"Eye on Starfleet": The Elyshan Conflict and the USS Pandora
Posted on Mon Feb 1st, 2010 @ 3:46am by Vice Admiral Iluvar
"Good evening, I'm Darcy Finnegan, and this... is Eye on Starfleet. Tonight we have back with us Commander Nathan Morgan, Spokesman and Press Secretary for Horizon Fleet's Task Force 22. Welcome back Commander," the young woman said with a bright smile that didn't quite meet her eyes.
Morgan returned the smile warmly, realizing that he was about to be grilled. Obviously the reporter had gotten a hold of some juicy bit of information and wanted to see if she could pry more out of him. The young man steeled himself for the worst. "Thank you for having me," he said gallantly.
The young woman made a show of checking her notes for a moment. "I guess I'll start with something that seems to be on many people's minds these days. The Elyshan Empire. Rumours have been flying about a serious build up of forces along the Federation border, and many analysts are predicting increased hostilites in the near future. Many people are worried about the Federation entereing yet another war. Can you shed any information on these rumours?" she asked, her smile brilliant.
Nathan blinked and for a brief instant noticed how attractive a woman Finnegan was, in the same way one notices the beauty of the shark that's about to eat them. He smiled easily, almost nonchalantly. "Well Darcy, as you know Starfleet has a standing policy that we do not comment on rumours and speculation. However, your question does, I think, deserve some kind of answer," Morgan said, secretly enjoying the way she perked up at that. 'Dangle a big enough carrot...' he thought. "It is true that relations with the Elyshans have faced many challenges of late, but we are working hard to bridge the differences between our governments, and we're confident that conflict can be avoided." Watching the disappointment cross her features, Nathan strangely found himself feeling less than satisfied.
Finnegan nodded thoughtfully, hiding her true thoughts. Suddenly she switched tactics. "There have also been reports that Rear Admiral Iluvar, Commanding Officer of Task Force 22, has been reassigned to the newly launched USS Pandora, one of Starfleet's most state-of-the-art vessels," she said, deliberately not phrasing it as a question. The gesture carried with it a note of challenge. "It could strike someone of a slightly more poetic bent as interesting that the vessel should be named after a legendary character famous for releasing evil into the world."
Nathan raised an eyebrow at that. "Yes Rear Admiral Iluvar has been reassigned to the Luna Class USS Pandora. She is a perfect example of Starfleet's committment to peaceful exploration, designed purely as a deep range explorer." He paused for a moment in thought. "As to your other comment, it is true that according to legend Pandora, through her curiousity, disobeyed the gods and opened the vessel, releasing evil into the world. However, the legend also states that Pandora realized her mistake and slammed the vessel shut, in time to keep hope inside. To me that signifies that while we do make mistakes, we do our best to learn from those mistakes and most importantly, keep hope alive." There was a pause before he continued. "I believe the Pandora is the perfect symbol of today's Starfleet. A Starfleet that believes in peaceful exploration. A Starfleet that believes in learning from its mistakes. A Starfleet that understands that when it all comes down to it, the most powerful tool sentient beings possess... is hope."
For a long moment Finnegan said nothing, just starting at Morgan with an expression bordering on admiration. She turned then to the holoimager, and when she spoke, her voice was strangely soft. "We'll be back to Eye on Starfleet in just a moment."
Category: General News
