"Star Trek: Ecclesiastes" (2381)

[hellsgate]

http://www.geocities.com/mackey_mouse1977/ST_Ecclesiastes.doc

Just the introduction to an idea I've been farting around with, that I'm hoping to further develop. A modern female Captain, appointed to a scout ship on steroids (Intrepid-Class meets Oberth-Class.) Suggestions and ideas?

 

[RevdKathy]

There is a time for every purpose under heaven...

 

[Dale]

Well, given that you've chosen Ecclesiates as your sub-title (one of my absolute favorite books of the bible, btw) you might want to have her struggling to find a deeper sense of purpose and meaning to what are essentially meaningless duties. Have her be an older woman who has served in every conceiveable situation in Starfleet already and seen eveyr type of action so that she's very experienced and wise, but who has nonetheless been passed over for advancement and/or promotion beyond Captain, have 'fleet give her essentially make-work duties in thoroughly explored and civilized space, and then come up with a situation where she and her crew can carve out for themselves and important, vital niche.

As a book of the bible, Ecclesiates is about finding the real meaning of life when so much of life's pursuits turn out, in the end, devoid of meaning and substance... so have a Captain who has done it all and seen it all and is still unfulfilled - she may even start out disillusioned or bored with Starfleet - find the true meaning of starfleet service in the most mundane part of the galaxy.

Of course, for the puposes of your story, she'll need to discover that what appears mundane and work-a-day on the surface is really fraught with danger and intrigue and will force her to call on all of her wisdom and experience, but set it up so that she finds satisfaction in the smallest of victories... that instead of saving the galaxy over and over she takes satisfaction from risking her life and ship to help just a few people.

I dunno... I'm just making this up as I go along based on what the bible book means to me.

 

[hellsgate]

Thank you, i'll consider that.

I was thinking that i might make her assume control of the remaining "Frankenstein Fleet" after Earth is left for last in a series of seemingly-random sightings and attacks. Starfleet's "home-guard" is absolutely flattened by an armada rather than dusted-off by a singular cube.

Picard is re-captured and irreversibly re-assimilated as Locutus, Data's been (allegedly) destroyed and B4 is abducted and absorbed by the Collective. Captain Mackey has to cope while authority and loyalties begin to fray under extreme duress during/following this newest borg attack.

No civil war or fall-of-the-federation has actually occured, but people are getting scared, taking sides and doing what they feel they have-to.

 

[Mistral]

More Borg? *sighs* I s'pose if you make it real interestingly, Armageddon-like it might be fun....

 

[hellsgate]

Mistral: It was one thought out of a batch of ideas.

She could be assigned to a new "Biosphere Project". Somewhere in the U.F.P. there's a Utopia Planetia-style orbital office building / parking station type of thing, a planet below and an obligatory starship dedicated to the collection, observation and preservation/restoration of terran and alien endangered species of animal, mineral, and vegetable due to wholesale destruction of everything in sight in the last few years. (Due to the Dominion War & others prior to the Dominion's arrival.)

It's a small pilot project / make-work assignment for soon-to-be retired officers that have already burnt-out, suffered psychiatric breaks, or will soon burn-out completely if the situation isn't dealt with. They're sent here to grieve for family and friends, collect their thoughts and heal before deciding if returning to Starfleet Academy as an Instructor, or, Permanent/Irreversible Retirement and possibly marriage/kids is the next superior priority in their lives.

(Think of Kirk's dream of riding horses and living in a log cabin in the bush while Picard's trying to talk him out of the Nexus.)

 

[hellsgate]

I was thinking of doing a crossover (despite my absolute lack of professional writing experience above mediocre fanboyism,) with my other W.I.P. vessel stories. I'd seed each story with a few clues about the entire great grand scheme of things.

Let's see how well I can distribute the bread-crumbs between Captain Sophie Grimes' starship - the (Osiris-Class) U.S.S. Avalon, the (Legacy-Class) U.S.S. Mandela, & Captain Morgan Bateson's (Osiris-Class) U.S.S. Vonnegut. Set just after the events of TNG's "Nemesis" & Voy's "Endgame".

A story that acts as a harbinger of something coming, then ends abruptly in a massive cliffhanger, then picks up in the next era. A few years later, the U.S.S. Saratoga (Century-Class). Perhaps one or more of the characters survives to crew the Saratoga & face down the threat that took away so many lives, the first time around.

Comments? Ideas? Anyone available to co-author the story/stories?