiosity to explore and investigate interstellar space for themselves. Still, at this point there are no Klingons, no Romulans, no Ferengi, no Borg, nor Cardassians or many of the other familiar Trek races. This will be a somewhat more rare earth scenario.


The Locale

The Constellation is a star cruiser—an exploratory starship equipped for space and planetary investigation. It is about 400 ft. in length with sixteen decks devoted to science labs, crew accommodations and support systems for the 100-200 crew.

Starflight technology has advanced greatly in the past fifty plus years from Cochrane barely cresting the speed of light to the Constellation’s top speed of Warp 3.5 (equivalent to .85 light years per hour or more than 7400c). At Warp 3 the ship can cross 100 light years in less than eight days.

Planetfall is by shuttlecraft of which the Constellation has two. Unlike the mothership the shuttlecraft are strictly sublight craft. There is no convenient teleportation (transporter) technology, not even in its infancy. We might hear of some of the more familar Trek science and tech in terms of occasional references to theoretical research.


A work-in-progress. The design takes inspiration from some of Matt Jefferies' early ideas as he worked towards a final design for TOS' hero ship. The design is the next evolutionary step following the FTL ringships of the late 21st and early 22nd century.




The Series

Taking cues from recent films like Gravity, Intestellar and The Martian this series is classic Star Trek painted with touches of The X-Files and The Twilight Zone. Each thirteen episode season would be equivalent to about one year "in series" time. Episodes can be stand-alone as well as part of mini arcs.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Interesting.

Would this tie in with what was set down in ENT, or would that be ignored?

The more important question though: who are the characters?

 

[Tarek71]

Interesting.

Would this tie in with what was set down in ENT, or would that be ignored?

The more important question though: who are the characters?

Clearly ignoring Enterprise, at least in terms of the speeds. IIRC even Warp 2 wasn't attained until the 2240s on the show. And 7,400c for Warp 3.5 seems like a different scale, but I think we have to be open about scales anyway. Not that I mind Warp 3.5 only 50 years out from the flight of the Phoenix.

I thought the show saying it took 70-80 years to reach Warp 2 was too long.

 

[Warped9]

This would be, somewhat like TNG was, something of a soft reboot that would try to avoid direct refrences to other productions. It would basically ignore ENT while not really invalidating it outright. The individual would be left to decide whether it's all really part of the same continuity (as they can do with every series).

Admittedly it would take its strongest Trek cues form TOS, but since that era is basically 150 years in the future there would be very little to tie them together.

There are also ideas from shows like Crusade and Stargate: SG-1 that could give this series some of its visual ideas. There would be no "phase pistols" (for example) but projectile hand weapons as well as early energy beam devices.


I'm still thinking about characters and so I'm open to suggestions.

I'm thinking the Captain would be in his/her early '50s, fit and experienced. He/she could have something of a military background and would be a consummate professional who has seen too many people die from carelessness. He/she understands the lure of the unknown and appreciates the curiosity of the scientists yet he/she is dedicated to bringing them homw with what they learn.

I like the idea of one of the crew perhaps being a Wiccan. Someone who could periodically give insight into lesser known and accepted phenomena.

I'm also giving some thought to some general story ideas.
- encountering a rogue planet that should be uninhabitable yet someone or something is still at home.
- what looks like a planet that appears to appear and disappear at will. The Constellation gets caught in one of the disapperances and next finds itself outside the galaxy. How can they get back?
- some life form (or spirit?) is able to possess crewmen.
- a dead world of ancient ruins yet something might still lurk there.
- a world where the entire race seems to have downloaded themselves into a massive virtual existence computer to survive their dying Sun. One of the ship's crew is accidentally downloaded into the system--can they be retrieved?
- aliens who have adapted to life in open space want to return home.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

An all human crew I take it? Or would it be like SG-1 and have an alien helping out in the engine room?

 

[Warped9]

At this point in history the crew would be all human.

 

[uniderth]

I have to say I really like this concept. It is somewhat similar to two series ideas I'm working on.

I really like your look at early warp history. It embraces that sort of "caveman playing with fire" feel. I think that is exactly what would be happening once this technology got out there. You would have Earth's elite trying to take advantage of this new frontier, you would have military concerns, scientists, and even private citizens just trying to escape.

I think the barrenness of space is something that is severely lacking from Star Trek. in theory we are looking for strange new worlds; but in reality we've only seen things that are pretty familiar to us.

For example it would be interesting to encounter a race that operates more like insect colonies. To them our concept of individual "human" rights would be meaningless and useless. it would be interesting to watch the crew come to terms with the fact that so many of the things we assume are universal truths are really just relative to our culture.

It would also be interesting to see disastrous first contacts where the crew lands on a planet steps out of the ship and says, here we are. What ramifications would there be for that alien society? What if that happened to us today and aliens just landed in central park and started bestowing us with advanced knowledge.

 

[Warped9]

More backstory: (which could be referenced some throughout the series):

The latter half of the 20th century and the 21st century is ST:C are not ours. You don't have to make a big deal about it, but it simply isn't. The successful Apollo program led to a sustained space program because of events the general public was not made aware of.

A vessel did crash on Earth in 1947, but it was an unmanned probe. Nonetheless it had advanced tech that was eventually reverse engineered and eventually brought forth incrementally through controlled technological progress during the 1970s and '80s. This included the introduction of rudimentary artificial gravity manipulation (as seen aboard the Botany Bay in "Space Seed." But the existence of the crashed probe that was obviously not of human manufacture was sufficient evidence that intelligent life likely existed (or at least once did exist) beyond Earth.

The second bit of evidence (also kept secret) was the discovery of an artifact on the Moon (during one of the Apollo landings) that again was not of Earth origin. When the artifact was discovered a followup mission was planned specifically to retrieve the artifact and bring it back to Earth for study. When the Vulcans were encountered (in open space outside of the Sol system) in the latter part of the 21st century they were closely studied to try to ascertain whether the alien artifacts found in 1947 and during the 1970s was theirs. The conclusion was the crashed probe possibly was of Vulcan origin but not the artifact found on the Moon. Documentation seems to indicate the Vulcans were never consulted about these artifacts and humanity kept the knowledge to themselves. So there is no firmly verified proof the Vulcans inadvertantly aided in accelerating humanity's technological progress. It did later become known the Vulcans had been discreetly monitoring and studying Earth for some time, but they insist they had never actually landed on Earth or even entered the atmosphere. They maintained that they kept a discreet distance simply out of wariness of being inadvertantly detected by humanity's progressing detection systems.

Encountering the Vulcans was a significant moment in human history, but there was also a big question that not too many people seem to be asking (or at least not too loudly or strongly): how come the Vulcans didn't appear to be much more technologically advanced than Earth? For decades upon decades it had long been assumed that if alien intelligence were encountered they would most likely be centuries if not thousands of years more advanced. But such appears not to have been the case. The Vulcans do appear to have had FTL interstellar starflight distinctly earlier than Earth, but they weren't significantly more advanced in general. Indeed the Vulcans seemed genuinely intrigued by humanity's relatvely rapid progress. And that might a clue in tandem with the longer Vulcan life span.

Humans' relatively short life span could have helped spur rapid progress due to the motivation to succeed within a relatively short period of time. Essentially: humans are generally impatient fueled by the perception that they haven't a lot of time to waste. The longer Vulcan life span could help temper such a heightened sense of motivation.

The Vulcan encounter brings with it another question: was it truly happenstance or something the Vulcans sought to happen? Is it possible the Vulcans sought a meeting and collaboration with humanity for more than strictly friendly purposes? Does humanity have something the Vulcans want?

 

[Warped9]

Although they would never admit it openly Vulcans are burdened by a failure in terms of culture and psychology. They were once a passionate and expresive race that turned to a culture devoted rigorously to logic and suppression of emotion because they were largely unable to master their passions.

This is partially what intrigues them about humanity. Humanity wrestles with its passions every step of the way and inch by inch. We did not allow ourselves to become a warrior like society like Klingons and Andorians. Humanity manages to grow without losing much of themselves--wrestles with growing up (as a race) rather than remaining immature and ruled near totally by their passions like the Klingons, the Andorians, the Tellerites and the ancient Vulcans.

Humanity are somewhat kin to the Vulcans in that we can be reasoned with. As such we could also prove to be valued allies in a dangerous galaxy that often doesn't respond to logic and a generally pacifist nature.


Although this series idea has nothing to do with founding the Federation it could lay seeds to that eventual event decades down the road. If I wanted to offer an example of how it could play it would be similar to what we saw in Babylon 5 rather than ENT.

The Vulcans struggle to deal with races like the Andorians and Tellerites and such yet the humans seem to have a better grasp of when to talk and when to punch someone in the mouth (and how hard). Humans eventually earn the respect of races like the Andorians which is something the Vulcans have had a difficult time with.


Oh, and forget I mentioned Klingons upthread. In this concept there would be no Klingons to be seen simply because no one has encountered them yet. The span of this series would end prior to the Earth/Romulan war. In this continuity the Klingons aren't encountered until late in the 22nd century or early in the 23rd, well after the Romulan war.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

I have some material that I came up with for a role playing campaign, adapted from the old FASA system, that might be of some use to you.

It was set on a Horizon class starship in the early 22nd century that was remarkably similar to your Constellation. Some of the background might be adapted over to Star Trek: Constellation with very little effort. It uses my own timeline but yours could be substituted with no real trouble.

Let me know if you want to see it. I won't post it here without your okay. It's your story after all.

 

[Warped9]

I have some material that I came up with for a role playing campaign, adapted from the old FASA system, that might be of some use to you.

It was set on a Horizon class starship in the early 22nd century that was remarkably similar to your Constellation. Some of the background might be adapted over to Star Trek: Constellation with very little effort. It uses my own timeline but yours could be substituted with no real trouble.

Let me know if you want to see it. I won't post it here without your okay. It's your story after all.

This is an open discussion. And it isn't like CBS is going to drop in here and express any interest in this idea.

So, please, do share your ideas.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

Okay then. Not sure what the site will do to my formatting but here goes:

To Sail a Starry Sea​

a campaign for
Star Trek: the role-playing game​

Stardate: 0/3603.10 (Old calendar date 10 March 2136)
Starship: USS Hyperion, NCC-21
Heavy Cruiser, Horizon class
Gross - 43,750 tons
Crew complement - 203 (national make-up as follows)
80% Earth
10% Alpha Centauri
5% Vulcan
5% Tellar
Assignment: Galaxy Exploration Command
3 year Cruise
Homebase: Trolak Fleet Base, Calgary, Griswald 3489
Commodore C. Elliot Penhaligon; SUSF, F.S.

Orders
To: Captain Jean-Pierre du Gracey; SUSF, F.S., commanding UES Jellicoe, SCC-74, Warp Cruiser - Union class

From: Admiral Savaj; VSP, F.S., Commander - Starfleet - Quadrant II

Stardate: 0/3601.08

I. It is the decision of the Starfleet Commanding Admiral that in view of the case of the UES Marconi SCC-97 on Stardate 0/3510.21, the Union class Cruiser is to be withdrawn from active Starfleet service. The UES Jellicoe SCC-74 is to be delivered to Trolak Fleet Base where the Starfleet Material Command will prepare the vessel for transportation to Earth.
II. Upon arrival at Trolak Fleet Base the Officers and Crew of the UES Jellicoe shall be paid off and disbursed to new assignments. You are therefore posted to command the following:
USS Hyperion, NCC-21
Heavy Cruiser------------------Horizon Class
DWT----------------------------43,750 tons
Crew Complement------------203 persons
Drive----------------------------Second Generation Warp Drive
Range---------------------------4 years at std. Cruise speed
Registry-------------------------Calgary, United Star Ship
III. Nature and duration of mission: 3 year Galaxy Exploration Patrol
IV. You will patrol Quadrant II sector 3, within a 10 parsec radius of Griswald 3489 system and Trolak Base.
V. Consistent with the limitations of your vessel and equipment you will confine your landings and contacts to class "M" planets approximating Earth/Vulcan conditions
VI. You will conduct this patrol to accomplish primarily:
a.) Scientific investigation to add to the Federation's body of knowledge of alien life forms and social systems, and
b.) Federation security via exploration of intelligence and social systems capable of a galaxial threat, and
c.) Any required aid to the several Federation Colonies in this sector and the enforcement of appropriate statutes effecting such Federated commerce vessels and traders as you may contact in the course of your mission.
VII. On Arrival at Trolak Fleet Base you will report to the Officer commanding: C. Elliot Penhaligon; Commo. SUSF, F.S.; for patrol parameters and operational orders. You will be under the authority of the Commandant - Trolak Fleet Base until re-assignment or termination of your present mission. In the course of your patrol USS Hyperion shall be assigned to independent duty, you are therefore expected and required to exercise command initiative as necessary to the successful performance of all General and Specific Starfleet Operations.

Savaj
Admiral, VSP, F.S.
Commander Starfleet
Quadrant II


Adaptations

The following skills are not available at this time: Transporter Operational Procedures (TOP) and Transporter System Technology (TST)

Please make the following changes to the Character Generation system:
In the Space Sciences Curriculum replace TOP with Shuttlecraft Pilot.
In the Engineering Branch School Curriculum replace TST with Shuttlecraft Systems Technology.
In the Core Curriculum replace Federation Culture/History with Native.
In Command School replace Federation C/H with any race of your choice.

Uniforms in these early days of Starfleet were somewhat different. They consisted of black trousers, with black boots and gray leggings. A turtle-necked jersey color-coded for department and a gray jacket with a wide belt. The right shoulder of the jacket bears the National Fleet symbol (example the Solar Union Space Fleet) and the left the Ship patch (example the USS Hyperion), while the Federation Starfleet emblem is seen in its old familiar position on the left breast. Rank is designated by a secession of 1, 2 and 6 centimeter black stripes on the left sleeve of the uniform jacket as follows:

Midshipman - one 1 cm stripe
Ensign - one 2 cm stripe
Lieutenant j.g. - one 1 cm stripe over one 2 cm stripe
Lieutenant - two 2 cm stripes
Lieutenant Commander - one 1 cm stripe between two 2 cm stripes
Commander - three 2 cm stripes
Captain - four 2 cm stripes
Fleet Captain - one half disk over four 2 cm stripes
Commodore - one 6 cm band
Admiral - one 2 cm stripe over one 6 cm band
Flag Admiral - two 2 cm stripes over one 6 cm band
Admiral of the Starfleet - three 2 cm stripes over one 6 cm band

The space between stripes is always 1 cm.

Also by 3, 5 and 10 millimeter by 14 millimeter barred silver pins worn on the right side of the turtle-neck in a similar secession:

Midshipman - one 3 mm bar
Ensign - one 5 mm bar
Lieutenant j.g. - one 3 mm bar to the right of one 5 mm bar
Lieutenant - two 5 mm bars
Lieutenant Commander - one 3 mm bar between two 5 mm bars
Commander - three 5 mm bars
Captain - four 5 mm bars
Fleet Captain - one half disk over four 5 mm bars
Commodore - one 10 mm bar
Admiral - one 5 mm bar to the right of one 10 mm bar
Flag Admiral - two 5 mm bars to the right of one 10 mm bar
Admiral of the Starfleet - three 5 mm bars to the right of one 10 mm bar

The space between bars is always 2 mm.

The initials after an officer's name indicate the national fleet in which he holds his commission and whether or not he has qualified for Starfleet service.
SUSF - Solar Union Space Fleet
CFC - Concordium Fleet Command
VSP - Vulcan Star Patrol
TTSN - Tellerite Territories Star Navy
AIF - Andorian Imperial Fleet
FS - qualified for Federation Service
Some of the newest officers have been commissioned by the Federation itself and use SFC for Starfleet Command in place of a national fleet.

Weapons - Standard Lasers with the following changes: Power packs only have half the normal power available and pistols do 60 points of damage rather than 80. There is no stun setting.

Communicators are larger, about 4"x3"x1.5" and have a small 2"x1.5"x1" microphone connected by a retractable 2' cord. The mike is usually clipped to the jacket slightly above the Starfleet emblem while the main unit is attached to the belt. They have a maximum range of 10,000 km.

Bicorders are sensor devices that can scan and record out to a maximum range of 50 m. but are only effective at ranges of 10 to 15 meters. Unlike Tricorders, Bicorders are not able to analyze the readings taken; the officer must do this himself.

There are no "Universal" Translators although translation programs can be loaded into the communicators in the case of known alien languages. Other items that don't exist are the Life Support Belt and Subcutaneous Transponder.

Subspace Radio has yet to be invented. Ships are therefore equipped with the slower Warp Communication. The system only works within a Warp Field and has a maximum transmission speed of Warp Five at this time.

As a Horizon class Starship Hyperion is powered by an Orion III plasma fusion plant and is driven by three SA-12 2nd generation warp engines with three Geodyne IV fusion engines for sub-light travel. Hyperion's standard cruising speed is Warp 3.25 at a maximum Cochrane's Factor (warp speed multiplier) of 80, her emergency speed is Warp 3.8 and she can safely reach a maximum velocity of 2744 c. At 4,000c, a speed she can theoretically achieve, she will break up. The average CF of her patrol area is in the low twenties.

Hyperion's armament consists of two forward mounted Proton Cannons with maximum effective range of 200,000 km, four dual Laser Banks with one mounted to fire in each direction and a maximum range of 300,000 km and finally two forward and one aft torpedo tubes for 40 Mk. III Fusion Torpedoes with a maximum range of 5,900,000 km. Defense is provided by a Thermo-Kinetic Force-field which can deflect away 50% of the incoming fire and 20 cm of Adaman Alloy hull armor which will absorb the first 2 points of damage to punch through the force-field per salvo. As for your weapons for the time being consider your lasers to do 3 points of damage at out to 100,000 km, 2 points at 100,000 to 200,000 km and 1 point at 200,000 to 300,000 km; forcefields have no effect on laser fire. The Proton Cannons can do up to 5 points of damage depending on how much power is routed to them, out to their maximum range but are affected by the forcefields. The Fusion Torpedoes take 1 point of power to arm and do 10 points of damage each, they are affected by forcefields.


The Horizon class Starship

Length
155 m. (507 feet)

Displacement
43,750 tonnes

Ship's Complement
170 + 33 marines

Range
5 years at sustained cruising speed

Power Plant
Orion III plasma fusion plant

Main Propulsion
3 SA-12 advanced 2nd generation warp engines

Sustained Cruise Speed
Warp 3 for 5 years

Standard Cruise Speed
Warp 3.25 for 8 - 10 months

Maximum Safe Cruising Speed
Warp 3.5 for 10 - 12 days

Emergency Speed
Warp 3.8 for 1 - 2 hours

Maximum Overdrive Speed
Warp 4 for 10 - 12 minutes

Auxiliary Propulsion
3 Geodyne IV fusion engines

Defenses
20 cm. Adaman Alloy hull armor
Thermo-Kinetic Force Field

Armaments
2 Class II Proton Cannons
4 class b dual lasers banks
3 torpedo tubes for 40 Mk III fusion torpedoes

Auxiliary Craft
2 6-man gigs
1 medivac shuttle
1 supply shuttle
1 11-man armored lander

 

[Warped9]

^^ I like your use of U.E.S. because it rolls off the tongue better than U.E.S.S. The only reason I used two "s" was because Spock had referred to the old Valiant as the S.S. Valiant which I assume was a simple verbal shorthand for U.E.S.S.

Of course, that Valiant predates my Constellation so I could have gone with U.E.S.


A vague story idea I had would be one where the Constellation comes to the aid of a Vulcan ship in distress or perhaps both ships happen to be exploring the same system or planet at the same time. The story could be used to explore differences between the two including some of the ideas I mentioned upthread. Friction, an undercurrent of some suspicion and grudging admiration and respect ensue.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

Sounds interesting. Certainly better than the forced animosity we got from ENT.

I might also suggest exploring the idea of preliminary and in-depth surveys of a planet. The former were what we have usually seen and take no more than 2 or 3 weeks to complete. Their main purpose is to determine if an in-depth survey is warranted. The in-depth surveys are usually done by a dedicated survey cruiser and take a year or more to complete.

It might be interesting to show Constellation doing at least one in-depth survey if enough stories can be developed to fill out a full season in one system. Just something to think about.

 

[Warped9]

With a 13 episode season we could treat the passage of time in an interesting way. 13 episodes could span a year or two of "in universe" time. References could be dropped within the dialogue or ship's log suggesting the idea of days to weeks passing within the framework of one episode. In the least the major events depicted within the episodes could average about 4 to 8 weeks apart "in universe" time.

Actually if we assume perhaps a 2 year tour (on average) then the 13 episodes could be used in a loose arc form with some episodes more episodic than others while threads could run from episode to episode. This kind of structure could also allow for some rotation of characters and thus reflect a touch of realism in not all the same crew shipping out tour after tour on the same ship.

We mustn't lose sight of the goal of entertainment through adventure/drama and investigating wierd shit, but within all that quite a bit of interesting worldbuilding could be done much like what was done in the early days of TOS.

We could also explore why the ship's previous crew (and indirectly other early expeditions) suffered so poorly. Some early crews--comprised of many scientifically minded personnel--simply didn't appreciate, and were not sufficiently prepared for, the dangers to be encountered in deep space. So now we have a Captain and command crew of more wary natures and not so easily fascinated by the strange and exotic.

Think of the Captain as something like a John Doggett. He might be a hard sell, but he gets the job done and brings you home. Presently I like the idea of the Captain's name being Skinner, as a tip-of-the-hat to the Walter Skinner of The X-Files (of which we'd like to evoke something of that show's vibe).

 

[nqca]

Hi! I like your ideas (altough I can't evaluate your choice of a Dogget-like man as the Captain because I didn't saw the last 2 seasons of the X-Files) but I don't really like the idea of having 13 episodes representing 2 years. But it's your choice. Good Luck with your project!

P.S. : Maybe the ship's previous crew was infected with,to stick with the X-Files, something called Purity?

 

[Warped9]

If I were doing a 22 episode season I'd do the same thing to stretch the time out. It takes time to travel across vast tracts of space and expecting a high point event to happen every week beggars credibility.

 

[nqca]

I only said that you shouldn't have 13 episodes representing two year. I didn't told you to have 22 episodes/season,because that means a lot of filler episodes.

 

[David.Blue]

I like what I'm reading so far. May I make a character concept suggestion?

The Constellation and her sister ships would, as you describe it, have as survival problem. This probably inhibits recruitment but might also encourage the powers-that-be to try some unconventional ideas.

I propose a brilliant officer--one whose skills in their particular area (xenobiology, piloting a starship, etc.) make them extremely desirable--but one with some kind of emotional issues that require attention. Not socially awkward a la Barclay or the leads in such shows as Bones or House, MD. Perhaps an idiosyncratic form of bipolar syndrome, with sometimes-crippling depression popping up along with extreme self-confidence and daring-do. Such a character probably has a troubled past, which can be explored via flashbacks maybe. For that matter, maybe he/she is the latest and most brilliant in a family of top-notch archeologists. This person would also be under medical care of course, perhaps needing fairly constant tinkering with medications. Very polarizing, however, with members of the crew thinking them a menace, a subject of pity, a friend, a kindred spirit, a nuisance, a personal hero, etc.

 

[mos6507]

For example it would be interesting to encounter a race that operates more like insect colonies. To them our concept of individual "human" rights would be meaningless and useless.

You are describing the Borg.

There really isn't a lot of uncharted thematic ground in Star Trek. I'm sure there is some, but it's hard to find.