STAR TREK
"Joseph Campbell"
He came out of the laundry room. He would graduate from high school that year. It was close to his birthday. His name was Eric Campbell. He went into the kitchen. His father and stepmother sat there talking. He made a request.
"Could you call my brother's girlfriend, so she could come over?" he implied. He was about eighteen.
With pride in his eyes, his father said, "Yes, of course."
The stepmother quickly left her seat to say, "I'll do it for you."
The birthday boy turned back around to say, "When you call her, say it was my brother's idea. And direct her to my room."
His father replied, "That's my boy."
In time, the fourteen-year-old girl came drenched in 'Fire and Ice' perfume. Over the phone, she was told, "Joseph has turned sixteen and, according to Star Fleet law, is old enough for sex."
She came in minutes from a nearby Star Fleet outpost to be directed to the laundry room, the room belonging to the older brother.
He was naked.
Afterwards, she tried to ask if her boyfriend was around, but she could not make the words come out. The father of the boys threw forty credits at her. She began to leave the kitchen without the credits. But the retired officer yelled, "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something?!"
She turned around, took the credits, and then began to leave the house. For which he yelled again, "Hey! You want to see my boy?!"
He proceeded to guide her into the small bathroom downstairs and raped her. What they did not expect was Joseph Campbell upstairs witnessing all this from his room, the attic. The only reason why he did not stop the crime was fear. Because of incest laws, the relationship could not continue.
"Required Pardon"
In the future, many needed to be saved. In one mission, a junior lieutenant was in need of salvation. He was a student who had recently flunked out of Star Fleet Academy to command a freighter.
"Campbell," a shuttle pilot spoke to the officer he was transporting, "you've got to see this."
It was a Kerr-class freighter. Parked inside Earth dock, the USS Loki was ready for its ranking officer.
"I should have beamed over," he stated with a frown. "She doesn't look like much."
Joseph Campbell was his name, "Please bring a Vulcan to the shuttlebay. I must have answers."
"Yes, sir," the pilot said. "Puck, the captain is asking for you."
In time, the shuttle landed. Inside, a force field served as a barrier protecting everyone.
It landed, "Puck here. My rank is petty officer 2nd class. I am pleased that you came on such short notice."
"Okay," the captain said as he looked around. "Why is the ship so messy?"
"It is being upgraded to Q-ship status," Puck explained gesturing for him to walk alongside.
"I am Junior Lieutenant Joseph Campbell and the ship's ranking officer," he responded. "My only question is about why I'm here."
"I will try to get answers," Puck promised as they walked through a main corridor.
The captain was angry, "Don't tell me that. You are a Star Fleet officer."
"Again, I apologize," the Vulcan said smiling on the inside. He had never seen anger before.
As they walked, the Vulcan would ask, "Would you like to see the bridge before anything else?"
Joseph started to get hotheaded, "First of all, do not imply what it is I should or should not do. I'm wasting no time to find the lab. I must take a shower."
"Yes, sir," it was said as they entered separate turbolifts. Joseph obviously did not have many friends.
On the bridge, Puck arrived in seconds to open a channel to Star Fleet Academy, "Could you tell me why you had him assigned to us?"
"Yes," the commandant replied. "I assigned him there to be liberated of his rage. He is a troubled officer."
He thought for a moment, "I must report you since you assigned him for reasons of race."
He cried, "Now wait just a minute—"
The Vulcan had to smile this time, "You put him here to become more docile. To learn from me."
"I am saving a career," the commandant continued. "That is never for reasons of race."
"Your innocence is in question," the Vulcan spoke. "But I will heed your request."
Eyes met all around the bridge. The insult to Puck was met with silence.
The silence was broken by Joseph Campbell coming onto the bridge with a towel over his shoulder. He was casually drying his hair, "It is too quiet in here."
Standing at the center of the bridge, Puck bade, "Come to me. Star Fleet has given us new orders."
"What should I do?" Joseph inquired throwing the towel over the captain's chair. "Will there be any mysticism involved in all of this?"
"Close your eyes," the Vulcan told him.
He had a student that learned well, "Hold your hand out."
The junior lieutenant closed his eyes. Puck then put a rock in his hand, "You must eat this stone."
He was curious, "How do you have a rock on a starship? Could you tell me that?"
"It is my lucky stone," the Vulcan stated. "You didn't think religion helped Vulcans learn of peace, did you?"
Joseph Campbell realized, "Oh. So, I was sent here for anger issues. And I'm forced to eat this."
He put it in his mouth, "How long will it take for my rage to subside, Captain?"
"Captain?" Puck inquired as humans were always full of surprises.
"Yes, we can command together," he spoke. "Since this ship is a freighter in times of peace and a Q-ship in times of war, I should only command in battle. You could be the ranking officer."
Puck always wanted to be a captain. He could not refuse, "Thank you. However, the effects need about six to eight months."
The 'first officer' smiled for the first time, "Live long and prosper."
In Earth dock, the Q-ship sat. You never saw someone so happy to get a desk job. Puck chose to forgive the commandant for the insult to his culture. Humans, he remembered, were only a half bad race.
"The Spying Game"
The tractor beam of a Romulan K5R frigate captured a Federation shuttle. But it wanted to be captured. The Romulan ship's name was Henchman. It was pulled into the shuttlebay. Only one person was inside.
"Get out of there now!" cried a Romulan security guard as the door to the shuttle was being pried open.
In the end, an explosive was used to open the door. A Star Fleet junior lieutenant was dragged from the shuttle. He cried, "I'm not resisting arrest! I'm not resisting arrest!"
The Romulan security guards brutally beat him.
In deep space, a nearby Kerr-class freighter saw this on their viewer, "Simon, turn up the volume on the first officer's transmission."
Loki was the name of the freighter.
The bridge crew of the Loki was watching as the Star Fleet officer was being taken to the brig of the Romulan ship.
"There has to be something we can do," the engineer stated from below decks. "That's our first officer."
A crewman started, "Puck, you're not going to let them do this, are you? You are the acting captain of this ship."
Simon, at the helm, said, "Yes. It would be most profitable to save his life."
The captured Star Fleet officer, Joseph Campbell, was in a cell nursing his wounds. They were going to execute him for espionage.
He whispered to himself, "Please, someone help me out of this."
On the bridge of the Henchman, the commander opened a channel to the Kerr-class freighter, "You are too close to Romulan space. Remove yourself from our territory or all you'll have left is your 'black box.'"
The Romulans did not know what they were getting into. Puck of Vulcan ordered, "Turn off our surveillance. Prepare for war."
His was, in fact, a Q-ship. The security chief told him, "It's not going to work. They're bigger than we are."
Someone else spoke, "You're only a petty officer 2nd class. You can't command the ship in battle."
Puck responded, "I must retrieve the person who can."
Everyone on board the freighter was in fear they might be met with extreme prejudice. The Loki moved towards the Henchman.
On the Romulan bridge, the commander said, "We will capture that fool. Aim our phasers at their phaser bank."
The phaser bank was destroyed. But the Romulans were under the impression it was there only weapon."
"Simon!" the acting captain ordered. "Open fire!"
The Henchman was hit the moment its shields were down.
"They hit us, Commander!" the first officer said. "We have to raise shields!"
"How did they hit us?" Commander Hula demanded. "Is that a Q-ship or something?"
"Yes!" the first officer stated as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "That's the only answer!"
"Helmsman, disengage by acceleration," the commander said. "Set a course for the nearest base station."
In the brig, Joseph had noticed that the K5R frigate was putting all of its power into engines. The force field to the brig shut down. Everyone was running to their stations. It became time for him to escape in a shuttle.
As the Romulans ran, he crept through the corridors.
On the Loki, the tactical officer was sitting at the communications station. She cried, "We've lost the first officer's transponder signal!"
Just then, as they feared the worst, a shuttle launched towards them.
"Arm phaser batteries again," the acting captain responded. "Prepare to fire."
"No, wait!" Simon said. "It's him!"
On the viewer, the Romulan shuttle contacted them, "Joseph Campbell here. I come in peace."
There were cheers. He came back on board to have the transponder taken out of his arm. It was a spying tool. He returned to his duties after being treated for injuries sustained on his mission.
"Fall Guy"
In the depths of Klingon space, there was a Federation Q-ship. It was not on red alert because it had the appearance of a Kerr-class freighter.
On the Q-ship USS Loki, a couple of crewmen entered the lounge to say, "Do you even think they have it in the ship's stores, Lesley?"
With a smile, she replied, "Well, Dana, if they don't, I'll just wait until we get back to port."
The question on her mind was, "How do these things work again?"
"Well, these are the material fabricators," Lesley said. "They can only produce what they are programmed to produce."
Even though she was new to the Star Fleet, she should have already known this, "How do you mean?"
"The computers help," she stressed as she operated the material fabricators.
"What are you trying to get, Lesley?" was the question.
"Okay, I will tell you," she began. "I'm getting a love potion."
"A love potion!" Dana cried. "Who are you getting it for? Is it for someone on board the Loki?"
"Good, they have it," she lifted it up. "I will surely win the heart of my love with this."
As the two left the small officers' lounge, Lesley applied the fragrance. The first officer passed them by in the corridor. Then, he began to walk after her.
She was quickly in the first officer's quarters. His name was Joseph Campbell. In bed, they were talking.
He simply asked, "How could someone as beautiful as you see anything in a man like me?"
Lesley had a guilty grin, but she took an oath to always be honest. She said, "I like men of power. You take command in battle situations because the captain is a petty officer 2nd class."
Then a message came down from the bridge, "Joseph Campbell, I would like to see you up here."
"Is it an emergency?" he had to ask. Puck of Vulcan was the name of his superior.
"No," the acting captain stated. "I would like to show you a phenomenon we've come across."
"What is it?" Joseph replied as he rolled out of bed.
"It's a black hole," Puck said with the crew already on its toes because they were in Klingon space. "It would be nice if you came up here to see it."
"We are not in danger of falling into it, are we?" the first officer had to ask.
"No," he replied. "But you've got to see this."
He made his way out the door. Then, the love potion started to take effect. He was cradling the bulkhead as he made it to his destination.
Drunk with power, he sucker punched the acting captain, "I order this ship to be on red alert until we enter Federation space. Put security on all decks, including around my quarters."
Simon left his post at the helm to go to engineering. The Kerr-class freighter began to veer into the black hole. He told them he needed to use the bathroom.
Running to the engine room, the engineer contacted him by communicator, "Simon, we are veering into a black hole. Why are you not at your station?"
"The first officer has lost his mind," he said. "He has taken control of deck one."
"Where is the captain?" the Star Fleet engineer inquired of him.
Pausing as two security guards passed, Simon whispered, "He's in the brig."
"Get that Vulcan out of there," he returned, "and I'll find us a way out of this situation."
"No problem, Ensign Roth," Simon said as he headed to the armory nearest to him.
He looked up to see Captain Puck before him, "Looking for someone?"
With a laugh, he had to ask, "But how?"
He responded, "I simply used the Vulcan mind meld to trick the guard into thinking I was gone. He turned the force field off, and that's when I made my escape."
Armed with a hand phaser, the two arrived at the bridge. Puck slowly crept up to the captain's chair and gave the first officer a Vulcan nerve pinch. Simon ran to the helm to unlock his station.
Puck yelled, "Engineer, what's going on?!"
"It would take time to explain," the engineer said from below decks. "Just let me handle it."
"Alright," Puck of Vulcan told him.
He did it. The ship was very damaged afterwards, but they made it all the way back to Federation space. The captain spoke, "Curious. Helm, what just happened?"
"Apparently, Roth put all power into navigational deflectors and turned us slightly to the left," Simon said to the captain.
The USS Loki was safe.
Then there was a court martial for the one who used the love potion. Her name was Lesley Procter.
"I only have one question," the first officer asked in tears. "How could you do this?"
She smiled and said, "I like hard men."
"Congratulations," the Vulcan captain stated. "You broke the law."
Her smile faded as she demanded, "What have I done?"
Lesley Procter was made civilian. It was as if her Star Fleet career never happened. For her foolish act, the entire crew had to be decontaminated while repairs took place at a starbase.
The End