Preface

Each year, an active service captain from Starfleet is invited to give a speech to the graduating class of Starfleet Academy in San Francisco, Earth. In 2385 that honour was granted to Captain Sethur.

Transcript of a presentation to the Starfleet Academy graduating class of 2385 by Captain Atcab Sethur.

I am Atcab Sethur, captain of the USS Tricolor and it is an honour to speak to you today. It has been many many many years since I was sat where you are. Some of you will be leaving for a tour of duty on a starship, others on Starbases and some will be assigned to facilities on Earth. But wherever you go, you will always be representing Starfleet and the Federation.

I want to warn you. Your first assignment is unlikely to be glamorous. No one gets assigned to the Enterprise straight after graduating, regardless of how well they did in their exams. My first assignment was on a beaten up freighter. She shook like a rattle at warp and was outclassed by Ferengi garbage tugs, but she had a special grace all of her own.

I made lieutenant in a few years and was transferred to the Yukon, a constitution class ship. She was something else. A huge ship, but crammed with four hundred officers and crew. I know it's hard for your generation to imagine that.

I progressed through the ranks, eventually becoming the first officer. As a result of my combat experience when the captain was incapacitated I was awarded my own command, the Majestic another constitution, but much older than the Yukon. The Yukon was state-of-the-art, the Majestic was a bucket of bolts that could barely manage warp 6, but she was mine and I loved her from the minute I saw her in dry-dock. Never mind that the impulse engines failed as we were manoeuvring out of the dock, or that the test fire of the phasers backwashed into and destroyed the shield grid. I took the ship out after her ten year refit and I brought her back fifteen years later, to be decommissioned.

It was then that I fell in love. I was given the Katana, the second Yamoto class ship ever built. The Yamoto class, for those of you who were asleep in early Federation history class, was Starfleet's first serious attempt at building a warship. She was huge, the largest ship in the fleet at the time and sleek. One primary saucer hull with a torpedo bridge over it, two secondary hulls, each with its own deflector and warp core and a total of four nacelles. She had two forward facing assault phasers. If you've never felt one of those fire beneath you, I strongly suggest you high-tail it to the nearest holodeck, it's something else. She was a grand ship, but sadly a short lived one. She was lost at Endora Core during an encounter with the Klingons. She defended her honour valiantly, but was crippled in the fight and destroyed; by myself.

After I returned to Earth, I had what you might call a crisis of faith. I took an extended leave of absence and travelled about, hiking in the mountains, riding horses.

Then one night, I discovered what was nagging me. I was lying under the stars, observing Cassiopeia, when I remembered an old phaser my father had given me. I had never been able to use it in service, it was too antiquated even when I got it, but I didn't throw it out. I upgraded it, and even though I never used it in service, I kept it where I could find it in an emergency. It was the only personal effect I had had time to rescue from the Katana.

It reminded me of the Katana's problems. She was cursed with all the problems that, only a few years after she was lost, forced Starfleet to withdraw all Yamoto class ships from service. The assault phasers were too high a drain on power reserves. Worse, they mis-fired. Starfleet's manual estimated a misfire every 100 discharges, but in my experience it was nearer 1 in 10. The mis-fire meant that the super heated plasma had to be expelled and the only system capable of handling the temperatures and pressure was the impulse manifolds. This got rid of the dangerous plasma, but resulted in an impulse stall. The engines needed to be completely restarted, which takes about 20 seconds. Worse still, during the stall, the ship loses attitude control, so the bow pitches out of control. Imagine it; you fire at the enemy, but the misfire shuts down your engines and throws you in a spin.

But worse then this, during the battle, the starboard weapon mis-fired catastrophically and was destroyed. It took out three sections of four decks, and destroyed all the plasma conduits to the starboard phasers.

I knew these problems were surmountable, so I returned to service and enrolled in the engineering core. I was the first captain in the service to go back to school and to go to the engineering one at that. It caused quite a stir, I can tell you. Some of those young engineers thought I was there to spy on them. But they learnt to trust me.

That class was the best time of my life, and believe me, when you've lived as long as I, that's quite a statement. I was one of the last pupils to be taught both the duotronics and optronics that replaced it. I'm still the only captain in service that's qualified to work on a duotronic ship refit. I missed the chance to work on the Enterprise refit, but was able to work on another ship, the Victory.

Again, your generation has only seen duotronic technology in museums, but I actually helped strip out a few old ships and refit them with optronic systems.

After that I taught tactics and combat strategy for several years at the academy. Once the Klingon's signed the peace treaty I figured they'd put me out to pasture, but then came the Orion pirates and the colony raiders and the increased threat from the Romulans, so Starfleet command decided it was a waste of resources to have a captain with actual combat experience teaching at the academy. I was once again in the captain's chair.

I was given command of a small rapid defence ship, an Okinawa class ship called Fortune. We patrolled the edge of Federation space, near the outer rim, kept pirates at bay, saw off raiders and protected settlements and outposts.

Later as things worn down and the treats decreased, I worked for Starfleet Research, helping to build the future ships of the line. I helped with the Galaxy class and Akira projects. My part was small, but I was glad to be able to make a difference. And that's what being in Starfleet is all about, making a difference.

I am currently in command of the Tricolor, as I've said. The Tricolor is a Prometheus class ship, state-of-the-art and fitted with the most complex sensor array in existence. She's a mighty fine ship and I'm very proud to be her captain. She's currently at dry-dock in Earth orbit being refitted with even more sensitive sensors and telemetry uplinks.

So, what can I tell you about being in Starfleet? What are the lessons to draw from my career?

Well, I can give you three pieces of advice.

One, always act with distinction. Have conviction in your decisions. Two, never annoy the Romulans. And three, never eat just before taking a ship out on a shakedown cruise. Regardless of what the chief engineer assures you, the inertia dampers are never calibrated properly.

So take heart. Today you are joining the greatest organisation in the galaxy. And as my first officer frequently says; Live long and prosper.