Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter One: The Apollo

August 13th 2410

Captain Ethan Rivers had long since dreamed of having his own command. Ever since graduating from Starfleet Academy eight years earlier it had been his goal, his desire, his plan in life. Ethan had always looked up to the many famous Starfleet Captains such as James T Kirk, Christopher Pike, Jean Luc Picard and most famous of them all: Admiral Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Star Ship Voyager. Ethan was fascinated about Janeway's story when he was a boy and was amazed to learn how Voyager, an Intrepid Class ship with one hundred and fifty crew, had managed to return home to the Alpha Quadrant after seven years in the Delta Quadrant. Ethan also found it great that Janeway had received a promotion from Captain straight to Vice Admiral and had been promoted to Admiral just ten years after returning home from the Delta Quadrant. Ethan often wondered what taking command of Voyager must've been like for Janeway and now he was about to find out as he took command of the U.S.S Apollo. Or as it's callsign was, NCC-73516.

From one of the many observation decks at the Bajor Shipyards Ethan gazed at the Apollo and was awed at the Star Ship that he would command now that he had been promoted to Captain. The Apollo was a Nova Class vessel, nothing like the Galaxy or Intrepid Class ships. It's top speed was only Warp 8 and it was equipped only with eleven phaser arrays and two photon torpedo launchers. It had deflector shields yes, but it was ill equipped for a fight. But it was efficient when it came to planetary survey missions and was one of the many ships that could actually land on a planet if needed. It also possessed the latest science equipment that Starfleet had to offer and was the first ship to posses the Emergency Medical Hologram Mark 12, the most advanced EMH to date. As Ethan thought about the Apollo, he heard a familiar voice say "Impressive ship, isn't she?" Ethan turned around to see Admiral Jorel Quinn standing behind him. Ethan shook hands with Admiral Quinn and said in his British accent "Yes sir, it's a very impressive vessel. Nothing like the Intrepid or Galaxy Class ships, but it's something." The look on the old Trill's face showed that he agreed as he said "Yes, it is a science ship by the way and Starfleet command decided to assign you to command one since you are a science officer." Ethan smiled at the memories of his career as a science officer in Starfleet and how he had chosen to join Starfleet because he wanted to gain a greater understanding of other Alien races and was excited to begin command of the Apollo.

Admiral Quinn then explained to Ethan "The Apollo is a Nova Class ship by the way, so you should be aware that it isn't designed for combat." Ethan looked at the Apollo again and said "To be honest Sir, I prefer to learn more about Alien life than fight it. After all, it's what my grandfather taught me whenever we visited him in Tokyo." Admiral Quinn knew by Ethan's East Asian features that he was of Japanese descent and asked "So how were you born in Britain?" Ethan quickly answered "My mother went to Cambridge, she met my father there and they chose to raise a family in London." Ethan then decided to get back to the topic of the Apollo, so he looked back at Admiral Quinn and asked "So what species will my crew be exactly?" Quinn then brought out the files on the computer on the table next to the chairs that the two of them sat down on and answered "As per your request we've made it a diverse crew. Your First Officer is a Human by the name of Alisha Flores and your Chief Tactical Officer is a Klingon named Voq. As for your Chief Science Officer, they are a Vulcan Lieutenant whose name will be a bit of a surprise. As for your Chief Engineer, they are former Bajoran Militia soldier with the rank of Lieutenant and is named Toral Laren. As for the crew, which can amount up to one hundred and twenty, there are one hundred people on board including you. Of the one hundred crewmen, half of them are Human while twenty five are Vulcan, fifteen are Bajoran, while the last ten are Klingon."

Ethan smiled at the diversity that the Apollo had and joked "Then maybe Starfleet should've called the Apollo the Diversity?" The two burst out laughing at the small joke that Ethan had made and Jorel said "Then the Apollo space program wouldn't be it's namesake." Ethan then asked "So why did Starfleet choose for me to command the Apollo." Admiral Quinn then brought up Ethan's file and it showed his service record. Ethan had enrolled in the Command Training Program after graduating with honours from the Academy and had been promoted to Lieutenant Commander two years earlier. A year later he was promoted to Commander on the U.S.S Roosevelt-A, named in honour of the first U.S.S Roosevelt that was destroyed during the infamous battle with the Borg at Wolf-359. Ethan then remembered the death of Captain Mack Taggert at a battle with the Borg two months earlier and said "It's kind of a redemption that the Roosevelt-A defeated an attack force at the Vega Colony that was of the same alien race that destroyed it's namesake." Admiral Quinn agreed and said "Yes, as I am understanding, when Captain Taggert was assimilated your choice to rescue him was in vain because of the damage done to him while the Roosevelt was firing on the Cube." When Ethan and the away team had boarded the Borg Sphere to rescue Captain Taggert, they found him fully assimilated and ready to attack. After disabling their Captain for his own safety and then beamed him back onto the Roosevelt, they discovered that the damage to his body was to great and he perished a mere few hours later.