Issue 16 Issue 1 7 IN THIS ISSUE … In this Issue … ....................................................................................................... 2 Issue Dates & Submission Guidelines ..................................................................... 3 Greetings from the Admiral’s Ready Room ............................................................. 4 Klingon/Wraith Negotiations Update...................................................................... 8 Star Trek: Discovery............................................................................................... 9 Gaming News...................................................................................................... 11 The Joy of Portraying A Low Ranking Star Trek Character ..................................... 13 Convention Redemption...................................................................................... 15 The Command Team........................................................................................... 18 Through the Lens: Viewpoints.............................................................................. 19 Suit up for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D........................................................................... 21 Please note that while articles may contain details of merchandise and products by various manufacturers, Starbase 24 does not endorse any items other than their own. Copyright Notices ^nd @cknowledgements Star Trek and all related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All rights reserved. Starbase 24 operates as a non-profit making organisation and we make no money from Star Trek. We hold no claims to any trademarks, copyrights, or properties held by CBS Studios or Paramount Pictures. All content from Star Trek including still images and character names is the property of Paramount Pictures Corporation and CBS Studios, Inc. and no infringement is intended. We have made all possible efforts to give credit to the artists/authors of the images we have used. If we are using your image without permission, please let us know and we will be glad to give credit or remove the image where requested to do so. List of Contributors FADM James Mackenzie, Starbase 24 CAPT Stefan Blakemore, Starbase 24 ADM Kehlan, Starbase 24 Kevin Goldsmith, Starbase 24 A A A Thomas Hayes RADM Daniel Adams, Starbase 24/SS Hawking LTJG Sarahleigh Mackenzie Richardson, FCAPT Kevin 'Hightower' Baker USS Glenn Miller NCC - 1944A 2 Starbase 24: Frontera Times Issue 17: February 2019 ISSUE DATES & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES The FRONTERA TIMES is released quarterly with submission deadlines as below. Submissions can be made anytime to [email protected] . Submissions can be whole articles (long and short), pictures, jokes—almost anything. Text can be supplied in almost any format that can be copied and pasted, and photos should be sent as JPGs by eMail as this gives a higher quality image that can be enhanced if needs be. Please, no ZIP files and please not by a Facebook Messenger (as reformatting those are a nightmare!). Works should be original or, where the work is not original, the source quoted so that the appropriate credit can be given. Please remember that the Editor only edits the magazine so unless you make submissions, the FRONTER@ TIMES will be very small indeed. All submissions are welcome, but the Editor reserves the right to edit, postpone or not to publish a particular item. Many thanks. Issue Date Deadline for Submissions SPRING February 28th January SUMMER May 28th April AUTUMN August 27th July WINTER November 27th October 3 Starbase 24: Frontera Times Issue 17: February 2019 GREETINGS FROM THE ADMIRAL ’S READY ROOM ADM Kehlan It’s been a busy few months on Starbase 24. Not long ago we celebrated the Terran midwinter festival of Christmas. Admiral Mackenzie is happy with his present—a new fish tank, which in true Geek fashion has an AT-AT in it. Funnily enough the AT-AT was the first item I bought. I’d been to the garden centre on Promenade 2 and saw it in the Aquatics section and of course, it came home with me … which of course meant we needed a fish tank to put it in. We also got a new Amazon 3 rd generation Echo Dot, an impulse buy when it got reduced to half price in the post-Christmas sale. Now the fun thing about Alexa is you can programme her to respond to “Computer” and there’s lots of Star Trek gems programmed into her. For example: Computer, tell me a Star Trek joke. To which Alexa replied, “How many Captain Picards does it take to change a light bulb? Four! THERE … ARE … FOUR … LIGHTS!” On hearing that really bad joke my response is, “Computer, Initiate Self Destruct.” Alexa was happy to do so, on condition I dramatically cancel it at 4 Starbase 24: Frontera Times Issue 17: February 2019 the last second. The new Discovery shorts were a nice little treat as well. I think my personal favourite was the one about Saru. I didn’t like Saru much at first, but in the final episodes of Season 1, he gave an incredible, and very inspiring speech that completed changed my opinion of him. So learning a bit about his culture and background was interesting. As for Season 2 of Discovery , I’ve only seen one episode so far but I am cautiously impressed. It was a good season opener. Captain Pike was well cast and is a good addition to the crew. I am looking forward to seeing where they go with this. I am also waiting with anticipation 5 Starbase 24: Frontera Times Issue 17: February 2019 for my new Starbase model to arrive from Eaglemoss. They have finally added a spacedock to their Starships Collection. It will be nice to have a model of Starbase 24 sitting on my desk. On the social side of things, there’s been quite a lot going on. We had a great meetup, organised by Chris Bowen, to see Tim Peake’s space capsule while it was at Peterborough Cathedral. A fairly large group of us met up at the train station at lunch time and headed over to the local museum. It’s an interesting little place, with displays including a Victorian operating theatre, a Napoleonic prison and, going back a bit further in history, Roman and Saxon exhibits as well as a display about the Ice Age. Even better, its free entry and has a nice little café. The space capsule itself seemed somewhat surreal, lit with purple floodlights in the ancient surroundings of the Cathedral and with its parachute draped above it. The thing that shocked me most was how small and scarily primitive it was. Yet it got people safely home from the International Space Station. We also got to experience a virtual reality descent in the capsule and see what it’s actually like as though we were there. The day was finished off with a quick Costa coffee while some of the guys headed off to their hotel to get checked in before we all met up again at Wildwood for dinner. I have to say I was very impressed with Wildwood. The food was very good and there was a wide range of vegetarian options, which surprised me. Thanks, Claire, for suggesting it as a meeting place, I will definitely go back again. A special thank you also to Chris for organising the day out. 6 Starbase 24: Frontera Times Issue 17: February 2019 The Starbase Christmas party was held at the Granary, over by Ferry Meadows and was a double celebration as it was Ensign Adam Young’s 16th birthday a few days later. The ensign was surprised after dinner by a birthday cake … a very, very PINK birthday cake, complete with sparkly candles and a silver diamante tiara. Moral of that story, don’t let a Klingon do the shopping! There are of course, lots more social events planned for 2019. There’s the Zombie Run at the end of March, followed by a meal at Wildwood. We will be doing the run for Marie Curie , and everyone is welcome to join us, but if you don’t fancy being chased by the undead, come any way for the meal. Looking further ahead, we’ve had to make some changes to the banquet this year, but we remain very positive and excited about it. All Starfleet officers, cadets and members/allies of the United Federation of Planets are invited. Tickets are limited so don’t leave it too late. Meanwhile, there is lots of work to be done on the Starbase. The environmental controls seem to be on the fritz. There appears to be a thick layer of cold, white stuff in the corridors of the command section. If the engineers don’t get it sorted there’s going to be blood spilt. This Klingon does not like being cold. Live Long and Prosper Fleet Admiral James Mackenzie and Admiral Kehlan COMMANDING OFFICERS, STARBASE 24 7 Starbase 24: Frontera Times Issue 17: February 2019 KLINGON /WRAITH NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE Kevin Goldsmith Due to security with the Klingon Empire, the Wraith Hive and the Federation details of the negotiations between the Klingons and Wraith, which took place over two years ago, have only now been cleared for publication. The talks, headed by Captain K'Vaar and Wraith Queen Firerose, and overseen by then Rear Admiral Kehlan Sutai Inigan took place at Starbase 24 Headquarters. Their outcome, to bring Wraith technology and firepower (which are many times more advanced than either side currently possesses) will prove a major advantage to SB-24's continuing stand against the Cancerian threat. The discussions proved a great success and the Queen was soon overseeing the necessary alterations to an area of the Klingon Embassy in Oxfordshire. Soon Wraith freighters were despatched across the border into Klingon territory. K'Vaar's ship, the Rel'Kar, and his squadron were placed on escort duty, this proved a positive move as three Cancerian warships attempted to attack the first freighters. K'Vaar's ships destroyed two and heavily damaged another but not before one freighter was badly hit. Fortunately its cargo remained undamaged. K'Vaar wanted to pursue the Cancerian ship and finish it off but considered the welfare of the freighters more important.