Welcome to this special bad guys issue of TCM. In this issue we have looked at the various bad guys from various series throughout the Star Trek fan film world. We have interviews with Captain Kargh aka John Carrigan and Majam Sarem aka Sharon Savene. We have also managed to get Tim Vining creator of CGI series Star Trek Aurora to give us an insight in to his captain, the mysterious Kara. Also we have more character reviews for you and Adam Browne aka Caecus from Star Trek Odyssey is in the Inquisition room this issue.
Trekkie Central Staff: Writers: Heather Ashleigh; Jennifer Cole; Gerri Donaldson; Josh Edelglais; Beo Fraser; Danny Levy; Gustavo Leao; Alex Matthews; Richard Miles; Eugenia Stoypra; Michael Struck; Sean-Paul Teeling; Tim Vining and John Whiting. Head Writers: Gerri Donaldson; Alex Matthews; Richard Miles and Eugenia Stoypra. Graphics Artists: Steve Gilson and Richard Miles Front Cover: Steve Gilson
We hope you enjoy this issue. Live Long and Prosper Richard
Creative Consultants: Michael Hudson and Rick Pike. Assistant Editors: Heather Ashleigh and Alex Matthews Editor: Richard Miles Special Thanks: Contributors: Gerri Donaldson; Alex Matthews; Richard Miles; Eugenia Stoypra and Tim Vining. Interviewees: John Carrigan and Sharon Savene. Production Companies: Hidden Frontier Productions, Star Trek Aurora and Star Trek Phase 2. Pictures: Captain Kargh main pictures belong to Jeff Hayes; Siroc and Sarem pictures property of Hidden Frontier Productions; Kara pictures property of Tim Vining. All other pictures taken from google images. Trekkie Central Magazine and Supplemental is produced for fans by fans. This is a free to download and view online magazine, from which no profit is made in anyway. If you see this magazine on sale anywhere please do not purchase it as this will jeopardise feature issue of this magazine. If you do find it on sale please inform us immediately by emailing us at Trekkie-central@hotmail.co.uk and put fraudulent magazine in the subject box. Many Thanks
Captains Table-Inquisition With Adam Browne
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Captains Table-Conventions A List of Upcoming Conventions
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The Honourable Klingon Captain Kargh Character Review
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The Honourable Klingon kkj John Carrigan Interview
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The Briar Patch Baddie Siroc Character Review
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The Bad Guys of Star Trek An Evaluation of Star Trek and its Bad Guys
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The Evil Daughter 18
Sharon Savene Interview The Evil Daughter Majan Sarem Character Review
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The Cannibal Kid Kara Character Review
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With Jennifer Cole
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In TCM and TCM Supplemental
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Captains Log
Coming Soon
HERE ADAM BROWNE TAKES THE PLUNGE ON INQUISITION.
TCM: What is your name? AB: Adam D. Browne TCM: What was the last book you read? AB: 101 Wicked Little Witch Stories TCM: Is the glass half full or half empty?
TCM: What is the natural colour of water?
AB: Always half-full, it means there's room for more.
AB: Light blue according to Wikipedia.
TCM: What is your favourite colour?
TCM: Family Guy or The Simpsons?
AB: Purple
AB: Family Guy...cruder jokes and Non Sequiters. ^_~
TCM: Scifi or Chick Flicks?
TCM: Quark or Odo?
AB: Chick Flicks
AB: Odo...I like order and justice (Scorpio traits).
TCM: Picard or Kirk and why?
TCM: The original Enterprise or The Enterprise D?
AB: Picard, always the diplomat and I dearly love diplomats.
AB: Enterprise D - It had a yacht, how cool is that?!? TCM: Soccer or Baseball?
TCM: What question have you always wanted to be asked? AB: If you were a musical instrument what would you be? TCM: When was the last time you were star struck? AB: 2003, Xena convention TCM: Who was it that made you star struck? AB: It was meeting Hudson Leick (she played Callisto).
AB: Definitely Soccer, much more fun sport. TCM: Who would you most like to meet and why? AB: Living, I'd like to meet Jolene Blalock, as I love T'Pol the most of the Enterprise characters. Deceased, I'd love to meet Frida Kahlo, because her painting inspire me every day.
A NEW SECTION TO THE MAGAZINE. WE WILL AIM TO BRING YOU THE LATEST NEWS ON WHAT CONVENTIONS ARE WHERE AND WHEN. IF YOU HAVE A CONVENTION YOU WOULD LIKE ADDED THE PLEASE EMAIL HEATHER ASHLEIGH AT TREKKIE-CENTRAL@HOTMAIL.CO.UK AND WE WILL ADD YOU TO THE LIST IN THE NEXT ISSUE •
WAY OF THE WARRIOR SCREENING! November 7, 2008 at 6pm – RIPLEY GRIER STUDIOS, NEW YORK CITY
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United Fan Con November 21, 2008 at 3pm to November 23, 2008 at 6pm – Hyatt Regency
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Vulkon's Starbase Indy November 28, 2008 at 4pm to November 30, 2008 at 6pm – Marriott East in Indianapolis
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Australian Star Trek fan club Annual Christmas Dinner December 6, 2008 at 7:30pm – Penang Restaurant - City of Adelaide, South Australia
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Official Star Trek Convention March 6, 2009 at 10am – Crowne Plaze Cherry Hill
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Leap Back 2009 - Quantum Leap convention featuring Scott Bakula March 27, 2009 at 12pm to March 29, 2009 at 8pm – Beverly Garland Holiday Inn
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Camp Dover Peace Conference Reunion April 24, 2009 at 6pm – Holiday Inn
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Marcon - Columbus, Oh. Memorial Day weekend 2009 May 22, 2009 at 6pm to May 24, 2009 at 6pm – Hyatt Regency, Columbus, Oh.
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Trek Fest 2009 June 26, 2009 at 4pm to June 27, 2009 at 11pm – Riverside, Iowa
As bad men go Kargh was pretty good. We first see him on the bridge of the USS Farragut not as an enemy of the Federation but as a member of Starfleet. Weird!! Kargh in this alternate timeline is First Officer to Kirk and holds the Science position on the bridge. There is also not one Vulcan in sight either! Kargh seems to have attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where gentlemen officers are created with stiff upper lips and not those that we see from Starfleet Academy. He seems to be the perfect officer not like the Klingons that we are used to, the arrogant, confident, egotistical type of ones. He is efficient, ready to follow orders without question and does not seem to have a Klingon gene in his body. But hang on the guy has no brow ridges! He is an augmented Klingon remember those that have human DNA. In this timeline Klingons became members of the Federation after the signing of the HoH’egh Accord, a self preservation pact between the Klingons and the Federation. He seemed to fit in quite well. A nice non-descript officer, who like any being is not perfect but when this is pointed out just gets back on the job and achieves.
We next met Kargh when time has been reset. He is now, a Captain of his own bird of prey, the IKS Dark Destroyer, a ship of the Klingon Defence Force. Assertive and aggressive he attempts to kill Ambassador Rayna Morgan, of the Federation Council. Pavel Chekov pilot extraordinaire manages to avoid the attack and safely delivers her to the USS Enterprise and Captain Kirk (who of course in this reset timeline is on his proper ship). However, attacks on the Enterprise continue from what appears to be a Klingon ship! It is Kargh? That’s what Kirk thinks. Federation colonies are not making it in the frontier and with economic decline they are abandoning the worlds rife for Klingon occupation.
With infrastructure in place the Klingons are taking over these planets and expanding their Empire. When the Enterprise sends a distress signal Kargh is the only responder. This is much to Kirk’s surprise! Kargh presents himself as an honourable ally in this circumstance. Spock convinces Kirk that to Klingons “honour is everything!” Kargh states that he is not the one attacking the Enterprise he is convinced that it is Romulans, even though. Kirk and he devise a plan to expose the possible renegade Klingon ship. Off they go on their little planned adventure and of course Kirk is on his own and in danger of being destroyed. To the rescue comes the Klingon Kargh, who was late but in time for the kill and exposure of the ship was a plot by a failing Federation colony in the Esteran System to ignite a war with the Empire. Really this is one Klingon that we could meet in a dark alley. Not too scary and full of honour, a seemingly nice Klingon kinda guy. Our kind of good bad guy! Kargh’s career ended in 2272 when the V’Ger probe destroys his ship the IKS Amar.~
JOHN CARRIGAN SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO TCM ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES ON STAR TREK PHASE 2; AND TELLS US WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO WORK WITH HIS WIFE.
TCM: Can you tell us a bit about how you became involved with Star Trek New Voyages/Phase 2. JC: I was a long time Star Trek fan and eventually became friends with many people behind, and in front of the camera's. One day I was contacted by the award winning CGI and makeup artist Doug Drexler. (Doug had worked on several Trek series) Doug had seen my work and had suggested me to the NV production team when they were casting, so I flew over to LA for a meeting with James Cawley, Jack marshal and Doug. The rest is history. TCM: You were a Star Trek fan before taking the role of Kargh in Phase 2 and you were also lucky enough firstly to meet Gene Roddenberry and then also to have a walk on role in The Next Generation, what were both those experiences like and how did they come about? JC: Well, to cut a long story short. Through a chain of events, I was invited over to LA by Richard Arnold, who was then one of Gene's assistants. Richard took me to Paramount to meet Gene. Gene took me in his office and gave me an incredible
talk about following my dreams to become an actor. He was a lovely man. On another trip to see Gene (after I had begun my journey to become an actor) We took someone over to the Trek wardrobe dept to be fitted for his Next Gen costume, and to my utter surprise Gene said to the wardrobe people. Fit my friend John for a uniform, he is Starfleet material too. The only sad part about this incredible event is that after only a short while I was stopped filming by a union guy, because Gene had not gone through the proper channels. But my time on the set was still an incredible experience. TCM: You play the Klingon Captain Kargh in Phase 2; can you give us some information about him? JC: I was asked to put as much background to Kargh as I could for the writers, so I think I know who he is. First he is a Klingon of honour, and he does not do anything just for the sake of doing it, it has to be justified for the good of the Empire. He is a tough but fair captain to his crew but does not suffer fools gladly. He is carving himself out a reputation in the Empire, and has ambitions to go to the very top. He is known as a very competent ship captain and is very adept at hand to hand combat, seeing off many challenges to his position. If you could ever trust the word of a Klingon, it would be Kargh. But he does have an ego as large as his ship.
TCM: Kargh has become Kirks nemesis in the Phase 2 universe and he appears quite often, would you say that is a good thing or a bad thing for this character? JC: In the original series it was meant that Kirk would eventually have a Klingon counterpart who he came across every so often, it was going to be captain Koloth. Having Kargh take over that role gives Kirk an equal to keep him on his toes, and hopefully the fans will get to look forward to them butting heads. The danger would be to overuse Kargh, but I know the writers will not do that, so hopefully, when he does turn up you know it will be something special. TCM: In 'To Serve all my Days' Kargh and Kirk work together to foil a plot by some alien species that is worried about the Federation Credit system collapsing, did you have to change the way the character reacted to Kirk in any way, and if so how? JC: Good question. We filmed a short Klingon Vignette at the same time we shot "To Serve All My Days" which sets up that Kirk and Kargh already have a history of mutual respect and dislike. So it was not their first encounter. James and I both played our parts with the undercurrent of, we have to work together on this, but we know how we really feel in our hearts. That is why Kargh says "But next time" at the end. So no, I was always going to play the scenes with hidden tension between us. TCM: You play a major role in the upcoming 'Blood and Fire' what can you tell us about your role in that episode? JC: "Blood And Fire" was a fantastic shoot in many ways. For one thing. They constructed my own Klingon bridge for me, complete with crew and captains chair (which is more like Kargh's throne). This is all together a darker episode than TSAMD, and a much darker Kargh, in look as well as feel. For Kargh it is (the next time) he spoke about at the end of TSAMD and he is out to get the Enterprise. Great Kirk Kargh scenes.
TCM: Also in 'Blood and Fire' you get to act alongside your wife, who portrays your Klingon First Officer, when filming that episode was there anything different in the way you acted because your wife was on set? JC: Well Anne (my wife) was also first seen in the Klingon Vignette as Le'ak, my first officer. But in BAF we get to see a lot more of her (evil or what). I am the actor in the family, so I gave my wife a lot of coaching on set and off, but I had to be really careful not to treat her as my wife, but as an actress. That way when the filming stops she can get back to telling me what to do (right guys). No to be honest, she did a fantastic job and I think people will love to hate her (in a good way). TCM: What future storylines would you like to see Kargh put through? JC: Well a couple of guys from the production got together and wrote a script as seen from the Klingon point of view. They contacted me to give my input, so I wrote and changed a few things to be more Kargh like. It is a fantastic script. I just hope the powers that be give it the green light. TCM: Is there anything else you can tell us about Kargh and his role in the Star Trek Phase 2 universe? JC: Only that I hope we get to see Kargh again and get the chance to find out more about him. I know I speak for Kargh when I say that a stand up, knock down fight between him and Kirk just has to happen one day. So remember Kirk. THE NEXT TIME.~
Now this is one guy that you would not buy a used car from. He comes across as a devious and untrustworthy being, sleazy and totally cruel, manipulating anyone to reach his goal. He is extremely articulate, well spoken and oozes authority out of every pore. He is a one time friend of Tolian Naros, a 645 year old El-Aurian who is now a Starfleet Officer. Naros’ species was scattered across space when the Borg attacked them and is a contemporary of Guinan. Naros helped Siroc to rise out of the gutter as he was a refugee growing up in filth and squalor and together they developed a close bond. Siroc also from a race that has a long life expectancy, and when we first meet him he is 1,342 years old. Naros and Siroc had a falling out and Naros set Siroc adrift for 200 years. This left Siroc a very bitter and twisted man and he was not going back to where he came from! He had a long time to think of a plan, a plan that involved intricate moves such as a well thought out chess game. A plan that would end the universe as they knew it! Like most high flyers either good or bad, he is very confident and expects everyone around him to follow him absolutely, gaining the devotion of those around him. Races such as the Orions, Cardassians, Breen, and Tholians all worked with him. He is charming and exudes an animal magnetism that seems to attract characters that are as disposed to evil or at the minimum very corrupt as he is. One such being is Milo Surgant a Betazoid who was a Starfleet Officer and who has turned rogue, OK bad! For quite a while Milo worked as an undercover agent for Siroc and when he was assigned as an interpreter to Lieutenant Pergium, a member of the telepathic race, The Horta, who was to infiltrate the Tetrahedron weapon. He was discovered when Pergium reported that Surgant had used his telepathic abilities in breach of Starfleet ethics and security protocols to read the minds of Tolian and Commander William Martinez. Surgant gets his comeuppance when he is finally killed trying to carry out one of Siroc’s devious plans.
Siroc also attracts many a female around him (how, we are not sure because he is certainly no Brad Pitt!!). But not just any women! Women, who seem to be just as ruthless, manipulating and calculating as him, complete and utter nastiness! They seem to be hypnotised by his ability to command and by all the power that he wields. His promise of affection and the trite words ‘You are my favourite’ seems to be enough to make them want to do his bidding with bells on! In particular two of the women that gained his attention were Vorina an Orion and Betras, a Cardassian. They stop at nothing to do his bidding, including kidnapping Admiral Knapp’s daughter, scanning the Ba’ku surface in secrecy, just to name a few. He is a man of power and does not allow emotions to get in his way he is cold, calculating, and completely ruthless. Like any good leader he has surrounded himself with advisors and listens to them before he makes his decisions. However, if they no longer are useful to him he has no problem in getting rid of them. Regardless of this they seem to be very loyal to him and respect him greatly. He promises them what they want but he has his own agenda and they are not sure of that nor has he told anyone. He has his fingers in every pie, even at the highest levels in some alien cultures! A very powerful being!
He has set about finding the keys to the tetrahedron to develop the most powerful weapon the universe had ever seen, a weapon that absorbs outside energy. He convinced the Tholians that he would help them to become the conquering race with this promise they made him their ambassador and with their might behind him and the help of his ‘women’ and others such as Surgant he has managed to collect the keys needed to develop the tetrahedron weapon. When all the keys were within his grasp it is only then that we find out why he wanted them. He wants to travel back to his people and the tetrahedron will open a portal that will allow this to happen. He does not care that the return to his home world will cause the destruction of the universe. And so it comes full circle. Tolian Naros, who helped create this monster, throws himself into the portal chasing his Frankenstein. After 200 years of regretting what he had created he did the bravest thing that any Starfleet Officer could do. He fired at Siroc and caused an explosion causing the portal to collapse and kill both himself and Siroc. ‘The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few!’ And so ends one highly villainess character!!
All universes have bad guys and the Star Trek Universe is no exception, from the Klingons in the original series right through to the Xindi from Star Trek Enterprise all these alien species were classified as ‘bad guys’ until we got to know the race a little better, the Klingons eventually became allies to the Federation (Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country). Where as we discovered that the Xindi were being manipulated as part of the Temporal Cold War that had run since Enterprises first episode Broken Bow, into thinking that humans were a threat to their way of life and therefore needed destroying. The same applies for Star Trek fan films, for without bad guys there really wouldn’t be much storyline except for oh look another nebula etc. Within this article I will examine some various bad guys and their effect on the fan films that they have or are featuring in. Siroc Star Trek Hidden Frontier When Siroc was first introduced in Hidden Frontier it was established that he had a history with another new character in the form of Tolian Naros. As the character of Siroc grew we discovered exactly how evil this man was from kidnapping Admiral Knapps daughter right through to trying to end the universe as we know it, his own personal goal of getting home to his own kind superseded all and any other considerations. This is a man that has one serious chip on his shoulder in relation to Naros and is also willing to lie his way to his goals, by promising his henchmen exactly what they want knowing full well he will never fulfil his end of the bargain. In Hidden Frontiers final episode ‘It’s Hour Come Round At Last’ Siroc is finally defeated but not before almost destroying every living thing in and around the Briar Patch. He is stopped by his old friend and rival Naros who also dies along with Siroc. Sirocs impact on Hidden Frontier was immense before he came into the series Hidden Frontier was just like another fan series, just a collection of stories that really didn’t develop characters, but once Siroc was introduced the who cast was suddenly thrust into new territory and they were able to develop their characters, give them a background story and actually see their character grow into one worthy of being in a Star Trek series.
Captain Kargh Star Trek Phase 2 Now Captain Kargh isn’t really a bad guy, he just happens to be on the bad guys side. Kargh is willing on occasion to help out his enemy in order to secure his own goals, but will however defend the Klingon border with the loyalty you’d except from a Klingon Warrior. Although not a lot is known about this character yet, it is known that he will prove to be a thorn in Kirks side for many years to come. The Archein Star Trek Odyssey The Archein were introduced to us the viewer in style in Star Trek Odyssey’s pilot episode ‘Iliad’. During which they were launching an invasion of Romulan Space. The Romulans in co-operation with The Federation and Klingons sent two ships to the Andromeda Galaxy, in an attempt to halt this invasion which resulted in the Starship Odyssey being stranded. As the series has progressed we have seen that not all Archein are bad, it just seems to be their leader Majam Sarem that is the evil one, right from the pilot where we see her what looks like poisoning her mother through to the stabbing of Caecus in the third episode he is proving herself to be pure evil and I for one am looking forward to seeing where this character is going to be taken by the writers. The Archein form this Ying to the crew of the Odyssey’s Yang. They are an intregral part of the series and therefore will hopefully play an huge role when or if Odyssey ever gets home.
Section 31 Various Fan Series First introduced into the fan film world by Darker Projects in their audio series Star Trek The Section 31 Files, they have come across as this anomaly are they bad guys because they don’t adhere to the Prime Directive to get things done, or are they good guys because they will do whatever it takes to defend the Federation and its principles. The crew of the Nosferatu in the Section 31 Files repeatedly save the Federation on more than one occasion, until the point where they seem to lose and pay the price with their lives in the series finally in the battle between the Borg and Doctor Who’s Daleks. Section 31 has then appear notably appeared in two other fan films the first of these is Star Trek Intrepid where there is an agent of Section 31 actually stationed onboard the Intrepid, leading to some very interesting storylines so far. And more recently they have appeared in both Star Trek The Helena Chronicles and Star Trek Operation Beta Shield where their presence is still to be determined. So as you can see Star Trek needs its bad guys as much as it does its good guys, for without its bad guys we wouldn’t have these wonderful stories that keep getting told, by people who are fans themselves.
TCM TALKS DIRECTLY TO SHARON SAVENE ABOUT HER CAHARCTER FROM HIDDEN FRONTIER PRODUCTIONS SHOW; STAR TREK ODYSSEY. WHAT IS LIFE REALLY LIKE PORTAYING A VILLAIN?
TCM: How do you see Seram as a person? SS: I see her as strong and highly motivated. TCM: What inspires her? SS: According the scripts I've been given she is motivated by power and lust. TCM: How do you see her relationships with others such as Morrigu, Caecus and the Grand Majan? SS: She despises Morrigu for his inefficiency. She adores Caecus for his simple innocence, and she is not entirely loyal to the Grand Majan because she feels she should be in charge. TCM: What do you bring to your performance of Seram to make her come to life? SS: Experiences from my life, I suppose. And my training as an actress. TCM: What are your thoughts on the various ongoing storyllines involving her in Odyssey? SS: I think she is misunderstood on many levels. TCM: How do you strive to make her different from Theresa Falsal? SS: I don't create characters by focusing on the difference between them and other characters that I play. I only look at the differences and similarities between that character and myself. TCM: Do you enjoy playing one character over the other? SS: I enjoy playing both characters immensely. though getting into and out of make-up for Faisal takes much less time. TCM: What do you do to prepare for a scene as Seram? SS: Learn as much as I can from the script. Make some choices about the dynamics of the scene, and hot intense the character's emothions are throughout, then I paint myself blue and get into costume. What did you think I ran around the house torturing insects or something? I'm an actress, not a witch doctor. TCM: How would you like Seram to change and evolve over the course of the series? SS: I have absolutely no say in it whatsoever, so I haven't really given it much thought, but I would like to see her justifications for her actions explained a little better. Not that it would make her actions any more acceptable, but it would make her more of a real being, and less of a charicature villain. TCM: If you weren't playing Seram, which Odyssey character would you like to portray? SS: I think Stadi is a fun character. You get to read people's minds, and be a bad ass. Though T'Lorra must be fun too.~
sarem is the Majan of the Archein Empire and daughter of the Grand Majan who is dying! When we meet her for the first time she is praying in the temple and seems to believe completely in her gods “The Great Ones” and is called to her mother. When we next see her she is lovingly feeding her mother. You can see by her actions that she adores her and that she would do anything for her, regardless of her own rank and servants available! This woman is capable of deep emotions. However, the first indication that there is more to her than praying and being a “good daughter” is when her mother implies that she does not know the difference between need and want. Because of her mother’s illness Sarem has taken over the rule of the Archein Empire and rule it she does. What a nasty piece of work is Sarem! Although when you first meet her you think that she has some redeeming features, you soon learn that this is not true! You might think that the Cardassians and Romulans are ruthless but they could learn a thing or two from Sarem. She has a lover about whom she says is “the song in my soul” and not only does she use him, but abuses him as well, both sating her lust and some thing she can take out her frustrations on. Her relationships with others are about what they can do for her. She is not reciprocal at all. She is all “I am the centre of the universe” and don’t forget it. She is looking for a new base for her people and she will tear down anyone or anything that gets in the way of her objective. Yes, she wants her people to survive what appears to be a cataclysmic event that will happen in the near future, but she sees so many of her people as just tools to be used to get the means to an end and easily send them to their death. The Commander of her fleet only does what she commands because of his respect for her mother, who seems to have got the nice genes in that family, (maybe she takes after her father). He even tells her mother this. However, it seems that the Archein race is quite ruthless generally and maybe she is a victim of having to be this way to gain the result that will save her people, although it could be that she thinks that she is not living up to her mother and comes from a feeling of inferiority in the relationship. Who knows?
Sarem seems to have gotten the definitions of strength and arrogance mixed up and she is an expert at being arrogant. I will give her one thing though! She is not afraid to do the “bad” things herself as she punishes someone who she thinks betrayed her ideals, but then is that just the sadist coming out? In all Sarem is just one great big bully, she is pre-occupied with self indulgence and pleasure and does not care what anyone thinks about this. She has buckets of confidence knowing that everyone jumps at her word and fully thinks that she will succeed regardless and at all costs. She is one of the nastiest baddies that we have met in the Star Trek universe and could give Dukat a run for his money. Baddie he may have been but underneath it all you guiltily liked him! (Well we did anyway). Sarem is only seen as the leader of her people in what are desperate times and yes they really do appear to be that desperate! Is this what has forged her to be who she is now or is this who she would really have been anyway if she was brought up without the threat to her people?!! We have still to meet Sarem again in the future and whilst there is some intrigue in not knowing what the outcome of that meeting will be you cannot help think that this is one big baddie that deserves her comeuppance!
>>>This article contains spoilers<<< At the "present" time of Star Trek: Aurora, Kara Carpenter is in her mid-20's and the captain of her own small interstellar merchant vessel with a crew of one other member, the Vulcan T'ling. Kara Carpenter was born and raised on her family's interstellar merchant ship Mercury Rising. Family tradition holds that the Carpenters are descendants of the 1960's Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter, hence the name of the family ship, and Kara's ship Aurora (Scott Carpenter's space capsule was named the Aurora 7). Part of the Aurora logo is taken from Scott Carpenter's mission insignia patch. When Kara was 12 years old, her family ship was attacked by a Romulan warship, destroying most of it, and killing all but Kara, who was able to survive only by repairing a small area of the wreck to live in for months until rescued, and by resorting to the only option available to her to avoid slow death by starvation. The interim years were difficult for Kara, orphaned and living with a terrible stigma, but Kara was nothing if not a fighter, and through hard work and determination, and endless hours using her mechanical skills, she was able to cobble together Aurora from parts from starship scrap yards or earned through sweat equity working on other ships. When she was finally able to launch Aurora, Kara headed for the nearest system outside of Federation space--the Xaneerian system-in order to escape her past. After initially working as a satellite repair technician, Kara hired on T'ling and switched over to specialty fast delivery cargo hauling. As this first episode of Star Trek: Aurora begins, Kara and T'ling are still getting to know one another, and still trying to make their cargo business work in the uncertain and lawless Xaneerian system. ..... From a writing standpoint, I created Kara's character as a merchanter and that of an outsider, since I wanted to create a story set in the Star Trek universe, but centered on a character who is very much not Starfleet. Starfleet characters tend to be generally stable types who work well with others, where with Kara I wanted to explore the Star Trek universe through a character who is as caring, hardworking and capable as an Starfleet member, but with personal issues and personality traits that will keep her always as an outsider. The character of Kara's Vulcan partner, T'ling, serves as a foil for Kara's idiosyncrasies, and in their interplay we are able to deepen our understanding of what makes Kara tick~.
Why are “Bad Guys” necessary in the Trek Universe? What defines a person or character as “evil” or a “villain”? Well, according to dictionary.com, “evil” is defined as (1) morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked; (2) harmful; injurious. Characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous. “Villain” is defined as (1) a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; a scoundrel. In the Star Trek universe, each television series and movie had it’s share of “bad guys” or “villains”, such as Khan Noonian Singh, Q, the Klingons of the Original Series, The Borg, The Dominion, and many more. In the Trek fan film universe – they too have had their share of bad guys… In Hidden Frontier, we were introduced to “The Grey Confederacy” – who were led by the telepathic Ethereals, and who employed foot soldiers to do their dirty work (HF wikipedia). While we didn’t see the Grey very often, they did attempt to thwart the Federation’s exploration of the Briar Patch. Eventually, the Grey became less of an enemy, as a new threat came into focus – Siroc (Jim Davis). Who was Siroc? Was he ‘evil’ or a ‘villain’? In my opinion, Siroc was a true villain. He had one goal – to get back home, no matter the cost. In his quest to get back home, he brought together some of HF’s other “bad guys” – Betras (Rebecca Wood), Vorina (Julie Anne Gardner), and Surgant (Lorenzo Leonard), and he also used the Tholian’s to further his plans. It’s possible to also label Betras, Vorina and Surgant as “evil” or “villains”, but, I didn’t see them individually as villains in the truest sense of the word, more like tragic people who allowed themselves to be manipulated and in the end, they each died, each believing that they were the one who Siroc would lead to ‘freedom’ or at the least, be one to receive some great fortune. However, with Siroc ‘pulling’ the strings, these four characters could and did do a lot damage – as seen in the final season of Hidden Frontier. But, for Siroc himself – his single goal was to get home, and it didn’t matter that by doing so, it would destroy the universe. He didn’t care. He just wanted to go home. In the end, it came down to Naros (Larry LaVerne) sacrificing himself to keep Siroc from destroying the universe. On Star Trek Odyssey, we were introduced to the Archein, who are led by the Grand Majan (Jennifer Cole) and her daughter Majan Seram (Sharon Savene) who is leading the colonization for the Archein Empire. While the Grand Majan has stayed home, due to poor health, she has sent her only daughter to seek out a new home for the Archein people. What she doesn’t know, is that Seram is not just looking for uninhabited planets, but she is in fact, attempting to invade the Romulan Star Empire and to subjugate the Romulan people. The USS Odyssey is stuck in the Andromeda Galaxy, after successfully destroying the Archein wormhole gate (Iliad). Majan Seram is a complex character. Is she evil? Is she a villain? Of course, she doesn’t see herself as doing anything wrong. She sees herself as the true leader of Archeina and of her people. However, I believe Seram can be characterized as an evil person. She is morally wrong and malicious in her goals and relationships - with her mother, with Caecus (Adam Browne) and in general her seemingly uncaring goal of finding the USS Odyssey and invading the Romulan Empire. Is she just doing it all for the good of her people? Or for herself? I guess only time will tell…
Hailing frequencies closed… Jennifer Cole
Featuring in Issue 10 of TCM: Star Trek Deep Space Nine Series of Books Reviewed IDW’s Star Trek Comic Books Reviewed A Comparison of Two Characters From New Frontier and Hidden Frontier.
Release Date 30th November 2008
STARSHIP FARRAGUT: THE ANIMATED EPISODES. FEATURING A LOOK AT THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE EPISODES SO FAR AND AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH EPISODE CREATOR MICHAEL STRUCK.
RELEASE DATE 14TH NOVEMBER 2008