Greetings fellow humans;
My name is Arthur
Bigelow and I am writing to you from the future. This statement, the
significance of it, overwhelms me, but I assure you it is true. I imagine some
explanation as to the temporal logistics of this will be required, but I hope
that throughout these letters, you can more clearly understand how it is
possible for you to be reading my words.
Let me begin by
first introducing myself, my name, as previously stated, is Arthur Bigelow, and
I am a junior science officer aboard the U.S.S. Cape Breton, commissioned on
stardate 43989.1 or in your Earth years, 2367, following an extended construction in the Utopia Planitia fleet yards. I am, for all intents and purposes, a persona in what you would
know as out of the Star Trek universe. I was contacted by an alien race, called
the Estrucanmaya and given the incredible opportunity of being able to relay
messages back in time to your time; the purpose of which, as will be explained
in much more detail later, is, I suppose, to further my career with Starfleet.
Let me state for the record that I have no intention of attempting to enhance my
position, as some of my predecessors may have done, and what you will read going
forward are more literal accounts of events as they have taken place, or will
take place, in this time continuum.
I can barely
imagine the incredible shock it is for you, dear reader, to intercept these
letters, and I wonder through what medium you will be able to read them. I am
told that my first letter will arrive on your earth date of March 1st, 2013, but after combing through the
historical records, I unfortunately cannot find any trace of my letters. This
does not deter me in the slightest, for I know that my accounts will perhaps be
some comfort to anyone who reads them, even if the audience is limited in
number. The stories of my exploits initially, you will discover, will be
punctuated by many instances of explanations of the truth in events, as I fear
you have been grossly misinformed by my predecessors as to the state of human
affairs in my time. Bear with me as I highlight these explanations, and I hope
they will not hinder your overall enjoyment. The last point I will
make is that I really don’t have time to be even writing these letters, as my
duty shift lasts 15 hours a day with an hour for lunch and I’ll most likely be
using my lunch period to hammer these letters out. Therefore, you should not be
surprised at the sloppiness of my work, which, if left unedited, could possibly
be difficult to endure at times.
Thank you for
allowing this prelude to my adventures and I will continue will some
acknowledgements. I have made extensive historical research with the aid of two
colleagues of mine, the first of whom is known as the Unlimited Cognitive
Learning System, or U.C.L.S., an android created by a Dr. Maddox, and the second
of whom is my dear friend and colleague, Mr. John Hitler, the period expert on
your time who serves on our crew. I would like to thank my captain as well, even
though he barely deserves it, for routing the call from the Estrucanmaya to my
quarters during the middle of the night, because, well, he wasn’t interested in
speaking to them himself, busy as he was with his … activities. Perhaps my
candor in my descriptions of him may seem harsh and unfair at first, but later
letters will no doubt leave you with a more clear impression of him. I am
confident that since my letters do not appear in any historical record that I
have been able to find, there is no worry in my mind that he will ever come
across them either. Lastly, I owe my most sincere gratitude to the
wonderful alien race of the Estrucanmaya for making the relay of these letters
back in time possible.
If you are familiar
with the “Star Trek” universe, you will have some idea of the universe that I
inhabit. I have researched thoroughly all the shows produced up to your time as
well as the theatrical releases and comparing this fiction against the backdrop
of reality has afforded me great mirth and continuous entertainment. Hitler and
I had a good deal of laughs, let me just say that. I will not deny the impact
and allure such a show can have with a primitive people as some of the episodes
we watched were dramatic and thoroughly engaging, but I must point out first and
foremost that the thought that human nature can crescendo into the higher moral
level within the space of a few hundred years as it is shown in some of these
shows is patently and simply absurd. Human beings are probably no better now
than they perhaps ever were, and this is one of the first concepts I would like
to impress upon you. In my humble opinion, human nature is fundamentally and
inextricably flawed and no amount of technological advancement will ever change
that without seriously corrupting the essential meaning of what it is to be
human. As a subscript here, we really liked those episodes on the Borg.
Absolutely hilarious; we were quite literally rolling on the floor laughing for
these ones, or as I suppose would make more sense to you, rofling.
While it is
unavoidable that I must make reference to this "Star Trek" universe of which you may or may
not know, I will make the effort to distance myself from it
because of it’s fictitiousness. This may account for the absence of
my letters from history. You’ll notice almost immediately I have taken
a more humble approach in how I will be entitling my letters; “Letters from the
Future,” over the grandiloquent “Star Trek.” I suppose there is a certain amount
of baggage associated with that show, which I can clearly see from the
historical record.
My shift begins in
the next 5 minutes, so I must wind this first of many letters up now. I
will leave you with an inspirational phrase of an ancient philosopher of whom I
am fond. “Get what you will and avoid what you can!”
I leave you now
with my very best regards;
Arthur J Bigelow, SC, JSO
