Captain's Log Supplemental, Stardate 92542.84
All great adventures must begin somewhere. I would say that mine begin today, but the truth is, my entire life has been an adventure.
My name is T'oluk-Maat S'el-tanaya M'ddvhh'tvh. I am Vulcan. Currently, I am a Commander within the United Federation of Planets, and the captain of a long-range science vessel, the U.S.S. AtomA. Most of my crew have served under me for the entirety of my career, aboard several other ships. They are loyal and creative, if a bit unruly.
My kind of people. They are also my friends.
I am admittedly a bit unusual for one of my species, hence this exercise in vanity that many would consider something of a journal. I attribute it to my upbringing within a cult founded by Sybok on the planet of Nimbus III. When the cult was *ahem* 'disbanded', I was taken to Vulcan for 'rehabilitation' and was adopted by a quite normal, logical Vulcan family. They remained in constant frustration because, at the age of twelve, I had never learned to bring my emotions under control and embrace logic. My adoptive siblings would call me 'the covert Romulan' whenever I would show emotion. Though I excelled in school and embraced logic, I always believed that there should be more of a balance. While one cannot allow their emotions to rule, emotions are not logical and do require some form of acknowledgement and expression.
This way of thinking made me a pariah amongst my peers.
However, a girl who lived down the street from me whom was in my class became my friend. While she didn't agree with my viewpoints, she believed that I needed guidance and patience. Perhaps she was correct. She is still my friend and the Science Officer aboard my ship. When I failed my Kalenarr due to what the high Counsel considered a 'nervous breakdown', she followed me to Starfleet Academy when the Counsel sent me away, much to the bewilderment of her parents. She was in line to become a priestess, and why she left Vulcan to join Starfleet remains a mystery to them. But I know why. T'Lyra is a closet rebel, though she would never admit it, even under threat of torturous death.
Once in Starfleet, I quickly earned a reputation as the Vulcan who acted more like a Romulan or Human. I could not--nor had any intention to--completely quash my emotions. And it was a bit of a shock to my classmates when they made their appearance. For some reason this made me intriguing to a few of my classmates, the most notable an Earth-raised Saurian named Kolez and his long-time friend, a Bolian-Earthling named Drazel. T'Lyra felt they were a bad influence on me at first and would attempt to keep me from seeing them, but upon our mutual assignments to the U.S.S. Cephalopod, there was no choice. Seeing what skilled workers they were and what ingenious solutions they came up with to the problems that arise aboard a starship, her attitude toward them softened in time.
However, we had a true party girl in our midst. The one human in our first assignment, First Officer Eliza Florez, was a rather bad influence on us all. The Cephalopod has yet to be fully restored from antics that she instigated (more on that in a later entry), and she earned herself a reprimand and subsequent ground assignment. Kolez became our First Officer and we haven't looked back.
Pondering on it now, that seems like a lifetime ago. There have been five ships, many planets and two new bridge officers since then. One of which is Drazel's younger half-sister Siall...and with her arrival, the drama began.
Drazel, Siall and Kolez grew up in the same San Francisco neighborhood and attended school together. They had been friends since they were children, and Drazel and Kolez were in the same graduating class at the Academy, the same T'Lyra and myself were in. Siall is a couple of years younger than the two, and it quickly became apparent that she and her elder sister had been vying for our Tactical Officer's affections for a long time. Unfortunately for them both, their feelings were unrequited which, unfortunately for us all, led to more in-fighting and sibling rivalry.
The situation became so bad at one point that I called Kolez and T'Lyra together to discuss whether we should discipline them both, let them go, and look for another Chief Engineer and Junior Science Officer. Whilst still deliberating, a second Engineer joined our crew. The rather mysterious and intimidating O'wez D'artangnan has had nothing but a positive influence on my unruly crew, bringing professionalism and peace back to my bridge. Due to his calm demeanor and logical approach to volatile situations, he and T'Lyra became fast friends as did he and Kolez...though I think the Saurian had been feeling outnumbered all these years by such a female-dominant bridge crew.
Whilst our journeys aboard the AtomA have not been problem-free, they certainly have been free of the problems of our younger selves. Maybe we're all mellowing as we age. Or perhaps we've all finally grown up. Whatever the case, there has been far less Saurian brandy involved. Perhaps that has something to do with it.
Captain T'olek, signing off.
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