Chapter 5: Speak Freely.
As he activated the pad, containing the information he wanted to read he noticed all pads with specs or other information about the USSc Shake showed the Starfleet general orders when initially turned on. Even though he had memorized them since he was 10 years old, he read em each day at least once.
General Order 1: The Prime Directive
As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet personnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation.
General Order 2
No Starfleet personnel shall unnecessarily use force, either collectively or individually, against members of the United Federation of Planets, their duly authorized representatives, spokespersons, or designated leaders, or members of any sentient non-member race, for any reason whatsoever.
General Order 3
The sovereignty of each Federation member being respected in all things, Starfleet personnel shall observe any and all statutes, laws, ordinances, and rules of governance currently in effect within the jurisdiction of a member planet. Violators of such ordinances will be subject to such punishments or corrections as shall be determined by local governmental bodies.
General Order 4
f contact is made with hitherto undiscovered intelligent life-forms, under no circumstance shall Starfleet personnel, either by word or deed, inform said life-forms that worlds other than their own or intelligent life-forms other than their own exist outside the confines of their own space.
General Order 5
In cases of extreme emergency, Federation special representatives are empowered to assume emergency powers to deal with a condition or circumstance that is deemed hazardous to the welfare of Federation citizenry. Within the scope of these emergency powers, duly authorized civilian personnel may assume temporary command of Starfleet vessels and/or personnel to deal with the emergency. Starfleet personnel must submit to their authority for the duration of the crisis.
General Order 6
The request for emergency assistance from Federation citizenry demands unconditional priority from Starfleet personnel. Such personnel shall immediately respond to said request, postponing all other activities.
General Order 7
No Starfleet vessel shall visit the planet Talos IV under any circumstances, emergency or otherwise. This order supersedes General Order 6. Any transgression of this general order shall be punishable by death.
General Order 8
Upon sighting a warship within Federation space and identifying it as belonging to a foreign power, the commander of the Starfleet vessel shall determine the reason(s) for that craft's presence in the vicinity. If there is conclusive evidence that the vessel has hostile intentions, the Federation vessel may take appropriate action to safeguard the lives and property of Federation members. In such cases, the commander may use his discretion in deciding whether to use force to disable the hostile vessel. However, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary loss of sentient life.
General Order 9
No commander of a Starfleet vessel, military or auxiliary, may grant political asylum to any individual without first being given express permission to do so by a representative of the Federation government.
General Order 10
If there exists eyewitness testimony by senior officers or similar verifiable evidence that an individual has violated the Prime Directive, said individual may be relieved of duty by a duly sworn representative of the Federation government and placed under immediate arrest. The governmental representative shall then take such action as he deems necessary to minimize the results of the violation.
General Order 11
Starfleet officers with the rank of captain or higher are granted full authority to negotiate conditions of agreement and/or treaties with legal representatives of non-Federation planets. In such circumstances, the acting officer carries de facto powers of a Federation Special Ambassador. Any and all agreements arranged in this manner are subject to approval by the Chief of Starfleet Operations and the Secretary of Starfleet.
General Order 12
Federation officers may violate Neutral Zone areas as designated by treaty only if such action is required to save the lives of Federation citizens under conditions of extreme emergency.
General Order 13
Except when orders state to the contrary, Starfleet personnel will respect the territorial integrity of independent planetary systems and governments, and will not violate territorial space belonging to such worlds.
General Order 14
Starfleet personnel may intervene in local planetary affairs to restore general order and to secure the lives and property of Federation citizens only upon receiving a direct order to do so from a civilian official with the title of governor or higher.
General Order 15
No officer of flag rank shall travel into a potentially hazardous area without suitable armed escort.
General Order 16
Starfleet personnel may extend technological, medical, or other scientific assistance to a member of a previously unrecognized sentient species only if such assistance in no way compromises the Prime Directive or the security of the Federation or Starfleet.
General Order 17
Starfleet vessel captains are to consider the lives of their crew members as sacred. In any potentially hostile situation, the captain will place the lives of his crew above the fate of his ship.
General Order 18
"Upon being accused of treason against the Federation, Starfleet personnel may demand a trail conducted by the Federation judiciary". If the individual is acquitted, Starfleet Command shall have no further legal recourse against the accused in said matter.
General Order 19
Except in times of declared emergency, Starfleet personnel may under no circumstances convey personnel or material between planets or planetary systems when there is reason to believe that said personnel or material may be used to conduct aggression. This order applies to independent worlds within the Federation as well as to Federation members.
General Order 20
Officers and personnel of Starfleet Command may employ whatever means necessary to prevent the possession, transportation, sale, or commercial exchange of sentient beings held against their wishes within the boundaries of Federation space.
General Order 21
No Starfleet personnel, either officer or enlisted, may offer his services to an independent foreign government without the express authorization of the Federation Assembly.
General Order 22
As the rights of individual expression and free discourse are considered sacred, Starfleet personnel may debate the policies and decisions of their governmental representatives privately at any time, to the extent that such discussions do not violate their command oath or specific duties to the Federation per these General Orders or Starfleet regulations.
General Order 23
When verifiable proof is presented to the senior commanding officer of a Starfleet vessel or post that a Federation representative may currently be acting or have acted in the past to violate the Prime Directive, the officer may relieve said representative of office, then assume the full powers of that office pending a full investigation by governmental officials.
General Order 24
If a commanding officer deems that an individual or group of individuals pose a threat to Starfleet personnel or Federation civilians, he may take any action deemed necessary (including force) to secure the safety of those threatened.
General Order 25
Civilian and military personnel taken into custody by Starfleet personnel during times of extreme emergency shall be accorded proper treatment consistent with their rank or station, insofar as such treatment does not compromise the security of the Federation or Starfleet.
General Order 26
No member of a ship's complement or other ground-based installation can be held directly accountable for the actions of their superiors. Similarly, no member of a ship's company or other Starfleet personnel will share in disciplinary measures taken against the commanding officer(s) if said individuals were not directly involved in the actions leading to disciplinary measures. This order extends to conditions involving proven violations of the Prime Directive, where proof of such violations exist.
General Order 27
No member of Starfleet shall be required by the assignment of standard duties and responsibilities to undergo extended separation from his family, if family members can be reasonably provided for aboard ship or as a part of an existing Starfleet installation.
General Order 28
No officer of command rank shall be removed from command status unless such action has the complete and unqualified agreement of at least three senior officers present. Whenever possible, such officers shall include the ship's First Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Counselor, and one junior officer of command station.
General Order 29
The primary responsibility of the commander of any Starfleet vessel or installation is the welfare and safety of his crew, including any civilian members. No action may be taken that creates an unwarranted threat to the safety of those individuals under the officer's charge, except in the line of duty and when otherwise unavoidable.
General Order 30
Starfleet Command recognizes the right of each ship commander to interpret the specifications of the Prime Directive as he sees fit, consistent with the conditions of other existing general orders in effect, and based upon circumstances that may arise in dealing with newly discovered sentient races.
General Order 31
The conditions and specifications of the Prime Directive shall henceforth apply to all sentient lifeforms discovered, whether they are of natural or artificial origin.
General Order 32
Except in the case of an extreme emergency, no Starfleet commander is authorized to order his ship to travel faster than Warp Factor Five without express permission from Starfleet Command.
The Omega Directive
The Omega Directive was created to deal with a threat not only to the Federation, but to the entire Alpha Quadrant; and indeed the whole Galaxy. Starfleet named the hazard the Omega molecule/particle phenomenon. It was first synthesized over 100 years ago (during the mid-22nd century,) by a Starfleet physicist named Ketteract. The molecule created was the most powerful substance known to exist. A single Omega molecule contains the same energy as a warp core. It has been suggested that in theory, a small chain could sustain a civilization. It is not known whether Ketteract was searching for an inexhaustible power source, or a weapon. He created a single molecule particle of Omega, which lasted for only a fraction of a second before it de-stabilized. His work was done on a classified research center in the Lantaru Sector. Ketteract and 126 of the Federation's leading scientists, were lost in the accident. Rescue teams attempting to reach the site, discovered an unexpected secondary effect. There were subspace ruptures extending out several light years. To this day, it is impossible to create a stable warp field in that sector. It can only be traversed under sublight power. This is the danger of the Omega molecule. Omega destroys subspace. A chain reaction could devastate subspace throughout the quadrant. Space-faring civilization would no longer exist, and many lives would be lost in space. When Starfleet learned of this impending danger, it suppressed all knowledge of the Omega phenomenon. Only Starfleet Captains and Federation Flag Officers may view this document.
Directive: Starfleet Captains and Federation Flag Officers must ensure the safety of the quadrant from the Omega threat. To this end, whenever sensors positively determine the presence of Omega in a ship's vicinity it will enter "Omega Mode." Doing so locks all navigation, sensor, tactical and propulsion systems. Only the ship's Captain, or a Federation Flag Officer can release the Omega lockout. Access to sensor data retrieved on the Omega effect is limited to Clearance Level 10. When Omega has been verified, the ship's captain will contact Starfleet Command immediately. No information may be relayed to the ship's crew. All other priorities are rescinded until the threat is neutralized. The prime directive may be compromised during such a mission, if necessary. Blatant abuse of this power will be prosecuted to the fullest extent using all other Starfleet Directives. If violation of the prime directive is even minimally anticipated, it is authorized and advised. If Starfleet Command cannot be contacted for any reason, the primary priority is the destruction of all Omega molecules detected. There will be no computer record of the sensor logs, and Captain's/Captain's Personal Logs must be either encrypted or deleted.
After he read this and pressed a padbutton th ships specs were opened. He started reading the section he had been reading last time,
Reading through the specs he couldn't help but wonder how Starfleet intelligence had managed to keep a ship this sise a secret. As he wondered that, an uneasy feeling crept up on him. He knew a little about the relationships between the UFP and it's allies.
The alliance was one born of need rather than of good relations. Neither party in the alliance trusted any of the other parties allthough there was a newfound respect by the Klingons for the Federation.
The Romulans had made it clear that as soon as the war was over the relation between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire would return to the old state. The old borders still applied. Christ knew this allso ment that the T'all Shi'har would allso be maintaining it's intelligence operations inside the federation. The T'all Shi'har was in effect the most advanced, and best intelligence agency in known space. It would be next to impossible to keep a vessel of this sise from being discovered by the Romulans.
The Cardassian Obsidian order used to be equal to the T'all Shi'har, but after their defeat the obsidian order was no more. Now, Cardassians were even allowed to attend starfleet acadamy, and it was only a matter of time until the Cardassians joined the United Federation of Planets. As remarkable this may have sounded before the war, now it seemed their only option.
The war left the Cardassian empire in pieces. The Jem'Hadar had used the ancient russian strategy, destroying anything that might be deemed usefull when they retreated towards cardassia prime. The final battle, in which the founders ordered the Jem'Hadar to destroy as much of Cardassia and Cardassians as possible cost the Cardassians millions, if not hundreds of million lives. In fact, the population on cardassia had been reduced to only 40% of the total before the war. They had no choice but to except the help the UFP was offering them, using the Marschall plan strategy for rebuilding the Economy and infrastructure of the cardassians.
Christ cleared the PADD's screen and brought up the general description of the USSc Shake s design goals.
"This vessel has been designed to provide the UFP with the means to establish and maintain a precense of starfleet in area's that precense does not yet exist.
The Federation of Planets is in essence a main island, surronded by some 3 orther "federation islands" Surrounded by and surrounding the main empires of our region of space. There is main federation space, the Antaris island, and for example the deneb island. Together they span over 8000 light years. Each area in its own is no larger than 500 or 600 lightyears across. The federation is intending to be able to pick up and counter any threat in any of those area's.
In light of the Cardassion joining of the federation a lot of new starbases and outposts need to be built, establishing the Federations authority there. This sometimes needs to be done in a hostile environment. The USSc Shake is designed to establish that kind of precense in any, including hostile, situation. The USSc Shake is able to, in essence, take control of an entire sector. Either just by being there or, if nessecary, by conquering it. The role is very simular to the role the old seabearing carriers did in the late 20th early 21st century."
Christ had read that piece of text 10 times over. He still could'nt understand the change in Starfleets posture and behaviour. Before the war, starfleet wouldn't have even considered a design like this.
The design could be described in a number of ways, but the all came down to the same basic realisation. This vessel was designed to fight and win, against any enemy and take whatever that enemy has for the federation. Not even the Klingons or the Borg would be able to defeat a number of vessels like the Shake, and it enables the Federation to become a conquering force...
As he was reading Christ hadn't noticed the door chime. When he finally did he yelled, louder than he'd intended to: "Come in for cryin' out loud!".
The door swooshed open and there was Ezri. "Hi Captain, are we a little tense?" she said. "Sorry about that Ezri, I've been going through some documents here and I'm not sure I'm happy with what I read." He apologized. "Well, can I have a word with you?" she asked. "Go right ahead, you're my science officer, we'll be having a lot of words in the future I guess" he said with a smile he himself noticed to late.
Ezri hold down her smile as she saw it. She enjoyed the extraprofessional attention the new Captain seemed to have for her. "To be quite honest sir..." She started as Christ interrupted. "We'll be spending a lot of time talking, and I think we'll make it easier on both of us if we're on first name basis when we're off duty" he said. "Well, I am here to talk about what could be described as business. You see, I'm not sure I am right for the position of Chief Sciense officer on such a big important vessel.".
Christ let that sink in and thought about it for a second. "Well, first of all, I know about your problems adjusting to joined life. Allthough you have difficulty deciding what you like, you do have the life experience of 9 people now, and a few of them were scientists. You have proven you are a valuable officer and make the right descisions just as long as they don't involve personal preference. I am proud and lucky to have you as my science officer and have every confidence in your ability to perform your duties as such." Christ said as Ezri sat down across the table from him.
He looked at her reaction to his words to see if they'd done any good. Her eyes became bitter sweet and looked at him as if they belonged to a little girl that had just got a present. Christ continued swiftly as he felt she could read his thoughts even though he knew she couldn't. "besides that Ezri, the Admiral was pretty clear on the definitivity of the assignments. I think that even I cant undo them, and we'll just have to do our duties." He said. "I would really hate to loose you." He added.
"Thank you for the vote of confidence, I really appreciate it. Deep down I knew that already, I just have a hard time keeping my confidence." Ezri softly said to Christ. Christ at this point had a hard time to, though it hadn't that much to do with selfconfidence. Christ was having problems remembering he was the woman's Captain and he couldn't do what he wanted to do: Take her in his arms and tell her he was gonna take care of her. "Well, my door is always open for you, if I can do anything..." He paused to let that word sink in "Please don't hesitate to come to me..." he finished.
She got up and walked to him. He stood as well, and before he knew what was going on she put her arms around him and hugged him real tight "Thank you Christ, you've helped me a lot already." She whispered and then let go. She had bright "joyeyes" as Christ called them. Eyes from which could be read the owner was enjoying something.
Christ was puzzled, but had no time to think. Before he knew it she had walked off, turned around to look at Christ's puzzled face quickly, and the door had shut behind her. Christ was now baffled, and happy she wasn't here anymore. He must have a really telltale face by now. He sat back down and wondered about Ezri until he fell asleep, not thinking about the Shake at all anymore.