Stardate 1742.7

I’ve spent several days running simulations, today is my first go in the real thing - since the academy anyway.

Stardate 1738.5

Lt. Clayton will be instructing me in piloting the shuttlecraft, my few lessons from the academy being many years ago...
I’ve reached a point now where part of what’s going in is simple time killing. I’ve got a long way to go stardate-wise before the next episode, so we’ll have Al refresh some of his skills.

Stardate 1736.1

Just got done with the exam. I’m pretty sure I did well, I reviewed the last exam and caught most of my errors this time...

Stardate 1734.8

Finished up with the enlisted exams, tomorrow it’s Zanotti and my turn to take our exams...

Stardate 1732.1

We have the advancement exams ready. Zanotti will give the exam for Jr enlisted, I’ll do Sr enlisted, Spock - the officers.
It had been about 6 months since the last one, though I’ll be stretching out the time before the results...

Stardate 1729.2

A quick pass through L374 revealed a class M planet, but no signs of any civilizations. Mostly just plant life...
at least until the planet killer comes through

Stardate 1726.3

Aparently the reports of life in the L370 system were somewhat inaccurate, We charted 7 lifeless planets here...

Stardate 1722.6

Heading out to check on unconfirmed reports of inhabited planets in the L370 sytems...
because they survey the planets in the system the year before "The Doomsday Machine"

@emzanotti Because you miss us all so...
in case you forgot that Zanotti is based on a real person...

supplemental: In the Mess hall with Riley when Martine comes in, kisses me on the cheek, says thanks, the sits and eats with Rand and Uhura

cont. Riley asks me what that was about. I said I don't kiss and tell...
If she wants to tell that's one thing, but Al is a gentleman

Stardate 1720.1

Weapons upgrades are finally complete. We're heading out to a nearby asteroid field for some tests.

supplemental: Weapons test was a big success! Targetting scanners have longer range, Emitters have longer duty cycles, better automation too
You gotta figure there would be some concrete results from the big upgrade.

@frijole Bummer dude, you should have remembered your lantern....
he'd just been eaten by a grue...

Stardate 1717.9

Zanotti came in, gave me one of her patented looks, and reminded me that the next advancement exam cycle is coming up soon.
Great gal, that Zanotti, expresses her opinion without judging him.

supplemental: Uhura stopped by and asked to borrow my Vulcan lyre - I told her to keep it, for some reason I don't feel very musical anymore
She's playing a lyre in the episode "Conscience of the King". He gives it to her so I can advance my plot line later on...

Stardate 1717.8

Tina Lawton storms into my office and demands to know why I spent the night with Ens. Martine when I won't with her...
It's a small enough ship, word was bound to get around sooner or later. Martine seems like the type that would kiss and tell...

supplemental: I told her it's because she's the same age as my little sister, and that would be too wierd...

cont. What I didn't tell her is that she looks just like my sister too, which would make it unbelievably wierd, maybe a little sick even...
He's about 10 years older than her -- that's not a real big deal when she's 30 and he's 40. It can be a little uncomfortable when she's 18 and he's nearly 28 -- Well, it should be anyway...

Stardate 1717.1

I feel like I've just woken up from a long nightmare. It's been a bad couple of weeks for several of us. Looking better now.

Stardate 1715.1

Capt handed me a transfer sheet and said "sorry" -- Yoeman 2c Sadie Lipschitz to the USS Constellation, effective today...
Guess there really was something to that moment in the rec room...

Supplemental: Someone one said, If you lie on the ground in somebodies arms, you'll probably swallow some of their history...
I got this line from a Suzanne Vega song, whether she came up with that on her own, or heard it from someone else, I could't say.

cont. ...History is nothing but dead time -- it's poisonous, and it can kill you slowly.
so he's still a little bitter...

cont. I went down to Sadie's cabin, but it was already empty. I just stood there in the doorway staring...

cont. Angela Martine saw me standing in Sadie's doorway, and finally pulled me back and took me to her quarters...
2 lost and lonely souls seeking out each other

Stardate 1713.3

Angela said to thank the Capt, but she felt it was better to have loved and lost, than to lose and not be able to let go...
what a trooper...

Stardate 1712.8

Tomlinson's replacement transferred in today from the USS Constellation - he already knows the new weapons system upgrade...
They would need to replace Tomlinson (who appeared to be in charge of phaser operations), so send in someone who already uses the new systems. Plus, by having him come from the Constellation, it gives me a good excuse to send someone back to them.

Supplemental: just received orders sending McGready to the USS Constellation effective immediately. Things are looking up...
Like McGready...

cont. Capt. Kirk told me to ask Martine if she wanted him to sign her marriage license so she would qualify for survivor benefits...
Kirk would do something like that, bend the rules a little bit to help out a member of his crew.

Stardate 1711.2

At Starbase 11 - those of us caught in the blast are in the hospital for dermal regeneration and decontamination...
You got to figure that with this many people, McCoy may have only had a chance to stabilize the injured for further treatment at a Starbase medical facility

Supplemental: Sulu, Riley, Uhura, Rand, and Lawton all stopped by to see me today - I visited with Zanotti for a while, we get out later...
No Sadie...

cont. Back on Enterprise - engineers ugrading phaser emitter and installing a new automated phaser control system...
They never do the multi person phaser firing routine again -- they only did it this time to emulate the torpedo firing routines of submarine

Stardate 1709.8

We finally defeated the Romulans and hopefully stopped a war, but we lost Rob Tomlison when a coolant line ruptured...

the only casualty, too bad about the wedding...

supplemental: Helped Zanotti back to her quarters, saw Angela in the chapel crying. Poor kid...

cont. the Ship is heading back to Starbase 11 for repair and refit, meanwhile I'm alone in my cabin, quietly glowing...

notice, no mention being made of Sadie coming to Al's side to help nurse him along...

Stardate 1709.5

Found some debris (and a body), but not nearly enough. We may have hurt them, but they're still out there - somewhere...

not enough debris, not bodies. This was an old submariners trick, and since this episode was based on the film "The Enemy Below" (a most excellent film btw) the analogy to anti-submarine warfare is pretty clear.

supplemental: on station, waiting for the motion scanners to pick up the location of the Romulan ship. Kind of boring, really...

remember, Al isn't a bridge officer, so he's spending this time at some battle station with probably limited knowlege of what's going on.

cont. Zanotti and I are in sickbay, along with a lot of the phaser room, after a old style atomic blast went of near the ship...

Stardate 1709.4

Inspection of remains from Outpost 4 show severe damage from an plasma based weapon, probably matter/antimatter based...

supplemental: the apparent yield of this weapon is much higher than our torpedoes, even our phasers...

At this time, the Photon Torpedo wasn't around yet (although the phaser effect in this episode looked like the photon effect used later). I seem to recall reading at one time that the Romulans had developed Cloaking Devices and Photon torpedoes, but had to get warp drive from the Klingons.

Cont. The Romulan ship is visibilty cloaked, and we're relying on motion sensors to track it. It's now heading for a comet...

cont. Hoping to catch sight of the Romulan ship as it passed through the comet tail, but they doubled back on us and fired the weapon at us.

Cont. the Romulan weapon has a limited range, sciences are going over the sensor data to find out why, meanwhile the hunt goes on...

this will give me a chance to introduce the developement of a federation photon torpedo as a result of this encounter.

Stardate 1709.1

Heading down to the chapel for the wedding ceremony, meeting Sadie there...

and getting ready to begin "Balance of Terror"...

Supplemental: the weddings's been postponed, outpost 4 on the Romulan Neutral zone is under attack...

cont. Outpost 4 has been destroyed by an unidentified assailant, with a weapon of fantastic destructive power. Investigating now...