DaveJohnson

Lt Johnson was promoted to Lt Commander on Stardate 238305.11

Lt David Johnson's wife Lt Rebecca Cohen gave birth to a daughter named Julie Anne Johnson-Cohen on Stardate 238304.17

"The Newest Addition To A Starfleet Family" A Log by Lt David Johnson (This log is dated before we lost all ability to get messages from Starfleet) David almost couldn't his eyes when he stared at the video message from his wife. There she was, their first born child. David have waited so long for this day. He'd been worried for weeks about how the pregnancy had been going for Rebecca. When he had first met her, he somehow knew they were right for each other. Then, when they married it became apparent that having children was the next step. David wanted so much to be a part of the moment when it came, but he knew that the Republic and its crew came first, and meeting his newborn baby girl in person would have to wait. But for now, this was enough He and Rebecca had decided to name her Julie with a middle name of Anne. They had also decide to give her a hyphenated name so that both the Johnson and Cohen line would continue on. Rebecca had thought it a perfect name for "The Newest Addition To A Starfleet Family." As Dave looked at his daughter, cradled in her mothers armed he hoped she would one day follow in his footsteps and her mothers and become a Starfleet officer, just as they had followed their parents, who had followed their parents. But, he knew wouldn't be disappointed if she didn't even though Rebecca had already gone to great lengths to replicate a tiny Starfleet uniform complete with black booties and a combadge that would serve as a baby monitor. David had made up his mind that as soon as the mission Republic was on ended he was going to get himself to Starbase 117, which is where Rebecca would be to re-join the Rhode Island and see his wife and his newborn. He had so many people to tell about the good news but he knew it would all have to be put on hold at least for now. END LOG

“When a hologram commits a crime…” A Log by Lt David Johnson Assistant Engineer – U.S.S Republic Dave sat in the Republic lounge writing his repair report on the deflector array on one of the shuttles. He found it hard to write the report because there was something else on his mind, something that disturbed him greatly. Less than two hours before he had a conversation with Joy about Holly, the nature of sentience and why she couldn’t be, “Punished,’ for her actions on the DS9 holosuite when she had appeared as an alligator in the Peter Pan scenario and had almost killed him. Oh sure, the holodeck safety protocols had been on and there was no guarantee that the, “Holly Gator,” would have actually eaten him but after learning a great deal about her and the trouble she had caused on Republic in the past he chose to believe the former, rather than the latter. But, that wasn’t really what disturbed him. Whether she had actually intended to kill him or not Holly had in his opinion committed a crime by making a threatening action against him. So, now the question was, when a hologram commits a crime, should they be punished for it, as any flesh and blood being would be. Joy had explained to Dave that Starfleet had exempted her from the laws of the federation because of her nature which meant that even if he went to the President of the Federation, he would not order Admiral BluRox to punish her. It also meant that she had, in essence been given carte blanche to torment Dave and the rest of the crew without fear of retribution. Dave had spoken with Lt Commander Jax about a plan he had to reduce Holly to nothing more than a holographic puppet by stripping her of her violent subroutines using a program designed by a colleague of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman’s. Jax said she would take his plan under advisement and discuss it with Admiral BluRox but he wasn’t holding his breath. After speaking with Joy he was all but convinced that the Admirals hands were either tied by Starfleet or that Holly had established a bond with so many of the crew as Joy had told him that the Admiral wouldn’t want to authorize such a procedure. As Dave sat at his table, sipping his Vulcan red wine and looking at the stars he thought about all the artificial beings that Federation citizens had created over the years. The Soong type Androids. The Mudd type Androids like Joy, and countless holographic characters. Most of these holograms were not considered to be sentient and therefore not responsible for any actions that they took because, with the safety protocols on, they were harmless, even if they were holographic representations of violent people. But, there were holograms like Holly that had the ability to adapt to such settings and harm or even kill people. Those holograms were shut down and decompiled. But, Holly remained in the Republic’s databanks and Dave had to wonder. Would it take the death of a Republic crewmember, perhaps even his own to make Starfleet realize that because of her nature, Holly should be considered sentient and responsible for her actions.

I object to part of the summary, I was sober and working on a power conduit, not getting drunk :)

While Colen and DAve are having a talk and getting to know Joy better. Cohen...Rebecca Cohen :angry: I know she is an NPC but still :)

Joy took Dr Weber, and Ens Johnson with her. Did I get demoted? ;)

Another Day Under The Warp Core A Log by Lt David Johnson David stood at the Impulse Manifold/Reactor console tapping buttons and re-calibrating the engines. Since the ship was sitting still and because Lt Commander Jax had left so hurriedly without leaving any instructions David figured he would help catch up on the engineering workload. There was a pile of padds on Jax’s desk as high as a wedding cake and it was obvious to David that he had missed something big in the two short weeks he had been away from the ship. Rebecca was in a similar position because Lt Commander Robinson and two of her new security colleagues had left the ship with Lt Commander Jax on a mission that neither David nor Rebecca knew anything about. So she was passing her time by re-organizing the weapons in the armory so they would be more easily accessible if the ship was boarded. For David, it was another day under the warp core, and he couldn’t have been happier about it. While he had enjoyed his wedding and honeymoon he had been somewhat restless and that restlessness had increased slightly when Lt Commander Jax had left without saying more than 5 words to him, “Go hold down Engineering Dave.” So when he saw that their was a mountain of work to do he got right on it and as he re-calibrated the impulse engines so they would function more efficiently for a longer period of time he took a look at another padd that he had grabbed out of the “To Do” pile on Jax’s desk. It seemed that the holodeck one had still not been repaired and was, so far as he knew still malfunctioning. He remembered that he had once been ordered to repair the holodeck but he had been stopped on his way there by a comm. call ordering him back to engineering where he was informed that there was a far more important task to be done; checking out a funky smell in one of the shuttles. As he remembered one of several demeaning tasks he had been given by Lt Commander Bob that particular week and he dreaded even having to ask him about the holodeck’s however Lt Commander Bob had given him permission to re-calibrate the impulse manifold so maybe, just maybe, Jax had spoken to him during the time David had been on leave, or maybe he was treating him with more respect because he was a Lt now. Whatever the case, David saw no reason to hesitate asking him because he had decided a while back that he would no longer be intimated by Bob. Even though he held a higher rank than he did, it was no excuse for disrespect towards a fellow Starfleet officer and although he hadn’t had a problem with months David realized that he was his same, “chipper” self when he had walked into engineering and greeted him only to get a grunt for a response. David put down the padd and went back to the re-calibration. He wanted to finish it as soon as he could because if for some reason the ship needed to get out of the area in a hurry, having the impulse engines offline would make things difficult. He tried to have a quick conversation with his wife over the comm. but he was quickly silenced by Lt Commander Bob. After having to cut his conversation short he chuckled to himself and thought to himself, “Nothing has changed around here, nope, nothing at all.”

A Shuttlecraft of Personality Traits A Log by Lt David Johnson David sat at the helm of the Republic’s shuttlecraft had used to travel from the ship to McKinley Station with the ducks and was now heading back there with his wife and the newest member of the Republic’s crew. Rebecca sat next to him looking over information David had provided her about the ships procedures as well as the crew manifest. She wanted to learn as much as she could about the members of the crew, particularly those she would be working with so she could make a good first impression. She had had some trouble making friends in the past because she was the type of person who kept mostly to herself except when she met someone like David or their mutual friend Lt Richard Hart who she felt she had a connection with. But she knew she had to try and change that especially if she was going to fit in on the Republic “Computer engage auto-pilot,” said David. “Now how about some dinner?” he asked Rebecca. Rebecca smiled and said, “Just so long as we don’t have to have ration packs…again.” “Oh no,” said David, “I made sure the replicator was working before leaving McKinley. The two chuckled and headed to the replicator in the hold. “Ladies first,” David said with a smirk. Rebecca smirked back, “Grilled Salmon over White Rice with Greens a Baked Potato and two glasses of Vulcan Red Wine,” she said. She watched the food materialize and David helped her with the wine and the baked potato then placed his order. “Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken,” David said. Once his food was replicated he joined Rebecca at the shuttle’s small table. As the two eat they talked about how they should set up their new quarters, how many shifts Rebecca would have David thought of something that he had neglected to tell her. “Sweetie, I know you are a fine officer, but I have to tell you that the crew of the Republic seems to be very friendly with one another. They had apparently been together for a while before I came aboard and I should tell you that it wasn’t easy making a good impression on all of them. I’ve already told you about the incident with Lt Commander Robinson, which I am sure he will bring up just to make sure you don’t do the same thing to him,” David said as Rebecca chuckled, “But I think it’s very important for you to just be yourself. I know it sounds cliché but I tried to…well force my way into the group by following orders and such, but it didn’t work to my advantage as I thought it would. I think it made the rest of them think that I was an ambitious upstart either that or a, “Yes man.” It wasn’t after I stood up for myself against one of the other engineers when he treated me badly that people seemed to realize I wasn’t a pushover.” Rebecca took a sip of her wine, smiled and said, “Well I appreciate the warning, but you and I both know you’re not a pushover and neither am I. If I have to assert that my first day on the job I will…but…that’s not who I am, at least that’s not who I was on the Rhode Island when I first arrived. You know that I am generally a very reserved person because I don’t trust just anyone and like you my first few months aboard ship wasn’t a bundle of roses either. My tactic was the same as it was at the academy; keep my mouth shut unless I knew whoever I was talking to was someone who would listen. The problem was that nobody noticed me, nobody recognized my abilities. That changed when I started to make my shipmates realize that I was not just your ordinary run of the mil officer. I started requesting more duty assignments, places on dangerous away missions. I was almost killed on one of them but managed to use my quiet personality to calm down that trigger happy alien I told you about. Now you have already established yourself on the Republic so whatever problems you had early one aren’t an issue anymore. I think for that to happen with me, I should balance my quiet personality with my ability to assert myself. That way people won’t think I am to over the top nor will they ignore me entirely. David raised an eyebrow and said, “You know I never thought of it like that, I guess if I had done that I might not have had as many problems.” “You got over those problems,” Rebecca replied, “Your colleagues respect you now and I am sure once they get to know me they will respect me as well. I just have to make sure I don’t shoot anyone and I will be fine.” The two chuckled as they continued to eat their dinner The two were only a few days from the Republic and though David had only been gone for two weeks it felt like two months or even more to him. He knew that a lot had probably transpired since he had been away especially on a ship like Republic that always seemed to be bursting with action, something he knew Rebecca would like and now that Rebecca knew how she was going approach social interactions with her knew colleagues he was certain she would make a good impression. It seemed as though the shuttlecraft they were flying in wasn’t just carrying their cargo but their personality traits as well and David hoped that the crew, especially Lt Commander Robinson would recognize Rebecca’s personality traits and make her a part of his team, just as Lt Commander Jax had made David a part of hers.

Always hard to say goodbye…even amid the stars A Log by Lt David Johnson David and Rebecca stood right outside docking port number 4 inside of McKinley Station. They were making final preparations before they departed for the Republic. As David checked over their cargo which included a gift for Admiral BluRox from Admiral Nakamura, ration packs in case the shuttle’s replicator went offline and of course the wedding gifts from David and Rebecca’s friends and family. They would certainly have quite a bit to decorate their new quarters with. Most of their wedding guests including Rebecca’s parents had gone back to their ships or Starfleet Headquarters but David’s father had promised that he would see his son and his new daughter in-law off. As they waited patiently, David turned to Rebecca and asked, “You sure this is what you want, to be on the Republic and not the Rhode Island?” Rebecca smiled at him “Of course it’s what I want, remember what I told you, that home is wherever you make it, even in space and I don’t want you to make any sacrifices for me just so that I can be with my friends. Besides, I am sure I will make new friends on the Republic,” she replied. “I’m sure you will,” David said, “It’s just one good thing about your personality.” The two chuckled and shared a quick kiss as David’s father strolled up to them. David turned to his father, who appeared far less agitated than he had been in the hotel room before the wedding. He smiled and said, “I guess this is it, thanks for helping to arrange everything, I know you and Mom had other priorities. I hope I haven’t set you back too far.” David’s father shook his head and replied, “Dave, you are our top priority, just as you always have been. Your Mother and I are very proud of you and I am sure that you will continue to prosper as you have been doing since the day you got accepted to the academy.” David smiled and said, “Thanks Dad, it means a lot not just coming from you as my father, but as a fellow Starfleet officer.” David’s father nodded and then turned his attention to Rebecca. “Before you two married, I told David that I knew he would end up with someone like you. You two are suited very well for each other and maybe one day you will honor my wife and I, and your parents as well, with a grandchild,” said David’s father as he kissed her tenderly on the cheek. Rebecca could barely hold back the tears as she smiled and said, “We will…that’s a promise.” David’s father saluted his son and David saluted back. The two may have been father and son but his father was a Commander while he was only a Lt. He then turned and head toward another docking port where his transport shuttle was waiting for him. David and Rebecca entered the docking port with their belongings and boarded their shuttle. As David went through the pre-launch sequence he said, “It’s always hard to say goodbye…even amid the stars, but I have a feeling that we will be seeing our parents again soon enough, or maybe, when we have our first child.” Rebecca kissed him on the cheek and replied, “One step at a time mister, lets get to the ship first.” The two chuckled as David activated the comm. System and hailed the dock-master. “Control this is Lt David Johnson of the U.S.S Republic requesting permission to disembark.” The dock-master pressed the comm. Button on his panel and replied, “Permission granted Lt. Safe journey to you and to Lt. Cohen” “Thank you,” said David, “Johnson out.” With that David activated the engines and disembarked from the station. The past week and a half had been very eventful for the couple. They had seen each other for the first time in months, and their parents as well, gotten married, gone on their honeymoon, said goodbye to their parents and had now embarked on a journey to the Republic where David would be settling back into his duties, and Rebecca would be settling into her new home.

Well I've only been here for 6 months but I came to that determination because it said in your profile you like eating toast, you have mentioned toast in several sims, and there is an award for creative use of toast in a log. When I put all the pieces together it equaled you liking toast. :P

Everything has two sides, and every side is different…even on a piece of toast. A Toast Themed Log by Lt David Johnson This log has been written especially for Admiral BluRox since it has become clear to me that she has an affinity for toast David and Rebecca sat at a table at McKinley Station eating breakfast with their parents. They were having what would be their last home cooked meal for at least a week as after breakfast they would be boarding a shuttle and heading for the Republic which David had found out was luckily in one place for the moment. Even better was that Admiral BluRox had approved Rebecca’s transfer to the Republic. Since their journey to the ship would take a while David planned to use some of the time making sure Rebecca knew how not to make the same type of impression on Lt Commander Robinson that he had. Then again, he figured that as long as she didn’t shoot him, she would be just fine and hopefully Lt Commander Robinson would recognize Rebecca’s qualities just as the Chief of Security aboard the Rhode Island, Lt Commander O’Hare had. As they eat and talked about various things like where the couple would be living and what mission Rebecca’s parents we’re going on next David picked up a piece of toast. One side of the toast was white, while the other was clearly burnt yet David began spreading some jelly on the burnt side. His father looked at him inquisitively and asked, “Why are you putting the jelly on that side?” David smiled at him and replied, “You of all people should know that, don’t you remember that story you told me, about when you were on that away mission to Virgo 4?” The others stopped whatever conversation they had been having and turned their attention to the one David was having with his father. David’s father looked at the group and said, “While I don’t exactly understand what it has to do with toast I think I know why my son brought this up. When I was serving aboard the U.S.S Lincoln as an Ensign I went on an away mission to Virgo 4. We had gone down there to investigate some strange readings our ship had detected coming from a federation outpost thought to be long abandoned. When we arrived, we were amazed at what we saw. There were people still living at the outpost who had obviously found some way of masking their life-signs and it was one of their replicator’s that had been giving off power signals just strong enough for us to detect. Now our Chief of Security who was leading the team made the assumption that they were squatters, and that we should just removed them from the outpost if nothing else, for their safety. But I wanted to find out why they were there, get their side of the story. So discretely I walked over to one of them and asked him why they were there. He told me that they were the descendants of the people who had originally settled the outpost, that it was their home but that they had no evidence to prove it. I told my security chief and he informed the Captain who now had a decision to make. Which side should he believe the side of one of his most trusted advisors, or the side of the people? Rather than contacting Starfleet command the Captain decided it would be best to continue to allow the people to live there, because descendants of the original settlers or not they were not harming anyone, they were not a threat to any species in the area and they could barely be detected. When he made his report to Starfleet they told him he had made the right decision and even arranged for some food, supplies and shelters to be transported to help re-build the outpost. By choosing to side with the people rather than with one of his subordinates the Captain had taken a risk, but he knew that in the end he had done what was right and that made it a risk worth taking. When David was a teenager I told him that story in the hopes that when he had to make a difficult decision he would remember that every story has two sides to it and every side is different in some way which is why even if one side seems, “better,” or in the case of that colony more trustworthy, it is not always the side that one should choose when making the decision.” David’s father picked up David’s piece of toast and showed the group both sides. “Now I think I do understand why he put Jelly on the burnt side. The white side may seem more appealing but by putting Jelly on the burnt side he is making it more appealing than the white side. Like the situation on Virgo 4 so many years ago, the gains, outweigh the risk. Because anyone that eats it is going to have to eat both sides, but with the Jelly on the burnt side I suppose it makes both sides tasty. The group laughed as David’s father handed his son his toast back who took a bite of it with a smile. As he had been all his life, David was fascinated at the way his father had explained things. It was almost exactly what David had been thinking when he had made the initial comment about the toast. And, just like the toast and everything else, the decision he and Rebecca had made to serve aboard the Republic also had two sides. On the one hand, they were going to be together. On the other, Rebecca had to say goodbye to all her friends and the only ship she had ever known. But in this case she was sure that the benefits of that decision outweighed the harms. And even though a healthy relationship was infinitesimally more important than a piece of toast with jelly, in the end, they were both good.

To: Rear Admiral Errika BluRox, Commanding Officer, U.S.S Republic From: Lt Rebecca Natalie Cohen, Assistant Security Officer, U.S.S Rhode Island CC: Captain Steven Robertson, Commanding Officer, U.S.S Rhode Island, CC: Commander Benjamin Peterson, Executive Officer, U.S.S. Rhode Island CC: Lt Commander William Robinson, Chief of Security, U.S.S Republic CC: Lt. Commander James O’Hare, Chief of Security, U.S.S Rhode Island Subject: Request for Transfer Dear Admiral, I write you in order to request a transfer from the U.S.S Rhode Island to your vessel. As you are aware, I am now married to one of your engineers, Lt David Michael Johnson and I understand that you offered to make me a member of your crew so that the two of us could be together. I am grateful for this offer and have decided to accept it. I do not want you to think however I am not a good officer and if my request is granted I will work just as hard for you as I have for Captain Robertson and Commander Peterson aboard the Rhode Island. Below please find my official Starfleet file which outlines my service record so far. I know that you would expect me to serve a function aboard your ship. As such I would like to request a post in your security department which David tells me is headed by a Lt Commander Robinson whom I have copied on this letter. I have already informed Captain Robertson and Commander Peterson of my request and though they are sorry to lose me but they have granted it on their end and given me permission to contact you. I am presently on leave with David and if you grant my request I would be returning with him. I know that you will probably want to discuss this with your Executive Officer and Chief of Security but if you have any questions or wish to speak to me further feel free to contact me. I also encourage you to contact Captain Robertson who can provide a reference for me. Thank You for your attention to this matter, Sincerely, Lt. Rebecca Natalie Cohen ASEC, U.S.S Rhode Island =^= OFFICIAL STARFLEET FILE =^= This document is an official file of an officer in the Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets. It is classified and should not be distributed to without permission from the person whose name is on it and/or there Commanding Officer. BIOGRAPHICAL DATA: Name: Rebecca Natalie Cohen Terran Age: 23 Birth Date: 235708.09 Birth Place: Earth, North American Continent, East Coat, Boston Species: Human Gender: Female Current Rank: Lt Current Assignment: Assistant Security Officer, U.S.S Rhode Island Family: Father: Commander Edward Cohen, 232710.02 - Executive Officer, U.S.S Pierce Mother: Lt Commander Laurie Cohen, 232904.16 - Chief Engineer, U.S.S Pierce Siblings: Elizabeth Cohen, 236805.11 - Student, Federation School Boston Spouse: Lt David Michael Johnson, 235904.04 - Assistant Engineer, U.S.S Republic Children: None Education: 237509.02 – 237905.29 – Starfleet Academy, San Francisco Service Record: 237905.29 – Graduates from Starfleet Academy 237906.11 – Assigned to U.S.S Rhode Island as ASEC 237912.09 – Promoted to Lt Junior Grade 238005.17 – Promoted to Lt EVALUATION FROM COMMANDING OFFICER STARDATE 238005.01 Lt. Cohen came to the Rhode Island directly from the academy. I often find myself with Ensigns without any service record and though most of my crew is made up of transferees I prefer officers who start their careers on my ship because they are in effect a blank slate. From the start my Chief of Security, Lt Commander O’Hare noticed Mrs. Cohen’s ability to defuse tense situations that ordinarily would result in hostility. Although a security officer she has a real flair for diplomacy and demonstrates something that many security officers do not; an ability to ask questions first, and shoot later. When she encountered a hostile alien or Starfleet officer, Mrs. Cohen would attempt to calm them, figure out why they were hostile and unless they were a direct threat to her or those around her IE: about to fire a shot from a weapon or attack, she would not fire hers. It is my belief that her philosophy saved many lives and it is something that I had Lt Commander O’Hare to stress to all the members of his security team. After she had proved herself to be an outstanding officer and upon recommendation of Commander O’Hare I promoted Mrs. Cohen to the rank of Lt Junior grade. I promoted her to Lt just six months later after she had demonstrated courage and quick thinking during an incident that took place on Virgo IV home to a species that only achieved warp drive two years ago. She had gone down to the planet as part of an away team to investigate a mysterious death in one of the colonies which could not be explained by their doctor because of their limited technology. Our doctor having performed an autopsy determined that the person had been murdered. No sooner had we received that information the team was attacked by the murderer. He shot and injured Commander O’Hare and was about to shoot Lt Jg. Cohen. But, she talked to him, convinced him that committing another murder wouldn’t solve anything, that it would only make things worse and that he himself would end up dead. After about 10 minutes of talking the murderer surrendered himself to Cohen and the backup team she had called for. For her heroism which saved the team and perhaps people on the planet I promoted her to the rank of Lt and Commander O’Hare put her in charge of two of the security squads on the ship. In conclusion I would like to say that Lt Cohen is one of the bravest, most capable officers I have ever met and will make a fine addition to any ship and I’ve no doubt that if she wants to she will become a starship Captain one day. Either that or a diplomat. PHYCOLOGICAL & MEDICAL EVALUATION The only weakness I have noticed about Lt Cohen during her time aboard my ship is that she does not like to back down. She is often convinced that she can solve a problem and will not stop even if it means skipping meals and sleep for days at a time or working with an injury. Our Chief Medical Officer has reported to me on several occasions that she found Lt Cohen sleep deprived, malnourished or even injured even days after a mission. It is quite obvious that she doesn’t like to waste time and I would encourage whoever becomes her direct superior or her chief medical officer in the future to order her to go to bed or to get something to eat if it becomes clear that she is working too hard for her own good.

Oh Come On! I reprogramed this thing in 30 seconds and it shuts down in half that time! Captain, can we please get a MAC

Paradise is only as good as you make it A Log by Lt David Johnson David stood in his morning robe on the balcony of Rebecca’s winter home in Concord, New Hampshire watching as the sun rose over the snowy peaks of the New England mountain range. Instead of going to Riza or one of the other, “pleasure,” planets, he and Rebecca had chosen to stay on Earth for their honeymoon so they could enjoy it without millions of tourists from every corner of the galaxy. David always liked peace and quiet so when the two were discussing their honeymoon plans he had suggested that they go somewhere where there wouldn’t be a lot of people and Rebecca concurred. She had spent many winter’s at the house that they were staying which had been in her family for many generations when had been a child. Snow blanketed the area where they were staying but thanks to the planetary weather control center there would be no snowstorms like the ones that David’s great, great, great grandfather who had served under Captain Sulu on the U.S.S Excelsior had described in his journals As David stood there just looking out at all he could see Rebecca walked out onto the balcony to join him. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. David turned his head toward her, smiled and kissed her on the cheek. “Good morning,” he said, still smiling. “Isn’t it so peaceful?” Rebecca asked him as she looked out at the snowy fields and trees with him. “Yes it is,” David said, “It’s funny, all my friends said we should go somewhere more…exotic. But, even though this may not be “planet paradise,” somehow seems even better.” Rebecca chuckled, “I think paradise is only as good as you make it sweetheart, and so long as we enjoy it, make the most of it, it will be better. Besides, I wouldn’t trade this place for any other place in the World” On that note the two walked back into their hotel room, got dressed and headed out into the woods for a winter stroll. They walked through quite a different environment than what they had been accustomed to for the past five or in Rebecca’s case six years since they had started their Starfleet training at the academy. Instead of classrooms, bulkheads, conduits and starships they saw trees, flowers and animals. They eat from a picnic basket instead of from a replicator and that night they watched the glow of the stars and the moon in the sky which was better for David than the glow of the warp core back on the Republic. As the two gazed at the stars from the balcony on Rebecca's house David turned to Rebecca, “Amazing isn’t it?” Rebecca looked at him, “What is?” she asked. “Just being back on Earth, in this environment, away from Starfleet, the pressures of work, it’s really intoxicating,” he said. “I guess it is,” she replied, “No matter how many generations of my have visited this quaint little place nothing ever changes here. I have always been one for new adventures but its nice having a place like this to come to when I need to relax, and now it’s even better.” “And why is that?” David asked. “Because you’re here with me silly,” Rebecca replied as the two chuckled. The next day the two traveled into town which had not changed much since Rebecca’s family had purchased their home there. Oh sure there was a transporter site, a few private shuttlecraft but nevertheless it was serene compared to battling the Borg or the Dominion. As they walked along the narrow streets they encountered a small antique shop. David had always had a fondness for antiques so he went inside while Rebecca went to get some ice-cream. Inside we’re artifacts that were two hundred, three hundred, even four hundred years old. Some were from when Starfleet was still in its infancy while others were from a time before it even existed. As he searched through the shop he came across something which caught his attention. It was a map of the United States of America circa 2000. David eyes widened as he looked at the map with all the states and he realized that for people back then this was as close to the UFP as they would have ever gotten. He knew that the unity which had existed back then and the unity of the Federation was much like the unity which existed between himself and Rebecca. Since it interested him and he needed a few things to decorate his new quarters he bought it and then headed out to meet Rebecca for some ice-cream. The couple had just a few days left to enjoy their honeymoon before heading back to McKinley Station and heading towards the Republic using the same shuttle David had used to get to McKinley with the ducks 10 days earlier. First, Rebecca needed to send her request to Admiral BluRox and get it approved while David contacted Starfleet command and find out where the ship was and if possible speak to the Admiral. Though he had only been gone for less than two weeks he knew that a lot could have happened and he hoped that there was a Republic for him to go back to, along with his new wife, who he hoped would also be the newest member of the crew.