Demora, yay! Good to see her. And risen to the rank of captain, good for her!
I love the worldbuilding details of "what does it take to protect the colonies from raiders and pirates, and is it really a job for Starfleet." It makes a lot of sense that there would be a service that specialized in that sort of thing--and probably rescues of ships in distress--in places where you don't need a full-on military (or research) presence. Just like the US has the Coast Guard. And it makes sense that there would be a bureau of colonization handling all the details. Given how many colonies there are in the Federation!
A mystery! I don't get the feeling that Reykjavik gets as many of those as, say, Enterprise does.
I like the description of the conference room, it sounds pretty. Do they use faux wood instead of real wood because of weight restrictions, because fire hazard, or for some other reason?
And the commander of the ship was only a lieutenant commander? That seems like a low rank for being in charge of 183 people plus 50+ civilians. Even if you are going on routine missions in "safe" and "well-explored" areas of the frontier.
And the strategic implications of "a base in a system that's hard to scan" would indeed be valuable in the long run, but in the short run, it's just bitten them in the ass. If I were in charge of Starfleet, I would have wanted something a bit bigger with a more experienced captain for something where a) it's unexplored and b) you can't easily call for help if something happens and c) you're far enough away that even if you DO call for help, it's going to take a long time for them to get there. I'm sure that the Esau is a very good ship with a great captain. But space in the Star Trek universe is WEIRD. Batshit nuts unbelievable things happen! Anomalies in the space-time continuum happen! Even leaving aside "we don't yet know if there are hostile aliens in the area" a part of space with abnormal radiation levels (strong enough to get in the way of communications and seonsors) seems to me like a place one would expect anomalies. (And if Starfleet thinks it might be a nice area for a hidden base, chances are any other species that found it would also think that's interesting, and they don't know enough about the area to know if there are any other people in the area that might think that. Otherwise they wouldn't be saying "well, if there are hostiles in the area, it'll be great!" because they'd know if there were hostiles in the area.)
Nice as it is to see bb!Garrett, it's interesting that Trujillo would want a wet-behind-the-ears graduate enough to trade favors for her, even if she is one of the best in her class. I can see it being a good career move, and it's probably the only way to get a top-notch science officer on a ship like the Reykjavik, but I'm surprised that it's a big enough issue to warrant favor-trading. And I'm glad that even as an ensign, she is confident enough in herself to point out to a superior officer the difference between 'recruiting' and 'poaching.'
Thanks for reading and giving such fantastic feedback!
As for the lower rank of Esau's captain, this is considered a low-risk assignment in reasonably well-explored space, something more junior command officers cut their teeth on before rising to full commander or captain rank (at least in my Trekverse's Starfleet). In an espisode of DS9 where Sisko's old friend the terraforming genius visits, he's stationed aboard a Nebula-class commanded by a Lieutenant Commander, so we seen similar in canon circumstances.
They use the faux wood due to fire hazard concerns, as well as the 'why kill trees if you don't have to' mindset if the 24th century.
Trujillo's poaching of Garrett is due in part to a system of horse-trading officers in Starfleet. Demora Sulu owed Nandi a big favor, and so Nandi was able to poach Glal from her as her XO when Reykjavik launched. Same goes for Garrett and the captain she was supposed to have been assigned to. From Trujillo's perspective, it was a good way to advance the career of a promising young officer, while bringing talent aboard Reykjavik. Only, as we've seen, Garrett didn't quite see it that way.
Again, thanks for the excellent observations and feedback.
Comment on Warnings Unheeded in Darkest Night
Beatrice_Otter on Chapter 1 Tue 17 Oct 2023 11:59PM UTC
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Gibraltar on Chapter 1 Wed 18 Oct 2023 12:38AM UTC
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