Sagan FNS Editorial: Holier Than Thou on the Starboard Bow

Posted on Sat Oct 12th, 2024 @ 2:17pm by Candice 'Candy' McCarthy

805 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Boys of Summer
Location: Your Computer Terminal
Timeline: Mission Day 2, 2000 Hours

Editorial: Holier Than Thou on the Starboard Bow

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Federation News Service.

How would you feel if suddenly someone deified Khan Noonien Singh? Kodos the Executioner? How about Admiral James Leyton? What if we’re at risk of doing it now?

This one might get me in trouble.

Admiral Leyton’s actions during the early days of the Dominion War still linger fresh in our minds. Most of us remember the restrictions that were placed on us during the coup he and a cabal of Starfleet officers chained us with; searches of our homes, blood tests, curfews. I was a high school freshmen in San Francisco when it occurred. I’ll never forget writing an exam with a Starfleet security officer standing at the back of the room with a phaser rifle, eagerly waiting for one of us to shapeshift into something worth shooting.

How about Captain Benjamin Maxwell, who ploughed his way through Cardassian lines twenty-five years ago with all phasers blazing? A hunch and a grudge propelled him to disgrace and made him Leyton’s future cellmate. Nevertheless, we convinced ourselves to allow Maxwell to claw his way back to greatness when the Cardassians became momentary enemies in their alliance with the Dominion. We reinstated his captaincy and told him to go his hardest. While Cardassian ships burned in space as they showed a white flag, we were already reconsidering the dispensation of such a man. History would say that man was a fool.

Five years ago, I was young and foolish, a new reporter on Sagan Prime. The first story I covered for the Federation News Service brought me into the walls of Santiago Bay Starfleet Facility amidst controversy; before I’d even set foot in the news office, I was staring down the base commander, Commander Craig Downey. My interview demanded to know how he could have allowed a series of oversights to occur that led to the suicide of a Breen refugee in Federation custody. While charged with dereliction of duty, the Federation’s deteriorating relationship with the Breen saw Downey’s hearing reduced to an administrative tribunal that imposed a month of leave and a quiet reassignment to Starfleet Command (admittedly, where careers go to die to for those under the rank of Admiral). Not exactly a fall from grace for Craig.



Commander Craig Downey is presented with the Starfleet Medal of Commendation at the opening of the Sagan Prime Orbital Complex before the Santiago Bay Starfleet Facility senior staff in 2380. Downey would cite this as the proudest moment of his career. A Starfleet inquiry found this was the beginning of a downward spiral.

Even now, the senior command staff of the Starfleet facility on this planet can be found throwing their combadge across the desk to chase personal vendettas as it suits, only to find their insignia back on their uniform once the right person has been dispensed. Thank whatever deity you believe in- hopefully, not a renowned despot- that the rank and file of the planet’s Starfleet contingent do their jobs. Without them, we would’ve been subjects of the Confederacy half a decade ago.

All of this is to say that we need to be careful who we pin a medal on. Khan, Kodos, James Leyton, Ben Maxwell, even Craig Downey, dare I say it, were at one point or another seen as vital to their environment- a key part of the food chain, be it at the apex or a little lower. It was only later they found themselves in the weeds when we turned the page of our collective history book.

Some would say it is the job of the journalist to remind their audience that even in times of conflict, there are rules. There are sacred lines we don’t cross, and there are actions we define as abhorrent. Surely, we have learned we can no longer cloak misdeeds and immorality in heroism and ideation. It starts with us doing away with our distorted ideals of nobility on the battlefield. As conflict heats up with the Breen again, it is a timely reminder that the flag a combatant flies under scarcely justifies their mistreatment.

What is in the darkness will be brought to the light.

Candice McCarthy is the Editor-in-Chief of the Sagan FNS office. Having been a journalist in the Sagan FNS office since 2385, she has also previously served as the morning editor of Santiago Bay's popular celebrity publication Shonk. Catch her this September on FNS-View in her annual appearance on Dax Pecker's news comedy variety hour Püpstreidez.

 

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