And now comes the long, arduous process of deciding what Story #2 will be...

I probably will not submit a second story since I'll be at a con this weekend, but I look forward to seeing more entries from you.

Good grief that's amazingsauce made with nutzo (it's late here).

I'm itching to get my ideas out!

Hmm ... any of the previous challenges, eh?
Part of me is tempted to go do ALL the ones I missed, but that's probably not for the best. Time to go look through and see what strikes me, I guess.

Heh heh heh...

Well, let's see what response this one gets. It's not as whimsical as the last, but future entries probably will be.

Sweet!

I'll have another story ready in a day or two.

That was an excellent follow-up piece!

I really liked your use of the counselor to describe your crew and what makes each of them "tick." (This begs the question though: what's the counselor like?)

Especially interesting was the way you brought up minority issues and discrimination among the ranks of Starfleet and the supposedly all-inclusive Federation. You handled that very well.

Now that I know more about your characters, I'm definitely looking forward to their next "whimsical" adventure!

I definitely liked that look at your crew--it really explains a lot. I also see that you and I both agree that Starfleet, despite all of the talk about being this utopian, discrimination-free organization...well...isn't.

How is it that this many outcasts and people who could seem socially maladjusted according to their respective societies ended up on one ship in the first place? (That said, it seems to have worked out quite well, as the counselor pointed out!)

BTW, if you happen to follow the Star Trek: Outpost podcast, I can't help thinking Vovenek would be among the few actually able to thrive on that show's Deep Space Three, with his resourcefulness and ability to improvise (not to mention the suggestion that he'd be bored out of his skull in a more stable environment!).

Humans, sadly, are humans; four hundred years and star travel just mean we'll find somebody new to look down on. And how often did we see Quark being underestimated on DS9 because "everybody knows" what Ferengi are like? For that matter, see Mr. DeSoto's reaction to the first look at Romulans in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror". It took the stern words of the captain for him to hide his instant disdain for Mr. Spock. And then there was the way Data was treated when he took command of the ship whose name escapes me, when blockading the Romulan/Klingon border... Yes, sadly, prejudice is alive and well, even in the early 25th century.

Partly luck of the draw, partly Grunt finagling to get Roclak on his crew (they met in the Academy), and partly a tendency on the part of a certain assignment officer to dump the losers on the Ferengi, because nobody's ever going to trust a dangerous assignment to a Ferengi, right? (He'll get his come-uppance; I don't know yet if that will be on-screen, though.)