WxMurray

“So when do you leave?”

“I don’t know yet. Shouldn’t be too much longer. Of course, I haven’t even been back onboard yet.”

Murray was sitting with his girlfriend in San Francisco Park. He had arrived in San Francisco a week earlier to make preparations for the Reaent’s launch. He had met with several of his new personnel, and had set various requisitions to Starfleet Quartermaster Corps for various weapons and equipment.

“You seriously thought about retiring.”

“I think ‘serious” isn’t the right word. More like flirted with the idea.”

“Hey, what are you doing flirting with retirement? You’re supposed to be flirting with me.”

Murray smiled. Somehow, despite the restfulness of being at home, he was ready to get back into space. He knew now that retirement would have been a bad idea. All of the emotion surrounding the battle had made retirement seem like a good idea, but it would have been the coward’s way out, the way out for someone who wanted to bury the past and not face it head on. Granted, incidents like this were like charging head on into a brick wall, but it was better than the alternative.

As they sat there he thought about what he would have been doing if he had retired. He chuckled as he remembered one of the comments his mother had made. He couldn’t see himself tending a vineyard. Maybe one day, after he finishes canoeing the rivers of the worlds, but for now, all he wanted to do was be the best security and tactical officer he knew how to be.

“Wim, you got a package.”

“What is it?”

His mother glared at him.

“Yeah, I know, open it and find out.”

He opened the container to find a padd and a bottle of wine. He read the letter stored on the padd.

Dear Mr. Murray,

We wanted to let you know that we appreciated the time you took to send your condolences. Her death hit us hard, and the traditional Starfleet announcement didn’t really help us any.

To be honest, we didn’t really expect to hear from anyone but the Captain. Even though you were her superior officer, Jocelyn had told us that you were only the acting chief of security. Whether that makes a difference, we don’t know. She also told us that you were a relative newcomer to the Reaent, and that the ship’s missions hadn’t given you much time to meet your subordinates. Nevertheless, you seem to have not let that deter you from sending your letter.

It took us by surprise when we received an apple with our letter. We couldn’t figure out its significance until we read the letter for the fourth time. We see now that it was a gesture on your part to personalize the whole thing, rather than just send a “you have my condolences” letter.

In response and with our gratitude we send you this bottle of Chateau Picard 2348 from one of the finest vineyards in France. We chose the 2348 as it was the year our daughter was born. Drink it in her memory, and drink it during joyous times.

We wish you the best in your career.

Sincerely,

Robin and Katerina Peters

Murray smiled as he finished the letter. As he walked off to put the bottle in a safe place, he struggled to hold back the tears that had formed while reading the letter.

“Wim, you got a package.”

“What is it?”

“Oh, I hate when people say that. Open it and find out.”

Murray looked at the label. “It’s from Starfleet.”

He sat on the sofa and opened the container. A large smile crossed his face as he reached in. His teddy bear had survived the battle. He sat it beside him and went through his belongings from the ship. Most everything appeared to be alright. One of his pillows was torn, and his antique digital clock was broken.

His father entered the room with another container. “Here, this one came, too.”

Murray opened the second container and let out a yelp of glee. His trombone had survived with only some minor damage.

His father looked it over. “It doesn’t look that bad for having been through that battle.”

“Nothing a little polish can’t fix.”

Murray put the instrument to his lips and began to play. Despite the relaxing atmosphere of home, this was the first time since the battle that he had been truly happy.

FROM: Starfleet Command Personnel Division

TO: Lieutenant (junior grade) Wimbley X. Murray, USS Reaent NCC 3345-G

FORWARDED: Campbelltown, Pennsylvania

RE: USS Reaent NCC-3345-G Department of Security Assignment and Transfer List

Antonio Vivaldi – Transferred to USS Enterprise

Paige Fox – Transferred to USS Prince Charlie

Retch Sweeney – Transferred to USS Jennings

Diane Carey – Transferred to USS Siberia

Marty Haugen – Transferred to USS Millennium

Susan Harper – Transferred to USS Chudnovsky

Rachel Levy – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Olivia Benson – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Diana Trent – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Charles Parker – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Simon Preston – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Dawn Upshaw – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Peter Hurford – Reassigned to USS Reaent

Cadfael Kilgour – Assigned to USS Reaent

Jeannette Stevenson – Assigned to USS Reaent

Mario Batali – Assigned to USS Reaent

Jacques De Lorme – Assigned to USS Reaent

Larry Hudzinski – Assigned to USS Reaent

Anita King – Assigned to USS Reaent

Alistair MacGregor – Assigned to USS Reaent

Abigail Wilson – Assigned to USS Reaent

Anthony Newman – Assigned to USS Reaent

Megan Ford – Assigned to USS Reaent

Robert Siegal – Assigned to USS Reaent

Dorothy Sayers – Assigned to USS Reaent

Adam Savage – Assigned to USS Reaent

Allison Antrim – Assigned to USS Reaent

Valerie Snyder – Assigned to USS Reaent

Duncan Stewart – Assigned to USS Reaent

Leslie Grayson – Assigned to USS Reaent

Jean Gray – Assigned to USS Reaent

Ellis Peters – Assigned to USS Reaent

Stephen Barnes – Assigned to USS Reaent

Murray was sitting out in his parents’ orchard with a padd in his hand. It had been more than two weeks since he and Saf went on their canoeing trip. He had made a decision then, but he had been having problems putting it all in writing. Despite everything he had been feeling recently, he was having a hard time putting some emotion into the letter. This was something that had affected him greatly, and he wanted to convey that. He just didn’t know how.

Everything he had written so far had been too formal and emotionless. It was like he was a Vulcan writing, not a human. Granted, there didn’t need to be a lot of emotion, but he wanted there to be more emotion than a rock.

He tossed his padd aside in frustration and laid back in the grass. He could feel the breeze rush across his face. If only the wind could take all of his troubles with it.

And then, whether by luck, fate, coincidence, or whatever you like, it did. A particularly strong gust rustled through the trees. Murray paid it no notice. The rustling of the leaves had a soothing quality to it.

Two minutes later, he was sitting up and writing, all the while with an apple in his other hand, the apple that had fallen from the tree and struck him in the head. The apple was the key. It would show the emotion he wanted to convey to the families of his fallen subordinates.

Gerhard Saffir “Saf” Murray munched away on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He was sitting in the shade of a grove of trees on a little uninhabited island in the middle of the Susquehanna River. Their canoe trip hadn’t been too exciting so far; actually, it had been downright quiet. He looked over at his cousin who was sitting nearby, eating his lunch robotically.

“Wim? You alright?”

Wimbley Murray looked startled and almost dropped his apple. He turned to his cousin. “Sorry. What?”

Saf bit into his apple. “Well,” he said between chews, “I was hoping you could tell me. You’ve been kind of spaced out since we left this morning.” He saw his cousin’s expression at the phrase “spaced out” and realized he had struck a nerve.

Wim turned back to staring across the river. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Yeah, right. Something’s bothering you.”

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Okay then. Do you want me to call the paramedics now and get it over with?”

Wim turned to look at Saf with a quizzical expression. “Paramedics? What for?”

“Because given the way you’re acting, you’re not going to be paying attention, and the next ledge we go over we’re going to go over while the canoe gets lodged on some rocks. Trust me. Not fun. Now are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or do I have to smack you upside the head with a paddle.”

Wim sat for a moment and didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to say anything at all. He didn’t like talking about things like this. For him, it was better to bottle it all up and forget about it.

“Don’t make me stick my apple in your ear. It’s a really good apple, and I’d rather not waste it, but if it’s for a good cause…”

Still staring out over the water, Wim spoke. “I got a transmission from Starfleet two days ago.”

“And?”

“It was the casualty list for my department.”

“How bad?”

Murray paused, barely able to talk. “Tw-twenty-five. Twelve killed and thirteen wounded.”

“Wim, given what you went through, those are awesome numbers. You’re lucky you didn’t lose more.”

“I can’t help but feel guilty about it.”

“Why? There was nothing you could have done. You were on the bridge doing your duty. They were at their posts doing your duty.”

“I wouldn’t have a problem with this normally, but this time…this time is different.”

“Different how?”

“I-I…I’m going to be promoted.”

“That’s what you’re all worked up about? You’re getting a promotion?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m all worked up about!” He voice had been rising, and now he was almost shouting. “Twelve of my men died, and I get a promotion. ‘Sorry about your guys; here have another pip.’”

“You know it doesn’t work that way.”

“Look, it’s not that. I almost died out there, too.”

“And so did how many others? It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It still bothers me, though. I swear, when that blue pulsing was intensifying, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought…no, I knew I was going to die.”

“Well, you’re here now. You better get used to that.”

“And since I’ve been back, I’ve been thinking about retiring.”

“You what? Come on, now! You’re only two years older than I am! I haven’t even graduated from the Academy. Why would you want to retire?”

“Because ever since I’ve been back I’ve felt wonderful. I’m relaxed. I don’t feel the pressures of having to write up reports and stuff like that. I’m feeling no stress at all. It’s like…”

“…a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Yeah, somehow I thought you were going to say that. Look, I’m going to go off to water a tree. We need to get moving. It’s going to rain this afternoon, and we don’t want to get caught in the rising river.”

As he went off into the woods, Wim continued to stare out across the river. He thought about everything he and Saf had talked about and made a decision. He knew what he had to do.

FROM: Starfleet Command Personnel Division

TO: Lieutenant (junior grade) Wimbley X. Murray, USS Reaent NCC 3345-G

FORWARDED: Campbelltown, Pennsylvania

RE: USS Reaent NCC-3345-G Department of Security Casualty List

Scott Ponson – Killed in action

Mallory Hathaway – Killed in action

Daniel Galloway – Killed in action

Simon Duncan – Killed in action

Rose Peterson – Killed in action

Jocelyn Peters – Killed in action

Colin Morse – Killed in action

Karen Bryant – Killed in action

Douglas McDonnell – Killed in action

Adhamh Mowbray – Killed in action

Kirsty Argyle – Killed in action

Laura Knight – Killed in action

Rachel Levy – Wounded in action

Charles Parker – Wounded in action

Dawn Upshaw – Wounded in action

Peter Hurford – Wounded in action

Simon Preston – Wounded in action

Antonio Vivaldi – Wounded in action

Paige Fox – Wounded in action

Retch Sweeney – Wounded in action

Diane Carey – Wounded in action

Marty Haugen – Wounded in action

Olivia Benson – Wounded in action

Diana Trent – Wounded in action

Susan Harper – Wounded in action

“Goodness, I don’t think I’ve seen you eat this much in a long time.”

“Mom, I’ve been living off replicator food and mess hall…stuff for like the last week. And before that I was stranded on some planet eating survival rations that Starfleet laughingly calls food. I think I’ve earned a good meal.”

Murray dug into his third pork chop as his mother moved to clear away some of the dishes that Murray had already finished with. His mother had always been a wonderful cook. The replicator was a poor excuse for home cooking, and eating emergency rations was like licking an envelope.

An hour later Murray was relaxing in the bathtub. No one could disturb him here. There would be no red alert, no battle, and no one needing security escort. He didn’t have anything to worry about. As he pushed his toy sailboat across the tub, he realized that he hadn’t felt so relaxed since before he joined the Academy. Suddenly, the idea of retiring from Starfleet had some appeal to it.

Murray awoke and sat up. The ship had dropped out of warp.

He got up and went into the bathroom. Placing his hands under the faucet he activated the water, which he then splashed onto his face. He looked up into the mirror and stared. He hadn’t shaved since the battle and now had quite the mountain man look going.

“Man, it will be really nice to live in a room that’s mine.”

The room he was in was spartan, and that was probably an understatement. He was the only outside item in it. He didn’t have his own toothbrush, or his own blanket, or his teddy bear, or anything else that was his. It was all left on the piece of scrap metal that was the Reaent.

He left the bathroom and moved over to the window. Outside was a beautiful blue, green, and white orb. A hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean indicated someone was having fun with the weather control matrix.

As the San Francisco space dock came into view his mind returned to the Reaent and the battle with the uprising Tholians. It was still hard to believe that they had abandoned the ship, that the ship looked like a fancy nozzle to a watering can.

“Reaent crew, report to the transporter rooms to disembark.”

Murray stared out the window for another moment before leaving. The battle was won. Why did he feel like they had lost?

Murray left the Nelson mess hall shortly thereafter. Things had died down since the mess hall guy had tried to feed Smith the crud from the blech lagoon, and on duty or off, he was still a security officer, and he would have to break up a fight, which he wasn’t particularly interested in doing at the moment.

He wandered the halls of the Nelson, ignoring everyone he passed by. He could feel them staring. He could hear their whispers. He knew what they were thinking.

“Hey, that guy’s from the Reaent.”

“I can’t believe they lost their ship.”

“Yeah, I hear that she looks like pin cushion”

“I heard she’s unsalvageable. They’re going to let the hulk rot in space.”

“She’ll be decommissioned. This will be the last Reaent.”

“Command will make Michaels retire.”

“That or they’ll promote him.”

“Same thing.”

“SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!”

Murray turned to the crewman he had just screamed at. They looked genuinely frightened. Good. Let them be. These kids were so wet behind the ears you could drown. They didn’t know fear, and they certainly didn’t know what it was like to lose a ship.

He approached them and softly spoke in an ever-so-slightly more civil yet more menacing tone.

“Wait until the day you have to leave your ship behind. The agony you’ll feel over the loss of your vessel. The despair you’ll feel over those killed in action. The anguish of your defeat. Only then will you know what I have gone through.”

He turned on his heel and strode away. It felt good to yell at those rookies. Once again, though he felt the urge to shout at someone or something. He turned around and saw what he had hoped to see.

“AS YOU WERE!”

The two crewman had still been standing there watching Murray walk off. Now they scurried away, hoping to be assigned to scrub down the interior of a Jeffries tube or something else that didn’t involve encountering the Reaent crew.

OK, I have to ask, what the heck would be so exciting about watching a show centered around Starfleet Cadets?

 

I mean Cadets are essentially college students. They study, eat, study, go to the bar, study, party, and study. And when they aren't doing that they study. What the heck is exciting about that?

 

And don't tell me that a Cadet's life is somehow exciting. I was an ROTC cadet in real life (I separated from the program before I had to sign on the dotted line.) and the life of a Cadet isn't all that exciting.

Oh, geeze, it'd be a show of Wesley Crushers! :blink:

I don't like the idea of a cadet show. Like Dumbass said, it'd basically be a show about college students. Their lives aren't all that interesting. I am one; I would know. I don't see any way it could work.

While I am obviously glad to see the Peregrine class on this chart, who the heck named a ship class after ArchAngel?

I was wondering that, too.

Here are some responses I posted on a sports forum:

Some of the world's most...electronic people...and let's start of, as always, with the First Word....Stink-o! The stink-o was the NFL Conference Championship games...Seattle beat up the Panthers 34-14 and the Broncos-Steelers game wasn't much better, Pittsburgh winning 34-17. So, what do you all make of Sunday's games?

If the Conference Championships are supposed to be between the top two teams in each conference, then I have no clue what was on on Sunday. Both the Steelers and the Seahawks manhandled their opponents. The Broncos and Panthers never had a chance. The Steelers and Seahawks knew what they wanted and knew what they had to do so they did it.

There are two possible Super Bowl scenarios. A) It will be an exciting game between to great teams. 2) One team falls apart and the other runs away with the game.

The first betting line for the Super Bowl came out Monday. The Steelers are 3.5 to 4 point favorites (depending on which source you use) over the Seahawks.

 

So, Buy or Sell the Steelers being 3.5 to 4 points better than the Seahawks?

The Steelers have outscored their opponents 366-247, while the Seahawks have outscored their opponents 432-263. In TDs the Steelers have 42 (opponents 25) and the Seahawks have 54 (oppenents 23); the Seahawks have more TDs for and fewer against than the Steelers, meaning that the discrepancy comes down to field goals, where the Seahawks have been outscored 102-54.

Given the nature of these two teams this game could easily be a shootout with TDs left and right (it might not be, but we'll save that discussion for later). In the end, it could come down to field goals, maybe even a Vinatieri-like situation. The Steelers winning by about four is a plausible outcome.

--------------------

And with that, here are my picks: I have absolutely no clue. It'll probably be game time before I choose. :blink:

Are you talking to yourself?

Which is why I suspected I remembered him. :blink:

Well well well, I was just looking through my favorites and I saw this one there. I remember...oh boy, its been a while....Ha ha ha...

 

I guess this just means that A9 has grown up then. Well, I might drop in once in a while...although no one remembers me from that long ago...

Hmm...are you sure about that? I seem to vaguely remember you. :blink:

Such as, in the beginning, when the reason they weren't affected by the Borg taking over Earth was because they were in the temperal wake. I just find that a little far-fetched, I suppose.

Actually, it does make sense. The wake protected the Enterprise from changes in the timeline in the same way that the Borg Sphere would be. The Borg need to be protected from changes in the timeline in order to change it. So if the Enterprise was close enough to get caught in it, too, then they are protected as well. If there were two more ships that were caught in the wake, they would also be protected.

We got Bill Cowher Power runnin' the show,

Got a 36-Speed Bus ready to go!

 

Wave Terrible Towels of Black and Gold, 'cause

PITTSBURGH'S GOIN' TO THE SUPER BOWL!

 

Wave Terrible Towels of Black and Gold, 'cause

PITTSBURGH'S GOIN' TO THE SUPER BOWL!

Oh, God. And so the torture begins. :blink: :blink:

Hello. I am the STSF Resident Egomaniac, and I would like to welcome you to the Star Trek Simulation Forum at stsf.net (as opposed to stsf.com; try simming there :o !) Just remember that the secret to simming is to have fun and the secret word is "unambiguous". :blink:

May you die well. :blink: :P

Personal Log

Stardate 0601.18

Hmm…well, apparently I have been unconscious for the last week, ever since we tried to crack into the Thing. Of course, now I am completely out of the loop and have no idea anything about it. Something to ask the Louie when he gets back.

And on that note it seems that a number of people are off on an away mission. Having been sleeping for the past week, I again am completely out of the loop. Looks like this should be a lot of fun.

In other news I have been ordered to stay off duty and to rest until such time that the CMO returns from the mission and declares me fit for duty. Yeah, right. Like I’m going to stay cooped up in my quarters for who knows how long. At the very least I’m going to go wander the ship and check things out. We could use an update from damage control anyway.

Alright, I’m bored now. Time to set out in search of trouble…scratch that, time to set out in search of nice people who won’t bomb special functions

Golden Palace is also the site that bought the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich and the advertising rights to a woman's body, among other things.

Hi. I, too, am new. In RL, I am an ensign, but here I'm not even in the academy yet. BTW, I love the pink fairy armadillo.

Hello. I am the STSF Resident Egomaniac, and I would like to welcome you to the Star Trek Simulation Forum at stsf.net (as opposed to stsf.com; try simming there :P !) Just remember that the secret to simming is to have fun and the secret word is "hypsometric". :rolleyes: :P

May you die well. ;)

Well, supposedly he had the entire story written from the beginning, although I'm sure there were parts that had to be rewritten (Han frozen in carbonate was written because Ford indicated that he didn't want to do VI). Which begs the question, what in the world happened between VI and I?

Ugh... what a terrible weekend. The teams that should have won, lost because of there own stupid mistakes (Except for the Panthers. They won because Steve Smith just whooped the Bears Defense). Let me just add... the officials at the Denver/New England game were terrible. Ugh... Alright ladies, time to pick the Conference Champs. Lets see em'.

 

AFC Championship Game:

Pittsburgh at Denver

Winner: Pittsburgh wins 20-10

 

Talk about the last matchup anyone thought was going to happen in the Championship game this year. I will give props to Pittsburgh, and it's shocking win over Indianapolis yesterday (And if you all know me, I loath Peyton Manning, so it's always fun to see him choke in the playoffs ;)). They earned it, even though they nearly lost it, they still got the W.

 

In this game, I see Denver doing what it did last weekend with New England: Not being able to move the ball very much, especially against a very physical defense like Pittsburgh's. Denver's defense is going to be it's only hope to keep itself in the game, but Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh's passing game has been greatly improving. They'll plow right on over the Defense, and as previously mentioned, the Denver offense won't do much like it did last time.

 

NFC Championship Game:

Carolina at Seattle

Winner: Seattle wins 27-20

 

Carolina just lost DeShaun Foster, their number one rusher on the team. This will hurt Carolina big time, especially with a team who lived off of their rushing game when they went to the Super Bowl last time. I don't see Mike Holmgren letting Carolina's other big weapon, Steve Smith, run over Seattle's hope to make it's Super Bowl appeareance this year; one that they clearly deserve.

 

Seattle proved that even without MVP Shaun Alexander, they can rely on Matt Hasselbeck to keep them alive, even against a strong Defense like Washington's. This momentum is going to carry them pass the Carolina Panthers (This is from someone who actually likes them, if it wasn't for the fact that they were too inconsistent during the regular season for my tastes, like last years Atlanta Falcons).

 

Seattle will make it to the Super Bowl.

 

And I'll keep it at that. I save my actual winner of the Super Bowl for when we know for sure who's going to make it. :rolleyes:

I agree with everything you said, from the mistakes and officials to loathing Peyton Manning to Super Bowl teams. And I also do not have a SB victor at this time. This one'll take a lot to figure out.

Say it with me:

 

O-VER-RATED! ::clap clap clap-clap clap::

O-VER-RATED! ::clap clap clap-clap clap::

I so called this. They had a good D, but their O not so much.

::would like to point out that he early, as in friday afternoon, predicted that the Pats would lose, as would the Colts...waves his Terrible Towel::

Grr... ;)

I would have thought that both the Pats and Colts would do better. Both teams lost to their mistakes.

And I hate to say this, but I think the Steelers are going to manhandle the Broncos. If we could hold their offense, the Steelers can, too. :rolleyes: Whoever goes to the Super Bowl, though, I want to lose to the NFC team, preferably the Seahawks.

And as I predicted Chicago is losing. :P