>>>The current whereabouts of CFA Rubber Duck are unknown...
>>
>>Rumor has it they took the ship in for a total overhaul...
>
>WTF?! Where in Skuld's name did that come from?!

From the diseased mind of yours truly and a starving artist who goes by the name DarkSide (not Darksied. To my knowledge he isn't the ruler of a Jack Kirby world. Of course, I could be wrong).

>>Mr. Fnord, it's a long story.
>
>So start telling it already. I gotta hear this one...

Okay, a long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

Wait, you've heard that one, haven't you? Right. Skip the cheesy intro; onward.

A few years ago, on a small and insignificant Trek MOO, some friends of mine banded together and decided to become a group of Klingon pirates. They managed to cajole the admins into giving them a Bird-of-Prey, and they intended to name it Black Star.

Note carefully the word "intended." Y'see, when they wrote the name out in thlIngan (or however you spell it), they typoed. Instead of Black Star, they got Explain Star. And no amount of begging would get the admins to fix their error. So, instead of becoming fierce pirates preying on the Federation, they ended up becoming something along the lines of a roving comic relief, picking up a bunch of strange characters (like Stan, a Caitian salesman with the Radioactive Suit) and generally having a good time.

About the same time, I was looking for a roving comic relief for some of my projects, and the crew of the good 'ol Explain Star happened to be available. I decided that bringing Klingons into the gameworld would be too disruptive, so we had to find a new ship. I don't remember exactly why the rubber duck was chosen, but I do know that large amounts of beer was involved.

In any case, the duck-ship became a hit with the players, and DS was inspired to draw that image. And the rest is history.

http://www.jihad.net/ju25/jihad.html has the IC version of the Explain Star's history (have to scroll down a bit though, sorry.)

http://darkside.sandwich.net/images/es-logo.gifx (pull x to view picture) is the ship's logo. I need to get this painted on the back of a leather jacket someday. :)

Mr. Fnord, somebody with too much time on his hands.
--
"'Explain all that,' said the Mock Turtle.
'No, no! The adventures first,' said the Gryphon in an impatient tone: 'explanations take such a dreadful time.'"
-- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland