‘The silence between us is deafening.  Not the silence without, for there is none – we engage in the same things we always have; on the surface we interact with one another as usual, as the crew expects us to, and all would seem normal to the casual observer – but the silence within is all encompassing and eclipses everything else.’

Written for 'Something to Shout About ... Silence' challenge.

Ready for more of the alternate Cardassia you saw first in TNG's "Parallels"?

Here is a collection of writing prompt responses from this universe.

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Spoilers abound.  I will try to indicate when each prompt takes place and what stories it follows.

Cadet John Quigley is weeks away from achieving his hard-won dream: escaping the reach of his troubled, abusive mother by becoming a Starfleet officer.  

Breaking free is all he's ever wanted.  So why does it hurt so much?

(My entry for the "Under the Weather" Weekly Prompt.)

While en route to the Kalandra sector, the beleaguered Tango Fleet stumbles upon the impending invasion of Betazed. Outnumbered and cut off from Starfleet, Admiral Jellico is forced to set a desperate gambit into motion.

As a hopeless battle ensues, the crew of the USS Intrepid comes face to face with one of the galaxy’s most fearsome legends; a species of unequaled malevolence and destructive power. Captain Aubrey must soon choose between the risk of handing victory to the Dominion, or allowing an ancient horror to once again ravage the galaxy.

In the spirit of fun and adventure I humbly extend a challenge to the many fine writers of Ad Astra: Write a story that is within the universe of Unsung Heroes. It’s a round robin event organized as an open series meaning that you can post your own stories to the series, the various stories adding together like the chapters of a book. Prequel, sequel, TNG mirror universe – the galaxy’s the limit!

The instructions are simple. Read Star Trek HQ first and then come up with your own story that plays within the same ‘virtual sandbox’. Some good ideas for additional stories might be: ‘What did Amy do next?’, or, ‘What happened to Doctor Dunmore when he returned to Starfleet Command?’

And what of our new enemy? Although little is known about him, his powers of creation and destruction are very real. Originating from an entirely new faction of the Borg, it appears that the collective has changed its views on the importance and role of the individual. Can this Borg Homunculus – this drone that is not a drone – spawn entire new cubes faster than Starfleet can scream retreat?

If you send an email to pengraff@telus.net and request The Unsung Heroes Technical Guide I’ll send you some important information on how the technology that tried to save Commander Worf worked. Your story does not need to use any of this technology – it’s available merely as technical backstory that you might find useful.

I hope it’s as much fun for you as it has been for me!

Sequel to ‘Six Degrees  of Separation,’ this piece follows Kirk, McCoy and Spock during the three years leading up to, encompassing and shortly after TMP.  Can the big three survive without each other to lean on?  Can they find a way to repair the emotional wounds inflicted at the end of the 5-year mission?  It’s a long, slow, painful process, with a few bright spots to light the way…