A/N: The question raised by MarieChristine81 is a good one. I am under the impression that the Federation and Klingon Empire are allies, but not that the Klingons have joined the Federation (since Worf was sent as Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire at the end of DS9). They may have nixed the Neutral Zone in favor of a border, in which case, these characters are border patrol. I claim creative license, but it's a good question. I may be wrong, too. It's happened before. ;)
Personal Log, Lieutenant Fritz Hermann, Stardate 55760.44:
"I finally got the Federation Standard translation of Sar's latest novel. Rali, of course, just finished his copy. I should really start learning how to read Trill. It's not like I don't have the time, after all. Time is one thing we have in abundance out here. We may not have anything else, like something to do, but we have time.
As usual, nothing happened. I was about to ask the captain if I could go through all the phasers and check them, when I remembered that I did that three days ago. Time is starting to lose meaning.
To make things worse, a diplomatic envoy went through today. I was practically green with envy, because the crew of that ship actually gets to do something. How'd I end up on this ship, anyway? And shouldn't I be a Lt. Commander by now? Never mind the promotion, even, just give me something to do! We're buddies with the Klingons now, which means the Charlemagne isn't doing much of anything.
Maybe we can find the Klingons who are stuck doing this patrol thing too, and have a cultural exchange. We could compare recreational activities and food. Even if there weren't any drunken brawls to break up, which would be the first thing my department has done in forever, we could still have a good time.
Actually, I bet that, as bad as this patrol business is for us –do we really need a Neutral Zone anymore?- it's even worse for Klingons. There's a little perspective. At least I don't have a cultural thirst for battle. Sad as it is, I still get excited when there's a comet to blow up. Hey, I have to make sure the phasers still work somehow. I don't know why they even bothered giving us photon torpedoes, unless the brass somehow think hostilities could break out again. I seriously doubt that, because nobody wants another war. Not even the Klingons, at least with the Federation. They have serious doubts about the Romulans, and I'm pretty sure the brass does too. Klingons are better allies than Romulans, not that I'd mind being allied with the Romulans either. However, the Romulans are crafty and unpredictable. Not to mention that their politicians are hardly ever in authority for long before someone kills them. Klingons are at least fairly predictable.
Maybe once I've mastered the Trill language, I can take on Klingon.
If Rali gets airs about reading Sar in the original Trill again, I might just look into the feasibility of making German the default language on his console. I may not use my German as much as he uses his Trill, but he's not the only one around here who speaks two languages. I think Oma would be really upset if I stopped sending messages to her in our "native tongue." Never mind that I learned Standard before German.
I'm going to start that novel."
End log.
(Oma: Grandma)
Personal log, Lieutenant Fritz Hermann, Stardate 55762.89:
"Rali got to maneuver around the meteoroid that we passed today, which means that I didn't get to blow it up. Apparently Captain Mercoeur was sure the phasers were still working. Dang. I was close to getting to do something.
Whoever decided that Tactical should have a seat is a genius. I really like this Nebula-class design, although I think they could've come up with a better name for the class. The name is much less important than my seat. Really, who wants to stand for a shift when there's nothing to do? There are days I think that wonderful seat is the only thing that keeps me sane. Today was one of them.
On the plus side, I'm pretty sure the captain saw that Rali and I had half of our screens set up to play "Supernova Race II, Extended Version" but she ignored it. It's a good thing that we didn't get stuck with an uptight captain or I'd really lose it. Besides, I was winning. I suspect that she might play Solitaire when she's in her Ready Room, but more power to her. There can't be that many reports. We never have anything to report on. Someone should slip her a copy of Mah Jong, that's a classic.
Supernova Race III is coming out next month. That's going to be excellent. Of course, the extended version won't be out for a couple months after that, and the extended version is always better. Bridge shifts are eight hours, after all.
Sar's novel is great so far. Had to ask Rali about a ritual that was going on in the beginning, which apparently has something to do with meeting the former hosts of one's symbiont. I know the Trill consider being joined to be a big honor, but reading about that ritual, I'm not so sure I'd want to be joined. He told me that since it's physiologically impossible, it's a good thing I feel that way.
I've got holodeck time tonight. Aspen, and I've programmed it so there's actually snow coming down as I ski. It's gorgeous, and there's always great snow and fresh trails on the holodeck."
End log.
There are at least three more installments here, but I'm not sure who's next. I'm open to ideas for the position of the next person.
