Hailing Frequencies Open!

Newsletter for the Star Trek: Freedom Wiki, Fall 2008 edition. To obtain a larger view of any of our pictures in this issue left click on the picture you wish to see. To post feedback click on the Discussion tab. To see previous editions of the newsletter, visit The Archive

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Fleet Update and Missions

• USS Spectre Mission: The Gates of Prometheus

"Captain's supplemental log, Stardate 2408.06.06. 20:05 hundred hours."

"After encountering the Borg vessel whilst still under phased cloak, we dispached an EVA team of marines to covertly board the ship by way of a portable boarding tube, the 'Can Opener' as the Marines affectionately like to term it. The operation was a success but during their mission to incapacitate the Borg Communications array and main power systems, a small Sphere ejected in an attempt to remotely re-establish a link with the collective. I gave the order to pursue the sphere but despite our best efforts to destroy it, it seems that it may have initiated a time jump"

"The unusually configured Borg vessel however has now been secured and a small number of drones taken aboard the Spectre for further data retrieval. Attempts are also under way by Doctor Gunnell, our mission specialist to establish data linkup with the Borg ships main database. My thoughts though are still of the Sphere and where, or when it might re-emerge"

"End log... append to existing"

• USS Rosenante Mission:

• USS Boudicca Mission:

• USS Mithrandir Mission:

• USS Hades Mission:

Story #2

Ricardo Montalban: The Passing of a Great Star Trek Villain

An extraordinarily talented individual has departed from us. Ricardo Montalban passed away the morning of January 14, 2009 at the age of 88. Though the exact cause of death has not been identified, his son-in-law Gilbert Smith claims that he died from complications of advancing age.

The Mexican actor first came to Hollywood in 1943 and had a career spanning seven decades of multiple noteworthy roles including that of Mr. Roarke of Fantasy Island and as Khan Noonian Singh back in 1967 in ST:TOS which he reprised in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982.

This gifted actor’s checkered career included radio shows, Broadway musicals, television, westerns, WWII films, and voice over work in commercials.

A spinal injury occurred caused by being thrown off a horse, knocked out and then walked on by another horse, all during the filming of Across the Wide Missouri in 1951. The actor suffered terribly with pain that grew worse for the rest of his life, despite surgical procedures to attempt to correct the damage. He went from walking with a cane to delivering his lines from a wheelchair or in a sitting position during his later roles.

Ricardo Montalban later formed the Nosotros ("We") Foundation in 1970 to advocate Latinos in acting and the performing arts. The Foundation later created the Golden Eagle Awards, a televised annual award show that features and recognizes Latino achievements in the television and film industry. Having been himself a victim of stereotyped roles and prejudice, Montalban wished to show the world that Latinos could be exceptionally talented and gifted in the performing arts.

In 1980, Doubleday published his autobiography, Reflections: A Life in Two Worlds.

A devout Roman Catholic, he once said that his faith was the most important thing in his life. In 1998, the actor was named by Pope John Paul II as a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, one of the highest honors the Catholic Church can bestow upon a lay person.

Montalban’s last role was the voice of a cow in an episode of Seth MacFarlane's series Family Guy, in which he paraphrased lines from his role in Star Trek II.