Desert Bus for Hope

During the final Night Watch of 2021, we all – together, chat and crew and everyone who’s come along for any part of this wild ride – we ALL reached the amazing milestone of $8 MILLION raised over the lifetime of Desert Bus for Hope!

Ben, with a Star Trek engineering deck behind him, rolls up close to the camera. He looks up at the ceiling and mouths

Graham dances, waving his arms back and forth as lights flash blue in the moonbase.

Opening Credits

Special thanks to dostrow_ whose $20,000 winning bid on the pair of Mass Effect guns got our evening off to a high octane start, and heronblademaster who donated $4,626 to cross the final threshold to this incredible milestone.

Thanks to everyone’s combined efforts and support, we have achieved what some thought impossible. Yes, that’s right. The Q judged us ferior.

Andrew, dressed in voluminous red and black robes with black mortarboard cap, looks calmly at Ian. Ian, dressed in his red Star Tre uniform, startles as he realizes the Q is standing next to him.

The crew of the USS Tucson very much enjoyed getting visits from special guests, like Ensign Matt from the runabout Duck Creek.

Matt is dressed in a red Starfleet uniform with the inside of a runabout as background.

Admittedly, we got a little frightened when Matt threatened to arrest us for illegal weapons sales. Us? The crew of the USS Tucson? Why, we are perfect angels who would never engage in illegal weapons sales!

Max walks on-screen in their red ensign's uniform, holding a giant assault rifle from Mass Effect. They're grinning broadly as they pose it for the camera.

And we DEFINITELY wouldn’t do it again tomorrow.

Erika smiles at the camera, holding a giant 50 pound Buster Sword on her shoulders.

…Moving on. We also got a power Serge via the Telepresence Robot. Serge was an expert at piloting the robot.

Left-to-Right: Andrew, the Telepresence Robot (with Serge on screen), and Ian. The robot reaches a hand into the CRT monitor on their head at the exact same moment that Serge lifts a hand to wipe his nose.

Plus, Ensign Ben FINALLY found his way back to the USS Tucson today, which meant that Ben and Serge were able to reunite!

A human being wearing a red jumpsuit with an old CRT television on their head leans down towards Ben. On the CRT screen, we can see Serge's face. Ben leans forward to meet the robot and he and Serge kiss, after which the robot wriggles excitedly.

All in all, a truly heartwarming night! We were in such a good mood that we didn’t even blow up Zeta today. After a full week of destructive loops, we realized that together, we could make this the best timeline!

An actual Star Trek: The Next Generation clip. Picard and Data are discussing something seriously in the foreground, when behind them Geordi and Worf suddenly high-five. Troi struggles not to laugh.

If you want to commemorate the antics of the USS Tucson and its crew, you can buy the USS Tucson playmat or poster! Proceeds go to Child’s Play.