Zaphod_the_spacebum

Good entries so far. Gonna wait for a bit for some more.

Thank you T'aral. Ok folks, here ya go.

Zaphod sat in the back of the shuttle double checking the bilge pumps. He still couldn't believe they were actually trying this. A warp capable shuttle was not meant to be a submarine. But, he and the other engineers on QoB had made it a reality. Here they were below the surface of the Zoalis ocean, the scanners gave them a quick look over when they were in the air. But, once they submerged, the scanners started looking elsewhere. The bridge crew on the QoB had found them a likely spot to go on shore. They would have to swim about 40 meters to shore, but they were all pretty strong swimmers. Zaphod learned to swim on Cait at the young age of two. Caitians had larger lungs and richer blood, which meant they could hold their breath longer than a Human. He was half human, but his lung structure was Caitian. He also didn't have the genetic heart defect that plagued all pure Caitians. Pher, the security chief was a strong swimmer also. The Orion said that if anyone were to get into trouble, she would give them mouth to mouth. This garnished smiles and grins from the male members of the shuttle. Pher was a very attractive woman. Zaphod didn't think he'd ever seen an Orion woman who wasn't attractive. He pushed this thought out of his mind. No time to think about that. They were going ashore in a cove surrounded by fiords. That meant they would have to climb their way out. He wasn't worried about this. Selek had rope in his gear. Good thinking on the part of the emotional Vulcan. Zaphod himself had climbing experience. When he was on Earth, he loved to go free climbing. Looking Glass rock in North Carolina was his favorite spot to climb. With his natural climbing ability and his claws, ropes and climbing gear weren't a necessity. But, it had been years since he'd climbed. Oh well, it's like riding a bike I guess. Selek had offered his hand to him, apologizing for shooting him on the Verbistule. He took the Vulcan's hand, shook it, and told him, no hard feelings. Selek asked about his wounds, he joked about it and said that it only hurt when he meowed. This seemed to satisfy the Vulcan. Truth was, the wound was healing well. Only a small scar, and some missing fur remained. He knew it was Selek's job to protect his crew, and he would have done the same thing in his shoes. As for landing, the plan was still the same. Swim to the shore, climb the rocks, then investigate the planet. Pher volunteered to stay at the rear and help anyone who may have trouble with the swim. He volunteered to take point, swimming ahead to scout out the terrain. The shuttle settled to the bottom at 8 meters, the landing party gathered at the back of the shuttle. Rosetto and Alex would stay behind with the shuttle. After the swimmers left, they would activate a proximity field around the shuttle to warn of any large fish with the taste for shuttle submarine. Zaphod pulled out his pad and awaited the order to activate the force field and flood the cargo area. He would pump some extra oxygen into the airlock to help them with their swim. He started doing his breathing exercises.

Hey Valenshay. Welcome to STSF. Hope you have fun. And see ya around the Academy, or Red Star on Saturday night.

Hey Rosie, welcome to STSF. Hope you have fun. See ya in the Academies, and maybe at Red Star Nightclub on Saturday night.

Bio updated June 12, 2011.

Zaphod sat back in his seat on the Vertisbule's shuttle. 'Why did I volunteer for this?' He thought, as he tightened the safety harness. He started out the day eating a sandwich and drinking spiked coffee, and now he might be facing his last moments. He, Shane and William had modified the shuttle for underwater flight. Putting in an airlock, baffles on the plasma ducts, and waterproofing the rear of the shuttle, among other mods. Captain Manning called everyone for a meeting on the bridge of the Qob. Someone had umm, borrowed some waste management pumps from the Vertisble, which was brought to the Captains attention. The engineers just played innocent, with knowing grins to each other. Well, we needed bilge pumps for the shuttle. If Captain Maxwell couldn't properly flush his high and mighty thone, it wasn't any whiskers off Zaphod's nose. Captain Manning then went over the shuttles mission, and asked for a team to go down to the planet. Before Zaphod had time to let his Caitian common sense kick in, he volunteered. Well, Shane was going to remain on Qob to monitor the shuttle's flight. And, Zaphod knew more about the shuttle's workings. So, Joe and Shane thought it would be best if he went on the mission. C'est la vie, as his human grandmother would say. Such is life. He thought of his grandmother fondly. She started one of the most popular restaurants in New Orleans. He missed her Sauce Picante, and her bread pudding with rum praline sauce. He wiped the drool from his whiskers, and returned to his thoughts for the day. Once the meeting with Joe was finished, Zaphod had asked Pher and Joe to return his weapons. He was a brave kitty, but wasn't going down to the planet without them. He promised the crew he wouldn't shoot them, which got him a knowing smirk from the Vulcan Selek, who had shot him on the Vertisbule. Zaphod grinned back and left the bridge. Joe unlocked the locker in security and he grabbed his duffel and headed to his quarters. He stood there for a while feeling the weight of his trusty Bat'leth. Shara's father Grath had helped him make it for his service aboard the Da'vI. He strapped the blade to his back, and tucked his Caitian claw dagger in his toolbelt. Byblos had suggested he bring the Bat'leth. The Nausicaan was big and knew his blades. Zaphod pulled out his phaser, and grinned at it's sleek, dangerous look. He set it to standby mode, pulled back the hood to check the power level, and holstered it on his toolbelt. He also tucked a couple of extra power packs in his toolbelt. For the first time in a long while, he felt whole. He threw the duffel with the rest of his belongings on his bunk and headed to the Vertisbule. Shane was waiting for him and his eyes grew big at Zaphod's arsenal, Zaphod just laughed and said he was prepared for anything this planet would throw at him. Shane gave them their mission briefing, and Zaphod crawled into the shuttle. He took his pad from his toolbelt and linked it with the shuttles systems and their improvised force field airlock. When they reached the ocean and parked the shuttle on the floor, The crew would stand at the back of the shuttle, Zaphod would remotely activate the airlock, fill it with water, and open the back cargo hatch. They would swim to the surface, then to the beach. And, gather as much information as they could. Selek asked if he had used duct tape on the airlock. Zaphod just grinned at him and said it was an ancient engineering secret. Truth was, he did use some duct tape behind the panels. As his human grandfather always said: "Boy, duct tape is one of the tools you need in your toolbelt. If duct tape don't fix it, the foofalei is beyond hope". Of course duct tape heated with a plasma torch sealed tubing and panels better than any sealant. Zaphod's ship, the S.S. Silver Star was held together with duct tape. He missed his old ship. He reached out and ran his claw down the blade of his bat'leth, grinning. He felt much more comfortable feeling its weight on his back. Shane closed the door and the crew of the submarine shuttle prepared for launch. From Zaphod's personal log. Recorded in his quarters before leaving the ship. -----> Open Personal Log, Zaphod, Daryus, son of Dracal <---------- May 1, 2420, In the event of my death, please notify my remaining family on Cait, and on Earth. Please transmit these personal logs and my belongings to them. If I do not return from this away mission to Zoalus. Captain Joe Manning, and First Officer Chris Nickles are the only ones who have the codes to these logs, as I have left them on my personal ships information. To them I say, it has been an honor to serve aboard the QoB. You and the rest of the QoB's crew have given my life new purpose, and meaning. My apologies again for my actions in the beginning towards you and your crew. -------> Close Personal Log, encrypt for captain or first officers eyes only <---------

Zaphod sat in the mess hall eating a sandwich. He had cataloged the tactical abilities of the planet's defenses, but made an error in the abilities of the towers though. The towers themselves had an effective range of over 100 kilometers.And, the lasers on the probe like vessels had an equal range. He had updated that information to the consoles on the bridge. Both the towers and the attack probes had a substantial amount of shielding, so that made a full frontal attack on them futile. The only way to get into the volcano was to sneak in. He picked up his padd and pondered the modifications to the Vertisbule's shuttle, and laughed out loud. A submarine shuttle, not exactly what the designers had in mind. But, it was the crews job to make it work. The last probe they sent directly into the sea, And, it did fool the towers and attack drones, with the help of the dummy probes they sent out. The bridge crew had made the suggestion to Captain Manning after the probes success. He just wondered who was going to man the shuttle. It was going to be a dangerous mission. He opened his log. ------> Engineers Log <---------- With the success of the submerged probe, work begins to outfit a shuttle craft from the Vertisbule to breach the Volcano. If we can send out enough dummy probes to keep the attack drones and towers busy, we may be able to find this planets secrets. The only problem we are having in engineering is the airlock situation. But, with Shane's guidance, and some hard work, we will succeed. Back to work. -------> End Log <------------------- Zaphod finished his lunch, drank the rest of his coffee, and made another cup. It was going to be a long day. He headed back to ME.

This is so cool. Antimatter Trapped for Amazingly Long 16 Minutes Antimatter, an elusive type of matter that's rare in the universe, has now been trapped for more than 16 minutes — an eternity in particle physics. In fact, scientists who've been trapping antihydrogen atoms at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva say isolating the exotic particles has become so routine that they expect to soon begin experiments on this rare substance. Antimatter is like a mirror image of matter. For every matter particle (a hydrogen atom, for example), a matching antimatter particle is thought to exist (in this case, an antihydrogen atom) with the same mass, but the opposite charge. "We've trapped antihydrogen atoms for as long as 1,000 seconds, which is forever" in the world of high-energy particle physics, said Joel Fajans, a University of California, Berkeley professor of physics who is a faculty scientist at California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a member of the ALPHA (Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus) experiment at CERN. Trapping antimatter is difficult, because when it comes into contact with matter, the two annihilate each other. So a container for antimatter can't be made of regular matter, but is usually formed with magnetic fields. In the ALPHA project, the researchers captured antihydrogen by mixing antiprotons with positrons — antielectrons — in a vacuum chamber, where they combine into antihydrogen atoms. The whole process occurred within a magnetic "bottle" that takes advantage of the magnetic properties of the antiatoms to keep them contained. An actual bottle, made of ordinary matter, would not be able to hold antimatter because when the two types of matter meet they annihilate. After the researchers had trapped antimatter in the magnetic bottle, they could then detect the trapped antiatoms by turning off the magnetic field and allowing the particles to annihiliate with normal matter, which creates a flash of light. The team has now managed to capture 112 antiatoms in this new trap for times ranging from one-fifth of a second to 1,000 seconds, or 16 minutes and 40 seconds. (To date, since the beginning of the project, Fajans and his colleagues have trapped 309 antihydrogen atoms in various traps.) And the researchers plan to improve on that, with the "hope that by 2012 we will have a new trap with laser access to allow spectroscopic experiments on the antiatoms," Fajans said in a statement. Those experiments would give researchers more information on the antimatter's properties. In that way, it could help to answer a question that has long plagued physicists: Why is there only ordinary matter in our universe? Scientists think antimatter and matter should have been produced in equal amounts during the Big Bang that created the universe 13.6 billion years ago. [The Coolest Little Particles in Nature] Today, however, there is no evidence of antimatter galaxies or clouds, and antimatter is seen rarely and for only short periods, for example, during some types of radioactive decay before it annihilates in a collision with normal matter. The researchers detail their work on the antimatter trap in a new paper published online June 5 in the journal Nature Physics. Zaphod (Link removed and replaced with text of article. Sorry, Zaphod, we don't allow external links in e-mails as a general rule. Thanks. -A9)

Some of Dr Soong's earlier prototypes gather for a gala production of "Droids and Dolls"

Here is the B'rel class deck plan I found on Cygnus. They closely match the website description of Qob. Except for the captains quarters over the bridge. It is 109 meters long, and has a wingspan of 167 meters. And, this version does have the 2 deck pylon.

The way I understood it was that the K'vort class and B'rel class were two different classes of BOP. The K'vort class BOP from ST3 was a tad smaller than the saucer section of Enterprise NCC 1701. The Klingon D9 battle cruiser was comparable to the size of Enterprise NCC 1701. And, that NCC 1701 was about the size of the saucer section of the NCC 1701-D Galaxy class. If the Vor'cha is comparable to the size of NCC 1701-D, then this picture would be to scale. It's possible that the BOP in the picture is a K'vort class and not a B'rel. Now, the B'rel class cruisers were always shown in TMP to be much larger than the K'vort class. The blueprints I found on Cygnus show a large B'rel with 6 decks, and a 2 deck pylon.

Well, according to the article, the antimatter is annihilated by regular matter on contact. But, according to the scientist's earlier experiments, it could be used as a powerful, clean energy source. When the first scientist captured man made antimatter a few years ago, he theorized that a bottle of antimatter the size of a golf ball could power a home for years. Antimatter could also be used to power spaceships, I/E Star Trek. They're going to start scanning the antimatter with a laser spectroscope to find out just how much power is produced when it collides with matter. I can see matter/antimatter reactors powering cities, space stations and even starships in the next century. I'm a Treknobabble nerd. I love seeing technologies that were just sci-fi decades ago becoming reality. It would be cool to see what antimatter made with Deuterium produces. ;) Scientists used Deuterium in 2009 as a fuel. in the first laser fusion reactor last year. Zaphod

It's cool A9. I should have remembered that. Thanks for fixing it for me. :) Zaphod

I'm very excited about this discovery. It shows that life possibly exists throughout this universe. If (big if) life on this planet was seeded by extraterrestrial microbes, then life (as we know it) could exist on other worlds. Our sun is relatively young compared to other stars closer to the center of our galaxy. If (like our planet), life evolved on other worlds there could be intelligent life scattered throughout the universe. With hundreds of extra-solar planets discovered so far around a hundred different stars, that means we have a bunch of races to meet in the future. Gene Roddenberry's vision may come true one day. Maybe not tomorrow, but my great, great, great grandchildren may meet ET one day. As for creation. I'm a "Christian/Evolutionist. I personally believe in the concept of God. But, I do believe that life does evolve. I also believe that the universe was created in a "big bang" (the universe expanding explosively from one dot). But, in my opinion that dot was God. I think science and religion can co-exist if both parties open their minds and forgo any preconceived notions.. There are Christian scientists, and even the Vatican has scientist who actually believe that life exists on other worlds. A public service announcement from Zaphod the Space Bum. Views expressed in this article are the views of the poster, and not meant to insult anyone or their beliefs. Have a nice day. :)

Zaphod sat at the engineer station on the bridge with a cup of coffee. He secretly reached in his pocket and pulled out the small package of catnip (a habit he'd had since he was a teen). He had been introduced to the intoxicating substance as a joke. But, he grew to like the energy, vigor and sense of well being it gave. He was running low. There was a half pound in his duffel along with some clothes, and his personal belongings, along with his weapons. He had found some on the colony Diklit established. Well, it wasn't true catnip. But, it was close enough for his tastes. He dropped about half a teaspoon in and stirred the mix, then put the envelope back in his pocket. Taking a long sip, he tapped the console. ----> Assistant Engineers Log <---------- The second probe was a marginal success. Alex and I made the final preparations on the probe, then went to ME to monitor the launch and flight. Will was there and helped monitor the flight. I kept a close eye on the trajectory, and Alex made some modifications in flight with Selek and Troy upstairs. The sensor beams on the planet detected the probe and converged on it. But, the towers didn't fire. Maybe the modifications with the holo-emitters were working. Captain Manning called me to the bridge to investigate the weapons systems on the planet. I studied the tactical readouts on the probe. The lasers had a one kilometer range. But, with so many towers, the range was increased. As the probe flew over the continent near site 5, more towers popped up. And, several probe like objects appeared from trap doors in the desert floor. I uploaded as much information from our probe as I could before it could be destroyed. But, the turrets didn't fire, and the objects just flew around the probe. I think that the probe is masked, but Captain Manning wants to wait to see for sure. He ordered me to gather as much information as I could. He called Byblos to launch another probe, this one using speed as a weapon against the sensors. I think that maybe with more speed, and masking, it might make it. The idea was put out to outfit a shuttle to make runs on the planet for close sensor sweeps. I've run a few simulations. I believe if we fit the shuttle with as many holo-emitters as possible, we could fool the planets sensors like the probe did. If the sensors think that the shuttle is just a flying snake or bird, it may make it. We would have to mask the exhaust, and have several backup power systems for the emitters, but it might work. I don't know who will be in the shuttle, maybe we could recruit some of Vertisbule's scientists. I certainly don't want to go. But, I would if ordered. Fixing to run some simulations with the new data from the probe. More later. ----> End Log <------ Zaphod sat back and sipped his spiked coffee. He missed his stuff, especially his weapons. He'd have to send the Security Chief Pher an interdepartmental memo to ask for his stuff. She seemed like a nice woman. He'd always liked Orions. Friendly species. He finished his coffee and sat up. Back to work. He started running more simulations.

Happy Birthday Sovak. Live Long and Prosper. Zaphod

Zaphod sat at the small engineering console running simulations for the new probe he and Alex had just set up. He hoped this one would work. He sat back and took a long sip of coffee. He reminded himself to chat with Troy later. Troy had come into ME to find some coffee filters. Nice guy. And, he also reminded himself to chat with the officer who shot him. Zaphod didn't hold any grudges against the man, but he could tell the man was worried about it. It was his job to protect his crew mates. He'd have to tell him he understood that Zaphod finished the rest of his coffee and tapped the console. --------> Assistant Engineers log <----------- All of the data from the simulations point toward success. Hopefully all the modifications Alex and I made will work. Zoalus 4 is a very mysterious planet. The intelligent population was long gone. Only the animal life remained. The people on the planet did leave a very complex security system though. Roaming probes shoot at anything that moved. And, well placed turrets shoot anything flying in the air. Only a snake like creature is immune to the gun fire. Captain Manning ordered Alex and myself to modify a probe to try to fool the planets security, and allow the probe to reach it's destination. If all goes well, we can get to the bottom of all this. I was late for my shift this am. And, the chief engineer let me know about it. Will, the other assistant engineer and I made some repairs to the power relay. And, I have a bit of free time to run simulations and have a well earned cup of java. Not the best coffee in the galaxy, but it does the job. This is a great little ship. It's older than dirt, but it runs well. The engine room looks nothing like it's original configuration. The crew has made extensive modifications. I spent the first hour of my shift in the crawlspace getting accustom to the differences. I worked a year on a B'rel class cruiser the IKC D'avI' twelve years ago under the command of HoD Grath. This QoB is completely different. How Captain Manning and his crew keep this thing flying is nothing short of miraculous. I'm looking forward to my work on the QoB. It will be a challenge to say the least. This is a good crew, and a challenging mission. I'm having fun already. Well, we're about to fire off this probe to see if it works. Back to work. More later.

Hey Rex. I realize it is genetically impossible to mix a feline and a primate. But, I'm going with a "Dr Moreau" approach. Zaphod is a product of illegal genetic tampering. His parents paid for going outside the Federation to have this done. And, Zaphod is labeled a "genetic freak" for the rest of his life. It plays well with why Zaphod is so disgusted with the Feddies, and why he leaves the Federation and joins the raiders. Then eventually joining the QoB in Bulls Head. I chatted with Manning about Zaphod's genetic mixing, and he approved it. Zaphod is a very mysterious, and growing character. I'm having loads of fun figuring him out.. :) Zaphod

Zaphod sat in his quarters on the QoB thinking about the last few days. He'd always believed in second chances. But, after the Federation and Diklit, he wasn't sure about third chances. The docs in the Verbistule's sickbay had patched him up quite nicely. But with Diklit dead, he didn't know what he was going to do. The colony would go on. But, Zaphod wasn't sure how. He had overheard the doctors getting a call that he would be joining the QoB's crew. That relieved him. His first thought was that the Captain of this old Klingon vessel would throw them all out of the airlock for the attempted bombing of a starship and his crew. Now, he was a member of that crew. A deal struck with that traitor Holstrum released the raiders, but turned over Zaphod to Manning. He had met some the QoB's crew when he boarded. Captain Manning, and his first officer Nickles. They seemed like good leaders. He had met the man who shot him, a curiously emotional Vulcan named Selek, and the Chief of Security who led him to the airlock. He met a very large Nausicaan named Byblos, who took the duffel with his personal items and weapons. He had also met his new engineering chief Shane. Shane did not like titles. Zaphod was glad they all felt the same way about the Feddies as he did. They didn't look like they trusted him though. Zaphod couldn't blame them. He had tried to kill them, all for the misguided loyalty he felt towards Diklit. Well, that was then and this is now. Zaphod swore his loyalty to the Captain and crew of the QoB and he meant it. Captain Manning had seen his way to giving him a second chance. And, he wasn't going to blow it. Things at the airlock were a bit tense. But, Zaphod could see that Manning had a good crew. He thought about his weapons with a pang of sorrow. They were personal mementos of a past life. His Caitian claw daggar had been given to him by his father Dracal as a gift on his initiation into adulthood on Cait. The thought of his father and mother brought back painful memories. And, anger for the "mighty" Federation. Zaphod was only half Caitian. His mother Janine was human. She and Dracal had fallen in love, married, and settled down in New Orleans on Earth. They could not have any children because of their genetic differences, and the geno-phobes in the Federation wouldn't help. So, Dracal and Janine went outside Federation space to find a geneticist to help them. They found one in the Kzinti Hegemony. Janine and Dracal returned to the Federation and had Zaphod in New Orleans. The Feddies immediately arrested them for genetic tampering (crimes against nature). They spent 3 years in a penal colony for their "crime". Zaphod was labeled a "genetic freak" for the rest of his life. Eventually, this led Zaphod to leave the Federation, to pursue his career as a trader after his parents passed away. They never got over the shame. His bat'leth was given to him by a Klingon named Grath. Zaphod dated his daughter Shara for a while as he traded with the Empire. He spent a lot of time with Shara on Qo'nos. Zaphod even spent a summer on Grath's ship, an old B'rel class bird of prey IKC Da'vI' as a junior engineer. Grath made him the bat'leth for his service and taught Zaphod how to use it. His personal phaser was passed down to him by his mother. It was a 23rd century assault phaser, sleek, black and menacing. It wasn't as good as the modern phasers, but Zaphod didn't care. It belonged to his mother, his grandfather, and so-on. Manning had posted him to engineering, a job he knew well. His favorite thing was crawling through a ships works. Some of his old crew mates joked with him that he'd sleep in the plasma tubes if he could. He awoke from a doze and shook his head. "Must've fallen asleep." he scolded himself. "I have to meet Shane in engineering." He grabbed his jacket, and headed out the door. 'Don't know what's going to happen. But, for the first time in the past ten years I'm actually happy.' He thought, swishing his tail as he walked down the corridor.

Thanks A9. :)

How bout the other one. "STSF's Cajun Caitian"

Zaphod woke up in pain, tightly strapped into a bio bed. The last thing he remembered was being shot. He could hear the doctors talking about the leader of the raiders being killed by someone named Byblos. 'Diklyt dead? I'm free.' he thought. Zaphod went over the last eighteen years of his life.. He had graduated from Star Fleet Academy after 4 years of intensive study, but was offered a demeaning job as waste reclamation engineer on Space Station Deep Space 7. He was disgusted by the underhanded politics of the now corrupt Federation. Because he was half Caitian, half Human, a "genetic freak" as his commanding officer called him, he got the worst job in Star Fleet. So, he resigned his new commision, got a civilian pilots license, and bought a ship (the S.S. Silver Star). While delivering supplies to a colony in the Hyades cluster, he had met Diklyt. Zaphod was inpressed with his carisma and ideas. He sold his ship and settled in with the expedition to the Hydran expance. Life on their colony was wonderful. Zaphod loved the fact that he was away from the disgusting dictatorship the Federation had become. But, in the last few years, the Horde raiders had become an increasing problem. The Horde force the colony to leave their fruitful and beautiful planet. They eventually founded a new colony. But, it was barren and almost lifeless. Diklyt became more desperate to feed his colony. They started doing raids on other colonies for food and supplies. Zaphod became concerned about this new mission, capturing the Verbistul and searching for Eden. He was even at the point of leaving Diklyt, and joining a supply ship in Bulls Head. But, his dedication to the colony won over, so he pushed any worries about Diklyt aside. He helped to plant the bomb, then he was shot.He thought about his situation. He was alive, but held prisoner in this sick bay. He had over heard the doctor calling a Captain named Manning. Maybe Zaphod could make a deal with this Captain to release him. "I'm free, now what?" Zaphod muttered laughing. The doctor put a hypospray to Zaphod's neck. "What was that?" He asked. "Nothing, nothing at all." Zaphod whispered as the stative took effect.

Glad to be simming with you again Lil. You'd make a cute Vulcan.

Hey A9. Could I please have my old title back, "nothing a roll of Duct Tape and a trusty plasma torch can't fix"