Howdy all,
Well, I was pondering the thread of shipboard high tech games when
I suddenly realized this was the perfect venue for one of my dad's
old sea stories from the 1950's USN. :-)
The Saga of The Esther Williams Trophy:
Back in 1072, there was a very attractive young holovid star Esther
Williams (of pure Solomani heritage) who was engaged to an Ensign
in the Darrian Confederation Navy. His name and story are
unimportant, however, his fiancee gave him a marvelous present that
has been handed down through the years and sparked the imaginations
of Starship wardrooms for many many years. She gave him a large
holographic plate of her curvaceous self inscribed "All my love,
Esther".
Sadly for the Ensign, the romance went sour, but his loss was the
gain of ship crews everywhere. When it was known that the holo had
lost its romantic appeal, (and perhaps in an attempt to get a rise
out of the sulking Ensign) a shipmate stole it. However, it was
then quickly discovered that the owner no longer wanted the holo
back. It was then stolen by another shipmate. Soon, a free for
all of epic proportions broke out aboard the Darrain ship with
officers stealing the holo back and forth.
Eventually, the holograph was taken by an officer when he was
transferred off ship. The original ship made attempts to steal the
holo plate back triggering reprocussions throughout civilized
space. The holo became the most desired object in the Darrian
fleet. Ship crews began to hatch devilish schemes to possess the
holo.
The Holograph became a trophy. It was then that the rules of the
game evolved. It was encased in armored plastic with flotation
attached and a small passive transponder to prevent its being lost
in space.
It was in 1075 that the trophy first crossed over into Imperial
hands when Admiral Bertil (For whom the class of Q-ships was named)
let it be known that any Imperial crew which managed to steal the
trophy would not exactly meet with his disapproval. Since then the
holo has been in and out of Imperial hands during various points of
history. It has crossed into the hands of the Arden Confederation,
The Sword Worlds, and even accidently into the Zhodani Consulate
when the carrying ship was captured.
The rules of the game are simple:
The trophy must be displayed in the owning ship's wardroom.
The trophy may not be bolted down.
Only officers may participate in guarding or stealing the trophy.
No weapons are permitted to be used.
A holodisk accompanies the trophy on which the accounts and details
of how the trophy was stolen are transcribed for history.
On one occasion in 1093, the destroyer Dildano was in possession of
the trophy. She was docked at Regina highport when the officers of
the scoutship Caliban boarded her. The crew of the Caliban had
timed their attack to coincide with a general liberty for Dildano's
crew. There were only four officers aboard at the time. When the
intruder alarm went up the Dildano crew sprang for the wardroom and
barricaded themselves inside. Not to be outdone, Caliban's crew
barricaded the officers inside the wardroom from the OUTside.
Caliban's crew then undocked Dildano from the station and fired her
engines briefly to break orbit. As the destroyer spiraled in
closer to Regina's atmosphere, Caliban's crew prepared to bail out.
They offered the Dildano officers the chance to regain the bridge
if they would surrender the trophy. Knowing they were beaten, they
surrendered before the ship would surely be destroyed.
Another account was from the log of the battleship Atlantis in 1104
when she was attacked by the crew of the carrier Lexington. The
Atlantis was in highport in Efate. It being well known that a high
proportion of starport workers in Efate are vargr. A vargr Ensign
from the Lexington was kitted out with the ID and uniform of an
Efate starport worker. He stole aboard the Atlantis and made his
way to the wardroom.
The officers of the Atlantis were sipping coffee when there was
suddenly a huge commotion in the passageway. A starport worker
barking excitedly in gveug burst through the iris valve pointing
back out as black smoke came pouring through. The officers hit the
fire alarm and rushed to their stations.
The Ensign had his chance, he grabbed the trophy and tore off
toward one of the starboard airlocks. However he was quickly
followed by a mob of angry officers who had just found his brace of
smoke bombs. He barely made it to the airlock, threw the trophy
inside and hit the emergency cycle button. The trophy was blown
into space to a waiting ship's boat from the Lexington.
As the ship's boat closed in to make the pickup, the Atlantis
powered up her starboard repulsors and EMS-Jammers in an attempt to
force Lexington's crew to bring the trophy aboard. Atlantis
officers jumped ship in vac suits to attempt recovery but were
beaten to the target by the Lexington's boat.
Lexington's boat took off at full speed, pursued by the Atlantis'
cutter. A high speed chase ensued. Lexington's boat dove into
Efate's atmosphere, followed closely by Atlantis' cutter. As the
two approached the surface, Lexington's boat submerged in the
ocean. Atlantis' cutter attempted to follow but quickly lost
contact. She rose out of the water and began a search pattern.
All of a sudden, they regained contact as Lexington's boat surfaced
and landed at an underground monorail station along the shore.
Atlantis' cutter made an emergency landing at the platform just in
time to see Lexington's officers disappearing underground.
Two days later, the vargr Ensign was released by the Atlantis crew.
He was hailed as the hero of the operation, and received a personal
recommendation from the Lexington's captain when he went before the
promotion board later that year.
The trophy has acquired an aura of legend around it. It has been
ascribed almost magical powers as a good luck charm for the ship
which carries it. (Possibly because the Admirals smile on the
activity as promoting morale aboard ship and give choice
assignments to those smart enough to capture it.)
So you see, you don't need all those guns to have fun with Trav...
:-)
Scott 2G Kellogg
(BTW: Does anyone out there know what happened to the REAL Esther
Williams Trophy? If you do, PLEASE let know. :-)