An almost (mostly not) true story: Part I

I have a secret obsession with those headphones that have a mic attached. I love them. I love them so much. In fact, it is impossible to describe how much I love them.

Want to know why?

Two words:

Space camp.

The obsession with outer space (and headphones with mics) didn't start in 5^th grade, but 5^th grade provided the experience that fanned the flames. I've always loved looking at stars, I track meteor showers, and I tend to dance around in glee when I unexpectedly see a shooting star. When I was younger I dreamed of being an astronaut because — naturally — outer space was where the Star Wars characters lived. Glowing stars on my ceiling. Pretending to be Han Solo when playing laser tag. Star shows at planetariums. Countless dreams of flying.  It's sort of my deepest wish to be a space tourist.

So, in 5th grade, when my class had the chance to go to outer space, I was beyond thrilled—I was delighted, overjoyed, and positively giddy.

Now, my memories of space camp are editorialized to the extreme, but luckily I've got friends who were there too. I also found the website for the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center, which is where space camp is located. (Word of advice — don't go to the website if you remember space camp — it dims the euphoric glow of memory.) But here, utilizing my flawed memories, my friend's better memories, the website, and a touch of fiction, is the "true" story of what happened at space camp:

(Fair warning: Just in case you're a Trekkie/Star Wars nerd who's going to get all upset about my terminology and garbage — I really don't care. Therefore, don't bother… Space camp was a campy mix of Star Trek episodes, storylines, and vernacular, and therefore, the terms are those used in the experience and it is what it is.)

 A long time ago…

In a galaxy far, far, away…

The mission assignment wasn't entirely unexpected. Trips to outer space were the norm for Academy students, but this emergency mission brought along the challenges of the unknown. For the crew, stiff from a long ride to Starbase 12 aboard the yellow troop carrier, the tension was apparent, but controlled.

One by one, the 20+ core member of the crew — captain, first officer, ambassador, and other bridge officers—stepped into the teleporter and beamed aboard the ship. The teleportation was a seconds-long trip of sudden silence, solitude, and darkness that ended when each crewmember stepped into the blue-lit hallway of an inner room aboard the USS Voyager. After quickly changing into their uniforms (the first officer noting with dismay that the captain still had more stars on his shoulder than her) the crew hurried up the metal circular staircase and onto the quiet bridge.

Focused on their jobs, the crew spread out across the ship. The captain, first officer, and science officer claimed their positions on the raised platform overlooking the buzzing hive of activity below. The first officer took a moment to glance at the diagram of the ship hanging above her before putting on her headphones, adjusting the microphone in front of her mouth, and giving the captain an all-clear signal.

The captain sat straighter in his chair, watching with satisfaction as the records officer, right and left wing power officers,  damage control officers, and flight officers, assumed their positions. The scanners officer, sensors officer, decoder, long range officer, and engineer followed, while the security officers performed a final check of the ship before climbing to their perch overlooking the entire bridge. Each crewmember put on their mic'd headphones and waited for further instructions.

"Quiet on the deck!" the first officer commanded.

With everyone silent and waiting, the communique from the captain of the USS Ranger — the message that had inspired the urgent call from Starfleet Command — was shared with the Voyager crew.

According to the message, a small ship had been discovered near an unstable wormhole in the Romulan Neutral Zone. The ship housed a single life form that had traveled through the wormhole. The life form, calling himself Rooll, fled from another species that had reportedly enslaved Rooll and his kind. After fleeing from a relocation camp on his home planet, Rooll traveled through the wormhole, narrowly escaping a slave hunter. However, in his encounter with the slave hunter, Rooll's ship was damaged and he was injured. The USS Ranger, in need of supplies and repairs, had called for assistance.

It was assistance the Voyager was now prepared to give.