Hello one and all, and welcome to the U.S.S. Diplomat. My name is Scott Hayden, and I created this site, story and characters, all set in the well known fictious universe of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. For some, the reasons why I did this are plainly obvious - for others, it will be less so, so I'll take a moment or two to explain why I've done what I have, and what I hope it will accomplish.

The origins of this site are pretty simple. Back in October/November 1995, I was in my last year of high school, had a few friends who were also into Trek in a big way, and no Star Trek being shown on tv here in New Zealand at the time (thanks, TV3). I thought it might be fun to organise a Trek club like so many others, based on a ship (with myself as captain, naturally). To make it more interesting, I thought I'd write some Trek stories, using our "ship" as the basis for them. Well, the club really never got off the ground, but I started writing anyway. I had some ideas for stories, and so, over many months and various incarnations, the end result was what you now see on this site - Star Trek Diplomat.

When I dumped the club aspect, I then started having fantasies of it being for Star Trek what Shadows Of The Empire was for Star Wars -- everything but the actual tv series itself (of course, at the time, I didn't know about Shadows, which was still about 7 months away). It'd have a series of novels (I'd edit them), comic (I'd plot that), toys, games, the works -- even a special episode of Voyager to officially incorporate Diplomat in Trek canon (a story which I may still write anyway). Then Paramount stole my idea (well, Lucasfilm stole it first, but they did have it first, really). They started the Starfleet Academy comic, then the New Frontiers novel series, and with Seven Of Nine joining the Voyager cast I guess everyone will think I copied them in regards to Dr. Kiddie - even though I came up with the idea nearly two years before Paramount did! There went my dreams and hopes of Diplomat being something special (not that I ever really thought it'd happen in the first place). But I still feel that I have something special to offer to Trek fans out there, so I'm forging ahead with Diplomat anyway. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it.

The philosophy behind the stories is pretty basic. I wanted to create a Star Trek that not only returned to some of the cornerstones of the genre, but also went off in directions that the series have never gone before, if you'll excuse the pun. The cast won't always get on perfectly, even though they're all Starfleet; humans won't be held up as the example of what a perfect race is or should be (which really when you think about it is racism in itself); and don't expect the crew to remain the same forever, since there isn't a 'reset button' in life, and not in these stories either - things will change and in a major way. Some may say that my doing this corrupts Gene Roddenberry's 'great vision of the future', and it's true that I don't stick to the 'rules' he set down. But Star Trek has come so far since it's original inception that it has become very much like another great literary source that has lent more than a little to Star Trek over the years - in my view, Star Trek has become a bit like like Shakespear. Every incarnation, every production, every form, is a different interpretation of the original source, much as in the same way that one production of Hamlet differs from another in terms of focus, intent and delivery, though they both come from the same source material. For myself, I see my interpretation is a blend of several distinct types of Trek - the adventurous spirit of the Classic series, the more militaristic style of the Nicholas Meyer Classic movies and the more involved ongoing storylines of DS9 being a few examples of the styles I hope to bring to the series, along with many others, both Trek and non-Trek. Afterall, Star Trek is the perfect formula for ongoing fiction - there is nothing that can't be done and I hope to show that.

I also wanted to present a series of fanfics that could easily be part of the 'real' Trek universe - just as if you were able to look inside the universe on tv and find my crew doing their own thing in their own little corner of the galaxy. I'm a big continuity nut myself, so I've made every effort I can working on my own to make sure that my stories will mesh with the official ones - a task not easy when you consider that here in New Zealand, we're constantly way behind on new Trek episodes. So please forgive any minor discrepancies that may sneak in here and there - I'm only human, after all. This way, I hope that readers will feel less intimidated by the whole fanfic aspect, which often scares people away, since they can't follow the alternate reality set up for the story - if I'm doing my job right, this series should be as accessible as an Trek tv series, and should hopefully be viewed pretty much as such.

I also wanted to help this concept along a bit further, which led to my 'casting' the roles. Yes, it limits the imagination of the reader slightly, but I feel that giving faces and voices to the characters would help people keep track of who is who. Plus, it not only helps me to write the characters by 'hearing' their voices speaking, but it also lets me show off some of my favourite actors, not all of whom have recieved the proper amount of credit due to them.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank a few people. First, the people who have contacted me about Diplomat (for the most part telling me how much they enjoyed it), especially Steven Weller, Peter Hartree and the real-life Jon Scrivin. Second, I'd like to thank Gene for creating a cool backyard to play in. Third, I have to thank Rick Berman & Co. When I first got on the internet, all everybody was talking about was how crap the current episodes were, which really gave me encouragement to put more work into Diplomat - whether or not you share those feelings (and I don't know if I do, since we're still so very very far behind in episodes), it certainly was motivation. Fourth, I have to thank the CanWest Network in New Zealand (TV3 and TV4). They promised that once they finished playing TNG, DS9 would take it's place - it didn't. They pulled Voyager after 6 weeks. They get our hopes up by playing one season at a time of DS9 (even though we're years behind) and then pulling it for ludicrously long periods of time. Thanks for having NO Star Trek for positively ages, which made me write this as a way to get some new Trek stuff (even if I did have to make it myself).

If there should be any other writers, artists or whatever reading this who like Diplomat and would like to help with making this place better with pictures or stories using the Diplomat crew, please drop me a note -- I'd love to hear from you. And that goes for any and everyone. Ask any creator, and they'll always appreciate feedback -- good, bad or otherwise. So don't be shy and let me know what you think (and that includes any nitpicking ).

So, here's to Star Trek Diplomat - I hope it's as successful as it is ambitious!