7979. Don't ask about Starfleet registry numbers. The last person to do it is now in an asylum.
7979a. "NCC-1700. NCC-1701, NCC-1017!? Arrgh!" RNO *78678687689.

Spacefleet Orbital Headquarters

Chimera sighed as the screaming rating was carried to the shuttle on a stretcher. It was hard enough to find human personnel sane enough to deal with Kanmusu on the ground, but being in space added a whole new level of torture, one that meant they went through support personnel almost twice as fast as any other fleet.

"What happened?" asked Chimera to the other three in the airlock. USS Constitution(NCC-1700), USS Enterprise(NCC-1701), and USS Constellation(NCC-1017), glanced at each other nervously, all unwilling to be the first to bear their flagships' anger.

"I'm waiting." growled Chimera.

"Well, that's just the thing," Constitution said. "we don't know. He just asked us into his office, went on a tirade about our registry numbers, and when we told him about them, he stormed out and tried to bust open the window."

"That's it?" asked Chimera incredulously. "Registry numbers?"

"Yeah, apparently he couldn't understand how Starfleet went from four-digit registry numbers in our time to five-digit ones in a little over a century." added Enterprise.

"And he started crying when he talked about me and Franklin." finished Constellation.

"So, he went crazy over how a bunch of random numbers from old TV shows don't make numerical sense?"

"But they actuallydo." said Enterprise. "That's what really set him off."

"Huh?"

"Okay, you know how my registry is NCC-1700, and E's 1701, right?"

"Yes, because she's the next ship built after you. That makes sense."

"Good, so do you know how Franklin's an older ship then Enterprise(NX-01), yet she has a higher registry number, NX-326?"

"No, you've lost me." said Chimera.

"Ok, when the Federation was first founded, Starfleet inherited the fleets from it's founding members, with the exceptions being small system defense forces under planetary control. So, call it about 400-500 ships, alright?"

"Go on." said Chimera.

"Well, when you take ships from twelve different worlds, each with their own registry, organization became a nightmare. So, one of Starfleet Command's first directives was the establishment of a universal registry system."

"Because Enterprise(NX-01) was so instrumental in the founding of the Federation, she was symbolically the first ship placed on the registry, and as each ship was refitted for Starfleet, they took the next number in line." added Constellation.

"So, Franklin has a higher registry number than Enterprise because she was commissioned into the Federation Starfleet later?"

"Yes." said Enterprise. "Human ships needed longer refits than other ships because their technology level was lower than say the Vulcans or Andorians. Franklin ultimately was commissioned into the fleet about five years after Enterprise, and then she vanished on her shakedown cruise."

"Ok, but how does that explain adding another digit in less than a century?"

"Any warp-capable ship in Starfleet above a shuttle is classified as a starship, and thus requires a registry number, which includes runabouts, scout ships, couriers, automated cargo transports, tugs, heck, even garbage scows count." said Constitution.

"Not to mention if a ship is captured by Starfleet or if a merchant is conscripted during wartime also gets one." said Constellation. "So, during a war, it's common for Starfleet to surge by several hundred ships simply because we need freighters for auxiliaries. After the war, they're usually returned to the original owner, but their registry is permanent."

"By the time the first Federation designs in the fleet, the Bonaventure and Daedalus classes, entered service, there was about 700 in the fleet, thanks to a couple of short wars with the Klingons and some new races joining the Federation. The Walkers and Crossfields were the ones to get us over the millennia mark."

"So, Shenzhou is younger than Discovery?" asked Chimera. "Then why does Discovery call her old all the time?"

"That's more to do with her technology than anything else. The Walkers and Crossfields were designed to replace heritage ships and first-generation Starfleet designs, sorta like us and the Miranda's. Shenzhou may be younger than Discovery, but traditionally, the Walkers were some of the last ships to get important upgrades, whereas Discovery, being one of the largest ships in the fleet until Connie was built, got all the bells and whistles." said Constellation.

"And the Federation just built, conscripted, and captured enough ships to get over ten thousand in a century? I don't believe it."

"Says the one with 25000 sisters." Enterprise remarked dryly. "Wedid fight several large wars, and as the Federation expanded, more colony ships were needed to start colonies, more couriers were needed to transport important messages and people between them, more construction ships were needed to build orbital infrastructure, more patrol ships were needed to defend said colonies, and finally, more starships were needed to explore strange new worlds and new life."

"How do you always manage to get that line in somewhere with every conversation?" asked Constitution.

"Okay, then I just have one last question." asked Chimera.

"Shoot."

"Why is your registry 1017?"

"Constellation blinked before she answered. "Well, about two weeks before I got eaten, I got caught in an ion storm. It overloaded some power conduits and messed up my paint, so I docked at Starbase 142 for repairs, during which I was moored next to USS Conestoga, who's registryis NCC-1017."

"Huh?"

"My registry is 1711. The person in charge of painting was a midshipman fresh out of the Academy, and he mixed up our numbers. Decker was furious, but we got a priority mission to rescue an ambassador, so there wasn't enough time to correct it. I was on my way back to base when I got, well, eaten."

"That's what drove him crazy?"

"Apparently, he had some extremely complex theory to explain the numbers involving time travel, alcohol, and the dark god Cthulhu, and when we told him the system, he just kinda broke."

Chimera looked from the Kanmusu, to the airlock, and back to the Kanmusu again, and then left the room.

"Where are you going?" asked Constellation.

"First, to request a new rating. Then, to get a drink."