Maddox, DeCoursey and Chadwick were left in the holding cell. Events were now deteriorating.

"What did he mean by the Endurance experiencing 'technical difficulties'? Some kind of communications jam, perhaps?"

He'd had enough experience of being confined in cells to do a complete search of it: Looking for weak points, things to use and things to exploit if an escape opportunity presented itself. As Chadwick checked under the chairs, the back of the door and the small, slit window that was so thin no man could crawl through it, he spoke his thoughts out loud to the others.

"What I don't get is what Tinker thinks he's going to get away with. He knows we've got a well armed ship in orbit and he knows we're part of a larger organisation that won't take too kindly to its officers being held hostage so what's his game plan?"

Chadwick stopped searching the room and stood up, deep in thought. "He's playing for time...but what for?"

Prisoners?

"Are we your prisoners?" Leah asked wanting clarification of the situation.

"Prisoner is such an unpleasant word..." Tinker smiled as if for a camera, "I'm going to have the gentlemen escorted downstairs for a bit, and you and I can continue this conversation like civilized people Lieutenant Ashby."

Maddox lurched forward and was detained by several of the guards, "You won't get away with this Tinker... my ship'll be looking for us when we don't report in."

"Yes, well..." The network president pressed a button on his desktop console, "...I suspect that by now the Endurance has discovered that they are experiencing 'technical difficulties'. Take them away."

The guards took the male Endurance officers by the arms and removed them forcibly from the office.

The doors closed behind the men, and they were alone.

"Now my dear," Tinker licked his thin lips, "What shall we discuss?"

Diplomatic Relations

Leah's eyes grew wide as she looked at the pistols. They'd already shot someone, their own citizen even, so it was clear, to her, that these barbarians wouldn't think twice about killing again. The only leverage the crew seemed to have was their popularity. If Tinker killed them, he'd be without his little ratings darlings. That had to give them advantage. She also knew that she was of particular interest in regards to these ratings. That may give her a bit more leeway than the other three officers.

"Are we your prisoners?" Leah asked wanting clarification of the situation.

She already knew the answer, but given that this was an official diplomatic mission, she wanted an official answer. She wanted to see how Tinker would respond to such a straight forward question. If anyone would be able to sweet talk Tinker it'd be her.

"He's dead, Sam" said Chadwick, standing up and looking at the guard. "That was one accurate shot" he added.

"He was trying to break his contract." The guard said looking down at the body.

Tinker stepped through the crowd that was beginning to form, several cameras had showed up.

"I'm sorry you had to see this, Maddox." Tinker shook his head, knowing how hard it would be to fill Cameron's spot on the PBN hit program. "That young man beat out 20,000 applicants for this job. A job that fed his family and gave them full health care."

Captain Maddox angrily snatched up the guard by his collar, "He was only a kid! Look at him, what is he, eighteen?"

"Show business is a business Maddox." Tinker said as the cameras looked on without pity.

---------------------

"The alien Samuel Carter Maddox today railed against Viden social policies." The newscaster later announced.

"Maddox, Captain of the starship Endurance, Entered orbit earlier today, responding to Viden's PEACEFUL request for a cultural exchange with the United Federation of Planets."

"Public approval for Planetary Broadcasting Network, owner of the "Family Business" sitcom, fell FIVE points after the incident."

-------------------

"Your outburst has put me in a difficult position Maddox." Tinker sat behind his desk, arms folded in thought. "The other networks are using this incident to gain political leverage with our viewers."

"That's YOUR problem, President Tinker..." Maddox pointed angrily across the desktop, "... my job was to observe conditions and file a report with the Federation about your planet's suitability for a cultural exchange."

Captain Maddox pulled out the communicator from his mission belt and flipped it open, "I've seen EVERYTHING I need."

The four guards by the office door pulled their pistols.

"Unfortunately captain," Tinker smiled, "WE have not. Our audience wants to see more of you and your crew... and we always give the audience what it wants."

I've been waiting a long time to say this...

Chadwick instinctively pushed past Maddox, Tinker and the guard and rushed to the side of the fallen Cameron. One look at the chest wound told Chadwick that the situation was grim: The bullet had gone straight through the heart.

"He's dead, Sam" said Chadwick, standing up and looking at the guard. "That was one accurate shot" he added. Chadwick gave Maddox a look that said "this could have been avoided" but said nothing more, lest he jeopardised his Captain's diplomatic mission.

"Problem?" Cameron shouted, "I'll tell you the problem... slavery, forced labor, no rights."

Tinker put up his hands, "Now Cameron..."

"Well I won't take it anymore," Cameron cried out, "It won't be the first time you've had to write a character off this show. Or will you just hijack another 'actor' to take my place?"

"Perhaps we could all sit down and talk about this..." Maddox added.

"No! No never!" Cameron staggered a bit before making a run for it.

He shouldered his way past one of the nearby guards who made a desperate attempt to latch onto the young man. It all happened in a flash, the pistol was in the guard's hand and then the report of the weapon as it went off.

Cameron clutched his chest and fell to the pavement.

Chadwick looked at Cameron and noticed the sweating, the dilated pupils and the nervous movements of the young man. He couldn't believe that someone who is trained as a performer and who is the star of a top rated entertainment show could be suffering from mere stagefright.

"What is the problem, Cameron?" was his simple question.

In the alley

Tinker and the group made their way down an alley that ran behind the studio, it seemed to be a storage area for oversized flats, large set pieces that weren't currently in use.

The rear double door had a red light next to it that shone to indicate that the show was being broadcast live from within.

"Is this it?" President Tinker asked.

Maddox looked over deCoursey's shoulder at the tricorder screen, "Yes, he's just beyond those doors."

Tinker nodded to the studio guards that had converged on the location, "Well then, I guess I ought to go in and have a little talk with him before he's missed from the show..."

The studio president didn't have a chance, the back doors burst open and the young teenaged actor ran out into the middle of the alley. When he saw the studio guards and the PBN boss, he froze, eyes wide.

"You brought the visitors?" was all the panting young actor could muster when he spotted the Endurance crew.

"They helped us find you Cameron," Tinker said in a stern, fatherly tone, "Now let's get you back on set before you botch the whole show. You'll ruin everything for everyone boy, there's more at stake here than just what YOU want."

"NO!" Cameron shouted, "I won't go back..."

Running Wild

"Probably doesn't know what's that way himself..." commented de Coursey "... looks like the poor feller's running wild!"

Indeed, these were hardly the movements - or physiological readings - of a naughty teen actor sneaking out on his duties. More like those of a terrified antelope bounding away from a pride of lions!

"Yeah, stage fright. Terrible thing." de Coursey pontificated"Even suffered it myself once. School put on Coriolanus: I was the second spearman on the right. Just the one line in the entire thing, but I was nervous as Hell on the opening..."

He looked up and realised not only that no-one was listening to him, but that the others had all started off in the direction of the fugitive.

In pursuit

Chadwick's readings backed up those of DeCoursey's. "Commander, if we synchronise our tricorders and filter out the heart readings of the audience and crew, we can track Cameron faster" he said to the first officer.



Turning to Tinker, he said "What lies in that direction? Where could Cameron be heading"

After a long pause, DeCoursey's tricorder chirped and warbled as it ran through its scan cycle. He turned his body in the direction of the studio building itself, rocking back and forth a bit in an all too familiar dance that was performed by every Starfleet officer using such a device, in an attempt to get a more accurate reading.

DeCoursey showed the screen to Maddox who called Tinker over to have a look.

"Here's a large cluster of lifeforms inside the studio..." Maddox pointed.

"That'll be the live studio audience." He answered.

"Here are two smaller groupings of lifeforms behind and in front of the audience."

"The ones behind will be the producer and director and such in the booth, those in front are the actors on the set." Tinker said pointing out the thin lines of the sets.

Tinker could also account for the handful of individual readings scattered about the studio. Guards, ushers and other assorted behind the scenes folks.

"What about that one?" Tinker pointed near the back recesses of the studio building shown in the little schematic.

DeCoursey zoomed in on the reading and focused the scan for a closer look. Maddox and Tinker watched over his shoulder.

"Elevated heart rate, erratic movements..." Maddox said looking at the readings.

"I'd bet that's Cameron!" Tinker snapped his fingers.

"Come on." Maddox ordered, walking down the alley toward the correct side of the building.

Scan in progress

Whilst DeCoursey was keeping Tinker busy, Chadwick had opened up his tricorder and began scanning the area.

He surmised a number of things. First, the actor in question was young, so his heartbeat readings would be most likely strong. Second, he was also likely to be on the run and nervous, increasing his heart rate. So Chadwick set the scan parameters for a fast moving person with an increased heart rate. With help from Endurance, there was a good chance of tracking the fugitive.

"I'm not completely unfamiliar with the concept of 3D images." Tinker said, "There was a brief flirtation with the technology about a decade ago. People didn't like wearing the big funny visors."

"AH yes, well our 'dimensional projection' will work a little differently than that. But it's the same idea." Maddox replied.

"But where is your projection equipment?" Tinker looked confused, "And don't you need some sort of screen or something?"

"Not quite Mr. Tinker," Maddox smiled then nodded to de Coursey, "Step back and let my science officer do his thing."

Use the Tricorders

De Coursey glanced at Chadwick and, nodding, replied.

"Well, yes, I guess if we triangulated with the ship we could certainly detect all the bodies and movement in the building. If this feller is either running away or hiding somewhere unusual we'd be able to spot him, maybe..."

Jan's mind tried to see what he was about to describe from Tinker's less technologically advanced mind-set.

"Say, Mr Tinker, have you boys tried playing around with 3-D technology yet? I don't mean those goofy old red and green specs that give a static 3-D illusion, I'm talking about what we call "Holl-O-Grams." They really are a true three dimensional picture. We can scan this building and produce a complete image of it - in all dimensions - with any life forms lit up for all the world to see."

He hoped the worried looking TV Boss understood his meaning.

"Cameron's never caused any trouble before. He knows what an honor it is to be selected for a live program like 'Family Business'..." Tinker answered.

Maddox bristled a bit at the word 'honor', but Tinker was up and out the door with the Endurance team hot on his heels.

They were down near studio 47 in a matter of minutes, the lot was surrounded by a dozen blue uniformed PBN security guards. Each wore a dark blue silk jacket with a shiny gold badge on the lapel and the PBN logo on a patch on the sleeve. Each door to the great building was closed, a red light next to each door indicated "FILMING IN PROGRESS".

It was not lost on the party that each guard also carried some sort of firearm in a holster on their belts. Captain Maddox knew very little about ancient combustion weapons and their history, but the weapons appeared to be fed their ammunition via a small projectile-filled cylinder. A nasty looking customer, Maddox decided.

"We think he's still in the area Mr. Tinker." an older gent in uniform spoke up as they approached.

"You have a man at every exit?" Tinker demanded.

"Yes sir."

The disappearance was beginning to attract lots of attention from passers by on the lot. The gathering crowd consisted of no less that four cowboys, a dozen dainty pink ballerinas, a rather self important middle aged man in a suit with white tissue around his collar and a facefull of makeup, and a man in some sort of gorilla suit with the black ape head under his arm.

"Back now please, everyone stay back." one of the guards urged.

Maddox motioned to Chadwick and de Coursey discreetly, "I know it's a longshot, but do you think we might be able to help the search with our Tricorders?"

The Star Vanishes

"Interesting" thought Chadwick, out loud. "With you and your network busy with meeting and greeting us, your star seems to have chosen this point to go missing. Either he's playing a game to get your attention or........"

Chadwick had gotten Tinker's attention. The network chief stood up from behind his desk and glared at the doctor.

"Or what, Doctor?"

"Or someone else has made him vanish to get your attention. Tell me, does he have a history of causing trouble to your network?"

Studio 47

"Explore the galaxy?" Tinker gave a little chuckle, "Cost my dear, purely cost."

"Cost?" Maddox asked.

"Yes captain, do you have any idea what missions like that cost a company like mine? Sure the technology is possible. We've even developed it to the point of being a viable technology... but the cost of training the crew, building and fueling the ships and so forth. It got to the point where we couldn't even sell ad space on the launches. My network only has SO MUCH of a budget to throw at that sort of endeavor."

"How interesting." Captain Maddox muttered almost to himself, "So your space program is driven by ad sales and viewer numbers as well?"

"Now you're starting to get it captain." Tinker looked almost pleased that the crew of the Endurance was beginning to understand.

"For the time being, our space program has been limited to the launching and maintenance of our network of orbital broadcast satellites." Tinker said, then noticing the look on Maddox's face he added, "But things have developed that I believe will change all that."

"Mr. Tinker?" came his secretary's voice over the intercom unit on his desk.

"Virginia, I told you we were not to be disturbed." Tinker scolded as he thumbed the activation key.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry, but I have Lenny on the line... there's a problem at Studio 47."

"What is it?" Tinker demanded turning to look at his great wall of screens.

"They're missing one of their actors for the 'Family Business' program. It's Cameron, the 'goofy older brother'." Virginia answered.

Tinker adjusted a few buttons and in a moment he had all screens showing Studio 47. Each screen showed the view from a different camera trained on different areas of a set that looked like the interior of a modern home. Tinker scanned the screens.

"Is there a problem Mr. Tinker?" Maddox asked.

"'Family Business' is one of our programs that goes out to the public live. One of the actors has gone missing and from the looks of it, he's not on set."

"And that's bad?"

"Yes captain, that live broadcast is about to break down in the middle of a live planet-wide program. Cameron is one of the main characters! Virginia!" Tinker shouted into the intercom, "Get all available security down to Studio 47 and comb the area. Find that boy!"

"Yes sir!" Virginia closed the line.

"I'm very sorry captain, this isn't a normal day here at PBN. I really ought to get down there and help out." Tinker stood and grabbed his jacket as he made for the door.

"I understand Mr. Tinker," Maddox stood, "Perhaps we could be of some assistance?"

"Maybe so Captain, follow me then."

One question

After a momentary pause Leah spoke up with a question.

"Why do you choose not to explore the galaxy? You've developed warp drive, wouldn't the logical conclusion be to explore? I mean, you have such an amazing amount of communication technology, right? Aren't you interesting in see other races form of entertainment?"

Tinker's Office

click on image to enlarge

After a few minutes, and a brief drive across "Planetary City", they were back near the building they had beamed down in front of. The main PBN administration building.

Tinker's office was large and lush, almost like an apartment with an office area that was backed by a bank of small viewscreens. Each screen showed a different program either being broadcast live over the airwaves, or in the process of being recorded before a live studio audience.

The studio president took a seat behind his massive desk. He pressed a button on a small device on his desk.

"Yes Mr. Tinker?" came the voice of the secretary.

"I'm in here with the alien visitors, see to it that we're not disturbed would you please?"

"Yes sir."

Tinker turned off the intercom.

"Alright," he folded his hands in front of him on the desktop, "I believe in getting right to business Captain. What questions do you and your people have for me?"

Chadwick nodded. "It's possible: They may have the technology to receive subspace transmissions. If that's the case, then they've known a lot more about us than they're letting on."

Chadwick looked around the studio and it's quaint, late 20th Century stylings. There was something missing in this story so far and his mind wandered into the dark, suspicious territory that had been his past experience. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"Sam...we do have one asset that we can use to get Tinker and his colleagues to drop their guards and open up to us." Chadwick paused deliberately whilst his captain looked curious.

"Commander Ashby..." continued the doctor. "...they can't get enough of 'space girl'. Maybe she can charm the locals better than you and I can. Certainly more than Mr. DeCoursey can"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Maddox snapped his fingers, "They DO know alot about our past... Webster called it 'Comet Upsilon'! We haven't mentioned that to anyone since our arrival. How could he have known that?"

"I suppose," he thought aloud, as they were ushered through the back of the studio, presumably toward Tinker's office, "They may have learned about it via some Federation News Service?"

A Private Word

As the show ended and the studio audience dispersed, Chadwick and Maddox found themselves momentarily on their own. Chadwick leaned in towards his commander.

"Sam, there's something bothering me about this set up; it all seems friendly on the surface but they sure know a lot about our past missions and I've realised we've been made to talk about all kinds of things and yet they've given us very little in return. My worry is that this is being turned from a diplomatic mission and into a public spectacle"

Goodnight everybody!

"Well this has been a fantastic evening, and a historic one as well gang! I hate that we're all out of time." Webster said, turning to speak right into the camera that was closest to him.

"We've learned alot this evening about these people from another world, but I feel like we've learned about ourselves in the process." the host said in a quieter tone, then, "Join us tomorrow night when our guest will be, actor David Gillespie as well as a visit from the Grant Minstrel Trio. Goodnight everybody!"

The applause started up again as the stage lights died down and darkened the set.

Maddox tried his best to look pleasant, knowing the eyes of Viden might still be upon him via the cameras all over the studio, but something was wrong here.

Nick Tinker was waiting in the wings for the Endurance team when the interview was over.

"Fantastic you guys, Absolutely fantastic!" He said as he clapped.

"President Tinker, I really would like for us to have a few quiet moments where we might discuss..." Maddox was interrupted.

"Oh right, right of course captain." Tinker said, "Let's head back to my office and I can answer any and ALL additional questions you might have."

"Yes thank you. That would be great." Maddox sighed.

Getting too personal

De Coursey chuckled at Chadwick's reply - mistaking the doctor's reluctance to talk as mere camera-shyness - as the suave TV presenter posited a question in his direction.

"And tell me, just how does a sex-doctor become the first officer of a starship?"

The pockmarked Science Officer laughed out loud at this.

"Ha! Well Will, your researchers surely have done their work there - you've nailed me with that one! But, I've got to tell you folks..." he grinned, scanning the studio audience "..., they missed the good part! I wasn't just your run of the mill sex-doctor, I was an ALIEN SEX DOCTOR!"

He waved his hands, laughing.

"But don't worry Will, I'm not going to be beaming down any Bug Eyed Monsters or Green Skinned Aliens to consort with the beautiful ladies in the audience here. We left all the greenies behind when we shipped out of port."

De Coursey was enjoying being to use such terms without the Politically Correct brigade at Fleet HQ getting on his back. The BEM-phrase and the G-word were banned by Federation Code 5944 - Speciesist Language Clause.

He scanned the audience again.

"Mind you, this lady on the front row looks quite interested! She's heard that saying... oh oh! My Captain's giving me that look!" he grinned impossibly widely and made a zipping motion across his lips, but couldn't resist a final comment.

"You nearly found out how a First Officer gets demoted back to being a sex doctor!"

Getting too personal

Chadwick smiled wryly at DeCoursey being called a 'sex doctor', that should get him squirming. But Chadwick noticed something else in the questions. He'd mentioned that he cheated death but nothing about an explosion. This guy had done his research, and was probing the Endurance officers for information. Was this a harmless bit of entertainment for the masses or something more covert and ulterior?

"Well, William" he said, answering the question. "I don't know how much you know about time travel, but we encountered a species called 'The Eternals' who...to cut a long story short...manipulated time itself so that the explosion never happened."

More interview...

Maddox felt a little uncomfortable by Webster's question to Ashby, but wasn't sure why. It just struck him wrong.

The Navigator seemed to be floundering with her answer, so the captain chimed in.

"It's a performance like that that gets you an advancement in rank and reassigned to a bigger ship." Maddox smiled, trying to mask his unease.

"And did she get an advancement in rank?" Webster asked.

"Yes she did, she advanced to Lieutenant Commander and became the chief Navigator on the Endurance."

"Wow, that's amazing Captain." Webster turned his attentions to Chadwick and de Coursey.

"Tell me Doctor Chadwick, you mentioned cheating death recently, tell us about how you avoided the explosion?"

Then Webster posed the question to de Coursey, "And tell me, just how does a sex-doctor become the first officer of a starship?"

Maybe if it was someone else....

"Oh where to start?" Leah paused thinking. "Well I made a single Nacelle starship surf a sub-space wave created by a comet that used wormholes as a method of travel." Leah laugh as she knew no one in the audience would understand any of that. "So, yeah, pretty complex stuff. And before that I was operating both the helm and navigation at the same time..."

She could tell that no one in the crowd was following her. She didn't have the flare that de Coursey did to have the crowd eating out of her hand by her words alone. They seemed to like her because of her appearance, not by her words. While her story was technically impressive it didn't really connect. She knew it was pointless to continue the story. They didn't want that type of story from the one they called "Space-Girl".

Group interview

After the last advertising break had concluded, Willam Webster looked right into the cameras again.

"I tell you gang, tonight's show has been really interesting! Getting to know people from another world right here on our stage!" Webster clapped his hands together, "Let's bring them all back out together for a few more questions huh?"

The audience roared its approval.

The entire landing party went back out on stage and sat together on the long orange sofa. Webster took the nearby matching orange chair.

"I'm very interested in learning more about you all, and so is our audience here in the studio and at home."


"Miss Ashby," Webster started out, "You mentioned when you were aboard the Hannibal helping to save the ship and Starbase 11 from Comet Upsilon... what exactly went on there? How did you accomplish that?"

"And if I may..." he continued before Ashby could respond, "Captain Maddox, did her service on the Hannibal influence her placement on the Endurance?"

Stage 243 part 4

After the Doctor had been taken off stage during a break, it was Captain Maddox's turn.

Webster greeted the captain as he had the others, they sat on the long orange sofa.

"Tell me a little about where you're from originally, and your formative, childhood years." Webster began.

"I was born on Earth in a small village in, what is referred to as the 'southern' region of the North American continent. My mother died when I was ten years old and I was raised by my father who is a spiritual leader at a house of worship near my boy-hood home."

"What occupation did you have before becoming the captain of a starship?"

"I always had a job of some sort growing up, managing the local ball field, serving at the neighborhood eatery, all fairly typical occupations for teenagers on my world."

"What prompted you to enter into this space-faring branch of the service?"

"I would be lying if I didn't say it was the romantic idea of adventure and the lure of visiting, strange and far away places. I knew when I saw my first images of a Federation Starship, I had to set foot on one."

"Tell me a little more about this Starfleet?"

Maddox still had the old speech memorized, "Starfleet is the defense, research, diplomacy, and exploration force of the United Federation of Planets. The United Federation of Planets is an interstellar nation composed of planetary governments and colonies that spans 8,000 light years and over a thousand worlds. The various members of the Federation are organized under the unifying goals of universal liberty, equality, peaceful coexistence, trade, science, exploration, and mutual defense."

"What are your goals and aspirations for your career? Where do you see yourself in five years in the service?"

"I love being the captain of the Endurance, a fine ship with a proud history. In five years? Oh well... heh, it's a funny thing time... I have this strange relationship with it. You see, oh forget it. I suspect I'll be an Admiral at some point in the future. Not that I'm certain of that mind you." Maddox adjusted his collar with some of his time-traveling misadventures in mind.

"How long have you served on the Endurance?"

"I transfered to the Endurance from the USS Republic two years ago."

"What are some of the highlights of your time and adventures aboard the Endurance that you can share with our audience?"

"Well, the Endurance's primary mission is patrol and exploration of the frontier... we've visited strange new worlds, contacted new life and civilisations. It's what we do.

If I could summarize our missions in the two years I've been captain, how would I do it? Let's see, we visited a planet that was being used as a covert staging ground for a Klingon invasion. We had officers taken from the ship by a race of beings and subjected to a series of tests before they could escape. The Endurance was the test-bed ship for a new type of Warp-engine. We made first contact with a planet full of women with some rather painful results. Battled Tholans. I stumbled through a portal in time and was sent to the future. We visited a world ruled over by people with god-like powers. Then we stumbled across an ancient intergalactic race between the various 'god-like' beings of the cosmos and were forced to participate, and I time traveled again about five years into the future or so.

It's been a fairly wild ride so far."

Stage 243 part 3

After Ashby, it was Dr. Chadwick's turn in the spotlight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, up next, he's the ship's surgeon on the Endurance, please welcome Doctor Clive Chadwick!" Webster announced.

And so it went...

"Tell me a little about where you're from originally, and your formative, childhood years."
 
"I was born in London, on the planet Earth.  My childhood years are a bit of a blur; my parents travelled around a lot when I was a child so I didn't settle down until they died in a climbing accident and I was in the care of my aunt from that point until I left school.  I was a very studios boy and would spend a lot of my time doing science experiments...and almost getting thrown out of school when one of them would go disatrously wrong."

"What occupation did you have before this one?"
 
"I went to medical school but I didn't think about what kind of medicine...or where I would be practicing it...whilst I was there.  In my last year I applied for about 75 jobs for when I graduated and Star Fleet were the first to respond.  Besides, I wanted to travel by that stage and get away."

"What prompted you to enter Starfleet?"
 
"Like I said, I applied for dozens of jobs and Star Fleet were the first to reply; it seemed as good a place as any to practice medicine and it had the benefit of travel.  I'm not like your usual gung-ho Star Fleet type; I'm not in it for the glamour, it does provide me with an excellent way to practice medicine though."

"Tell me a little more about this Starfleet... what are its purposes and ideals?" 
 
"Well, there's the official line...to explore strange new worlds and new civilisations but for me it's about keeping the peace and protecting its citizens.  Not everyone out there has noble intentions."

"What are your goals and aspirations for your career? Where do you see yourself in five years in the service?"
 
"Well, this year has been a time of change for me in the job.  I spent many years in a department back home on Earth or on one the other core worlds and viewing the Federation and Star Fleet from a lab and that creates one impression and one set of goals, now I'm on the front line and seeing new things first hand and my perspective has changed.  So I'm keen to see where this leads me.  I literally cheated death a few months ago so now I take things one bit at a time without setting long term goals."

"How long have you served on the Endurance?"
 
"A year.  I think I'm the 4th longest serving officer on the ship."

"What are some of the highlights of your time and adventures aboard the Endurance that you can share with our audience?"

"Hmmm, let's think.  Ah, I know, there was this planet...which I won't name because you may find yourself on it one day...and it was populated entirely by women.  At first, it looked like paradise with beautiful scenery, perfect weather and very amiable hosts but we were lucky to make it out of there alive because the women there weren't entirely honest about how they went about their society.  What made it a happy experience for me at the end was that I solved their reproductive problems...don't ask me the details...so as a scientist I was very pleased at that achievement.  Plus I made a friend there as well."