Vanguard

You young pups are probably all keyed into the story of Voyager and her crew. But this is from back in the days of Kirk and the original Enterprise. And I don’t mean so far back that everything was new. I mean back when the Klingons were good sport, the Romulans had gone back into hiding, and space was still a big place.

It was a time when picket ships and escorts could still have a good time, and capital ships still needed support sometimes.

That was the time of my ship. The time of my Vanguard.

The USS Vanguard, the class namesake. If you imagine the Voyager with her secondary hull chopped off, that would leave a kind of flying wedge. Put the nacelles on the top of the hull, near the back of the outer edge, and you’ve got a fair approximation of the Vanguard class.

She was a really nifty package. She already had Voyager’s adjustable pylons. She was atmosphere capable, built tough -and heavy – as a brick but she handled gracefully if you gave her room. And if you didn’t, she could handle whatever abuse you threw at her.

I loved her because she was cozy. And because she was my design.

The crew loved her because she was never boring. And she always brought them through safely. They knew that.

We held a variety of assignments in my time as captain – from civil spacelane and trade route patrol, to border patrol along the Phlanax. We did interdiction duty on several blocaded or quarentined planets. We also served as escort for many diplomatic missions and two assaults.

Of course, we saw a lot of time in port, too. For all her graces, she was not designed for an extended tour. With the proper configuration of the multi-role module, we could handle an extended mission of two years. We never did, though; few Vanguard class ever did. It would have been a waste of the multi-role module. Besides, thats what capital ships are for, anyway.

No, we usually operated out of a port somewhere, or ran between several. And that was good for the crew. We were not making new discoveries, nor going where no one had gone before. But we went everywhere.

Looking back, I remember the skirmishes best. Anytime there was a serious risk of combat or loss of life – – those times are etched in my memory. But I think the times we spent in the Phlanax were the most fun.

The Phlanax is an area of unruly space where the Klingon, Romulan and Federation borders all come together. It wasn’t a combat region as much as a seedy brackwater. Every Orion and other trader worth any salt had a friend who knew some people in the Phlanax.

Each government basicly ceeded so many sectors to it; it was ruled by no one, even though technically the border of each Empire went right through the center of the space. Instead, each Empire set a boundary – – mostly just to keep the mess from spilling out any further into their space.

We patrolled this line often – mostly identifying the ruffians who were trying to leave, and pushing them back in. But several times we were in the Phlanax as well. Covet ops? Hmm, thats funny, I don’t remember.

But it was an informal if serious tour. Several times, we sat within rocks throw of a Klingon patrol. Just sat and watched them watch us. I wonder how many of the crew knew about the friendly banter I exchanged with the Klingon captains from the terminal in my quarters?

Yes, those were heady days. Back when ships were smaller, and the hulls thinner, and no one was too eager to fire for fear of having to walk home.