To: 
From: "Steve Oostrom" 
Reply-To: trekcreative{at}yahoogroups.com

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And finally, the third image Jason has provided...

"The Hurdler"

Jerome Thorpe was at the Starfleet Museum at Utopia Planitia on Mars, accom= panied
by his twelve year old son Len.  They had spent some time touring the older=
 ships, the
old Constitution-class, Daeadulus-class and Atlas-class ships that had carr= ied out
previous generations of Earth's explorers to the stars.  Len was fascinated=
 by it all,
and asked his father a hundred questions about what he was seeing.

The two moved into a section of the museum less commonly visited, the secti= on on
smaller, experimental ships.  They came to a small enclosure that looked so= mething
like a drydock or construction bay, but it was rather small, as was the cra= ft that
was displayed within it.  The small ship was unusual, looking to be hastily=
 built out of
various parts.  It had an odd, narrow profile, and what looked like little
= room for even
one pilot.  It just seemed strange, and so unlike other Federation ships.

"What's that, dad?" Len asked.

Jerome answered, "The Hurdler, or at least a replica.  You have studied the=
 Treeaq?"

"The Treeaq Incursion of 2254?"

"Yes."

By the window was an interactive display panel, and on the display was a
ch= oice from a
multitude of major Alpha-Quadrant languages.  Len touched the icon for
Engl= ish, causing
the display to change. A computerized voice read out what was displayed.

"This is the Hurdler.  It was built by a team of engineers in response
to t= he Treeaq incursion
of 2254.  Led by Lieutenant Commander Richard Manley of the Essex and
Jessi= ca Rzyliew
of the Kongo, chief engineers on their respective ships, design teams were
= able to use
sensor data to develop a craft that was able to work around the interlaced
= sensor grids
on the Treeaq sphere ships.  The purpose of the Hurdler was to penetrate th= e Treeaq
fleet while avoiding detection, and then using a weapon system provided by
= the Odonans,
destroy the command ship.  Built in just ten days and flown by David
Hutchi= ngs without any
significant testing, the Hurdler successfully completed the mission.  With
= the command ship=20
destroyed, the remaining Treeaq ships came to a stop at a position two
hund= red light years
outside of the galaxy, where they remain to this day.  The vessel here is
n= aturally a replica,=20
as the original was lost in the mission."

"So," Len said, softly, "the man did not return?"

"No, he did not.  He died in the service of the Federation, an
alliance of = races really, since it was not
just the Federation that gathered to stop the Treeaq spheres.  What he did
= helped everybody."

"But... did he go knowing it was... a suicide mission?"

"I believe that he did," Jerome started, as the two walked along
the panel = of transparent aluminum
to get a complete look at the craft, minus the weapons system that had been=
 added on.  "He was not
ordered to go.  Volunteers were asked for, and he volunteered."

"It would almost be hard to imagine what it would be like to go on a
one-wa= y mission, a suicide
mission."  Jerome said nothing immediately.  "Did Mr. Hutchings
have a fami= ly?"

"I do not know," the father admitted.  "It is possible that
he did not.  Ma= ny Starfleet officers at that
time did not have families.  They tended to wait until they left Starfleet
= before having families."

"It's different now, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Jerome admitted.

Len turned to face his father.  He looked up at him, and wondered.  "Dad...=
 if your captain ever asked
you to go on a one-way mission, a suicide mission, strictly voluntary...
co= uld you?"

Jerome found that question hard to answer.  He was a single parent, since
h= is wife had died in an
incident on a distant world three years earlier.  If he was asked to go on
= such a mission, could he?
Each day when he was on his ship, he might be asked to go on a risky
missio= n, but each time,
the intent was to return home again.  If it was a suicide mission, he felt
= he would be torn by what
the mission was and why performing the mission mattered, in contrast to the=
 mission he had to
raise his son.  The answer was a conflict between duties, and not easily re= solved.

"Dad?" the boy asked, when the answer was too long in coming.

"Len, I hope that is a situation that I never find myself in."

Steve
The Universe Unbounded.

Visit "Star Trek: Athena" at http://ussathena.iwarp.com



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And finally, the third image Jason has
provided...
 
"The
Hurdler"
 
Jerome Thorpe was at the Starfleet Museum at
Utopia
Planitia on Mars, accompanied
by his twelve year old
son Len.  They
had
spent some time touring the older ships, the
old Constitution-class, Daeadulus-class and
Atlas-class ships that had carried out
previous generations of Earth's
explorers to the
stars.  Len was fascinated by it all,
and asked his father a hundred
questions about
what
he was seeing.
 
The two moved into a section of
the museum less
commonly visited, the section on
smaller, experimental
ships.  They came to a
small enclosure that looked something
like a drydock or construction
bay, but it was
rather small, as was the craft that
was displayed within it. 
The small ship was
unusual, looking to be hastily built out of
various parts.  It had an
odd, narrow
profile,
and what looked like little room for even
one pilot.  It just
seemed strange, and so
unlike other Federation ships.
 
"What's that, dad?" Len
asked.
 
Jerome answered, "The
Hurdler, or at least a
replica.  You have studied the Treeaq?"
 
"The Treeaq Incursion of
2254?"
 
"Yes."
 
By the window was an interactive
display panel,
and
on the display was a choice from a
multitude of major Alpha-Quadrant
languages. 
Len touched the icon for English, causing
the display to change. A
computerized voice read
out what was displayed.
 
"This is the
Hurdler.  It was built by a team
of engineers in response to the Treeaq incursion
of 2254.  Led by
Lieutenant Commander Richard
Manley of the Essex and Jessica Rzyliew
of the Kongo, chief engineers on
their respective
ships, design teams were able to use
sensor data to develop a craft
that was able to
work around the interlaced sensor grids
on the Treeaq sphere
ships.  The purpose of
the Hurdler was to penetrate the Treeaq
fleet while avoiding detection,
and then using a
weapon system provided by the Odonans,
destroy the command
ship.  Built in just ten
days and flown by David Hutchings without any
significant testing,
the Hurdler successfully completed the mission.  With the command ship

destroyed, the
remaining Treeaq ships came to a stop at a position two hundred light
years
outside of the
galaxy, where they remain to this day.  The vessel here is
naturally a replica, 
as the original was
lost in the mission."
 
"So," Len said, softly,
"the man did not
return?"
 
"No, he did not.  He
died in the service of
the Federation, an alliance of races really, since it was
not
just the Federation that gathered
to stop the
Treeaq spheres.  What he did helped
everybody."
 
"But... did he go knowing it
was... a suicide
mission?"
 
"I believe that he did,"
Jerome started, as the
two
walked along the panel of transparent aluminum
to get a complete look at the
craft, minus the
weapons system that had been added on.  "He was
not
ordered to go. 
Volunteers were asked for,
and
he volunteered."
 
"It would almost be hard to
imagine what it would
be like to go on a one-way mission, a suicide
mission."  Jerome said nothing
immediately.  "Did Mr. Hutchings have a
family?"
 
"I do not know," the
father admitted.  "It is
possible that he did not.  Many Starfleet officers at
that
time did not have
families.  They tended to
wait until they left Starfleet before having families."
 
"It's different now, isn't
it?"
 
"Yes, it is," Jerome
admitted.
 
Len turned to face his
father.  He looked up
at him, and wondered.  "Dad... if your captain ever
asked
you to go on a one-way mission, a
suicide mission,
strictly voluntary... could you?"
 
Jerome found that question hard to
answer. 
He
was a single parent, since his wife had died in an
incident on a distant world three years
earlier.  If he was asked to go on such a mission, could
he?
Each day when he was on his ship,
he might be
asked
to go on a risky mission, but each time,
the intent was to return home
again.  If it
was a suicide mission, he felt he would be torn by what
the mission was and why performing
the mission
mattered, in contrast to the mission he had to
raise his son.  The
answer was a conflict
between duties, and not easily resolved.
 
"Dad?" the boy asked,
when the answer was too long
in coming.
 
"Len, I hope that is a
situation that I never find
myself in."
 
Steve
The Universe
Unbounded.
 
Visit "Star Trek: Athena" at http://ussathena.iwarp.com;">http://ussathena.iwarp.comhttp://ussathena.iwarp.com">http://ussathena.iwarp.com;
 
 






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