'As You Were ....'

[Cpt_Guthrie]

Pt 1: 'Sins of the Father'

'I'm still here.' thought Guthrie

Most of the other cadets were legacies of one sort or another. Afterall, just being a graduate of the Star Fleet Academy was expected of some of them, being the offspring of STA graduates, themselves. Some were related to politicians, diplomats or scientific achievers. Every class produced admirals, for those who elected to make it a career (and who didn't dishonor themselves .... like Guthrie's father).

He was accepted into the academy after his second application with the support of an off-world diplomat. A Vulcan, who merely provided Guthrie with a form letter citing his expectations but not his reasons. Never the one to look a gift horse in the mouth (perhaps it was a different Guthrie the Vulcan intended, which would be surprising since they were such a detail orineted, logical lot). Academics and athletics were both natural traits to Guthrie but it didn't take long for both his peers and the upper classmen to link him to his father's notoriety.

Edmund Guthrie had the unfortunate dishonor of being one of the few officers in Star Fleet history to mutiny and the only Star Fleet officer to take ship and crew with him into the unknown, never to be seen or heard from again. Well, at least the only one that had evidence damning him for it. The message bouy, found near the ship's last known coordinates, told the tale. The Captain told of a violent take-over of the ship with Guthrie leading the pack. He told of barricading himself in the bouy release bay just to be able to leave star fleet with information about the mutiny. His corpse was found in an auxiliary escape pod not far from the bouy.

This is not a legacy record to build a career on but Guthrie was stubborn enough to not buckle under the consistant torment he received throughout his first two academy years. Now he was an upper classman, himself. A third year Cadet was considered 'tenured.' Only a truly unfortunate act or catastrophic failure on his own part would prevent graduation and commission, at this point. Regrettably, not all of his peers respected this, though harrassment had taken a more covert method. There was the occasional anonymous threatening note of one kind or another. There was the occasional prank or 'practical' joke of a malicious nature (also anonymous). Alas, there was no use in reporting or investigating any of it. Though it may be followed up on and disciplinary action taken, it would also likely reflect poorly on Guthrie for not being able to handle such on his own.

'I'm still here.' thought Guthrie, 'and I'm about to start my first STA indoc cruise' - a first in what all hoped would be many milestones.

Reporting aboard with the other cadets, Guthrie found his berth and stowed his gear accordingly. He had downloaded copies of all the academy ship deck plans by the end of his first year and was thoroughly familiar with all their layouts from frame number and deck number locations to station and duty positions. This would be a short familiarization patrol, about a month long, never leaving the Sol system, never engaging warp. Guthrie had no friends among his peers so there was no idle chit-chat to get in the way of business. He'd learned to accept that and use it to his advantage. He participated in only individual sports, fencing, wrestling, swimming, but, never-the-less, exhibited his ability to operate within a team as a cohesive member when it came to bridge, engineering and ground exercises. The other cadets could ill afford to let thier own prejudices and dislikes taint their own 'effective teamwork' marks, so there were no instances of ill-will during training. This cruise will be constant training, even during the rest periods between shifts (cadets will be under constant monitoring).

The old Oberth Class science vessels were perfectly suited for this type of training. Many of it's science labs were converted to cadet training labs. It was still warp capable and the second cruise for third year cadets will involve anywhere from 12 to 24 warp engagements. It was refitted with a large holodeck for scenario training that doubled as a gym. The replicator chow on training vessels of this type is reputed to taste like plastic.



(To be continued/edited)