Author's Message
I don't own Battlestar Galactica nor do I own Star Trek
This is a very slight crossover between StarTrek: The Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica.
Prologue
The Cylon war ended some 25 years ago and we haven't done anything special though researcher Andrew Jones. I haven't done anything worth studying since before the Cylon war and everything I have done up to now has been on behave of the government. They haven't done anything for me. I now want to do something for myself.
Chapter 1 – Journal Entry 4,542, 21st day of the 9th lunar cycle in the 29th year after the Cylon war
In the last five years, I have done everything to do this mission. That is to do some deep space exploration, something that would take us 5 years away from the colonies with micro jumps and then 5 years back. I had a bunch of money saved up, some 1 billion cubits. Three years ago, I went to the Admiralty to explain my situation.
Flashback
"Good morning Admirals. My name is Andrew Jones. I am researcher with 14 different degrees in multiple fields. I have come before you today to proposition you grant my request. As you well know, we have never gone beyond the red line nor have we gone past to the Promar sector. As we all know, the red line is the Armistice line and we can't cross it. It is my wish to venture past the Promar sector on a journey of deep space exploration. However, I cannot do it alone. I want to proposition you for a crew as well as a small group of vessels, preferably one Valkyrie class, one Cargo vessel, one Tylium ship, one Mining ship, one Agro colony, and a couple of gunstars. I can buy all the supplies necessary for the trip but not much else."
"That seems to be a big vision that you wish to undertake. You understand that everything is finite aboard these ships?" Corman asked.
"Yes, I understand. I also understand that the vessels I need are the minimum amount necessary to carry all of my supplies. The Cargo ship will be full of scientific equipment. The Agro ship will be full of seeds, animals, poultry, and whatever items are necessary to feed a small population. It will also have storage capabilities to preserve food. I need the Valkyrie to hold fleet personnel, civilians, and several raptors and a couple squadrons of vipers. The Gunstars will need to be available for escort. The mining vessel will be necessary to mine for tylium and other materials as needed along our journey. The tylium tanker will be necessary for to carry our fuel," Jones stated.
"Well you seem to know the ships necessary for the journey. What about the crew? Have you thought about who you are taking?" Nagala asked.
"I was hoping to recruit some reserve military personnel as some fresh recruits from the academy. I would like it to have several seasoned members to help train the recruits. I would also like it if all of them had some type of scientific background where they would not mind the journey. I am willing to place those people who help with my research on the paper when I publish my journey and give credit to where credit is due. Please note that I will be publishing my journey as a memoir. Anyone who helps me will receive a portion of any profit the book makes. Also as a professor, I can help these people who want to study for a doctorate. As long as they publish their own thesis during the journey, I will be willing to help them in making sure that it is professional and that they will appear before the board as potential doctorates. This journey will be counted as an internship for the doctorate requirement. All personnel will be paid for their participation in this journey," Jones answered. "I will also be hiring civilians to work as miners, agriculture workers, and factory workers. All in all, I am hoping to bring about 1,000 people throughout the fleet."
"Hmm, well we can loan you the vessels. The Dominion is a Valkyrie class that is about to be decommissioned. It has a full load of 5 squadrons of Mark IV Vipers along with 2 squadrons of Mark II raptors. For Gunstars, we can loan the Angelus, the Romulus, and the Damascus. They are Titan I class Gunstars that will be decommissioned soon. The Sparta is a middle class Agro colony built 50 years ago during the Cylon war that acted as a mobile control base. It was retrofitted to a military version of an Agro ship capable of growing 15 Metric tons per quarter, enough to feed 1,000 people for six months. It also has fisheries which are located in different areas of the ship. One particularly is a favorite of several commanders who loved to go fishing. Most of the fisheries still have some fish as we have been feeding them periodically. I can loan the Freedom, a mining vessel, the Bastian, a Tylium tanker, and the Arizona, a Cargo vessel. The loan will be for 10 years at a rate of 5,000 credits per year," Corman stated.
"As for personnel, I can allow you to go to the academies to recruit for this mission. Here is an order to the Admiral Mitchell to allow you to present your mission to the students. You can also recruit seasoned reserves at the monthly training exercises at different bases. I will forward you a list of personnel with a science background. All personnel including the recruits will need to be paid by you," Corman continued.
"I know, I will have a standard contract for the recruits at a total of 12,000 credits per year. Seasoned members will get a rate of 15,000 credits per year. I hope to get about 500 recruits and 200 seasoned officers. Everyone else will be civilian. Included in their contracts is free food in the galley which will be running 24 hours per day. All necessary benefits will be onboard," Jones answered.
"That's great. Will you need anything else?" Nagala asked.
"Actually, yes, I would like to retrofit the Dominion to include special equipment. Due to minimal threats, I only need to hire 700 personnel. I realize that the Gunstars can handle close to 1,000 people each but I will only need 75 on each ship. The rest would be on the Dominion unless you think that 700 personnel is not enough," Jones questioned.
"To be on the safe side, you will need at least 150 fleet personnel on those Gunstars at 50 per shift. The Dominion requires 125 per shift which is a minimum of 375 people. That does not include pilots. That is an additional 180 personnel for vipers and raptors. All in, you will need at least 1025 fleet personnel. That does not include any doctors or anyone else you hire. Estimate close to 1,500 people in total. I would reduce the salary on the recruits to 10,000 credits and hire fresh from colleges to reduce cost," Corman answered. "To help with your cost, I will provide you with 3 Doctors and 15 core-men. We will also need to assess those refits. I will provide you with the blueprint of the Valkyrie and you can bring the modification at your leisure. Is there anything else?"
"No, Thank you admirals," Jones stated "for all of your help."
End flashback
Within two years, I had hired 1,000 recruits who had not even finished the academy until the end of this year. Each recruit signed a 12 year contract worth 6,000 credits per year due to one special stipulation. I allowed them to have immediate family onboard. That would be a wife and children. Of the 1,000 recruits, 250 had wives and they were hired based their qualifications. 35 of them had experience in the sciences so they were hired as research assistants. 30 of them were cooks who were hired for the galley. The remainder were hired as teachers, child care personnel, and agricultural workers. I also hired 125 seasoned reserves whose main duty was to make sure the recruits were up to Military standards. They included 2 Commanders, 7 Colonels, and 25 Majors. They were also allowed to bring families if they had one.
I hired 150 other agricultural workers, 75 construction workers, 75 miners, and 50 tylium and cargo works, all of whom brought their families. Of all 3,000 fleet and civilian personnel, there were 450 potential doctorates. All of them understood that if they signed, they would be committing themselves to a minimum of 10 years in space. With the help of the Agricultural workers, we were able to buy the needed seed and farm animals for our journey at less than the expected cost. With the help of several engineers, we were able to redesign the quarters to accommodate families of 4. The different departments were streamlined to allow for easier movement. A science department was added in a safe area of the ship away from all critical system. A machine shop was also added in one wing of the Dominion after shifting one squadron of Vipers to each of the Titan Gunstars.
Our course was carefully plotted along three sides, 240 light years along the Helios A cluster going 40 light years across before returning 240 light years towards Helios D Cluster. Raptors would be sent in each direction 20 light years taking careful sensor readings. This would allow for a section of space to be mapped. Any resources along the way will be carefully marked and samples would be retrieved to verify quality. Any anomalies would be charted and marked as safe or dangerous.
Admiral Corman and Nagala has seen the path we are taking and are looking forward to anything we can bring back. He hopes that this exploration can help the people of the colonies in any way possible. It is my hope that something exciting can happen. Last week, crew assignments were given out. 150 fresh ensigns were sent to Angelus, Romulus, and Damascus while 350 were based on the Dominion. 50 each were based on the Freedom, Bastion, the Arizona, and the Sparta. 10 of the seasoned reserves were posted on the Freedom, Bastion, Arizona, and the Sparta. 20 of the reserves were posted on the Angelus, Romulus, and the Damascus with the last 25 on the Dominion. Overall, Angelus, Romulus, and the Damascus carried a population of 350. The Dominion carried 800. The Freedom, Bastion and the Arizona carried 200 each. Finally, the Sparta carried a total of 550. I feel confident that even with an increase in population, we can establish sound scientific research as well as be happy. Tomorrow, we are finally departing on our journey.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. I am also posting chapter 2. Please note that I will post when I can. I look forward to any reviews.