Captain's log, stardate 11582.4. We are have arrived at Jarada IV, a jungle planet home to the legendary Zithra plant, a potential source of medical treatments. The source of the plant is said to be the third largest island in the largest ocean region. Almost inaccessible to all but those who have been here before.

The Merlin is carrying a rather eccentric El Aurian civilian adviser aboard as a guide. Zhetara Telkses is one of the few survivors of the Robert Fox and Lakul tragedies of stardate 9715. Ms Telkses has been reported by several of my officers of her talking to herself, indeed, holding fully-fledged conversations. One-sided of course. I have told them to ignore these observations, I've been around enough Post-Traumatic Stress to recognise the symptoms.

We lost Ensign Parenthes only three days ago. It seems he ignored the good advice of our civilian adviser - and Doctor Ngobe - and was found poisoned by a Tareetha plant. I have had to personally rein in the away teams, reminding them of the authority of our civilian guide and chief medical officer over this mission.

The U.S.S. Merlin was assigned to the current mission after Starfleet Command sent their El Aurian adviser, Zhetara Telkses, aboard shuttle 01 'Excalibur' as an additional piece of cargo from starbase 11.

Zhetara joined Starfleet as an adviser midway through 2294. It became apparent that her travels and vast knowledge could assist in the exploration of space. Her first assignment was aboard the U.S.S. Kelvin, leading to the archeological find on the frozen deserts of Czitius VII. Other successes on the starship Sabalan led to her assigning to Darrien Thorpe's ship Merlin on stardate 10951.2. Since her assignment to the Merlin, numerous discoveries have been made.

One of the greatest mysteries aboard the U.S.S. Merlin is the quarters of Zhetara Telkses. All sorts of strange tales of mystical and technological goings on in there have been told. Unusual standing orders from Starfleet Command give latitude to this and most matters concerning Ms. Telkses' behaviour.

Author's Notes:

The Robert Fox and Lakul were destroyed by the Nexus phenomena in Star Trek: Generations. El Aurians have been seen in TNG, most notably Guinan, and in DS9.

Crew:

Officers: 20

N.C.O.'s: 60

Cruising Warp: 5.

Maximum warp: 7.

Starship primary mission: Planetary Exploration. [Usually probe follow-up missions].

Oberth class arrangement

Deck 1 Bridge, conference room, officer quarters, mess hall, lounge.

Deck 2 Shuttlebay upper deck. Enlisted crew quarters, gym, laundry, cargo bay.

Deck 3 Shuttlebay main deck, cargo bays, escape pod access, cryogenic tankage.

Deck 4 Sickbay, life sciences, transporter, main engineering, computer core, life support, waste recycling.

Deck 5 Deuterium tankage, jeffries tube to secondary hull

Deck 6 Deuterium tankage, jeffries tube to secondary hull, plasma flush vent

Deck 7 Deuterium tankage, jeffries tube to secondary hull, deflector generator, structural integrity.

Deck 8 Science/cartography sensor array, science labs, communication buoy magazine.

Deck 9 Science/cartography sensor array, science sensor processing compartment, buoy/torpedo/probe workshop,

Deck 10 Science/cartography sensor array, aft sensor compartment, life support, batteries.

Deck 11 Science/cartography sensor array, batteries.

U.S.S. Merlin has two shuttles:

01 Excalibur

02 Camelot