Personal log.
Captain, USS Exploration.
Another new ship. This is number five in six years – I thought we were supposed to serve on these things for a while. Though I did see the Hippocrates the other day. Her CO is very competent. Young and eager, but competent. It’s good to know that even with all the light years we put on her, she’s still fit for service.
The Mercy isn’t so lucky.
Sadly, while on patrol in the Archanis Sector we were caught in a confrontation with a Klingon battle group and she was lost. There wasn’t much we could do but hold on for our lives – five Birds of Prey and a Vor’cha battle cruiser had more firepower than we could handle, even with our newly upgraded shields and weapons systems. The battle lasted about ten minutes before our hull suffered catastrophic damage and I was forced to order the crew to abandon the ship. We managed to take four of the birds with us, but there was no way we could have survived the onslaught.
Thankfully, the USS Exeter was in the area and managed to swoop in and scare the Klingons off before they could capture any of us or destroy our escape pods. All hands escaped with only a few serious injuries among the bunch.
At least that went right.
Arthur was shaken up but alright. I suppose one of the advantages of being seven years old is that nothing really bothers you too much. To be honest, I think he kind of enjoyed seeing the battle up close. Carol and I had a serious talk afterwards about the possibility of putting him back on Earth. We both agreed that there was danger everywhere and neither of us really wanted to think about sending him away. It’s hard to believe he’s spent more than half of his life on starships now. He doesn’t seem any worse for the wear though.
It seems Starfleet isn’t overly disappointed in me. Although we had to go through all the official paperwork associated with the destruction of a starship, Command recognized the impossible situation we had faced and actually commended me on getting my crew out alive.
I’ve been assigned as commanding officer of the USS Exploration, a deep space science vessel. While we’ll still be involved in some strategic actions, we’re one of the few vessels that are charged with a scientific mandate right now. We’ll actually have the opportunity to go out and do some system surveys and the like. The crew is excited about the new ship and the possibility that we may not have to fire our phasers every day.
I’m excited to be exploring again. I’m tired of the endless fighting, and I’ve gotten a little too good at killing for my tastes. A break from the action will do me, and the crew, some good.
