Captain's Log 046

Posted on 31 Oct 2023 @ 5:42pm by Commander Morgan Tarin

458 words; about a 2 minute read

Captain's Log, Stardate 69372.7

"The systems test will begin shortly in approximately one hour but my thoughts are preoccupied with something more pertinent. Dangerous, controversial, unethical; I can't find the correct words to describe what I'm feeling. I'm obviously well aware of what's right and wrong as any captain should be, but sometimes the distinction isn't so...well-defined.

"Starfleet Command and several Federation organizations are still expecting a data transmission from Galileo containing the recovered Cold Station 31 research logs and system files. It's been two weeks and they're losing patience with my delays. I'd be ignorant to assume they haven't figured out I've been stalling. I was given direct orders, afterall, to recover what we could from the facility and preserve its research in the event the station wasn't salvageable. The PADD's on the wall now that Galileo destroyed the base.

"Lives were lost pursuing this supposed transwarp transporter technology and I have a duty as a Starfleet officer to ensure civilian and Starfleet sacrifices don't go in vain - I have a duty to speak the truth without obfuscation or deceit, and to follow my orders. That's what they drilled into every Command cadet at the Academy. It's been years since I last sat a course lecture but I still remember those words vividly. 'The importance of personal responsibility and integrity even in the face of adversity'. It's the backbone of Starfleet...and it's why I'm struggling to make a decision I know isn't right, but is right.

"I have reason to believe Cold Station 31's research is clandestine in nature. How or why I suspect this? I won't divulge that in any official log. But more importantly, the nature of the station's research - what they were actually working to discover - is, by all accounts, a perversion of the original research mandate and an affront to the Federation's core philosophies. I won't endorse or condone this behavior nor will I allow anyone else to reap the benefits of unethical scientific practices. It's one thing to push the limits of known science to achieve a technological edge - it's another to sacrifice our principles in the pursuit.

"I intend to delete all of Cold Station 31's recovered data from Galileo's memory banks and leave no trace of what was researched since the project's inception. Let me state on the record that I am knowingly disobeying direct orders and my mandate. Should this log reach anyone within Starfleet Command, I, Commander Tarin, accept full and sole responsibility for this action. I'm violating my oath to my superiors and will accept the consequences, but I'm not a traitor to the Federation or its ideals.

"Computer, end log."

RSS Feed