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New NPCs mentioned:
Yeoman Shasshurr, Silicate lifeform from Janus 6, Brig staff
Specialist Sarvel, female, Vulcan, Physical Therapist and Instructor, CARS
Specialist Noah Keeler, male, 30, Risa, Comm tech, UFP Olympics medalist in 0-Gee gymnastics
Li'Aisel Shandar, female, 31, Alpha Centauri New Service, Features Reporter
[From the Bridge, USS Knight]
Li'Aisel Shandar from Comet News Service, aboard the USS Knight orbiting Vendikar. This is the Bridge of the ship, a bit worse for wear after the last mission of this Starship. But we are not here to talk about that mission, still classified, but instead, to marvel at the life aboard this Sovereign-class ship.
The USS Knight, originally built for a 20 year mission into unexplored and dangerous territory, was already constructed for the long term support of her crew, providing nearly unequaled comfort and entertainment to sustain them for the entire duration of her mission. When she was severely damaged at the beginning of that mission, and drydocked for nearly six months, her new commander, Captain Sonali Bendre, and her then-Acting Chief Engineer, decided to refit her as the crown jewel of the fleet.
[A montage of scenes from around the Knight]
The Sovereign boasts the most advanced entertainment facilites, and the most cubage of these, of any starship in Starfleet, including the incredibly architected Ten Forward which runs the length of Deck Ten and includes five large holosuites, several of them large enough for the staging of holodramas or sporting events. The main chamber of that Ten Forward Lounge supports six different areas which can be sound- and site- blanked from one another, supporting up to six different fully simulated environments for special occasions. Two of these areas can be force-baffled from the others, and each other, permitting three different physical environments at once.
[In Ten Forward, panning around. Then more montage]
In addition to the Ten Forward Lounge, the Knight has an array of other entertainment, recreation, and learning facilities, and a fully trained staff to manage these. Her crew, originally selected for their hardiness in pursuit of their 20 year mission, has been in large part replaced, by a culturally diverse group of officers, warrants and enlisted staff, with an array of special personal interests that makes the Knight a fascinating place to visit, or to serve upon.
[Interviews in different parts of Ten Forward]
Draven Czygny, WO3, puts it this way. "On the Knight, we serve with 'human' races from 31 worlds, and humanoid species from 20 others. There are also 12 other oxygen-atmosphere species represented and there are even 11 species from non-O2 environments. And many of these persons was selected, not only for their superlative skills in their areas of service, but for their commitment to diversity and to cultural sharing." Czygny himself is an award winning ethnoxenologist and a member of the ship's Contact Team. His wife, Surgical Lead Nurse Lt. Annette Sawyer, may be, he admits, achetypal of the kind of crewmembers aboard the ship. "Annette was in the Interstellar Red Cross for some years. She is a well regarded amateur thespian, and active in several interstellar relief efforts." The Czygny-Sawyers, before each starting a second career in Starfleet, also raised nearly a dozen orphans from six species.
WO2 Amanda Marie Foucault, a new Ph.D. and a computer specialist who has been with the ship since just after her keel was laid, has a long-term perspective. "This ship, while she has been somewhat troubled now and then, has a deep and abiding heart. A lot of us have learned a lot about the Federation from our service on her."
MCPO Ress'tokk G'Murnik, a Gorn who has served on Starfleet ships for many years as part of a cultural exchange, has this to say. "Thiss sshipp iss increddible. I hafv nevver servved aboardd the likess of herr before, and my Confederacy iss alsso quite culturally diverse. Why, where elsse would I manage a jailer who iss a living rockk?" He refers to Yeoman Shasshur, a new addition to the ship, acting as part of the ships Brig team and police force. G'Murnik has been with the ship since earning a Starfleet Medal of Honor several years ago, in helping to evacuate the USS Independence during the Borg attack on Terra. And he credits the Federation with a level of interspecies cooperation unseen even in his highly interrelated Gorn Confederacy.
[Theatre One, a serious looking man in early 20th century business garb]
Commander Howell Bridger, the so-called Flying Dutchman of Space, hails from a time before Terra knew about other alien species. He joined the ship during her first mission, and is credited with saving her from destruction by the Jem'Hedar. We caught him practising his role in a play to be performed aboard the ship. "I've seen epochs of time now, and never imagined the kind of intercultural cooperation and deep caring that is evidenced by so many members of this crew. The new Intercultural Onboard program created by WO Czygny is an amazing treat to the senses, and an advance to the zeitgeist of the Federation." Bridger looked somewhat embarrassed. "It wasn't always that way, you know." He refers to the early days of the Federation, when racial difficulties nearly severed the UFP. He himself was a Separatist, and comments on the changes. "It was a different time. Earth was still recovering from over 200 years of terrible strife, and was reacting to the Romulan War. Yet, "and his face lit up with pride and wonder, as he gestured about the Ten Forward, with people from 20 or more worlds in evidence, "look at us now."
On that note, we will progress to the next part of our report, which deals with the other services aboard the USS Knight.
[Couselor's office, with Cyn Stirling]
Counseling, Education, Recreation Services
The Knight hosts a fully developed Counseling, Education and Recreation Services department, which is somewhat of a model for deep space ship in Starfleet. Normally, Education and Recreation are buried in the Operations department, and Counseling is a subdepartment under the Commander of a ship. Seond Officer Lt. Cyn Stirling explains some of the differences aboard the Knight.
"Well, of course, the ship was originally intended to be in deep space for 20 years, without major rehaul, and out of communication with the rest of the UFP for most of that time. It meant that they had to plan for an entire generation of activity, and that meant they had to go back to some of the old concepts from the Generation Ships." Lt. Stirling refers to the massive craft launched by a number of spacefaring races which explored the stars, before finding FTL drives. Such ships, even operating under Newtonian time dilation effects, would travel for 20 to 200 years before their crews would find a world fit to colonize. If such a world were ever found.
"The length of time of the voyage meant the Knight had to be stocked to survive, and to keep the crew, including new children, healthy, happy and educated. For that purpose, the Knight has less emergency space devoted to evacuation, and much more space used for long term supplies, and even for colonization infrastructure, in the event that the ship was crippled. She also had a larger medical staff in the early days.
"CERS, my department, was designed on a learning organization model, and was staffed with more people during the first mission, than now. However, we still have counselors, child education and adult education specialists, fleet training personnel, physical trainers, and a variety of therapists aboard. With the wide interests shown by the crew, the focus on lifelong learning, and the presence of the so-called Omniversal Training Library, we have possibly the best educated crew in the Fleet." Lt. Stirling delivered her synopsis with a big grin. "And we have a lot of fun, too!"
[The Bridge again, in better times, with former Captain Braxton]
Some critics say that the Knight has become more of a pleasure craft than a performing Starfleet ship. Others wonder why this Sovereign class ship has not been to the war front, and instead has focused on less critical transport duties, and continues to develop such resources as the CERS. Captain Braxton, CO of the Knight before his recent death, had this to say in an interview on Terra last year. "Nobody has cause to complain about the performance of this ship. Why, we brought the Lasfanta colonists into contact with the UFP, which is new for that species, which has, over a thousand years, destroyed nine species simply due to a lack of understanding. The ship, however unpalatable this is for politicians, uncovered the Borg-Gate Incident at the Wormhole at DS-9. She also uncovered the Genecrimes and theft of over sixteen billion interstellar credits in UFP war materiel at Terra. And, forgive me, but our current missions in the critical Venn Sector are quite important, also, with so many other capital ships at the front." The gruff gray-haired man refused further comment, indicating that the issue was 'closed'.
[The Olympic Pool]
Entertainment and Athletic Facilities
Another feature of ships infrastructure is the addition of broader and more entertainment and athletic facilities. Like the Galaxy class, this single Sovereign class ship maintains an Olympic length pool, and a full sized botanical and avian arboretum. She has small and large theatres for live and holographic-support drama, and the best equipped gymnasia in the fleet. In fact, several Starfleet officers and crew who compete in interstellar athletics have transferred to the Knight, in order to use these facilities. Specialist Noah Keeler of Risa, the top zero-gee gymnast in the UFP Olympiad of 2372 TAD, and a Communication technician on the Knight, addressed these facilities.
"Starfleet has always provided the best facilities, because we are the first and most important asset that the UFP has for defense, spreading goodwill, and for scientific and cultural exchange. The Knight has gone a step farther, and the science, education and medical staff aboard have all taken advantage of this, to perform new research and to integrate new knowledge into the worlds of the UFP. How can any of that be considered to be a burden?"
['cast from Vulcan]
Former Knight Chief Medical Officer LCmdr. Rejah Berren, found at the Vulcan Medical Sciences Academy, added this to comments about the facilities on the Knight. "The Knight is well aware of the interest in her equipment, and in her research. We get a regular datatrans from the Knight, and the results have always been of the highest quality. There are research teams on twentyone worlds using that data stream for critical research, after we send it, recoded, to Memory Beta."
[Mat Room 2]
Magna Roman citizen, PO Marissa Santarro, the HazMat Bomb Officer and an investigator aboard the Knight, had this to say. "On my world, fitness is a spiritual quest for many people. And the Knight has the best places of prayer I have ever seen. Sharing this quest with my comrades is the finest, best commitment of will and honor I can imagine." Santarro, whose looks and athletic build would put both holostars and Olympic athletes to shame, added, "And it is not as though these facilities go unused. And at nearly every port of call, we demonstrate the facilities, and their best use, to the people we meet. It has become a part fo the mission of the Knight."
[A montage of the ships schools and libraries]
The Ship's Schools and Libraries
The main ship's schools are located on Decks 11 and 12. Deck 11 is a particularly busy place, for that is where both the Day Care and Child Education centers are located. There are over 50 civilians aboard the ship, including 31 dependents of Fleet personnel, and 5 children of civilians attached to the ship. All of these children spend much of their days on this deck.
[Hall, outside Children's School, somewhat noisy]
Sarvel, a Vulcan Specialist who sees to the physical training of the children, is quite clear about the need for the schools. "These children are talented offspring of talented, educations, culturally diverse adults. They require and receive more than adequate opportunity for education aboard the Knight. It is seen, on my world, on yours, and on so many of the UFP member worlds, as not only a neccessity, but an honor, to provide such care in training our youth. Aboard a Starship, we consider this a special calling. For my own part, I chose this path of mentoring as a part of my discipline of IDIC."
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination. This seems to be the watchword aboard the USS Knight. From her Captain, a war veteran turned a man conducting a special mission of peace, to her smallest children, including Jessi, a blinded Bajoran child who is the ward of the Chief of Biosciences, the Vulcan-Betazed Ensign Krystal Band'h, we find this phrase recurring, in the minds of our visiting group. Even where the persons we speak with are not adherents of IDIC, they appreciate the philosophy, and nod in agreement with the tenets expressed therein.
[In the Children's School]
Emy Band''h daughter of Ensign Band'h: "Mmm-hmm. They teach that in school. It means we all are alike, and different, and everything in between!" The excitement of the child seems peculiar, in a seven year old who is largely Vulcan in ancestry. The contrast with her more quite 'sibling', Jessi, whose parents, both Bajoran, died during the Lasfanta crisis, is interesting.
Jessi: "We're all here together. All of us. Everything that happens is a part of the All. Umm, the Standard words are kind of funny. Odd. Umm, all-in-all." Jessi said something in Bajoran, that her 'sister' translated. "God is one in all beings."
This is Li'Aisel Shandar for ACCNS saying so long from the USS Knight.