Captain's Log, Stardate 69590.9

Posted on Tue Sep 18th, 2018 @ 9:45pm by Captain Tim Williams

We've been ordered by Task Force Command to try and find local trading partners for the resources that the task force needs to function. Whilst we are able to retrieve as many supplies as we need from the Alpha Quadrant via the graviton catapult, that leaves the task force and Iota Command entirely reliant upon those supply runs; if anything were ever to happen to the catapult or if it were to be put out of commission, it would take months to receive supplies from those few ships in the fleet that are fitted with slipstream drives. While we could set up our own mining outposts, that itself would be quite an undertaking, and only increase our reliance in the short term.

Our priority for now is to find someone with whom we can establish a trading agreement for deuterium; it's a fuel source that is vital to the running of all of our ships, and takes up a significant portion of each supply run from the alpha quadrant. Lieutenant North and Commander Reynolds have been able to locate a potential partner for us; a small oceanic world with what seems to be a mining platform similar in design to the old oil rig platforms of Earth, only much larger and specialised for extracting deuterium from the ocean's depths.

I've decided that we should operate under a low profile, at least for now. We know that Voyager didn't exactly leave this quadrant with a universal appreciation for the Federation, and we also know that many of the races in the region haven't progressed as far as we have. Doubtless if we started beaming down to every world we came across and using our slipstream drive everywhere we went, their demands for what we give in return for any trade would increase in line with what they've seen. As such, I've ordered that both of those technologies not be used except in an emergency, and that away teams should equip themselves to downplay our abilities.

I have also decided that, contrary to Starfleet Regulations, I shall lead the away team to the mining platform on Daleb IV. I know my new first officer is eager for a chance to prove himself, but I always get itchy feet if I stay aboard ship too long, and I need a capable hand to stay on the Highlander as the away team heads down in a shuttle. I'm leaving him with orders to take the ship behind the moon of the outermost planet and keep out of the platform's sensor range, but within communications range of our own shuttle. While I'm certain that he would much rather be leading the away team himself, it should all the same be good experience for him to hold command of the ship in my absence. I'm sure he is still disappointed at being passed over for command of the Kukri, and the only other ship he served as a first officer of was an old Miranda class. Commanding a ship such as the Highlander, even temporarily, should be quite a different experience for him. And besides; I'll make sure he gets to lead the away team at the next planet we come across.