The contents of the Ship Logs are considered to be a "compilation" under the provisions of Title 17, U.S. Code (known as the Copyright Act): that is, "A work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that is selected, coordinated or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship." As such, it is the property of the ship’s Captain; however, automatic transfer of ownership to STARSHIPS OF THE THIRD FLEET is effected upon publication of this mission by the ship’s Captain ipso facto.

As outlined in Circular 1 (Copyrighted Basics, Library of Congress, Washington DC, USGPO 1989-262-309/12), "copyrighted in each separate contribution to a periodical or other collective work is distinct from the copyright in the collective work as a whole and vests initially with the author of the contribution."

Captain’s Briefing Room, USS PHOENIX

"You’ve got to be kidding me!" Stryker exclaimed, a shocked look on his face.

That was the only response to the bombshell that Captain T.E. Lawrence had just dropped into the weekly Department Head meeting. All around the large table there were stares, grins, and perplexed looks—mostly there was silence.

"That’s the word from Admiral Evans." T.E. replied with a lopsided grin. "We’re going to load up the PHOENIX with dependent wives, husbands and children and take a Tiger Cruise to the grand opening of Starfleet’s only custom-built R&R station: the just completed asteroid Xanadu."

She leaned forward and tapped the table top just in front of Stryker’s bowed head with her finger. "That means that you, Commander Wolphbayne Stryker, get to organize this little escapade."

"Oh, my aching ass," Stryker mumbled. He looked up suddenly. "That means I’ll need to delegate authority, doesn’t it."

Lawrence shrugged. "If you need to, of course."

"Oh, I need to. I really need to." Stryker looked slowly around the table as if sizing up victims for a human sacrifice. "This will be a critical evolution which will require maximum effort from everyone involved. And believe me—"he grinned evilly, "—all of you will be involved. Heavily involved."

LCDR McConnell and Kora Natevera groaned at the same time. LCDR Stringfellow Hawk, the Logistics Officer, pretended to drop something on the deck and disappeared beneath the table.

QaS had a puzzled look on his face. "What is ‘Xanadu’?"

"You’ve never heard of Xanadu?" Mon'Teith asked incredulously. "Where have you been for the last five years?"

QaS waved his hand dismissively. "Some of us have real work to do."

Mon'Teith snorted. "Yeah. Right."

"Quite a snappy comeback, Commander. I’ll bet you worked on that one for days," QaS retorted.

"Now, children. Do learn to play together well, won’t you?" Lawrence laughed.

"Xanadu, to answer your question, QaS," Seabrook began. "Was an asteroid in orbit around the star Johnstone 268, not too far from here, as distance goes in space. Five years ago Starfleet made a deal with the Columbine Consortium to take the asteroid, terraform it, and create a complex designed to give Starfleet personnel and others who wish to pay for a place to play, to unwind, to—how does the saying go?—‘let their hair down.’ "

"On an asteroid?" QaS was dubious. "How much fun can someone have on an asteroid, even if it was terraformed?"

"Xanadu is 50 miles in diameter, which gives a surface area of over 7,800 square miles." Seabrook replied.

"Oh!" QaS said, the expression on his face became thoughtful.

"Evidently it was designed to be a combination of Mardi Gras, Disneyland, Times Square at midnight on New Year’s Eve, Earth’s World’s Fairs, Knott’s Berry Farm, the Feast of Santa Carolina, the Winter and Summer Solstices, and the Land of Oz." Seabrook explained. "Based on initial reports, Starfleet and Columbine have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations."

"And we’re going to this Xanadu?"