Star Trek XI, "Epic Men," gen ficlet
Sep. 29th, 2009 03:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asimaiyatTitle: "Epic Men"
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Pairing/Characters: Gen -- Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Chekov
Rating: G
Summary: the crew reflects on lost friends and the history of space travel. A memorial ficlet written to honor the late William Safire.
Jim had seen a lot of memorials and monuments by now, and he had to admit that the one for the Farragut crew was a nice one, as they went. Just a big bronze wall, behind a small fountain, and if you looked at it the right way you could see reflected the names and (smiling, promising) yearbook pictures of everyone who'd left with the ship, who hadn't come back. In front there was a little plaque, easy to miss if you were just walking by without paying attention. The full bridge crew of the Enterprise stood a few feet back from the plaque, seeming to have settled without discussion on a moment of silence.
"'In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.' An accurate observation, but I must confess that I am unfamiliar with the quotation."
Nyota placed a hand on Spock's upper arm. "That's because it's from a speech that was never given," she said. "Back in the twentieth century. When the first human ship landed on Earth's moon, the writer William Safire wrote a speech for the President to give in case the astronauts didn't survive. A eulogy. They made it home safely, of course, so the speech is sort of like... another artifact from an alternate timeline."
"You really do know everything, don't you?" said Jim.
"I wish. I know the speech because I read a lot of Safire's work when I was doing my high school senior thesis on Imperialism and the English and French languages. He was a brilliant etymologist."
Jim frowned for a minute, staring at the plaque. "You know, it's hard for me to believe sometimes that space travel started out as this whole international dick-waving competition. Imagine being in the first generation to have this technology, to be able to explore other planets for the first time in your world's history, and having these amazingly brave guys facing the real possibility that they're going to sacrifice their lives just for the sake of knowing that it's possible... and your first thought is 'we can use this to beat the Russians!'"
"In the twentieth century, your people were not aware of the existence of life on other planets. It is quite a leap of logic to expect them to realize that hundreds of years later, the officers giving their lives in space would be doing so in order to save the Earth itself. If I recall correctly, at that point in Earth history it was widely believed that the planet would be destroyed by hostilities between human nations."
"Yeah, I guess that makes it hard to judge why they did anything. So much for logic, huh?"
"Human history is not a good subject to dwell on for those who appreciate logic."
"It is a shame that after all that, they did not get there first."
"Sorry?" asked Nyota.
"I mean, for Apollo II. That the Russians landed on the moon first, yes?"
"Uh, yeah. It was a great national disappointment for us. Now come on, we're all going to be late for the ceremony."
Fandom: Star Trek XI
Pairing/Characters: Gen -- Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Chekov
Rating: G
Summary: the crew reflects on lost friends and the history of space travel. A memorial ficlet written to honor the late William Safire.
Jim had seen a lot of memorials and monuments by now, and he had to admit that the one for the Farragut crew was a nice one, as they went. Just a big bronze wall, behind a small fountain, and if you looked at it the right way you could see reflected the names and (smiling, promising) yearbook pictures of everyone who'd left with the ship, who hadn't come back. In front there was a little plaque, easy to miss if you were just walking by without paying attention. The full bridge crew of the Enterprise stood a few feet back from the plaque, seeming to have settled without discussion on a moment of silence.
"'In ancient days, men looked at the stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.' An accurate observation, but I must confess that I am unfamiliar with the quotation."
Nyota placed a hand on Spock's upper arm. "That's because it's from a speech that was never given," she said. "Back in the twentieth century. When the first human ship landed on Earth's moon, the writer William Safire wrote a speech for the President to give in case the astronauts didn't survive. A eulogy. They made it home safely, of course, so the speech is sort of like... another artifact from an alternate timeline."
"You really do know everything, don't you?" said Jim.
"I wish. I know the speech because I read a lot of Safire's work when I was doing my high school senior thesis on Imperialism and the English and French languages. He was a brilliant etymologist."
Jim frowned for a minute, staring at the plaque. "You know, it's hard for me to believe sometimes that space travel started out as this whole international dick-waving competition. Imagine being in the first generation to have this technology, to be able to explore other planets for the first time in your world's history, and having these amazingly brave guys facing the real possibility that they're going to sacrifice their lives just for the sake of knowing that it's possible... and your first thought is 'we can use this to beat the Russians!'"
"In the twentieth century, your people were not aware of the existence of life on other planets. It is quite a leap of logic to expect them to realize that hundreds of years later, the officers giving their lives in space would be doing so in order to save the Earth itself. If I recall correctly, at that point in Earth history it was widely believed that the planet would be destroyed by hostilities between human nations."
"Yeah, I guess that makes it hard to judge why they did anything. So much for logic, huh?"
"Human history is not a good subject to dwell on for those who appreciate logic."
"It is a shame that after all that, they did not get there first."
"Sorry?" asked Nyota.
"I mean, for Apollo II. That the Russians landed on the moon first, yes?"
"Uh, yeah. It was a great national disappointment for us. Now come on, we're all going to be late for the ceremony."