N C C - 1 6 4 2 , S T A R F L E E T, I N C . C O R R E S P O N D E N C E S H I P

FIRST RAY OF SUN

NEWSLETTER OF THE USS AARUSHI

2 0 1 6 M A Y E D I T I O N

MOTTO OF THE

USS AARUSHI / NCC-1642

Sarek:  The question you face is: which

path will you choose?

USS Aarushi Charities

Operation PaperbackPink Slipper Project

Sub for Santa

As the USS Aarushi moves forward, this newsletter will highlight some of the crew as well as tell the take of the Rise of the Aarushi, a continuing saga written by the CO with contributions by the crew.

Some Goings OnIt’s time to give some introductions: Welcome Ensign Gary Coffer as Chief of Medical. His alter ego in our stories is Ensign Sir in the medical department. Gary lives in New Mexico, is single, and has one beautiful son. Also introducing: Martin Calderwood. His alter ego is Lt. Michael Shifter, Michael is an environment specialist. Martin went to Skyline High School and lives in West Jordan, UT.

Monthly Activities

Pink Slipper donation

Spot the ISShttp://

spotthestation.nasa.gov

Monthly Photo Scavenger Hunt

We’re taking a break from the Pink Slipper Project, there’s plenty of need but I believe we’re kind of burnt out, which happens if you do one thing too long, even if it’s something you love doing. If I’m wrong here and there’s some closet knitters and crocheters that really want to donate let me know and we’ll pledge washcloths and/or slippers. As we move into June we’ll use ask for paperbacks in place of slippers. At our July meeting we’ll collect the books and send them off for Operation Paperbacks. Paperbacks only, excellent condition, and as we are a STAR TREK community science fiction is a good choice. Keep me posted as to your collections so that I’ll know when we hit 20 paperbacks, which is one shipment. Thank you everyone for all your dedication to this group and our causes.

Cover photo: Flower and Bee, Photo by Rachel Turnbow Kieran

The Photo Scavenger Hunt continues. For this month we will

be looking for these items:

This isn’t a contest, this is for fun!Just pick one topic and run!

1. A warm June evening2. A pile of shoes3. A family of snails4.Your favorite kind of flower5. One square inch of something6.Okay, make it two square inches of

something7. You wearing your uniform, STARFLEET8. A photo of the highest high heals you

can find, on someones foot.

Email them to me at uss_aarushi@icloud.com

If your photo isn’t on the list, no worries. The more creative the better so think artsy if possible and go for it!!!!!

Celebrate the sky! Submitted by Rachel Turnbow Kieran

Charlie’s had a ruff few months, but he’s got more puppy in him now than he’s had in years.

By Keira Strong

Bomb blower upper: Janice Robert’s had an interesting day as UTA had a drill which was part of CERT. Go UTA drivers! Safety first!

TriviaWhich Star Trek TOS episode was first  aired in 1966?

Adventures of the USS Aarushi Reoccurring Crew:Admiral T’Peira, (Keira Strong)Rear Admiral Tessa, Q in disguise, (Rear Admiral Janet Shepherd)Col Ian Ral Chief of Security (Col. Matthew Keener)Ensign Quentin, a former Q, in Command line, (Robbie Lawrence)Trebor Gnorts, Engineering, (Robert Strong)Halladay, Computers, History, and Jack of All Trades, (Doug Halladay)Connie Smith, Medical Ensign Zipariah, Medical (Janice Roberts)Steve Smith, Computer OperationsCapt. Jeffery Beckstrom, Engineering, (Jeffery Beckstrom)Ensign Alyssa Clawson, Security, (Alyssa Clawson)Crewman Apprentice Lenara Pren Rox (Holly Bolland)Lt. Michael Shifter, environmentalist, (Martin Calderwood)Midshipman Car, a Horta, FictionalCivilian Vashi, Vulcan, FictionalLt. Palmer, communications, Fictional

“It's foolish of you! Foolish! Leaving all that evidence behind on their planet. Again you do this foolish thing! Now look! They DID come and they DID find us!” Capt. Aluc of the Time Travel 2 ship was turning from his normal shade of deep green to an angry shade of yellow-orange. His skin was scaly in appearance, his head huge for his body, bi-pedal, and he sported a ridge of triangular fins on the top of his head which led to his neck. The source of his anger was a larger creature, with all the same characteristics minus the fins. She’s Capt. Llosr of the Time Travel 1 ship. The Capt. of Time Travel 3 ship, Capt. Hsrob, also larger and female, knew better than to get in between those two, having traveled multiple galaxies for untold years, linked in this triangle of ships. They were free to travel wherever and whenever they wished, the fact that they had to travel with each other grated on them from time to time. All three ships had to be linked to create the time machine that enabled them to move so freely through the liquid of time, if one ship were to be destroyed or damaged beyond repair, then the remainder of the Captains and crews would be forced to stay in whatever time and place, marooned for all time. They would begin a rapid aging process and die within a short period of time in whatever solar system they were in. If the damage occurred in-between galaxies or while the ships were in time travel, then they would face a very difficult, lonely, painful death. A death stretched out like being caught on the event horizon of a black hole. Frozen, yet aging, and being totally aware of the miserable conditions they were living out their last years.

“We’ve been traveling for such a long time, we’ve been fine and we’ll be fine. Leading these creatures out here was necessary if they, and we, are going to continue to evolve. You’ve seen the past that they come from, violent, hostile, warring. Now they’ve managed to put aside most of their difference, they have beings of all colors, all chemical makeup, from all over their galaxy. They even have a Horta serving on their ship. Don’t you think that is broad minded enough to give them encouragement to expand their possibilities and develop to a higher plain of

Are you addicted to Pinterest? This article will tell you a little bit about Starfleet’s Pinterest Program

ARDC, Capt. Michael Lewis, as Administrator of Starfleet’s Pinterest Program, pins items to Pinterest board (https://www.pinterest.com/starfleetsfi/) that show what is happening around the ‘Fleet. As of May 1, there are 25 Pin Boards: In Memoriam, We Live for this Stuff, Around the Fleet, Let's Go Shopping, Pets, Academy, Library, News From Around The Planet, Let's Be Social Media Savvy, The Fleet, Bookstore, Space Weather Forecast, Gaming, Military, Weather By Region, Geology By Region, Incoming Spacecraft Near Earth, Science Related Events By Region, Science Resources By Region, Start Exploring Other Fandoms Via SFA, Bridge Officer Certification Via SFA Courses, 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, and Vessel Readiness Certification Program. Michael says the three boards he added are “Chapters By Region (Regions 1 To 7), Chapters By Region (Regions 8 To 12) and Chapters By Region (13 To 20). (These were added) to give me a workspace to post the most current list of chapters I have Pins for.” There were 4238 Pins and 463 Followers of the boards. Michael is looking for news of what chapters of the fleet are doing for Pins, looking on Facebook, some of the chapter websites, etc. The 50th Anniversary of Star Trek board had 21,544 impressions. 

This old dog, he played one... Ben, a 70 lb. beagle with severe old age and all the things that go with it. But this day he got

himself out into the lawn to sun himself, so we must celebrate his life!Photo by Connie Smith

Ben has a partner in crime, his neurotic sidekick Cinnamon, a Char Pei.

Photo by Connie Smith

Janice Roberts works for UTA, and a member of the UTA family lost his life earlier

in May when he was kidnapped and murdered. The front of the bus was

decorated on his behalf.

Photos by Janice Roberts

Once again Rachel turns in art for the photo scavenger hunt.

Photo by Rachel Turnbow Kieran

Ensign Alyssa Clawson graduated

from Lehi High School!

Photo left by Keira Strong

Photo right by Jeramy Clawson

existence? And, by the way, this has worked before.Capt’s Aluc and Llosr had continued to be at each others throats about this interference with different species. Capt. Hsrob could see both sides of the issue, which is what made him the perfect third for the time travel link. She was able to negotiate a peace between Aluc and Llosr over the of years. Their true life expectancy was unknown, truth be told, they always died in battle with each other. It was just the nature of their species to quarrel and so with this attempt at a time travel trio, Hsrob had been included into the mix, to try and keep the travelers from destroying each other along the way.  

*************************

“Their ships are both incredibly advanced yet incredibly old. The ships are made of the same material as the Black Hawk, not of our galaxy, and their ships weapons are considerably antiquated compared to ours. A confusing mix. Then there’s the warping of space that occurred when they appeared. I’m not sure they intended to harm our ship, but that we got caught up in what I’m going to say is a time dilation. I think they are both from another galaxy, and time. The damage that the Aarushi incurred may have been a glancing blow from each ships warp signature as it came into our time line.” Ensign Halladay concluded. Admiral T’Peira didn’t doubt Halladay’s findings. Time travelers. How did they fit in with anything that occurred on earth, Jake Smiths murder, the tagged dinosaur. 

Col. Ian Ral walked into the meeting, hands behind his back, posture erect. “Admiral, permission to join the conference.”

“Of course.” T’Peira looked up at the recovering Batazed. “Did the medical staff discern you’re ailment?” 

“No sir, they didn’t. The only theory is that there’s something about the planet we visited through the Stargate. I would argue that it requires further study.” Ian sat where T’Peira indicate and continued speaking. “Obviously we have more pressing matters right now, but we haven’t been using the Stargate much, we’ve found a planet that your friend, the Doctor, seems to also have an interest in. Stands to reason.”

“Agreed.” T’Peira spoke. Then she gave a brief synopsis of Halliday’s report.

“Quintessa, there’s a few new ships personnel that we picked up on the last rotation. Lt. Michael Shifter’s field is environmental specialist. Please bring him up to speed and see if he believes that the devastation of the Earth’s dinosaurs could be linked to time travelers. Could they have pulled mentors in with them as they opened their time portal within Earth’s atmosphere. Ral, if those ships should choose to advance, become the cowboy.” T’Peira stood from the conference table, a sign of the meeting being dismissed. “Become the cowboy?” Halladay looked at Ral as they left the room. “I believe it’s a reference to a ship’s captain and first officer that had as much experience with time travel as anyone could possibly want.” Ral smiled at the reference. The three officers pealed off in their separate directions, and T’Peira headed for the bridge.

In the recent rotation another member of the crew with a different motive had come aboard. Had anyone actually seen him before they would have realized that he’d been at the museum the

evening Jake Smiths murder, and had Ensign Zipariah any real memory of that night she would have recognized him. He was cleaver, he was a murderer. He knew he had to move fast because Ral would soon find scans triggering an alert to his presence. The presence of the Gorn in so many different locations on Earth was about to be uncovered as well. The reptilian alien time travelers would make their appearance known, pieces would fall into place, another time

traveler, himself, would be revealed. He was employed by a race yet unknown

to STARFLEET, a race with little or no morals, and less regard for life. Richie was now known as Kai Kal, Ensign Kai Kal, security officer which should let him move about in the ship and gain the information he needed to retrieve for his employers. The same information would have been available on earth, but much more difficult to obtain considering the security.

Ensign Kal thought his plan was coming unraveled. His intent was to obtain the chemical makeup of the material the Black Hawk and these alien ships were made of. Simple enough.

“You,” Ral stopped Kal, “I haven’t had time to interview you yet. It’s Ensign Kai Kal I believe. Come with me.”

Kal had no choice but to follow and bide his time.

Kal was led into Ral’s personal quarters as they were the closest at the time. As soon as they entered Ral sat down and picked up his private pad, one not connected to the ship’s computers; he carried it with T’Peira’s approval. As soon as he picked it up it identified Ral’s identity and flashed on. Ral looked down, touched a place on the pad and looked up at Kal. Ral was immediately warned, based on the slight molecules that were left behind at the murder scene, of Kal’s identity as the murderer of Jake Smith; Ral was not just a top notch security officer, but a fantastic poker player. Without giving so much as a muscle twitch of acknowledgement as to Kal’s identity Ral began the typical interview. He touched another part of his pad that sent a message to T’Peira, her first officer Quintessa, and T’Peira’s personal bodyguard, Ensign Clawson. A circle had to be drawn around this man without setting off any ships alarms. 

“I appreciate your time, Ensign Kal. Thank you for your transfer to the Aarushi and I’m sure that you’ll enjoy your time with us.” Ral’s betazed abilities didn’t work on this alien, which was sometimes the case. “May I walk you to the bridge to meet the Admiral?”

Kal shook the extended had of Ral and accepted the invitation. The two men exited Ral’s quarters and walked, casually discussing nothing in particular, and Kal thought all was well after all. A brief meeting with the Admiral, perhaps the first officer, then off to a computer terminal to gain the knowledge he was sent for, then leave, and it didn’t matter if they found out what had happened. He’d be gone and his employers would have what they had paid for almost a year ago. 

On the bridge Kal found all of T’Peira’s top offers waiting. All armed. As the turbo lift doors opened Ral dropped back and pulled his own miniature phaser, T’Peira stood and turned, phaser in hand, Clawson was at the helm and Quinton at ops, and they too turned with phasors at the ready. Kai stopped, a look of dismay and surprise on this face and he raised his hands slowly.  He exhaled quickly through his nose quickly then spoke. “Well, so much for a well laid plan.” Kal knew the day would come when he would meet his end, and he was well prepared for it. “I guess you would like a confession of sorts. Fine. I’m just an employee sent to do a job, no different than any of you sent on a mission to obtain information. I am just a bit less interested if I create a mess in gaining the information. The job gets done. I needed to gain information about the material composition of the Black Hawk, as you call the statue that you retrieved on Earth. It seems that there’s another group of time travelers, yes, I’m a time traveler, that have been placing materials such as these statues and tags throughout the galaxy and it’s causing my employers much distress as they would prefer you to stay in your own little corner of space. They wish to track

down the time travelers and put an end to them.” 

After his confession, “Well then,” he spoke, then he touched his palms with his middle fingers, then in agony he screamed and faded from their view as if hit by an energy beam. 

“It seemed he was just a bit too arrogant in his confession, and just a bit surprised by the unexpected pain of his death.” Quinton commented as he collected the phasors from the bridge crew. “This seems a bit anti-climactical, humph. I’m guessing that his ‘employers’ didn’t advise him of how painful this suicide would be. The ‘other’ time travelers he referred to should be the three ships on the other side of this thermoplanet.” 

Clawson walked over to the spot where Richie/Kal had committed suicide, looked down, and made an off the cuff remark. “He didn’t even leave dust behind.”

T’Peira sat in her chair. “Do we have any further information about the crews of those ships?”

“Yes, sir.” Vashi stepped forward from her computer terminal with her hands formally behind her back. “We seem to have no problem with our scans penetrating their hulls which we did when we came into contact with them. They are reptilian in nature, closely resembling the Gorn, though they seem to be not as brutish in build.”

“Gorn, they were on Earth when we were there, they made appearances in several places. Why?” Quinton squinted his eyes as he looked at the view screen where T’Peira had the last known view of the alien ships posted in the lower right corner, while the rest of the screen was showing real time space. 

“Why indeed.” T’Peira made one statement, kept her back straight and her hands on the armrests.

Suddenly the three ships made an appearance, not in orbit of the thermoplanet, but in deeper space, still in visual range. 

“Lt. Palmer, let’s see if they will accept our hail. T’Peira only acknowledged the communications officer with a slight rain of her hand. This made no difference to the officer as she had already started turning toward her panel as she heard her name.

“Hailing frequencies open, Sir. And they are replying.” 

“Let’s let the entire ship hear this, first contact and all.” T’Peira stared at the view screen.

Capt. Llosr beamed aboard the Aarushi and took the tour. As they walked Llosr explained about leaving the articles they had found, but as time travelers they had actually left them during the reign of the dinosaurs. “They were magnificent beasts, and some say they are related to our species, which is possible, but we refused to investigate that scientifically because some of us are romantics. We like the mystery. There’s so little of that. Well, when you can observe all time lines.” She turned her magnetic head towards the Admiral and slightly bowed her head. “We’ve found you too have some experience with time travel. We try to protect the time lines, but you wouldn’t have had the opportunity considering your dramatic entrance.” The two women chuckled.

********************Much later Clawson was summoned to T’Peira’s quarters. “This has been a difficult year for you. I wanted you to know that your record will reflect that you showed exemplary behavior throughout this mission. I know that it’s your duty, but it should also be noted that you went above and beyond, so, a commendation is now noted.”

“Thank you sir.” That was all Clawson could muster. Everyone was emotionally exhausted having linked all of the pieces that they’d found over the last year in such short order.

The Admiral had similar conversations with Ensign Halladay who had put in many long hours working on the computer, ripping apart the molecular structure of the Black Hawk and the ships of the newest friends of the USS Aarushi, preventing what would have been a monumental disaster had they gone into battle.

Lt. Commander Steven Smith and Ensign Halladay had worked together to decode the tag left behind by Capt. Llosr, the little bread crumbs that led them to new friends. Col. Ian Ral had used his talents to sweep the murder scene and find the minuscule particles of Richie/Kai Kal, which those officers on scene hadn’t found. He maintained a separate pad with such information and when circumstances arise such as happened here, he had full access to the information, alerting the Admiral, and led the prisoner right to his captors. Had Richie/Kal been able to break into the computers prior to his arrest he wouldn’t have found any information that would have tipped him off.

The Admiral had been walking around the ship, just walking, not an inspection. Her walk, with her dog Charlie, led to Engineering and a visit with Fleet Capt. Jeffery Beckstrom. 

“Beckstrom.” T’Peira spoke.

Beckstrom jumped and turned. He hadn’t heard the two enter. 

“Yes sir! What brings you here sir?” He was wiping his hands on a white cloth.

“I just wanted you to know that our time traveler friends are incredibly sorry about the damage they caused our ship, and any duress they may have caused you personally.” T’Peira had a slight smile on her face, which is becoming more frequent, like the old days when she disarmed people as the ‘smiling Vulcan’.

“T’Peira!!!!” The Doctor ran out from behind one of the consoles that he’d been under moments before.

“Doctor, I’d almost forgotten you were aboard.” T’Peira smiled again. Beckstrom hoped that T’Peira was finally becoming the Vulcan he once knew. 

“T’Peira, T’Peira, T’Peira! T’Peira! It’s so good to see you again!” He ran towards her arms outstretched. Just before he actually ‘hugged’ T’Peira he pulled up short and clasp his hands behind his back. “Would you mind terribly if I stayed aboard for a bit. And I can’t describe what that ‘bit’ might be, nor can I assure you that I’ll stay out of the way, but I’m so excited about your Stargate.”

“Yes, well. A commanding officer has duties and one is as an ambassador to alien races.” She stared at the Doctor and he stared back, and his grin became larger and large. Once again Beckstrom found himself wondering about the relationship between T’Peira and the Doctor. 

*******************

Lt. Michael Shifter was quietly investigation the possibility that the Admiral was right about her theory that the time travelers may have inadvertently caused the downfall of the dinosaurs, which would have been distressing considering they may have been related. To bear the responsibility of the extinction of almost an entire species. Thank goodness for the birds of Earth. Quite lovely those creatures. 

STARFLEET Scholarship Program

The application periods runs from January 1 until June 15 of each year. All scholarships will be announced at or by the date of STARFLEET’s International Conference. In 2016, the IC is August 12-14, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Engineering & Technology) (Medicine & Veterinarian) (Artistic) (Business/Management/Education) (Miscellaneous) Check the link for details on the scholarships.

http://sfi.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/SFI_Scholarship_Application.pdf

the

The content of this newsletter is the sole property of the editor, or the individual that submitted the photo or article, or the owner of the materials or photos or artwork downloaded from the internet. The editor and the USS AARUSHI hold no claims to any trademarks, copyrights, or properties held by CBS Studios nor Paramount Pictures. All content from Star Trek including still images and character names is the property of Paramount Pictures Corporation and CBS Studios, Inc. and no infringement is intended. No portion of this document may be copied or republished in any way or form without the written consent of the editor. Keira Russell-Strong, Editor

2 0 1 6 - F E B R U A R Y

USS AARUSHI

NEWSLETTER: FIRST RAY OF SUNUSS AARUSHI /NCC-1642CORRESPONDENCE SHIP

Trivia answer:

Even though the first one was called The Cage  it  never aired but the one that was called  

the Man Trap and from there  Star Trek was born on TV