ENGINEERS TAKEI NOG STO FICTION!
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THE OFFICIAL OFFIC MAGAZINE BEHIND THE SCENE O OF SEASON SIX! We catch up with actor Steven Yeun to find out what he thinks the future holds for Glenn! Robert Kirkman is back with his thoughts on season six and Fear The Walking Dead ! Meet Negan and the Saviors! We look at how the story of these upcoming characters plays out in the comic. We go behind the scenes of season six with executive producer Greg Nicotero!
SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE UP TO 25% VISIT TITANMAGAZINES.COM/WALKINGDEAD Copyright © 2016 Robert Kirkman. All rights reserved. THE WALKING DEAD™ (including all prominent characters featured herein), its logo and all character likenesses are trademarks of Robert Kirkman, unless otherwise noted.
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ay what now? A new Star Trek TV series? On... television? Have you gone space crazy?! OK, so we may have gotten ourselves lost in the Bajoran wormhole for a couple of months, but we didn’t expect to fight through hordes of Jem’Hadar on our way back to the Alpha Quadrant only to find we’d missed a story this big! Star Trek Lives! In which universe or century will the new show be set? At the time of writing, who knows! What will the new crew be like? For now, that’s an interstellar mystery. How many episodes? Um... What we definitely know is that in just one year’s time, we’ll be joining a new crew, on new adventures into the far-flung future, and Star Trek Magazine will be there, every step of the way. But what will we be doing in the meantime? Supping Raktajino and twiddling our thumbs? Not likely – there’s Star Trek Beyond to look forward to, and a certain anniversary celebration coming up in September. Rest assured, we’ll be keeping ourselves – and you – busy. This issue we begin our 50th Anniversary celebrations in earnest, with a new, regular feature examining the key crew roles aboard a Starfleet vessel, starting out with those miracle workers, the Chief Engineers. We also talk to Enterprise’s Connor Trinneer, revisit the “Corps of Engineers” novels, and take a look at Star Trek model kits (for all you budding 21st Century engineers!) Plus we’ve got a fantastic interview with the original Mr. Sulu, George Takei, social media powerhouse and a true legend of Star Trek. So buckle up, fire up the replicator (treat yourself to a Romulan Latte), and settle down for another engaging read. Punch it.
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EDITORIAL • Editor: Christopher Cooper • Senior Editor: Martin Eden • Designers: Amazing15 • Contributors: Katherine Bankson, Charles Gray and all at Star Trek Online, Michael Clark, Chris Dows, Adam English, John De Gruyther, Kyle C. Haight, Karen Stoddard Hayes, Rich Matthews, Larry Nemecek, Mark Phillips, Ian Spelling, Bunny STAR TREK: THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE VOL #1, ISSUE #56 Summers, Tim Tuohy, Adam Walker, and Toby Weidmann. (UK #183) • Bad Robot: Published by Titan Magazines, a division of Titan J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Damon Lindelof, David Baronoff Publishing Group Limited, 144 Southwark Street, London • CBS Consumer Products: SE1 0UP. TM ® & © 2016 CBS Studios Inc. © 2016 John Van Citters and Marian Cordry Paramount Pictures. STAR TREK and Related Marks are • Copyright Promotions Ltd.: Trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved. Anna Hatjoullis Titan Authorised User. CBS, the CBS Eye logo and related • Paramount Home Entertainment: marks are trademarks of CBS Broadcasting Inc. TM & © Kate Addy, Jiella Esmat, Liz Hadley and John Robson 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. For sale in the US, UK, Eire, Australia and New Zealand. Printed in • Simon & Schuster US: Ed Schlesinger the US by Quad/Graphics. ISSN 1357-3888 TMN 13431
Christopher Cooper Editor
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STAR TREK MAGAZINE
3
REGULARS
INTERVIEW
6 STATUS REPORT Star Trek TV and movie news, new merchandise, and Star Trek Online.
48 TREK
Y
Trek technology day, and the future of sensoors rs.
64 QUAA K’S BAR Fan photos, art, and memories.
65 WIN! ® A BLUETOOTH STAR TREK COMMUNICATOR
22 GEORGE 88 TRICORDER REVIEWS The latest Trek books reviewed.
93 FISTFUL OF DATA Our resident Trexpert answers your continuity conundrums.
97 STARSHIP TREKKERS Going badly where no-one has gone before, in “Charlie XXX!”
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TAKEI 60 DAVID A. GOODMAN Ghost-writing James T. Kirk’s blockbusting autobiography.
CONTENTTS
Regular R l N Newss
d Editi dition
EXCLUSIVE Comic St S ore Ed dition iti tion n
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FEATURES 52 WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT... DUKAT Our panel of Trek fans discuss the deadly, duplicitous Gul Dukat.
66 SAVING STAR TREK
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Remembering the letter-writing campaigns that saved Kirk and Co.
74 ASSEMBLY REQUIRED A personal history of Star Trekk kit-building, and its future with Round 2.
82 STAR TREK ONLINE New, original fiction from the creators of Star Trek Onlinne.
ENGINEERING 12 STARRFLEET’S FINEST: MIRAACLE WORKERS Celebrating the skills of Starfleet’s best engineers.
34 THE HE ENTERPRISING ENGINEER Connor Trinneer on the life and death arc of Ennterprise’s Trip Tucker.
28 TTIME’S ARROW: “SIMILITUDE” Trip Tucker lives! Or will, if his medical clone makes the ultimate sacrifice...
40 A NOVEL APPROACH Looking back at the Star Trek: Corps of Engineers series of novels.
STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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STAR TREK
LIVES! F ollowing the news that CBS All Access were bringing Star Trek back to TV screens, and that Alex Kurtzman would be executive producer, the rumor mill swung into action. Kurtzman and CBS were on the hunt for a suitable writer that could mold their new show into something special, but who would that be? One name was on the tip of every Trek fan’s tongue, but could we dare to hope? In early February, the announcement was made – veteran Star Trek writer and showrunner extraordinaire Bryan Fuller was taking command!
When Star Trek Magazine last spoke to Fuller, back in April 2013, we asked him about the prospect of working on a new Star Trek. At the time, it seemed like a far-off dream. “That is going to be firmly in the hands of J.J. Abrams, or Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman. That’s probably going to fall in their domain,” Fuller acknowledged, “because they’ve all been working so hard on the movies. As much as I would love to participate in it, I really think it’s under their guidance. But if they are throwing a party and they want to invite me, I will show up!” While the call didn’t come from Bad Robot, Fuller’s dream has finally been realized, and he’s working alongside Alex Kurtzman as co-creator on the new CBS series. As they get down to the enviable task of developing Star Trek’s new chapter, it’s worth remembering what Fuller had to say about what a new series could be like, back in 2013. “I think the time for camp is gone. I love the tone of the [J.J. Abrams] reinvention. I love the cast. It was spot-on. The spirit of it was just right. When you go to a summer movie, that’s the
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Bryan Fuller and friend
Trek Vet to Relaunch TV Legend
movie you want to show up to. It should be in the spirit, vein, and tone of that world, but it has to be its own thing,” said Fuller, “You’re going to the movies to see that, and want something else in your living room. It’s Star Trek, but it’s not the Star Trek that’s a movie.”
CONVENTION CORNER
A NEW MYTHOLOGY? In that 2013 interview, we asked him if Star Trek could handle being a serialized, heavy-mythology series like Hannibal, on which Bryan Fuller was the showrunner. His response was unequivocal. “It could totally handle it. Television is changing so much, and part of the hook is wanting to know what happens, week to week. I do think it could benefit from it, but I do also love the idea of those stand-alone episodes,” Fuller suggested, “It probably has to be some sort of hybridization of an episode, with some stand-alone element of ‘You’re going on an adventure every week, and you’re meeting new aliens, and new cultures, and new species.’ But I want to see a serialized component to the characters, as they evolve and learn, and grow through what they are encountering.” Finally, we asked Fuller what he thought was
New Missions, New Destinations
Alex Kurtzman
so enduring about the Star Trek legacy? “I think it’s a legacy that is all-inclusive. It’s a world that promises an evolution of the human condition; that had moved on beyond hate and fear, and embraced true Christian values of tolerance, acceptance, and loving thy neighbor, and being inspired by thy neighbor.
“SSTAR TREK IS A UNIVERSE THAT U PROMISES ACCEPTANCE.”
Fuller co-produced Voyager's seventh season
Theree i a strange Christian quality, in its purest fo m, t Roddenberry universe. These are ev l d people, who do not have hate, spite, d the ra ant ugliness of politics still in their bl od. One of the things that Gene Rooddenberry was very insistent oon was that these are evolved human beings, so they didn’t have conflict with each other, they have conflict outside. They are a team. There is something so wonderful about knowing you are going to be accepted, and Star Trek is a universe that promises acceptance.” It won’t be long until we know whether Fuller’s thoughts in 2013 bear any fruit in the new Star Trek series. Star Trek will be produced bby CBS Television Studios, in asssociation with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, with Fuller, Kurtzman, and Heather Kadin as executive producers.
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ay back in 1972, the Statler Hotel in New York was the location of the very first Star Trek convention, so where better to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show than in the city that never sleeps? Star Trek: Mission New York, a threeday event running from September 2-4, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, promises to be the ultimate destination for Trek fans, featuring interactive exhibits, exclusive merchandise, big-name guests, panels and screenings. ReedPOP, global experts at producing and curating the world’s best fan experiences, will develop a unique program that will entertain and engage thousands of Star Trek fans for a new, and very different convention experience. Lance Fensterman, Global Senior Vice President of ReedPOP, said, “Star Trek: Mission New York will be a completely unique fan event, unlike anything seen before, giving them the chance to go beyond panels and autograph signings, and immerse themselves in the Star Trek universe.” Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Destination Star Trek Europe lands at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, from the 7th to the 9th of October. Organized by Massive Events, in association with Showmasters and Media 10, Destination Star Trek Europe is set to be Europe’s biggest Star Trek celebration, and will offer fans the opportunity to meet Trek cast and crew, explore interactive exhibits, learn about Star Trek’s impact on science, space, and technology, and enjoy parties fit for a golden anniversary. Tickets for both events are available now. For more details, and the latest guest lists, visit startrekmissions.com and destinationstartrek.com
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SCHOOL DAZE Starfleet Academy – Will You Graduate? e can’t promise you’ll pass Kobayashi Maru 101, but you’ll certainly learn a thing or two if you can get to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa from May, 2016, when it hosts the world premiere of the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Experience – an exciting new interactive exhibition that brings the 26th Century into the present day. Produced by EMS Entertainment, the Experience will fill a 15,000 square foot exhibition space, and take visitors through a nine-zone training experience, covering Language, Medical,
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Navigation, Engineering, Command, and Science, after which they will be assigned a specialty based on the results of their training. And it’s not just play-acting – at the heart of the Academy Experience there is genuine learning to be had, with its mission statement to inspire interest in technology and the sciences, making it ideal for inquisitive younger Trekkers. Along with a display of props and costumes from the 50-year history of Star Trek, there will be interactive activities, including a phaser shooting game and holograms, plus an exhibition
DISC DISCOVERY Roddenberry Data Uncovered emember the floppy disc? Not the 3.5 inch ones with the hard plastic enclosure, but the bigger 5 1/4 inch discs that were actually, you know, floppy? A single sided disc could hold as much as 140kB of data (depending on the m it was formatted to work computer system with), and a Double Density disc could contain a mammoth 340kkB. Imagine that?! All A those k’s! Time and memory capacity have mooved on, but it transpiires Gene Roddenberry was an early adopter when it came
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to making notes and generating story ideas using computers. When he died, in 1991, he left a stash of around 200 of those 5 1/4 inch discs with his personal effects. Unfortunately,
of real-life inventions inspired by the future tech of Star Trek. But don’t worry if you can’t make it to Ottawa. The Starfleet Academy Experience makes its U.S. debut at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City this summer, after which both will embark on simultaneous national tours, with the Canadian tour touching down at the Telus Spark Science Centre in Calgary, from February to June 2017. Further locations are yet to be announced, so be sure to check starfleetacademytour.com for the latest news.
thanks to those discs being formatted to work only with his two custom-built computers, the information held on them has been inaccessible for decades. Until this year. Mike Cobb and Jim Wilhelmsen of DriveSavers, a data recovery company specializing in retrieving files from damaged or outmoded storage devices, have been able to retrieve around 3MB of file lees from the discs, on behalf of the Rodddenberry estate. What those filess contain remains a mystery, but givven that the averagge email siize is 75kB (text onnly, with no attachments), which is aroundd 7000 words of plain ttext, then we’re looking at around 86,720 words off Roddenberry m musings. Or a lot shopping lists.
STATUS REPORT
THE NEW DAWN CONTINUES
S
ix years have passed since the launch of Star Trek Online, and in January the team at Cryptic celebrated by releasing a special Featured Episode, “Time and Tide.” The enigmatic Q also returned to the MMORPG, challenging the players in numerous mini-games in which they could earn new items and prizes, including a powerful new starship – the Krenim Science Vessel. Star Trek Online’s Season 11, “New Dawn,”
finds all three major factions – the Federation, Klingon Empire, and Romulan Republic – seeking new allies for aid in rebuilding, after the thrilling conclusion to the war against the Iconians. New episodes, “Sunrise” and “Stormbound,” introduced players to the origins of two familiar races, never before seen in Star Trek Online, and set the stage for exciting new possibilities for future exploration.
Following on from “Time and Tide,” April sees the release of a new Featured Episode, entitled “Temporal Front,” in which players protect the delegates at a diplomatic summit from a sinister threat, and a journey through time and space will lead to insights into the Alliance’s new enemy. During April, this featured episode will provide special, limited-time completion rewards, and will be available to all players above level 10.
TERROR OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE Chase Masterson returns to Star Trek Online, this time as the nefarious Mirror Universe version of Leeta, who we will follow during her bloody rise through the ranks of the Terran Empire. Captain Leeta, in command of the I.S.S. Fortuna, first appears in a revamped, fourepisode story arc that introduces players to the Mirror Alpha Quadrant. A conspiracy is exposed between the Mirror Universe and a sub-faction
of the Cardassians, bent on returning the Obsidian Order to power. Guess who’s right in the thick of things? Kipleigh Brown, who portrayed Crewman Jane Taylor in the Enterprise episode, “The Forgotten”, takes on the role of Administrator Kuumaarke, the representative of a new alien race encountered by players during a first contact situation, in the episode, “Sunrise.”
STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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KILLING TIME Pick Your Perfect Crew in Timelines Trek App aunched in January, and available in five languages on iOS and Android, Star Trek: Timelines pits your hand-picked crew against a rogues gallery of bad guys, across numerous episodic missions. And when we say “hand-picked,” we really mean it – you can crew your ship from an almost limitless list (well, in the hundreds) of iconic Trek characters, so if you really fancy putting Khan in the captain’s chair of the Enterprise, and Kirk on latrine duty, you can. We won’t judge you!
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Founder and CEO of game developer Disruptor Beam, Jon Radoff, said, “We have created a game that will immerse fans in the Star Trek universe like no other game has. And with its deep, storydriven gameplay and stellar graphics, we believe that Timelines is one of the best-looking game experiences on a mobile device today.” The team at Disruptor Beam are constantly working on enhancing the gaming experience, and you can keep up with the latest news at www.disruptorbeam.com.
MONDO KHAN DO Wrath of Khan Soundtrack Goes Vinyl ondo – a haven for left-field collectibles, art, and gorgeously remastered soundtracks – have released a stunning, 2-disc, expanded deluxe edition of The Wrath of Khan original soundtrack. Composed by the late James Horner, with additional music by Alexander Courage and Craig Huxley, this new edition includes music cues never released before on vinyl. The re-issue is pressed on vibrant Mutara Nebula colored vinyl, and features original artwork by Matt Taylor. A 28-page booklet includes exclusive liner notes by Devin Faraci, and was remastered for vinyl by James Plotkin.
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LOCAL KNOWLEDGE The Perfect Guide To Your Vulcan Vacation hinking ahead to those few short weeks in summer when you get the chance to put the everyday behind you? Looking for somewhere reliably warm, with vast beaches and uninterrupted views? Somewhere a little bit different, packed with exotic history and culture? Then Star Trek novelist Dayton Ward and Insight Editions know a great place – and they’ve created a guidebook to help you make the most of your trip! Out on July 19, 2016, “Hidden Universe: Star Trek: A Travel Guide to Vulcan” will tell you everything you need to know about Spock’s homeworld, exploring every region of the planet and facet of Vulcan society. Insppired by the likes of the “Rough Guide” andd “Lonely Planet” travel boooks, this essential guide features “fasscinating” geoographical, histtorical, andd cultural insiights that makke Vulcan seem all the morre real, and feattures original illustrations and classsic photos from acrooss Star Trek’s 50--year history. And vitally, you’ll also learn the Vulcan phrase for “Where is your restroom?”
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No in t Av An ail y S ab tor le e!
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Issue Two “Live long and prosper™” A tribute to Mr. Spock
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Begin your collection with the heirloom-quality sculpture of “Captain James T. Kirk,” yours for $79.98, payable in 3 payments of $26.66, the first billed before shipment. Subsequent issues of other Star Trek legends—including Spock, Bones, Uhura, Scotty, notorious galactic foes and more!—will each be billed separately at the same attractive price as Issue One and sent about every other month. Our best-in-the-business 365-day money-back guarantee assures your satisfaction and you may cancel at any time.
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STARFLEET’S FINEST
MIRACLE THE CHIEF ENGINEERS OF STAR TREK
If you’re ’ stuck k with i h a faulty f l warp core in i the h deepest d reaches of space, calling out the AAA isn’t an option. You need a miracle worker – and Star Trek has several of them. In the first of a series of features looking at key roles aboard a starship, we examine the qualities, attributes, and specialist skills required of Starfleet’s finest Chief Engineers. Words: K. Stoddard Hayes
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KIRK: “MR. SCOTT, HAVE YOU ALWAYS MULTIPLIED YOUR REPAIR ESTIMATES BY A FACTOR OF FOUR?” SCOTTY: “CERTAINLY, SIR. HOW ELSE CAN I KEEP MY REPUTATION AS A MIRACLE WORKER?” THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
WORKERS S
tar Trek’s Chief Engineers have always been known as “miracle workers” – the mechanical and technical wizards who can pull a damaged ship out of trouble just in time; or jury rig any ship’s system to operate under impossible conditions. These days, we take the Chief Engineer’s importance so much for granted, that it’s a surprise to realize that for both Star Trek and The Next Generation, the showrunners at first believed that an engineer would not be an important or necessary character. After the making of the second pilot for Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry considered dropping James Doohan’s Scotty from the show, because he didn’t think he needed an engineer character. Luckily, Doohan’s agent changed Roddenberry’s mind, and Scotty’s miracles – and his complaints to his captain about changing the laws of physics – became the stuff of Star Trek legend.
STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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ENGINEER PROFILE /////////////////////////
CAPTAIN MONTGOMERY SCOTT Chief Engineer, Enterprise NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A PLAYED BY: James Doohan BIRTHPLACE: Scotland, Earth, 2222 PERSONAL: Scotty devoted his life to working on starship engines, to the exclusion of any long-term personal relationships outside of his military career. He never married, and has no family. Much of his long and renowned career was served on the Enterprise under James Kirk. Through a shipwreck and some trademark transporter wizardry, he survived into the 24th Century, where he pursued his retirement. PET PEEVE: Insults to the Enterprise – especially from drunken Klingons. HOBBY: Reading technical manuals while drinking aged Scotch. BIGGEST SAVE: Scotty repairs the failing impulse engines of the Constellation so that Kirk can use the crippled ship to save the Enterprise from the Doomsday Machine. He then rigs the Constellation’s engines to overload on a timer, allowing Kirk to destroy the alien weapon before it can devastate the galaxy (“The Doomsday Machine”).
Scotty's new assistant doesn't look like he'll work out
THE SHOWRUNNERS AT FIRST BELIEVED THAT AN ENGINEER WOULD NOT BE AN IMPORTANT OR NECESSARY CHARACTER. Yet 20 years later, when w a new Star Trekk series was being developed, the lesson had to be learnned again. No Chief Engineer character was created for The Next Generation, andd the first season featured different actors playing Chief Engineers as supporting roles. By the start of the second season, though, the showrunners recognized their t mistake. They promoted Geordi La Forge to Chief Engineer, a reassignment which put him at the center of many of the Enterprise-D’s biggest adventures. After that, it was a giveen that every Star Trekk series had to have a Chief Engineer (or the equivalent for Deep Space N Nine) to take charge of the vast and complex techhnology of starships and space stations. It becam me the Chief Engineer’s job to wrangle the technobabble, crawl into tight spaces with sparks flying, fume over interminable systemss diagnostics, and
generally work engineering wonders just in time to save the ship, the station – or even the galaxy.
STICKING WITH TRADITION All the Chief Engineers have extremely varied résumés and expertise, thanks to the huge range of conditions they experience. Scotty’s work is the most familiar, and perhaps the “classic” pattern for a Star Trek Chief Engineer. He’s both a senior officer and the expert on all things mechanical. For him, improvisation and outright invention is often necessary in the emergency of the moment, and he is a master of it. Geordi’s Starfleet career is the most similar to Scotty’s. He also serves on a battleshipclass, state-of-the-art vessel, whose missions see his ship ranging from the heart of the Federation to the edge of explored space. In one way, Geordi is literally equipped to
STARFLEET’S FINEST
They say never meet your heroes (Star Trek: First Contact)
The calm before the storm (The Wrath of Khan)
be a better engineer than Scotty. The advanced visual technology of his VISOR allows him to see the full electromagnetic spectrum. He can often see an engineering problem with his own eyes, one that could otherwise be identified only with a tricorder or a lengthy system diagnostic. Scotty and Geordi are the only engineers to serve on successive ships named Enterprise, having seen their first ship destroyed before being transferred to a second. The Enterprise-D was a young ship when she died, but Scotty’s Enterprise was already long past her active service days and overdue for the scrapyard when she was destroyed. For him, the new ship must be a big change. Given his disdain for the new technologies of the Excelsior, one can’t help wondering whether he really likes all the new engineering toys on his second Enterprise (The Search for Spock). As for the alternate timeline Scotty, he is still on his first shiny Enterprise, and very busy with keeping his brash young Captain from trashing it – or even scratching the paintwork.
ENGINEERING A NEW PARADIGM Both Scottty and Geordi have relatively easy positionss compared to others, because they are never enttirely on their own. Improvize how they will in an emergency, they always have longterm repaair and refit available at the nearest starbase. For TTrip Tucker, and especially for B’Elanna Torres, those easy refits are out of the question. Trip is the Chief Engineer of Earth’s first deepp-space starship, which packs many technologgies that are prototypes or close to it, such as thhe warp engines, the transporter, the phase cannnon, and the hull plating. Becaause the transporter is so new that it is rarely used for human transport, Trip is mostly relieved of the traditional Star Trekk engineer duty of fixing a cranky transporter in time to save an away team (see boxout: “Beam Us Up, Scotty”). Instead, he must devote a lot of time and innovatioon to those n s new engine
Chief Engineer, Enterprise NCC-1701-D and NCC-1701-E PLAYED BY: LeVar Burton BIRTHPLACE: Mogadishu, African Confederation, Earth, 2335 PERSONAL: As the child of two Starfleet officers, Geordi had the military brat’s roving and rather lonely childhood. His mother, a starship captain, was lost with her ship in 2370. His father and sister survive. Geordi was transferred from helm to engineering early in the Enterprise-D’s service, and served in that capacity under Picard for many years. While ever hopeful that he will find romance, he is still single. PET PEEVE: Spot’s refusal to be trained. Geordi’s just not a cat person. HOBBY: Helping his best friend, Data, become more human. BIGGEST SAVE: When a Borg ship timetravels to the 21st Century to erase Earth’s First Contact with the Vulcans and assimilate the planet, Geordi teams up with his hero, Zefram Cochrane, to make Cochrane’s historic first warp flight happen, so the timeline is saved (Star Trek: First Contact).
ENGINEER PROFILE /////////////////////////
LT. COMMANDER GEORDI LA FORGE
SENIOR CHIEF PETTY OFFICER MILES EDWARD O’BRIEN Chief of Operations, Deep Space 9 PLAYED BY: Colm Meaney BIRTHPLACE: Ireland, Earth, 2328 PERSONAL: An old school enlisted man, O’Brien prides himself on being a noncommissioned officer. Thanks to a varied Starfleet career, including service in the Cardassian war, he is a recognized expert in starship combat, which comes in handy during his seven years on Deep Space 9. While serving on the Enterprise-D, he met and married Keiko Ishikawa, with whom he has two children. After the Dominion War, he accepted a professorship at Starfleet Academy, and returned to Earth with his family. PET PEEVE: Cardassian technology, especially Cardassian security protocols. HOBBY: Holodeck adventures with his best friend, Julian Bashir. BIGGEST SAVE: Working with Rom and Dax, O’Brien developed and deployed an array of self-replicating mines that prevented the Dominion from invading the Alpha Quadrant for months, even with Deep Space 9 occupied by the Cardassians. This delay ( A Call to turned the course of the war (“A Arms,” “A Time to Stand”).
and weapons systems, as Enterprise explores a galaxy where unknown ships are more likely to be an enemy than a friend. It’s his breakthrough that makes Enterprise’s powerful but untested phase cannon operational, by channeling its destructive excess energy to reinforce the hull plating (“Silent Enemy”). Compared to Trip’s Enterprise, the technology available to B’Elanna on Voyager is far more advanced, yet her situation is much more challenging. With Voyager stranded 70,000 light years away from the Federation and any known worlds, she is more on her own than any other Chief Engineer. There are no starbases for refit or refueling, no replacement parts, no resources at all on the far side of the galaxy except what she and her fellow officers can find, replicate, trade for, or invent. O’Brien’s career, like his service as Chief of Operations on Deep Space 9, is very different from that of the starship-faring chief engineers. He previously served as helmsman, security, and transporter specialist. Still more unusual for a Starfleet officer in the mostly peaceful Federation, he has seen so much combat duty that, even before he reaches Deep Space 9, he is recognized as an expert in starship warfare. O’Brien’s transfer to Deep Space 9 puts him in command of the entire station’s operating systems. That’s not unusual for an experienced Starfle Starfleeet technician. What’s unusual is that Deep SSpace 9 is Cardassian built. O’Brien’s job, es s especially in the first rolled-u u O'Brien is a rolled-up-sleeves kinda guy
months, is to get the station repaired after the departing Cardassians vandalized every possible system. And he has to get the basic Cardassian equipment to interface with Federation technology brought on-board for the new tenants – especially the vital weapons and control systems in the operations center. Since DS9 doesn’t have engines, just a few positioning thrusters, O’Brien never has to pull off the spectacular warp engine saves of his fellow engineers. Instead, he faces more unusual problems, such as preventing a hidden Cardassian security lockdown from destroying the station (“Civil Defense”). That said, he also often takes Engineer duty on the Defiant, into battle and on more esoteric adventures, like taking a miniaturized runabout into the Defiant’s circuitry to recapture the warship from the Jem’Hadar (“One Little Ship”).
PERSONAL FOIBLES The engineers who follow Scotty and Geordi also deviate in interesting ways from their traditional senior officer/ensemble character prototype. O’Brien’s rank varies, both in dialog and in his uniform, throughout his early appearances. But eventually the writers decided he would be more interesting as a warrant officer, the Starfleet equivalent of an enlisted man or petty officer, rather than a commissioned officer. The difference in rank adds to his “everyman” persona – he’s not a glamorous officer bound for command, just an ordinary
STARFLEET’S FINEST
Torres challenges Klingon stereotypes
HAVING B’ELANNA AS CHIEF ENGINEER UNDER A FEMALE CAPTAIN PUT WOMEN ROUTINELY IN THE CENTRAL MISSION ROLES FOR THE FIRST TIME. working guy trying to get through the day. In dramatic terms, Trip is unusual in being the only Chief Engineer character who is the show’s second lead, rather than just a member of the ensemble. His importance in the story arises from his long professional and personal friendship with Archer. Like McCoy to Kirk, and Tuvok to Janeway, he is his captain’s closest confidant. Trip’s popularity with Enterprise fans led to more episodes being devoted to him than to most other characters, and eventually, to his being singled out for a very final series finale. Most unusual, though, is B’Elanna. Not only is she Star Trek’s only female Chief Engineer, she’s also the only half-human to fill the role, thanks to her Klingon lineage. While female
engineers had been seen before, having B’Elanna as Chief Engineer under a female captain put women routinely in the central mission roles for the first time on Star Trek, especially with the addition of Seven of Nine as de facto science officer. B’Elanna’s engineering ability also seriously bends our stereotypes of the typical Klingon. We expect the violent temper, and we get it. B’Elanna’s progress from self-despising, nose-breaking rebel to disciplined leader and committed romantic partner is one of Star Trek’s more complex character arcs. However, we don’t expect technical genius in Klingons, who are nearly always portrayed as disdainful of those who are better with technology than
Chief Engineer, Voyager PLAYED BY: Roxann Dawson BIRTHPLACE: Federation colony Kessik IV, 2349 PERSONAL: The daughter of a rare marriage between a Klingon and a human, B’Elanna grew up deeply conflicted about her Klingon heritage, and her human father’s abandonment. After a short, turbulent Starfleet Academy career, she dropped out and joined the Maquis. The forced alliance of the Val Jean and Voyager crews in the Delta Quadrant brought her back into Starfleet service. While serving on Voyager, she met and married Tom Paris, and gave birth to their first child just as the ship returned to Earth. PET PEEVE: Seven of Nine’s habit of asking embarrassing personal questions. HOBBY: Finding ways to get Paris to spend romantic time with her, which usually ends up involving not candlelight and flowers, but tinkering with Tom’s hobby, the Delta Flyer. BIGGEST SAVE: Working with the EMH and Borg drone Seven of Nine, B’Elanna helped weaponize the nanoprobes that defeated Species 8472. She also cut Seven’s link to the Collective before the drone could summon the Borg to assimilate Voyager. This saved the ship for the long term as well, since Seven’s technical expertise, and knowledge of the Borg, would prove vital to Voyager’s safe return home (“Scorpion, Part 2”).
ENGINEER PROFILE ///////////////////////////
LIEUTENANT JUNIOR GRADE (PROVISIONAL) B’ELANNA TORRES
ENGINEER PROFILE /////////////////////////
COMMANDER CHARLES “TRIP” TUCKER III Chief Engineer, Enterprise NX-01 PLAYED BY: Connor Trinneer BIRTHPLACE: Florida, Earth, 2121 PERSONAL: A lifelong mechanical tinkerer, Trip joined Starfleet at the dawn of warp technology, and became one of its great pioneers. His position on the Enterprise came via his long friendship with Jonathan Archer. Trip’s sister was lost in the Xindi attack on Earth, making the Xindi war a personal matter for him. He was killed in 2161 in a senseless pirate attack. PET PEEVE: Beautiful alien women with hidden abilities, such as being muggers in disguise, or getting their male colleagues pregnant. HOBBY: Studying warp engines, and experimenting with warp technology BIGGEST SAVE: Working with T’Pol, Trip developed a way to destroy Sphere 41, and trigger a chain reaction that destroyed all the Spheres and the Delphic Expanse, leading to the end of the war with the Xindi (“Zero Hour”). "Zero Hour"
If all else fails, eject the warp core
with a bat’leth. B’Elanna defies that stereotype every time she rattles off a long technical speech, or figures out how to adapt new Delta Quadrant resources to serve Voyager’s engines, or jury-rigs a way to fend off the Borg with their own technology.
REWIRING THE LAWS OF PHYSICS Despite their difference in personalities and careers, all of the engineers know, to the smallest ll detail, d il exactly l what h their h i ships hi andd engines can handle, and when they’re being pushed too far. They often know exactly what other ships are capable of as well. When Scotty and Geordi are repairing the Jenolan, Geordi comments that the procedure Scotty suggested will exceed the impulse engine specifications.
don’t – if they take shortcuts – they will blow up the ship (“Silent Enemy”). In the alternate universe, Scotty takes this integrity farther than any. He refuses a consignment of advanced photon torpedoes from Admiral Marcus because he is not permitted to examine them, and therefore he can’t verify that they are safe around the warp core. When he’s ordered to accept them anyway, he resigns (Star Trek Into Darkness).
REWRITING THE MANUAL Thanks to the unique circumstances of their postings, several of the Chief Engineers also have a chance to develop unusual specializations. Trip is a pioneer of warp field technology for his generation. His Enterprise is
TRIP’S POPULARITY WITTH ENTERPRISE FANS LED TO MORE EPISODES BEINNG DEVOTED TO HIM THAN TO MOST OTHEER CHARACTERS. Scotty laughs, and answers that he knows the specification can be safely exceeded, because he wrote the regulation in question (“Relics”). This knowledge brings with it a certain rigorous integrity in even the most desperate refit or repair. As Trip tells Malcolm when they are desperately trying to get the new phase cannon online, they are going to do the repair correctly, because if they
the first Earth ship to reach warp 5, when fleeing an enemy ship in “Fallen Hero.” And when the spatial anomalies of the Delphic Expanse destabilize the ship’s warp field, he struggles to revise current warp theory (“Anomaly”). Geordi may be one of Starfleet’s leading experts on androids and positronic technology because of his close friendship with Data. Over the years, their experiments with Data’s programming, with his emotion chip, and with many aspects
STARFLEET’S FINEST of his personality subroutines, lead to a number of breakthroughs and discoveries. They also sometimes lead to thorny problems, such as Geordi accidentally creating the sentient hologram Moriarty, when he tries to program a Sherlock Holmes holodeck adventure that will be too hard for Data to solve (“Elementary, Dear Data”). After countless encounters with Delta Quadrant civilizations, ships, and energy sources, B’Elanna becomes that rare Starfleet asset – an expert on Delta Quadrant technology. And thanks to years of travel through Borg space, by the time Voyager returns safely to Earth, she is also, surely, one of the leading experts on Borg technology. She even has the opportunity to become an expert in hologram programming, as she helps the Doctor with all kinds of subroutines, and with the workings of his groundbreaking portable holoemitter. Whatever their differences in personality and situation, it’s safe to say that Star Trek’s Chief Engineers will always be important, central characters in the past and future adventures of Starfleet.
Geordi's VISOR is a unique engineering tool
"The Enemy Within"
A bunch of cheeky "Rascals"
BEAM US UP, SCOTTY hief Engineers seem to spend a lot of time working on transporters, the one piece of technology guaranteed to fail when the plot demands it, and at no other time! Indeed, Scotty’s close association with the Enterprise’s transporter has become part of popular culture, embodied in the apocryphal catchphrase, “Beam me up, Scotty.” On countless occasions, each of Star Trek’s chief engineers have used the transporter to save the day, especially when weird physical transformations affect their fellow officers. Kirk is split into two people (“The Enemy Within”); Tuvok and Neelix are merged into one (“Tuvix”); and Picard and several others are turned into
C
children (“Rascals”). On these occasions, and others, the only way to put things right is a second materialization through a transporter, carefully calibrated by the Chief Engineer. On any real ship, though, such an important and highly sensitive piece of technology would not be operated by the Chief Engineer. It would be manned and maintained by dedicated systems specialists. Reflecting that reality, The Next Generation’s writers eventually gave an Enterprise-D crewman the title of Transporter Chief – even before they gave a name to the crewman (as played by Colm Meaney in “The Child”). Now, what was his name again…?
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STAR TREK MAGAZINE
INTERVIEW: GEORGE TAKEI
NG IN I T T I S Y L L A “ACTU PTAIN’S CHAIR, SULU’S CA ERYTHING I’D IT WAS EV OULD BE.” HOPED IT W
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hat is so right,” George Takei says. “It’s so right.” What’s right is this: Takei, when he attends Star Trek conventions, still sees thousands upon thousands of faces in the crowd. Those people in the audience, or up close and personal as he signs autographs and poses for photos, they are of all ages, skin colors, and nationalities. There are folks practically sprinting across the room and people in wheelchairs. And, these days, Takei is meeting not just longtime fans, but their children and their children’s children, and, yes, the children of their children, too. “This is Gene Roddenberry’s vision coming true,” enthuses Takei, who played Star Trek’s Hikaru Sulu in the original TV series, The Animated Series, six Trek feature films, and in the “Flashback” episode of Voyager. “I know it’s the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, but I want to tell you a story about the 25th anniversary. Gene was at the 25th anniversary convention, and I think that was the last convention he attended. That was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, and he was already in a wheelchair at that time. I heard the various languages being spoken at that event, and, again, it was Gene’s dream come true. He’d lived to see it. It was global. It was multilingual. It was multicultural. That vision he’d had of ‘Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations,’ I saw and heard and experienced it on the 25th anniversary of Star Trek. I think he was very, very gratified by that. STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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“And now, with the 50th anniversary, it’s still true,” Takei continues. “Star Trek, in so many ways, has contributed to bringing us closer to realizing that very optimistic, utopian vision that Gene had. Like I say, it’s many, many generations, and many, many cultures that are Star Trek fans. There are Star Trek fans in many, many nations. There are fans in Argentina, Brazil and the Czech Republic, and in the United States and England and Italy, and everywhere else you can imagine. So, Star Trek really has lived long and prospered.”
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER Star Trek changed the game – several games, actually. The show not only launched a fandom and posited a positive view of the future, but it also altered the viewing landscape. An
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TTING U P N A H T R THE A R G N I O D N “I BELIEVE IF FOR A BUCKET LIST.” THINGS OF African-American communications officer? An Asian helmsman? A half-Human, green-blooded first officer? And, remember, in the original pilot, Roddenberry installed a woman as Number One. Also, Star Trek provided unprecedented opportunities for the young actors tapped to play those soon-to-be-iconic characters. “Just the idea of getting cast in that role, on a show about a starship in the future, with a diverse cast coming together, it was a groundbreaking thing, certainly for my career, but also for television as a medium,” Takei says. “Gene was someone who had an agenda and a philosophy and a vision for the human future. He tried to project that optimistic view, as opposed to the dystopian society that so much
R E I T N O R F OOK
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of science fiction depicts. So to be cast in that role, in that context, was a real thrill. I had no idea that the show or Sulu would be so long-lived and so prosperous. When Gene first introduced the character to me, he said, ‘He is the best of the crop of young Starfleet Academy graduates, and is destined to become the best helmsman.’ “That in and of itself was groundbreaking,” he says. “Sulu wasn’t a stereotype of any kind and, at the time, the stereotype of the Asian was as the villain or the silent, servile type or a buffoon. And from Gene’s description, from what we saw in the series, Sulu went on to become the captain of his own starship in Star Trek VI. I think that people know I had to lobby very hard for that. I wrote PS?
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about it in my autobiography [To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei]. I’m a political activist in my real life, but I also did it in terms of my career. I had to push and suggest and nudge, and sometimes threaten. And the result is that Sulu really made an enormous advance within the arc of the characters from the show to the films.” Takei, to be clear, didn’t lobby for Sulu to captain the U.S.S. Excelsior in Star Trek VI. He’d done his pushing, suggesting, and nudging for years and years before then, to no avail, and had given up by the time Star Trek V rolled around. Then the script for Star Trek VI arrived. “It was a great moment for me and for the character,” Takei says proudly. “I was blown away. I, as I say, had made peace with myself that it wasn’t going to happen. And there it was, on the very first page. It wasn’t like, right before Star Trek VI, I had campaigned and lobbied, and then found victory. It was a surprise that came out of nowhere. And then, actually sitting in Sulu’s captain’s chair, it was everything I’d hoped it would be.” Life after Star Trek offered its share of ups and downs for Takei. For a long time, he felt typecast as Sulu – and there’s no denying he was. Though he participated in such memorable projects as Mulan, roles proved hard to come by. But eventually the tide turned. Much like the Star Trek VI script with its Captain Sulu sequence that appeared out of nowhere, Takei suddenly seemed to be everywhere and doing everything. A veteran activist for LGBT rights, he came out as gay in 2005 and amplified his activism. He portrayed variations of himself on Psych and STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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Will & Grace. By 2006, he joined The Howard Stern Show as its announcer. The next year, he played a recurring role on Heroes, then network television’s hottest show. He married his partner, Brad Altman, in Los Angeles in 2008, at the Japanese American National Museum, which he helped found and for which he remains an active board member. And there’s more, much more. Takei continued his voiceover and live-action guest shots, adding Futurama, The Big Bang Theory, Larry Crowne, Hawaii Five-O, Hot in Cleveland, etc. to his credits. He also
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became an Internet sensation, and today has more than 9 million Facebook friends and 1.7 million Twitter followers (see previous page). He and husband Brad were the subjects of To Be Takei, a documentary released in 2014. Moviegoers will soon hear him in the animated features Yamasong: March of the Hollows, and Kubo and the Two Strings.
DO IT, DON’T BUCKET LIST IT In late 2015 into early 2016, Takei brought Allegiance – a musical partially inspired by his life – to Broadway. He actually spent several years helping develop the show, which ran in San Diego in 2012 before finally reaching Broadway. Allegiance followed the story of the
ushers g, but the in . m o c s the house he wa me know ard was in t n hen o le w e s L ’t t n w a d ie He ha at rev ll me th re te e g n to e e tt g it o ksta ad g ge after th sion as came bac e backsta Leonard h t an occa m .’ n a w c a t o h s n w p e re , m o h th ‘O s triu . DeF y. He I thought, ersary, a d in 1991 Broadwa ortive. ear to me 0th anniv ysart on l berry die 5 D n je e e a d d e th M d y ery supp , o v to la 5 R ear and d , p 0 e n e g 0 ry e n a 2 e ry h e v y e y down, G o in v s . v a s n s at wa Dooha s losse all the wa e and w ney th s c it e it tar Trek’s e n t v id h a u d m ro W o e Ja d rm h e h o y e e it ce L perf ed b go, h late me,” g else been w congratu 98, follow oy and Gra tors, somethin in San Die 9 c , to is, hasn’t e 1 im e o c e N ir n ls in g d idually, A ia y rd , ta “ a a g s rs n e k e bac roduce ing All nd Leo ssed aw do it indiv m p a a o a n , , p d c a 9 s y rs d . 0 a e th n ll te 0 ll w r a e 2 ri e e I , K n to New , rath rry in h him tars, w us as w was, whe oddenbe cited and ave come ouple wit x ’s guest s have left c h e e r ts o is e ld n s h u th c s o le o n a w . n ta a Barrett-R a he you nes ast w the fr bringing him. And t of the c -the-sce r without Many of t him.” n, with o hoto with . “The res reciate er behind o in 2015. p s p s th d ut we los p p e o d b a u o a , I d g i ro ll n d e g e a it n k , a w A a – “ T s rs t in . a e u s s d o g y o e a s in p ts s o . he poin open , com they all p of my life one can,” fe, Takei roadway stuntmen r so much for the B s fully as g about li a fo rk in o fe fe th Y li li e e d v th traine s to li That’s k ch a cons hy one ha life. I thin g lived su “That’s w in v urself to a o h y r e fo iv ry g re a o y in ll m fu ord uch ose extra enjoy and that so m savor and s one of th a to w ually t s o rd u g a n e re You’v id. Leo We we d . ts rd a io n tr o a e p at L ing else l com that’s wh o politica s. Someth ls te a a re id e d n w e guts and me ca people. W who had ing the sa n rt o o rs p e p p u s in le know was a involved t of peop nard, he o lo e a L k t u in o b th ha em. I es. They I’ll cheris ved by th ated Seri li im e n h A d e n h a s, s Leonard with T principle and it wa appened , h e t ll a e h h w ic f o e or N ice cast the story of the vo include m rt to a p g a in e o g Ib uish were not helle and uld relinq d that Nic en he wo te th is , s s . He did u g in e o in d wh rare th t inclu a o n s t’ id a d th y , e ean . and, if th pock. I m brought in voice of S we were e , th id d g e in s h o d gele cause in Los An s and, be did a role I that for u , ] 5 0 e 0 2 y,” h “Later [in Broadwa d done on a h st rd E a e n ith th a that Leo Equus, w id d I . “ . rt s a e s y continu I played D yers, and lle, e h ic N West Pla w, and o n k le p o rd I let pe nd Leona oenig], a to e Walter [K m ca ones who were the . And w o h s the see me in e, the nard cam when Leo excited. ere really ushers w
FOND
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INTERVIEW: GEORGE TAKEI Kimura family, a group of hardworking AsianAmericans in Salinas, California. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent dawn of World War II, they – like so many real families, including Takei’s – were sent to internment camps in Wyoming, essentially becoming prisoners in their own country. The central characters included the Kimura siblings Sam (Telly Leung) and Kei (Lea Salonga), who take vastly different approaches to dealing with their internment. Takei played two roles, the embittered older version of Sam and also the always-hopeful Grandpa Ojii-chan. The show was a pure labor of love, and a deeply personal experience for the actor. He’s called it a belated “apology” to his father, whom, as a teenager, he’d accused of “leading us like sheep to slaughter” into the internment
camp. Now, he thinks – he hopes – his parents (Fumiko Emily Takei and Takekuma Norman Takei) would be proud. “When the marquee went up atop the Longacre Theatre, it was magical,” Takei recalls. “We got a call at about nine in the morning to say ‘The truck is here.’ Brad and I ran over there, and we saw the marquee go up. My only thought was, ‘I wish that my parents could have been here with us,’ because it was really their story being told. I was a child when the events happened. I went through that experience, but I didn’t experience the truth of that internment until I became a teenager and my father told me about it. So, it really is their story. I know that they’re in my heart, but I really would like to have seen them with me as that marquee went up.”
AS H , S Y A W Y MAN O S ER N S I O , L K C E S R T U R G “STA TED TO BRINGIN TIC, S I M U I B T I P R O T N Y CO VER T A H T G .” N I Z I TO REAL ISION THAT GENE HAD UTOPIAN V
The fact that Takei made his Broadway debut at the age of 78 is a testament to his popularity, doggedness, and talent. Not only has he achieved that dream, he’s also lived long enough to witness marriage equality become the law of the land in the United States. He’s inspired and entertained millions of people. So, what’s left on his bucket list? The answer is… nothing. Nothing at all. “So many people put off the things they want to do, but time is limited,” Takei explains. “I believe in doing rather than putting things off for a bucket list. I’ve lived what I’ve wanted to do. I became an actor, which is something that very few Asian-American young people did. I’ve come out, which, at the time I did, very few young actors had done. I have really embraced Gene Roddenberry’s anthemic phrase, ‘Boldly go where no one has gone before.’ I’ve done it in my life, so I don’t have a bucket list. I don’t believe in bucket lists.”
TIME’S ARROW
NO SIMPLE A piece of emergency, on-the-fly cloning breeds Enterprise’s finest hour – and an episode of Star Trek worthy of Gene Roddenberry’s trailblazing original. Words: Rich Matthews
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TIME'S ARROW hat is it that makes Star Trek “Star Trek”? It’s fair to say that it is one of the greatest fictional universes ever created, but what is it that makes it great? What is it that separates Star Trek from its many imitators and pretenders to the throne? It certainly isn’t the only futuristic series to be set in space, and neither was it the first, so perhaps it’s the show’s ongoing quest to use science as the basis for its interstellar setting – albeit sometimes far-fetched, speculative science. Or is it because it embraces Big Ideas? Science fiction in its truest sense explores philosophical, psychological, and emotional aspects of life and science, and Star Trek, at its very best, most definitely does that. Or is it because it uses allegory in its storytelling? Without doubt – especially in its original 1960s incarnation, where many subject areas were too taboo for conventional contemporary TV drama, but Star Trek could depict a powerful alien using mind/body control to force American television’s first interracial onscreen kiss (sort of – though that’s a debate for another article!).
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“IT’S NOT THAT I’M SCARED OF DYING. IT’S JUST THAT… I CAN’T IMAGINE NOT BEING HERE TOMORROW.” SIM Is it because it asks questions, and, in turn, gets us to ask questions of ourselves? (In the case of this article, lots of questions, it seems…) Absolutely. But perhaps its most defining characteristic is its unerring humanity. And we don’t mean simply sentimental, down-in-the-dirt-with-the-masses drama. We mean aspirational-yet-recognizably flawed characters. People of all species and races who try to better themselves, overcome obstacles, both external and internal, to strive to be the best realization of their identity. That is the essence of Star Trek, and the often underrated Enterprise deserves more credit for embodying that essence. The fifth television incarnation of Trek had the hardest job of the whole franchise, as a prequel to the five-year mission of Kirk and crew. No one would claim that it was always successful in its ambitions, but when Enterprise did get it right, it’s hard to think of any series that was more quintessentially Star Trek. STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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it have a high concept – a medical clone of Trip, bred specifically for harvesting neural tissue to save the mortally injured engineer’s life – but it also examines a hot-button topic of the moment (cloning and the ethics thereof). It also allows Connor Trinneer to play outside of his character’s usual weekly limitations, and the actor delivers an extraordinary performance of the Tucker as we know him, mingled with a new naïvety and desperate wonder as the clone Sim – which forces an expansion in the inter-species romantic tension growing between Tucker and T’Pol. Meanwhile the ship is trapped by a mysterious magnetic field that’s draining all of the Enterprise’s power systems, including life support, and the stakes couldn’t be higher – the death of everyone on the ship will mean the failure of their Xindi mission, and therefore the demise of every being on Earth. Pressure, much? At the heart of all this is the central morality play of trading Sim’s new (but genetically time-constrained) life for that of “trip hazard” Trip’s, whose life-threatening injury in an engineering explosion was partly a result of his experimentation on the warp core. This single conundrum tests Captain Archer’s decisionmaking in crisis (he feels Enterprise needs Tucker
Trip by name, trip by nature
ENTERPRISE AT ITS FINEST IS AS GOOD AS STAR TREK GETS. PERIOD. So, in our mission to seek out the best and the boldest of Star Trek, to grapple with the very essence of the final frontier, we ask you to consider the Season 3 episode “Similitude” on two counts: 1) As an example of Enterprise itself at its utmost best; and... 2) As Star Trek par excellence, transcending Enterprise's own fourseries run to enter the lofty heights of the Star Trek canon’s greatest episodes. Yes, that is some rarefied air we’re suggesting “Similitude” breathes, but hear us out – and watch the episode again – and you’ll agree that Enterprise at its finest is as good as Star Trek gets. Period.
GENETIC PHOTOCOPY What makes “Similitude” such an effective episode is its heady mix of essential Trek elements. Not only does
to complete its mission, and thus save Earth, so he’s willing to “kill” the sentient Sim to get his engineer back), forces T’Pol to examine her feelings for Trip (with Tucker in a coma, the Vulcan confronts her romantic attachment, then gets a second chance at expressing it before it’s too late), and exposes Phlox’s medical amorality (he proposes the use of the Lyssarian desert larva to grow the mimetic symbiote), juxtaposed with his nurturing, paternal instincts toward Sim. Remember that, back in 2003, cloning, genetically modified food, and the potential abuse of both was very much in the public consciousness. It was a burgeoning scientific arena, and rules and regulations weren’t full drafted, so natural fears about the implication of breeding clones were rife. A perfect Star Trek subject. In this scenario, the white, semi-translucent ovoid larva native to the Lyssarian homeworld secretes a viral suppressant from its epidermal layer (aka skin) that Phlox uses to treat abrasions and bruises – hence its presence floating in a tank in sickbay. Its mimetic properties, however, were generally kept secret by the Lyssarians, to prevent
TIME'S ARROW exploitation of the short-lived symbiotes. It works thus: inject the larva with DNA from another organism and its cells assimilate and replicate, based on the new genome, growing into a replica organism that matures and dies in a 15-day period. Two important distinctions become evident through the growing of Sim: 1) that a humanbased symbiote possesses the physical, ageequivalent memories of its DNA “donor,” along with all its corresponding emotions, attachments, and abilities; and 2) that the neural extraction, which would be straightforward and painless for Lyssarian symbiotes, would in fact kill a human clone due to the volume of neurons required to heal Trip. The procedure produces a “man” psychologically split by the dichotomy of two sets of memories existing side-by-side: Trip’s memory engrams and Sim’s own.
BRING IN THE CLONE This key Big Idea could easily have devolved into arch sentimentality and heavy-handed heartstring tugging, but instead it is elevated by a series of complications that simultaneously make both Sim, and therefore the episode, much more layered. With Trip out of commission, the Enterprise crew is trying to repair the ship and free it from the magnetic field without its engineering talisman. It quickly becomes clear that Sim possesses his progenitor’s memories, intellect, and ingenuity, and is a
The cliffhanger beginning
“I HAVE HIS MEMORIES. I HAVE HIS FEELINGS. I HAVE HIS BODY. HOW AM I NOT TRIP?” SIM natural replacement for Tucker. In fact, it’s Sim’s brainwave to use the shuttle pods to pull the ship free that saves the day. In this context, when Sim makes the argument that an experimental synthetic enzyme could be used to extend his life, and that, as a result, Trip would technically live on through him, his case is highly compelling. This isn’t a faceless organ donor; this is a productive – nay indispensible – member of the crew. It’s at this point that Star Trek’s aspirational nature takes hold, albeit with a trace of melancholic tragedy, with Sim making the noble choice to sacrifice his life to save Trip, which in turn is likely to save millions of people. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one – no matter how unique. “Similitude” is sciencefiction as meditation on what The Motion Picture calls “The Human Adventure,” sweetened by just enough tense action to keep it entertaining.
So what of Archer and Phlox’s ethics? The Denobulan doctor is not only behind the whole cloning enterprise, he also withholds key information about a controversial (outlawed by the Lyssarians) enzyme treatment, used to keep mimetic symbiotes alive longer than the natural 15 days. He claims he does so because there isn’t enough evidence of success to bring it up as a viable option. This rings hollow, not only to Sim but to us too: if there’s even a chance, surely it’s worth pursuing? That would mean Tucker would die, and even two weeks of intense parenting isn’t enough to shift Phlox’s resolution away from Trip and towards his surrogate son. For his part, Archer makes no bones about his position: he is fully prepared to take the neural matter from Sim, by force if need be – in the name of the greater good, of course (although he'd also get his friend back...)
TIME’S ARROW
DATACORE “SIMILITUDE”
SEASON 3, EPISODE 10
Phlox grows a clone of Trip to save the comatose engineer’s life after he’s critically injured during an engine performance test. However, no one in the crew is adequately prepared for the moral, ethical, and emotional implications of harvesting neurons from the self-aware “mimetic symbiote,” Sim – especially as Enterprise’s entrapment in a growing magnetic region of space necessitates Sim’s active assimilation into the crew, to save the ship and everyone onboard.
FIRST AIRED: EPISODE ORDER: WRITTEN BY: DIRECTED BY: Sim’s is the first funeral to be held on a starship in the Star Trek chronology, and the first time that a photon tube (or in this case a “photonic torpedo”) is used as a de facto coffin (“repeated” in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, made some 21 years before this episode!). It’s also the first time the term “tricorder” is used, in reference to Phlox’s medical tricorder, while also being the only time the designation is mentioned on Enterprise. Widely recognized as one of the best Enterprise episodes, John Billingsley (Phlox) named it as the strongest episode of Season 3, while an online UPN viewers
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19 NOVEMBER 2003 61 OF 97 MANNY COTO LEVAR BURTON poll (United Paramount Network – the now defunct network that originally aired the show) voted it third favorite of the series’ run. Terry J. Erdmann and Paul M. Block’s Star Trek 101 book lists the episode as one the 10 essential episodes of Enterprise. Fittingly, this engineer-focused episode is directed by LeVar Burton, aka Star Trek: The Next Generation’s very own technical whizz, Geordi La Forge. It also marked the first script from incoming co-executive producer Manny Coto, who is often credited with lifting the final seasons of the series with a new energy and vitality.
All of this behavior is grimly compelling, and plays to Enterprise’s strengths. We’re not in the evolved 23rd and 24th Centuries of Gene Roddenberry’s more moralizing, ascetic white hats. No, we’re in the bickering, conflicted, alltoo-human trenches of the 22nd Century, where even the Vulcans are prone to more irrational moments of emotion. Kirk or Picard would never have sanctioned the killing of Sim to save Trip, even if the final sacrifice was his decision. But since The Next Generation, each successive Star Trek series has darkened. It’s quite conceivable that embattled war captain Sisko would have considered killing Sim, if it could turn the tide of the Dominion War in his favor, while the embittered, ruthless Janeway did that very thing by ordering the separation of the dual entity Tuvix – created by a transporter accident that mixed the patterns of Tuvok and Neelix into a new being. That’s the depth of Star Trek. Even the strictures of the Prime Directive can’t make a universal prediction for every captain’s decision, and when Sim meets Archer, Starfleet’s first captain is no longer the wide-eyed explorer who first stepped onto the Enterprise bridge. This is the post-Earth attack Archer, weighed down by grim responsibility. His ethics are now filtered through the prism of a desperate situation. Phlox knows this, and his own decisions reflect his Captain’s/ship’s/Starfleet’s needs. The truly sad thing is that Sim must know this too, as he has all of Tucker’s memories. He has “lived” through the events that led Archer to this moment of ethical compromise. Sim’s final decision to submit to the procedure, even though he had – pun intended – engineered an escape for himself, came not only out of selfless sacrifice, but also resignation that the situation demanded it. The right thing to do and the required thing to do. Could you have done it? There Star Trek goes again, making us ask the Big Questions.
GETTING FROM THERE TO HERE T’Pol is the only regular crew member who has a true journey in “Similitude,” the only person changed by events. Archer is sad but remains resolute. Phlox is conflicted, but believes he did the right thing. Trip was oblivious to it all (although attending his own funeral may well have messed him up a bit). But for T’Pol to admit her true feelings for Sim/Trip is a real step forward for her. Second chances don’t come around too often, so her actions in the face of losing “Trip” for a second time come from both an emotional and logical place. Sim gave her new information, clarifying Trip’s suspected affection for her, which in turn mirrored her own. Now, it was a relatively safe
TIME'S ARROW choice for T’Pol, because Sim’s time was limited and he would take T’Pol’s revelation with him to his interstellar grave, but even this seemingly protective admission has ramifications, setting T’Pol on her path to a romantic relationship with Tucker. And we all know it. In an episode of high points, T’Pol and Sim’s kiss is as emotionally charged, and intellectually intriguing, as anything else in the Star Trek canon. The first human-Vulcan kiss. Even without the rest of the excellent drama, that alone would have made the episode stand out. Sim instantly becomes an indispensable character in the Enterprise canon, one who shaped the arc of the series and helped humanize T’Pol. (That sound you can hear is the Vulcan High Council hissing in disgust.) In many ways, Enterprise reflected its subject matter – a tumultuous exploration into uncharted regions, toward a predetermined future that saw soaring highs and swooping lows. Having survived the 'timey-wimey' fluctuations of the Temporal
“I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT AN ADOLESCENT CRUSH. THAT WAS... WELL, THAT WAS TWO DAYS AGO.” SIM
Cold War (anyone taken aback by the timeline jiggery-pokery of J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot clearly didn’t watch Enterprise), the Xindi changed the game, and ironically the show really found its rhythm in its final season, reconciling its position as both a prequel to the original series, and an extension and exploration of our own 21st Century technological and cultural preoccupations. Arguably, it is closer to Kirk’s era than any other series. Set in the 2150s, 100 years before the NCC-1701 launched, the NX-01 is staffed by a group of professional, elite, militaristic people
doing a difficult job under trying circumstances. It’s the situation they’re thrown into that blurs the line between life and work, simply because they are genuinely out in the wilderness, on their own. “Similitude” offers the perfect scenario for anyone boldly going where no one has gone before – the quest for hitherto unseen warp speeds leads to an unheard-of crisis, with an ingenious solution that pushes the boundaries of science to produce a unique entity whose short life would leave an indelible mark. If that isn’t good Star Trek, I don’t what is.
What is the Vulcan for "toy boy"?
Not the best time for a game of Crossy Road
INTERVIEW: CONNOR TRINNEER
For down-to-earth mechanic Trip Trucker, life in deep space really was the final frontier – and without his heroics, it’s unlikely that the Federation would ever have gotten off the ground. Star Trek Magazine speaks to Connor Trinneer, the talented actor behind the muchloved Enterprise engineer. Words: Ian Spelling
he dictionary defines “alchemy” as a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination. It’s pretty accurate, then, to describe the casting of Connor Trinneer as Charles “Trip” Tucker III in Star Trek: Enterprise as a prime example of alchemy. Trinneer fit the role so well that his acting felt effortless. Trip was positive, loyal, adventurous and tough, and frequently exhibited a quirky sense of humor. When viewers first met him, Trip was a relative space newbie, having only visited one inhabited planet other than Earth before boarding the Enterprise. Likewise, Trinneer himself was something of an acting rookie at the time, with only a handful of TV guest spots, including ER, Touched by an Angel, and Sliders under his belt. The Enterprise job changed everything, and even all these years later it remains one of the most fulfilling chapters of his life, as he tells Star Trek Magazine. “It feels like a long time ago, in terms of the work,” Trinneer says, “I’m constantly reminded of it by the fact that I go to these conventions
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throughout the year. So in that sense it never really leaves. You’re there, answering questions and talking about it, and seeing the people you have worked with and liked. It’s always nice to go to these things and see people that I don’t get to see very often. But I mark the time from Enterprise ending to my present life by the age of my son, and he’s 10 now, which is crazy.” Trinneer played Trip for all four seasons of Enterprise, with his character forming the tightest of bonds with T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating), and Captain Archer (Scott Bakula), and fans remain devastated by Trip’s heroic self-sacrifice in order to save his captain in the series finale, “These Are the Voyages…”
ARC IN SPACE
Looking back over the show’s run, the majority of Star Trek fans loved “Broken Bow,” the Enterprise pilot, much of season three, and nearly every second of season four. But that final season proved to be too little, too late. Asked to share his personal opinion about what worked and what didn’t on Enterprise, STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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Trinneer politely demurs, saying, “that’s really not ultimately up to me to decide for anybody.” Rather, he concerned himself with “keeping this character interesting, and that really was my job.” Speaking creatively as a performer, though, Trinneer was thrilled. He’d snagged “such a good part,” one that challenged him almost every episode with “new kinds of experiences and environments.” The fate that befell the show had “little to do with us, and more to do with what was happening around us, i.e., the network, studio, and relationships in that regard, which again had absolutely nothing to do with me or us.” Trip, from the start, was a freshfaced guy who stood loyally by Captain Archer’s side. The two were best friends, and Trip never forgot that Archer had saved his life a few years before they boarded the Enterprise NX-01 in 2151. “Coming out of the box, I think Trip was the template for what an average Joe would be like in that situation,” Trinneer says. “By the time the show ended, he’d had so much happen to him that you had a much more mature person, with life experiences he couldn’t have imagined [previously]. I think the experiences he had just hardened his resolve for what he was doing. He found himself in a place he wasn’t sure about in the beginning, and by the end he was somebody who, I think, ultimately could have captained the ship.
“TO KILL THE CHARACTER OFF I KNOW UPSET A LOT OF PEOPLE, BUT FOR ME IT WAS REALLY KIND OF PERFECT, IN THE SENSE THAT I GOT TO PLAY A LIFE.”
Trip was a hit with the fans
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An impatient patient
INTERVIEW: CONNOR TRINNEER
A GROUP ENTERPRISE nterprise last voyaged into the sunset in 2005, but fans cheered when the entire cast, plus several behind-the-scenes figures, gathered for a full reunion that was captured for the Enterprise Blu-rays, released in 2013-2014. The cast spent countless hours together making Enterprise, Trinneer notes, so he thought it was “cool” that they got the opportunity to reunite for the Blu-ray extras. “I was only able to be there for about an hour because I had a job to go and do, a
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“Thinking about the character, I was really satisfied with how it ended, because Trip was the only character that had a complete arc for his story,” he reasons, “You didn’t have to wonder what happened to him. There was a beginning and an end for him, just as there was a beginning and an end for the show. And I, as an actor, especially as time has passed, have been able to realize I got a great deal of satisfaction out of that. That choice, to kill the character off, I know upset a lot of people, but for me it was really kind of perfect, in the sense that I got to play a life. You got to see a life, and that holds some satisfaction [for me].”
SHIPMATES
Over the course of Enterprise, from pilot to finale, Trip grew increasingly close to his fellow shipmates. Heading into the show, Trinneer didn’t harbor any expectations beyond the loose concept that Archer, T’Pol, and Trip were meant to evoke the classic Kirk-Spock-McCoy triumvirate. As with any good show however, the relationships evolved, ebbed and flowed, and often snapped into place as the writers observed the chemistry between the actors and responded accordingly.
voiceover, but it was great to see everybody, especially in that environment, and to be able to talk about the experience,” he says, “And the Blu-rays are fantastic. I also did some commentaries. I don’t remember how many episodes I did commentary for, but it was nice to get in there and talk with, for instance, Manny Coto, or Brannon Braga, or André Bormanis. Judy and Gary ReevesStevens were there, and Ron Moore was there for a couple. It was just great to be able to go back and dive into the episodes, and chat about what was going on there.”
“It took a while for them to figure out the Trip and T’Pol thing, and that took a lot of conversations between me and [the writers] about story, how Trip would be perceived, and this and that,” Trinneer says, “Ultimately, I thought that at the end, it was a really interesting relationship Trip and T’Pol wound up having. The relationship with the captain, I didn’t know how it would pan out, but a lot of times, the way they sort out relationships is they just watch you at work. Scott, being the kind of guy he is, was really easy to be around and to work with, and they sensed that. That was a big part of Trip and Archer’s relationship, their ease with one another. The relationship with Malcolm – that was the biggest surprise, and one of the most enjoyable. These two guys that were seemingly opposites were, by the end, quite good friends. “I didn’t have enough with Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery) to develop – as characters, not as people – a lot of depth in our relationship,” Trinneer continues. “But that’s just the way they wrote it, and similarly with Hoshi (Linda Park). Near the end, we got some episodes together where we were able to explore who we were, and that relationship, and that STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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FROM BUSH TO THE WILD WEST!
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ans eager to see more of Trinneer on screen will be happy to know that he has a quartet of new projects on the way, namely the movies Mena, Unbelievable!!!!!, Prey for Death and The Nameless. “All of these films are done,” confirms Trinneer, “Some of them will play the festival circuit, and hopefully people will get a chance to see them in theaters.” Mena, which stars Tom Cruise, obviously represents the biggest of those films given its A-list lead, and also features the juiciest role for Trinneer – namely the former President of the United States, George W. Bush. Trinneer explains that he “just thought to shoot for it” when the opportunity arose. He went in for a casting session and quickly realized from the reactions of those around him that he was on the right track. “It’s a huge movie, and I’ve auditioned for those before and hadn’t gotten any,” Trinneer says. “So I just did my thing and forgot about it. Then, several days later I got the call, and we shot it in Atlanta a couple of months after that. It was a little nerve-wracking at first. I don’t really get nervous. I’m usually more excited than nervous, but this time I was playing somebody that everybody definitely has an opinion about, or may have a feel about him, and how he looks and sounds. “So I didn’t know how it’d be taken, but it was really well received by everybody there, and Tom is a great acting partner,” he adds, “I was a big fan beforehand, and I’m even more so now. Tom plays a guy who, in the 1980s, was hired by the CIA to run drugs from a cartel in Colombia, and the whole thing winds up being a part of the [Manuel] Noriega situation, and ultimately, Iran-Contra. In my scene, I’m waiting to talk to George Sr. in a hallway, and Tom and I just had an interaction. He’s in trouble with the DEA, and we’re both waiting to have our meetings, he with [George] H.W. [Bush] and Ollie North, and I’m just there to meet my dad.” Trinneer describes his role in Unbelievable!!!!! as a “cameo.” He plays Captain Jack Youngblood, a man overtaken by an alien spore. The sci-fi spoof boasts a veritable ‘Who’s
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Who’ of Trek cast members, from Trinneer himself to Nichelle Nichols, Garrett Wang, Chase Masterson, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Tim Russ, and his Enterprise co-star Linda Park. Next up is Prey for Death, a Western spin on H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau. “There’s this guy hunting all the great big game around the world, and now he wants to hunt the greatest game there is – a human,” explains Trinneer, “and he finds me, having gotten thrown in jail for protecting my family, and he pays to bail me out and then chases me down. So it’s a mano a mano
“I’M USUALLY MORE EXCITED THAN NERVOUS, BUT THIS TIME I WAS PLAYING SOMEBODY THAT EVERYBODY DEFINITELY HAS AN OPINION ABOUT” movie. The guy who made it was a friend, and he approached me. So I took it on, and it was fun.” Trinneer spent a week shooting the film on location in Lassen Volcanic National Park in Redding, California. “It was a lot of time spent out in Mt. Lassen with the director, Rene Perez,” Trinneer recalls. “It was he and I because he only had me for a week. I haven’t seen the completed movie, but I’ve seen most of it, and it’s beautiful. One of the reasons I did it was so I could have that bucket list thing signed off of doing a Western, and to see how I handled being in a Western. It was a good time. It’s literally just one of those good ol’ rollicking Westerns. “The other movie I’ve completed is The Nameless,” says Trinneer, “It’s a telling of The Exorcist, shot at the actual house where that [real-life] story occurred in St. Louis. I play a sheriff, and my cousin wants to buy the house and then, of course, horror ensues…”
INTERVIEW: CONNOR TRINNEER was nice. And Dr Phlox (John Billingsley) – John is a really fine actor, and always fun to work with, but [Trip’s] relationship with the Doctor was not probably on the front burner of storylines they were concerned with.” The events of September 11, 2001, occurred not long after Enterprise went into production. Work halted that day, but it was soon business as usual. No one realized then, however, how deep an impact 9/11 would have on the series. The extended Xindi arc resulted directly from those events, and the death – in “The Expanse” – of Trip’s sister, Elizabeth, during the Xindi’s attack on Earth, permanently altered Trip. “[The events of] 9/11 changed our show. It changed the climate of what we were doing, and I thought the Xindi arc was handled extremely well,” Trinneer reflects, “I think it informed our whole show, not just that season, and obviously that season was a not-very-hidden response and reaction to 9/11. It’s one of the great things you can do in sci-fi, where you can substitute an environment and tell a story that’s about what’s happening in our world. I thought it was a really thoughtful exploration of many of the facets of what was going on there. Personally, politically, where do we stand as a race and how do we move forward?”
fair to discuss with Trinneer how long it took, post-Enterprise, for producers and directors to consider him for their projects. Trinneer is quick to point out that “every actor would like to be busy, unless they’re too busy,” before addressing the matter in more detail. “In all honesty, I can’t say there has been any real hold on me as a result of Star Trek,” he says. “Our show wasn’t as popular as Patrick [Stewart’s], and he played a captain. What’s happened in the business in general is there are so many more film actors in television now that it’s complicated things, and made the pool that much larger. So, work seems to be harder to come by, but I certainly can’t say it was as a
“I MARK THE TIME FROM ENTERPRISE ENDING TO MY PRESENT LIFE BY THE AGE OF MY SON, AND HE’S 10 NOW, WHICH IS CRAZY.”
THE AIR WE BREATHE Following Star Trek: The Next Generation and its follow-up feature films, Patrick Stewart voiced his concern about his Trek/Picard association serving as an “albatross” around his neck. So it seems
Scott Bakula and Trinneer on location
result of Star Trek, or working in sci-fi at all.” So, is Trinneer pleased with the opportunities he’s gotten in the wake of Enterprise? “No, not really,” Trinneer replies, candidly. “I’m not as busy as I’d like to be. It’d be nice to be busier. I’ve appreciated the things I’ve gotten to do, but there is less out there than there used to be, and like I say, the pool [of actors competing for roles] is bigger. By no means am I crying over spilled milk, it just is what it is, and you have to keep on keeping on, and hope that lightning strikes twice.” As Trinneer works towards attracting that second lightning bolt (see ‘From Bush to the Wild West’ boxout), Enterprise lives on. Long-
An emotional journey
time fans still enjoy and re-watch the series, and every day new, younger fans discover it – something that’s an endless source of wonder for the actor. “Star Trek seems to be part of the air we breathe,” he says, “I can think of no other franchise that carries this kind of longevity. It’s nice to have this in my life. I can’t say it was completely unexpected, but it has continued to surprise me with the energy that continues to come out of the fans. It’s not going to go away, and it blows me away, frankly.”
Trip in action
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When the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D found Montgomery Scott inside a transporter buffer, it launched Starfleet’s legendary engineer into the 24th Century. In the Star Trek: Corps of Engineers novels, Scotty heads up a crack band of engineering specialists who investigate alien technology, and salvage or reverse-engineer it for Federation use. Star Trek Magazine caught up with author Dayton Ward, who put down his technical manual for a few minutes to talk about dilithium crystals, Galaxy Quest, and what makes a great engineer... Words: John de Gruyther
ed for a greatt very Captain recognizes the need engineer, but to a large extent they aree the unsung heroes of Starfleet. Of course they valued hey are value ed by their peers and loved by the fans, but do engineers ngineerss gett the credit they deserve for all the things they do and the daring heroics they ng heroi ics th hey perform? Sometimes they keep their ships together practically by the skin of their teeth, whilst hilst never really getting the same headlines as heir teet th, w dashing figures like Kirk or Riker. Without its engineers, Starfleet would bee lost lost. t. They are the backbone of the fleet, and it is their grit, determination and ingenuity that than not saves the day. And perhaps the most at more often o famous Trek engineer of all is Montgomery “Scotty” omery “S Scottyy” Scott. James Doohan, who originally portrayed Scotty, knew a thing or two about what grit really ally was, being himself a veteran of the D-Day at true gr rit re landings and once earning the tag, “Craziest Craziest pilot p in i the Canadian Royal Air Force.” Our enduring fascination with Scotty, cotty, andd all those t who toil to bring the starships we love to life, can largely be put down to the writerss and act actors ors involved l d iin the h original i i l SStar TTrek. k Th They managedd to evoke a frontier spirit of working problems out blems ou ut and fixing things with their bare hands. This sense of adventure is brilliantly realized in thee Star Tre Trek: ek: Corps of Engineers novels (originally named Star Trek: S.C.E). They are equal parts brilliant science liant scie ence fiction and fond homage to Scotty and all the other men and women at the warp core of our ur favorite ships.
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DATACORE STAR TREK: CORPS OF ENGINEERS
O
riginally rigi ri gina nallllyy pu publ published blis ishe hedd as ee-books, -bboo ooks ks,, be begi beginning ginn nnin ingg with 2000’s “Belly of the Beast,” the 66 Corps of Engineers tales were collected in 13 print editions from January 2001:
MIND THE SPACIAL INTERPHASE “Have Tech, Will Travel” is the first collection of novellas in the series, and right at the heart of these tales, wiping sweat from his brow whilst desperately trying to think of a way to re-ignite his dilithium crystals, is Dayton Ward, who alongside Kevin Dilmore wrote “Interphase,” the integral story of the “Have Tech...” omnibus. “Interphase” drags Scotty back to one of his greatest unsolved mysteries, the U.S.S. Defiant, first encountered in the Star Trek episode “The Tholian Web.” Ward explains why they chose to revisit this story. “Kevin asked himself what kind of adventures and situations the crew of the da Vinci might encounter, and he thought that encountering the old Defiant is exactly the sort of thing they’d run into,” explains Ward, “Kevin called me to say how cool and fitting would it be if Scotty got to encounter the Defiant again, and this ended up being our first fiction collaboration.” Scotty, now known as Captain Montgomery Scott, head of the Corps of Engineers, finds himself coming face to face with a mystery that has long baffled him, and the crew of the U.S.S.
“WITHOUT THE ENGINEERS, STARFLEET WOULD BE LOST. THEY ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE FLEET.”
Have Tech, Will Travel Collecting eBooks 1-4 by Dean Wesley Smith, Keith, R.A. DeCandido, Christie Golden, Dayton Ward, and Kevin Dilmore First published: October 9, 2000
Miracle Workers Collecting eBooks 5-8 by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Keith R.A. DeCandido, and David Mack First Published: February 1, 2002 002
Some Assembly Required Collecting eBooks 9-12 by Aaron Rosenberg, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Dave Galanter, Greg Brodeur, Scott Ciencin, and Dan Jolley First Published: April 1, 2003
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da Vinci, headed up by Captain Gold, investigates how to rescue the derelict Defiant from its spacial interphase prison. But their mission involves them collaborating with the Tholians, who prove to be tricky customers. In an action-packed sequence of events, the crew of the U.S.S. da Vinci have to race against the clock and come up with a solution to rescue the ship, themselves, and the delicate diplomatic relations between the Federation and the Tholians, uncovering a shocking secret that could shake the foundations of the fragile peace between the Klingons and Tholians along the way. Expertly overseeing all of the action is Scotty, and Ward explains that the wily old Scot was always pivotal in their plans for the novel series. “Scotty was always intended to be part of the series. I think the basic idea was along the lines of, ‘Our series is about engineers, and here’s Star Trek’s most famous engineer, hanging out in the 24th Century, so why not use him?’ So, he was a part of the mix from the beginning, and his role was envisioned as a recurring character, as well as the one who gives the S.C.E. crews their missions.
The original miracle worker
A NOVEL APPROACH Our editor described him as being like the voice on the tape telling Jim Phelps about the week’s new ‘mission: impossible.’”
THE NEW MIRACLE WORKERS The Corps of Engineers celebrates the ingenuity of the Federation’s greatest miracle workers, and Starfleet would surely be a more confused place without them, as Ward explains. “How many episodes have the chief engineer conjuring some crazy solution to that week’s crisis, just in the nick of time? If anybody’s pulling their weight on a starship, it’s the engineers! I guess that’s why fans gravitate toward such characters. These hese are the ppeople eople who take care of our favorite rite ships,, fix them and nurse them back to health when they’re th broken, and somehow cajole them every ry week into doing something that should be imp impossible.” mpossible.” The main engineer andd resident r miracle worker of the novels is Sonya ya Gomez. Having previously served under Captain ptain Picard aboard the Enterprise, some eagle-eyed ed fans will remember her most notorious momentt on screen in the Next
James Doohan as 'Scotty'
M “HERE’S STAR TREK ’S MOST FAMOUS HE 24TH ENGINEER,, HANGING OUT IN THE HIM CENTURY,Y, SO WHY NOT USE HIM?” ho? o?” where she spills Generation episode, “Q, Who?” hot chocolate over the usually ally un unflappable JeanLuc Picard. Hot chocolate incidents ncidents ts aside, she ably served under the tutelage of Geordi La Forge, and now the Corps of Engineerss is Gomez’s chan chance hance to strike out on her own andd put into practicee some of the skills she has honed working aboardd the Enterprise. Throughout the other stories contained within “Have Tech, ch, Will Travel,” Gomez gets the lion’s share of the limelight, occasionally collaborating with La Forge, e, but with the majority of her time spent with her own team of problem solvers, including ng Lieutenant Kieran Duffy, Lieutenant Commander ommander mmander CCorsi, the Nasat P8 and the Bynars rs 110 and 111. The Corps of Engineers mayy be a small group, but they’re a tight-knit knit bunch, and the best at what they do. o. The first story, “The Belly elly of the Beast,” is a claustrophobic space horror, a terrifying tale of cannibalistic stic insects who eat and infest the entire populationn of a massive space cruise ship, and are hell bent nt on doing the same to Gomez and co.
DATACORE STAR TREK: CORPS OF ENGINEERS
No Surrender Collecting eBooks 13-16 by Jeff Mariotte, Ian Edginton, Mike Collins, Robert Greenberger, and Glenn Hauman First Published: April 25, 2003
Foundations Collecting eBooks 17-19 by Dayton Ward, and Kevin Dilmore First Published: March 1, 2004
A scientific problem shared is an engineering problem halved
Wildfire Collecting eBooks 20-24 by Keith R.A. DeCandido, David Mack, J. Steven York, and Christina F. York First Published: November 1, 2004
Breakdowns Collecting eBooks 25-28 by Scott Ciencin, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Kevin Dilmore, Heather Jarman, and Dayton Ward First Published: May 1, 2005
Aftermath Collecting eBooks 29-36 by Christopher L. Bennett, Randall N. Bills, Loren L. Coleman, Robert Greenberger, Andy Mangels, Michael A. Martin, and Aaron Rosenberg First Published: November 21, 2006
Grand Designs Collecting eBooks 37-42 by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Allyn Gibson, Kevin Killiany, Dave Galanter, David Mack, and Paul Kupperberg First Published: July 3, 2007
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Drawing inspiration from the Aliens franchise, “Belly of the Beast” pulls no punches in killing off a key character in the form of 111. This leaves his mate, 110, bereft since Bynars are made to work as a pair – they even finished one another’s sentences. It’s a dramatic affair that will have lasting ramifications for everyone involved. “Fatal Error” meanwhile sees the da Vinci crew called upon by Scotty to fix a malfunctioning super AI computer, whereby they soon get mixed up with a culture dependent on technology that is in the midst of a bloody coup. Time and time again the engineers are called upon to use not just their engineering skills, but also every fiber and ounce of investigative and diplomatic training they have. Before the double whammy of “Interphase” Parts One and Two, Captain Gold and Sonya Gomez face perhaps their most challenging battle yet, when they encounter an incredible sentient starship. “Hard Crash” sees them meet Friend, a ship that they first suspect may be some new Borg technology, but they soon discover is part of a species where ships are designed to be bonded to one pilot for life, and where such a bonding is considered an honor. It is a moving and emotionally traumatic story that finally gives some closure to 110, still mourning the loss of his mate. And in a dramatic turn of events, 110 turns his back on the chance of a lifetime and finds a new name, Soloman, and a new purpose.
HEART AND SOUL Whether it is suspected Borg technology or ers centuries-old Starfleet vessels, the engineers can always find a solution to get their ships out rs of Spacedock and into deep space. Engineers pour their hearts and souls into their Starships, ips, and are prepared to “get out and push” if it comes to it. Their influence can be seen through ough the whole of the Trek franchise and even in oother ther science fiction universe such as Galaxy Quest, st, as Ward takes up the thread. “These are the characters with the specialized lized skills and tools, and also a good degree of personal rsonal grit that’s needed to beat back the odds, and ppull ull proverbial rabbits out of hats in order to save the day. They know their ships inside and out, andd perhaps that appeals to many fans who might also want that knowledge, because that just adds ttoo the fun for them. Think of the kids from the film Galaxy Quest. It’s their in-depth knowledge of the fictional spacecraft that lets them help the actors tors turned space heroes defeat the bad guys, savee the oppressed aliens, and then get back to Earth rth in time for a convention autograph-signing. H How ow many fans are or were the inspiration for those se kids? Let’s all put down our blueprints and ourr technical manuals and raise our hands.” Whether you know your sensor arrays from om your power couplings or not, one of the strengths gths of all the stories within the Corps of Engineerss expanded universe is that they do not get bogged g ed gg
A NOVEL APPROACH down in engineering jargon or technobabble, which may seem surprising for books about engineers. What the novels instead do is celebrate the skills and imagination of the engineers who dream up ways to get their crewmates out of scrapes. To be a good engineer you have to be open to new ideas and adventure, and have a desire to really get under the hood and get your hands dirty. The phrase “thinking outside the box” could have been coined by Scotty himself, and it really encapsulates the essence of what it means to be an engineer. The novels also do a great job in creating new characters for us to fall in love with. The eccentric crew of differing personalities which, when put together, make a perfect team – these stories have been lovingly crafted to capture the spirit of Star Trek in all its best incarnations.
LAYIN NG THE FOUNDATIONS LAYING
Scotty cheats death, in "Relics"
Ward is fully invested in the world of engineering, and hee has created several other thrilling tales Engineers within the Corps of Engine neers universe, including “Homee Fires” (from the “Breakdowns” “ omnibus), and thee “Foundations” ttrilogy. Ward explains why “Foundations” ations” was an important i part of the softEngineers canon off the Corps of En ngineers novels. “’Foundations’ oundations’ is eessentially the Corps of Engineers rs origin story,”” says Ward, “and it was our chance ce to use Scotty in a larger role, and through him im to introduce readers r to a Corps of Engineers team from the previous pre century. This
“THESE SE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE CARE OF OUR FAVORITE N SHIPS,S, FIX THEM AND NURSE WHE THEM BACK TO HEALTH WHEN TH THEY’RE BROKEN.”
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DATACORE STAR TREK: CORPS OF ENGINEERS
Creative Couplings Collecting eBooks 43-49 by John S. Drew, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Glenn Greenberg, J. Steven York, Christina F. York, Glenn Hauman, AAaron Rosenberg and David Mack First Published: December 11, 2007
Professor Scott and his assistant (DeForest Kelley as 'Bones')
Wounds Collecting eBooks 50-56 by Terri Osborne, Ilsa J. Bick, John J. Ordover, Cory Rushton, and Keith R.A. DeCandido First Published: October 21, 2008
Out Of The Cocoon Collecting eBooks 57-60 by William Leisner, Kevin Killiany, Phaedra M. Weldon, and Robert T. Jeschonek First Published: July 20, 2010
What’s Past Collecting eBooks 61-66 by Terri Osborne, Steve Mollmann, Michael Schuster, Richard C. White, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Heather Jarman, and Keith R.A. DeCandido First Published: August 24, 2010
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Back to the future
isn’t the same group as they are in the 24th Century – they’re rougher around the edges, they don’t always get the best equipment, and so on. We see that start to change over time, and part of that is due to Scotty’s crucial involvement with this one particular team, and through these experiences Scotty helps to shape the future Corps of Engineers.” In The Next Generation episode “Relics,” Scotty re-materializes 75 years after storing himself in a transporter. Encountering a new ship called Enterprise, he proceeds to coach Geordi on the finer points of being a miracle worker, explaining that when responding to the demands of your captain, you have to “give them what they need, not what they want.” It’s a line that writers within the Trek literary universe have to be mindful of, especially in terms of what elements of Trek canon they can be creative with, and where they have to stick to existing lore. In other words, the delicate balance of giving the publishers what they need in terms of continuity, versus what the writers want to create when writing within the Trek literary universe. “When we got the assignment to write Interphase, very little about the crew was really known, beyond some quick bits for each character that we had in a writer’s guide for the series,”
“THESE STORIES HAVE BEEN LOVINGLY CRAFTED TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF STAR TREK IN ALL ITS BEST INCARNATIONS.” Ward explains, “So we were able to add to the mix as we saw fit. We expanded the relationship between Duffy and Stevens, and the bit with Scotty giving Duffy advice was Scotty seeing in Duffy his own past experiences, when he has had to temporarily take command, which is nice continuity.” But, as is so often the case within the Star Trek authors’ community, there’s always a place for fun and collaboration. “A big part of the series was the collaboration between the different writers. This really helps add bits of interesting back-story to each of the characters,” says Ward, “If one writer had an idea and it stuck, then another writer might take that new nugget of information and add to it, or put a twist on it. It was a fun series to write, and half of that fun was brainstorming with the other contributors.” Amongst the thrilling escapes, explosions, and warp core breaches, the novels always remember to have a sense of fun and humor. It is what gives them a rich sense of character and leaves the reader with the feeling that they have known these individuals for a long time. So, pick up a hyperspanner and get ready for a rip-roaring journey with Starfleet’s finest miracle workers, in this highly enjoyable series of novels – you will not regret it.
A talking tribute!
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The logical choice for Star Trek™ fans The Mr. Spock™ Commemorative Talking Figure can be yours for just $129.99*, payable in five installments of $25.99. It includes a Certificate of Authenticity and is backed by our 365-day guarantee. This one-of-a-kind edition is available for a limited time only, so not acting at warp speed would be most illogical. Order now!
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TOMMOROW’S TECHNOLOGY TODAY Words: Chris Dows
HELLO NEURAL MONITOR, GOODBYE STETHOSCOPE? Medical Advances in Emergency Diagnosis At the scene of an accident, making an accurate assessment of head injuries is one of the most difficult tasks facing the attendant paramedic or doctor. Early diagnosis of damage to the brain can make the difference between life and death, which is why the London Ambulance Service are currently trialing the Infrascanner, a powerful hand-held device capable of detecting blood clots on the brain. Employing Near Infrared (NIR) technology, aces the device’s device s twin sensors on the the user places left and right frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes of the head. By comparing the differentiall light absorption between injured and non-injured tissue, within two to three minutes hematomass up to an inch deep from the brain’s surface can be located, with an accuracy of around 990%. Since the scheme’s inception inn September 2015, it has been successfully used on 60 patients. Back inn the doctor’s surgery, a new development by a team out of the cardiology ddepartment at Orlando Health mighht see the end of the stethoscopee as a mainstay of
detecting heart, chest, and lung problems. Their HeartBuds device is a highly portable, circular listening device, around the same size as a quarter, which attaches to a smartphone. Once the corresponding app is launched, the physician and, if appropriate, the patient can listen to sounds from inside the body through the phone’s speaker. A display can also visualize the sounds, which can be recorded and stored for future comparison.
THE TREK TECH Non-invasive medical devices have featured in Star Trek since Dr. McCoy first waved his “pepper pot” scanner at a patient. While the medical tricorder is perhaps the most well-known of Starfleet Medical’s emergency kit, Doctors Crusher, Bashir, Phlox, and the EMH have employed a wide variety of specialized probes to make fast, accurate diagnoses in sickbay and on away missions.
UP, UP, AND AWAY... AND BACK DOWN AGAIN Rocket Ships Make Vertical Take-Off and Landing To have a truly reusable rocket, it has to be capable of delivering its payload and then landing back on Earth, intact, and (refueling aside) be ready to launch again as soon as possible. NASA’s Space Shuttle program went some way toward achieving this, but the successful landings of the Blue Origin booster in November and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in December 2015 represent two of the most significant milestones in the development of cost-effective and, it is hoped, frequent transportation into space. While the two privately funded projects have very different spacecraft designs and mission objectives, both executed rocket-controlled, vertical returns to their designated landing areas, and were successfully recovered by their crews. Although the Falcon 9 first-stage booster sustained no damage, it has been decided not to refurbish it for future use. However, SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, felt its safe return means we are one step closer to establishing a city on Mars.
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THE TREK TECH While planetfall is usually handled by shuttlecraft, if you compare the landing sequence of the U.S.S. Voyager with Blue Origin, there are striking similarities; both employ thrusters to align themselves with the surface throughout their descent, and deploy independent, shock-absorbing struts housed within the body of the vessel just before touchdown.
PUTTING PLASMA IN ITS PLACE Boom or Bust for Nuclear Fusion Scientists
SKIN-TIGHT SPACE FLIGHT
One of the biggest issues with achieving and, crucially, maintaining fusion energy lies in the way plasma is confined at high temperatures and densities by magnetic fields. Two phenomena in particular can hinder or prevent the reaction – turbulence, and the peaking and crashing of electrical energy within the plasma itself. By applying their “momentary heating propagation method” to San Diego’s DIII-D tokamak device (which uses a magnetic field to confine plasma in the shape of a torus), a team at Kyushu University in Japan have created a new confinement state that self-regulates potentially troublesome oscillations. Using the same facility, physicists from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have used a three-dimensional computer simulation to discover a mechanism that stabilizes the “sawtooth cycle” of electrical states, which has the potential to disrupt the plasma’s core.
THE TREK TECH
Clothes Maketh the Space-person In an attempt to combat the debilitating effects that prolonged weightlessness has on the body, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen trialed an innovative, bi-directional, elastic SkinSuit, invented by Dr. James Waldie of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Mogensen conducted extensive tests on the suit over the 10 days he wore it, and while the results have yet to be published, it is hoped its gravity-
mimicking design might help alleviate the bone atrophy most astronauts experience.
THE TREK TECH The body-suits fabricated by Voyager’s EMH, and worn by Seven of Nine following her Borg implant removal, were designed to combat the effects of the implants’ withdrawal and promote regeneration.
ABOUT CHRIS DOWS
A regular contributor to Star Trek Magazine, Chris Dows has been writing Star Trek fact and fiction for over 20 years, including TokyoPop’s Star Trek: The Manga, Deep Space Nine comics, and the Star Trek Fact Files. He gained his PhD in 2007, and lectures in creative writing.
Electro-plasma is the main power source on Federation starships and installations, and the dangers posed by a breach in containment, whether it is within the reaction assembly, intermix chamber, or from any part of the plasma conduit network, are a constant threat to the safety of the crew. Magnetic containment fields prevent antimatter and matter coming into contact within a warp core, and while the principle might not be identical, some of the terminology is!
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The Innovations Of The Past That Shaped The Treknology Of Tomorrow. Words: Chris Dows
SURVIVAL SENSES
The Importance of Sensors and Scanners
he history of exploration can be defined in many ways, from the design and construction of vessels, to the methods with which they navigate their way by – and through – the stars. Regardless of how strong their craft might be, or how accurate their maps, a crew’s survival depends on detailed, real-time knowledge of the environment surrounding their ship. If this data can be extended to forecasting what might be “out there,” then all the better. While early seafarers had little more to go on than their own five senses (not to be underestimated – a young Ensign Picard could hear if the torque sensors of a ship were misaligned by as little as three microns), the further their vessels ventured from shore, the greater the need became to extend their senses...
T
1833
1668
Robert Hooke, the English philosopher and architect, recognizes the importance of a barometer that can work reliably at sea
German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss invents the first magnetometer to measure the strength of a magnetic field
1772
English optician Edward Nairne constructs the first working marine barometer
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1886
1923
American engineer Herbert Grove Dorsey invents the first fathometer
1928
Hans Geiger and Walther Müller develop the sealed Geiger-Müller German physicist Heinrich Hertz demonstrates tube for detecting ionizing radiation radio waves are reflected by solid objects
TREKNOLOGY
Scanners and sensors cover a wide variety of functions, fulfilling navigational, atmospheric and environmental, scientific, and defensive purposes. They often work in conjunction to provide a detailed analysis of local and regional conditions, with a collection of systems often referred to as a “suite.” Sensors can be defined as devices that measure some kind of physical quality (unless you’re in null space – they’re pretty useless there), and can be broadly categorized as either passive (detectors that are “always on,” looking for emissions), or active (arrays that emit some form of signal, and detect a reflected response). One could argue that the earliest active sensor was the lead-weighted sounding line, used by Greek and Roman navigators to measure the depth of water in which they sailed. It is a testament to their effectiveness that they were still in use well into the 20th Century. The forecasting of weather conditions at sea drove the development of the very first mechanical sensor; by the time of explorer Captain Cook’s second expedition of 1772, he had on board English optician Edward Nairne’s prototype barometer.
1931
The Leeds & Northrup Company launch the first total radiation thermometer
1935
British physicist Sir Robert Watson-Watt constructs the first practical RADAR system
The accurate measuring of atmospheric pressure (and temperature change) remains one of the most vital components in aircraft, seafaring, and space exploration vessels, and is an example of a passive system. The inevitable advance into electronic devices came toward the end of the 1920s, with the introduction of echo-sounding technology in the shape of Herbert Grove Dorsey’s fathometer. This helped to reveal unseen geographical dangers beneath the waves waves, but the detection of enemy vessels led to a variation on this technique being employed in the British ASDIC and, by the 1930s, American SONAR (SOund NAvigation and Ranging) location systems.
BEYOND SOUND AND VISION While these active systems were busily pinging away underwater, back up on the surface, World War II saw the introduction of RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) to detect objects, their velocity, and angle of travel. Using radio waves instead of SONAR’s sound waves, RADAR is one of the most successful and widely used sensor technologies, because of its relatively simple operating principles and flexibility. As technology advanced from valves to transistors and microcircuits throughout the 20th Century, this led to further developments; one of the latest is LIDAR, which combines a light source and RADAR to read the electromagnetic reflection of a focused laser beam. It is widely used in digital mapping technologies, both on and off our planet.
1957
Sputnik 1 launches with a cosmic ray detector, temperature, and micrometeoroid sensors
Thhe variety of sensors required for safe space travel t and exploration has led to a wide range of detection systems. Because the majority of hazards in space are unseen, devices such as hyperspectral, infrared, and ultraviolet imagers, which scan beyond the human visual spectrum, feature heavily in everything from satellites to unmanned probes. Advances in radio and optical telescopes have resulted in the extraordinary images gennerated by the Hubble Space Telescope, and the New w Horizons probe’s photographs of Pluto. Radioometers are particularly important for manned missions as they identify and measure the power of o electromagnetic radiation, which can be equaally lethal in fiction and reality. Add to this sensorss capable of monitoring and recording an gravitational fields, and the chemical magnetic and composition of objects to the molecular level, and the range of available data is impressive. Many of the references made to scanner and sensor technology in Star Trek are virtually identical to existing equipment; Galaxy Class vessels, for instance, are fitted with “multispectral sensors,” working at high resolution. Ships of the line include short and long range systems, and those that employ low and high energy outputs. Their positioning on a vessel is vital; the NX-01 had a revolutionary lateral sensor array, and by the Galaxy Class there were three primary systems – long range in the dish of the Engineering Hull, lateral arrays forward, port, starboard, and aft of the Engineering and Primary Hulls, and navigational sensors strategically located around the ship. Depending on the function of the vessel, these systems may be enhanced or repositioned but despite their configuration their purpose remains the same – to provide environmental information accurately and immediately to ensure the safety of the crew.
1977
2268
2011
2375
Voyager 1 launches with television cameras, a magnetometer, plasma, cosmic ray, charged particle, ultraviolet, and infrared sensors
Space Shuttle mission STS-134 includes a new LIDAR-based sensor technology for safer docking to the International Space Station
The planet Gideon refuses to drop its highly effective sensor jamming screen against the visiting U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701
The accuracy of U.S.S. Voyager’s active sensor scans detects the Borg Queen’s communication with Seven of Nine
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WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DUKAT
simply Mad, bad, or know? dangerous to sa Gul Dukat wa plicitous, pompous, du lf-serving vindictive, se ut isn’t monster – b loved that what we about him? d team of Our dedicate sk whether Trexperts a Most Cardassia’s s totally Villainous wa mption... beyond rede s: Contributor r, Kyle C. e lk a Adam W ael Clark, Haight, Mich ers, Bunny Summ ws, and Rich Matthe ann Toby Weidm
ADAM WALKER & KYLE C. HAIGHT Trek experts and Vloggers Trekcore.com Adam Walker: Speaking of himself, Dukat once proclaimed that “one man’s villain is another man’s hero.” I’ve always thought that statement perfectly encapsulates Dukat’s sympathetic villainy – it’s so hard to hate such a complex, multi-faceted character. Yet you can’t deny he is an evil man. Kyle C. Haight: It’s an interesting paradigm. The Bajorans look at Dukat as if he was worse than Hitler, from our contemporary perspective. But let’s not forget that there’s at least one occasion in the series where he falls out of favor with the Central Command, so his status as a “hero” would appear to be very much his own narcissism talking. AW: The interesting thing about Dukat is that we certainly get flickers of him believing that he’s a good man, that he has good intentions at heart, and that he’s on the right side of history. A lot of the complexity in Dukat comes from him not understanding why everyone else can’t see what he sees about himself. KH: The classic case of narcissism. AW: Certainly early on in the series, Dukat feels that his ethics, morals and intelligence are all on a par with Sisko and Kira’s. Of course, he can’t
understand why they don’t respect him as an equal in that sense. During the first four seasons, he’s very much a displaced authority figure who is striving to be respected. He actively tries to court Sisko’s friendship and Kira’s forgiveness on many occasions, and can’t understand why they both rebuff him. Early Dukat is a fascinating crucible of emotions and intents. KH: One of those key early episodes is “The Maquis,” where Dukat teams up with Sisko. There are glimmers of respect from both Sisko and Kira. There’s a nice amount of ambiguity in his character, so we don’t know exactly where his allegiance lies. AW: I think the producers decided, quite early on, to humanize him – to flesh out the character so that he wasn’t such an archetypal, twodimensional mustache twirler. Marc Alaimo imbued Dukat with so many shades of gray that combined to make him exceedingly complex. KH: Look at Q, Picard’s recurring nemesis from TNG. Q started off pretty malevolent, but became humanized with comedy, to the point where in the final episode he wasn’t Picard’s adversary, he was his advocate. Whereas with Dukat, he starts off somewhat adversarial towards Sisko, softens a bit, and then shifts gear into the extreme behavior we see later in the series.
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Dukat's daughter, Tora Ziyal (Melanie Smith)
AW: Looking through his eyes, he’s obviously suffered from a huge personal failure at the start of the series by being forced to withdraw from Bajor. By the time of the fourth season, the Cardassian Empire is bordering on being a third-world nation, reduced in size and facing war with the Klingons and the Maquis. So Dukat uses this opportunity to seize power. Really, it’s all downhill from there – he sealed both his and his people’s fate by forging the alliance with the Dominion in Season 5. KH: Yet there is no black and white with Dukat. His relationship with his daughter, Ziyal, is a nice example of that. So sometimes we glimpse a melancholy that descends on the character, which doesn’t appear to be motivated by egotistical, narcissistic, or political needs. His family are very important to him. AW: I think that while Dukat’s love for his daughter is clear, he’s not afraid to use her to get what he wants. He manipulates her to get into Kira’s good books on numerous occasions. But it’s Ziyal’s death that starts the slow unravelling of his sanity. KH: Right, and that descent into madness consumes him so much that nothing will stand in his way or stop him succeeding in his goal of annihilating Bajor. If that means he kills Jadzia in the process, then so be it. He laments to her dying body that he never meant her any harm, but it doesn’t faze him for an instant.
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Kai Winn (Louise Fletcher)
AW: And if killing Jadzia wasn’t enough, a few episodes later he’s crowning himself as the messiah of the Pah-wraith cult on Empok Nor, and happily leading his followers into a mass suicide. His mental state at this point in the series is just fascinating to watch. Do you think he really believes that he is a rightfully appointed messiah, or is this Dukat the manipulator at work once again? KH: I think it may even be Dukat’s way of staying on a par with Sisko. Sisko is the accepted Emissary to the Prophets for the Bajoran people, and that’s something that he has over Dukat. So in many ways, Dukat is desperate to establish that level of power and influence for himself. AW: So he wants to be on a level playing field with Sisko, and look him in the eye as an equal. KH: Exactly. And that was one of the major points of “Waltz” – Dukat wants Sisko to admit he respects him. AW: In many ways, this has all come about from Sisko being the one who took Dukat’s office, back in the pilot. Dukat’s saying “You’ve taken something that is mine, so I’m going to vie with you all the way to the end, no matter what the consequences.” KH: Absolutely. It all stemmed from that first meeting, when Sisko was sitting in Dukat’s chair. AW: Wrapping up with the final chapter of the series, Dukat was intrinsic to the storyline
with Kai Winn, so most of his scenes e Louise Fletcher. But even against Winn, an unashamed manipulator, Dukat still strings. How sincere was Dukat at this o he believe the prophecies of the Kosst
h o is s e ? j
r ed KH: I would suggest not. We know he’s i himself in all the ancient Bajoran texts at a t a year at this point. He realizes at this p t att t he can use the ages-long battle betweenn , and Pah-wraiths to destroy the Proph turn, will annihilate the Bajoran people.. S I hi ws it’s a means to an end for him. He knows na e wraiths have the power to do what he to do – exterminate the Bajorans. AW: Dukat’s arrogant enough to think t he can make a deal with the devil. I th nk w to writers had always designed the show end in the last battle between Sisko e Dukat. The Fire Caves are the not-sometaphor for Hell, allowing Dukat to literally burn in Hell upon his demise. r you think it was the only way the cha could have bowed out? KH: I think so. The issues between Sisko a d Dukat had become so personal by the endd uldd ve the series that there was no way it coul ended with Sisko firing a torpedo at D a ship and blowing him up. It had to be a physical confrontation. A theatrical, dramatic showdown was perhaps the only way that it could have ended.
Dukat is made up of so many layers compared to other characters. Nothing is simply just about revenge, or conquering other worlds; it’s much more complex than that. Is he one of the greatest villains because we relate to him? There are certain episodes when I feel like I do! But are we failing to consider the Cardassian factor? MC: Dukat was the most fleshed out villain Star Trek ever had, and it’s this that most probably makes him feel real. Many of the show’s main characters didn’t have the story arc that Dukat did, and the same can be said about the Cardassians as a whole. Not even the Klingons had the same amount of development as the Cardassians. Would we have made the same decisions as Dukat if we were trying to ensure our planet and way of life survived? BS: I mean, just look at all the other Cardassians we’ve seen. Have they been “villain of the week,” or are they complex, layered characters? I think the Cardassians are Star Trek’s greatest race, and the villains to which fate has thrown a cruel twist. Cardassia was once a place of art and culture, but became a land of Nazi-esque rule, ready to oppress anyone and anything that is not part of the Cardassian culture. Is Dukat really the greatest villain, or are we failing to factor in all Cardassians? MC: That’s an interesting point. Perhaps it isn’t Dukat that doesn’t have any redeeming characteristics, but the Cardassians themselves, and Dukat is the only good Cardassian? Over seven years we saw Dukat in many roles; that of Prefect of Bajor, military advisor to the civilian government of Cardassia, leader of the Cardassian Union, and finally disciple to the Pah-wraiths – and never once did he think he was on the side of evil. That’s what’s made him so dangerous.
“IT WAS ALSO REALLY HARD TO KNOW HOW SINCERE DUKAT WAS WHEN HE WAS TALKING TO KIRA.” BUNNY SUMMERS
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DUKAT RICH MATTHEWS & TOBY WEIDMANN Former STM Senior Editor and Editor Rich Matthews: He’s a swine. One of the truest villains Star Trek has ever had. Toby Weidmann: Ronald D. Moore said that Dukat is one of the most fully realized villains in the Star Trek universe, and you have to agree with that. RM: Deep Space Nine had much more interesting, layered villains than any other Star Trek series. TW: That was the nature of the show, with the running war story. RM: For me, the defining moment was when Dukat took Cardassia into the Dominion. It just felt… right that he would do that – that he would get ahead by almost selling himself to the devil. Which he did literally do later, of course, with the Pah-wraiths.
No love lost between Dukat and Garak
TW: He was sort of on the goodies’ side for a while, when he fought against the Klingons. He was one of the only Cardassians standing up for Cardassia. He works on multiple levels, governed by his ego, so when the Dominion make him Cardassia’s ruler, he wants to feel like he’s saving Cardassia. RM: He’s the kingg of rationalizations – the wayy b ddie i s ver thinkk t ey’ree b ddies. Du a alw w s d a p i os all justifica ioon underp ni n e en hi most eviio s a o s. evenn s e B oran f r noot e i g h fo vo e ann ccu c r he wa ! TW e o s a s em t need p o all for h p int f v w e iallyy
A wolf in sheep's clothing
from Kira and Sisko. Even though most of his actions are self-serving and devious. That’s one of his key character traits, his deviousness. Not devious in the way that Garak was – he’s not as smart as Garak. You never believe anything that Garak says, but you do believe some of what Dukat says, because there’s so much posturing. However, I think you finish DS9 feeling that Garak was redeemed, whereas Dukat definitely chooses to be bad. It made for a nice finale, though, a good battle at the end in the Fire Caves. RM: Dukat can convince you, in a way that Garak can’t. Garak keeps you on the back foot and
In command of Terok Nor
u know it, but Dukat can come at you head on andd be conniving enough to convince you that h ’s doing the right thing, but he’s really only iting to bring back Terok Nor the first chance e gets. TW: Dukat was so evil that I actually falsely emembered him killing his daughter, Ziyal, but tha was Damar. Who also gets redeemed by the d as it happens. RM:: That’s how evil we think Dukat is – his ver e all actions twist all memories of anything er o d” he did. TW: I just remembered him being so disgusted thh his daughter choosing Garak and the F d ration that he killed her. It turns out, if thing else, Dukat was a family man. th RM:: Family man?! But what about when he tries use Ziyal to romance Kira?
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TW: Yeah, that was weird. But isn’t that the domination thing? RM: What, he has to subjugate her? TW: Yeah. Dukat is someone who likes being in charge, and when it’s taken away from him, he struggles with it. He always struggled with doing good things. He did try, but ultimately he always chose the path that was self-serving, and therefore self-destructive. RM: I always questioned his motives when he appeared to be doing good things. He’s ultimately so nefarious. TW: He certainly helps out the Federation a lot in the early days, particularly during the Klingon War. That’s why he’s such a complex character and probably feels more fully realized. RM: He is riddled with very human contradictions. He would kill someone in cold blood, and then mourn their passing. TW: In that way he’s very representative of the Cardassians as a whole. They were always militaristic, but also self-serving and egotistical. They thought they were better than everyone else. Dukat sums that up.
Dukat (Mark Alaimo) with nemesis Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks)
“DUKAT ALWAYS HAD A PHILOSOPHICAL JUSTIFICATION UNDERPINNING EVEN HIS MOST DEVIOUS ACTIONS.” RICH MATTHEWS
TW: So he’s doing it for Cardassia, but also doing it for himself.
"Ties of Blood and Water"
TW: Absolutely. RM: Full credit to Marc Alaimo for being so bloody charming under piles and piles of prosthetics that must have been a massive hindrance; those neck struts, and whatever that sucker thing on their forehead was.
RM: Especially because he’s like a prism, bouncing off all these characters and being key to so many events. TW: He does what he says, but just goes back on it a lot of the time. And let’s not forget that he’s a very strong leader, which he proves time and again. I don’t think he sets out to lie and deceive, he doesn’t plan it, it just happens that way!
RM: He’s so Cardassian that he believes he’s superior to all other Cardassians.
RM: He’s a Nietzschean Cardassian: the best thing for Cardassia is for him to be leading them because he’s the best Cardassian.
TW: That peacock element is one of things that made his relationship with Sisko so much fun to watch, and his relationship with Weyoun. And the dynamic with the Founders, Damar, and Garak. Dukat worked so brilliantly with all of those characters. Over the course of Deep Space Nine, he was given a very rounded character, and the show would have missed him if he had been killed off.
RM: He’s amoral most of the time, and he’s willing to go back on something he’s said if it suits or serves him to later. He’s an amoral man who makes immoral choices. TW: He’s up there with Khan and the Borg Queen. DS9 did have clear goodies and a baddies. The original series and The Next Generation, and even Voyager and Enterprise to some extent, had villains of the week, but not a regular enemy. DS9 had many. And Dukat was one of the best.
"Strange Bedfellows"
RM: He epitomizes the complexity that DS9 did so much better than anything else.
TW: It’s no wonder he wanted to become Bajoran! A little nosepiece was nothing compared to the reptilian Cardassian make-up.
TW: A proper boo, hiss villain, which makes him even more delicious.
RM: It was one of the best-realized make-up jobs on Star Trek, though – very unctuous and creepy, yet pompous and peacock-ish.
RM: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again... What a swine. "What You Leave Behind"
BOOKS - COMICS - COLLECTABLES
GHOST WRITER
David A. Goodman is one of those lucky, life-long Star Trek fans who m scored his ultimate dream job – writing a Trek parod episode for Futurama. Oh, and between that job, and becoming showrunner on Family Guy, he also got to write episodes for some space show called Star Trek: Enterprise... By Christopher Cooper
A
fter writing his hit, in-universe reference book, “Star Trek: Federation – the First 1500 Years”, Goodman was asked to help one James T. Kirk pen his long-awaited autobiographyy. Star Trek Magazine spoke with the author to find out how he uncovered the man behind the myytth.
STM: It was Dave Rossi who came up with the origginal idea for doing Kirk’s autobiography. How did the job j fall into your hands? DG: Dave Rossi and I had worked together on Star Trek: Enterprise. He was an associate producer over there, when I was a writer and producer. A couple of years ago, Dave was the person who first called me to see if I was interested in writing the “Federation” book, and after I wrote that, he had this idea of doing the autobiography of Kirk. I waas initially reticent, and I wasn’t quite sure how to approach something like that, or whether that waas a book that I would want to read, but the people at a CBS Consumer Products and the publishers were so s excited about it, I said yes. And then, once I startted doing it, I really enjoyed it. STM: Did the experience of writing this book diffeer from that of the “Federation” book? DG: There was a similarity, in the sense that I’m a huge Star Trek fan, and my main goal in writing thee book was creating something that didn’t piss me off
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TRICORDER INTERVIEW as a fan. I didn’t want to get anything wrong. In the case of the “Federation” book, it was easier, as I didn’t have to come up with an overarching story. The chapters had internal stories, but I could let the history flow. With the Kirk book, I needed, as a novelist, to figure out who is this guy, how do these pieces fit into an overarching story of this guy’s life? How do I paint the picture of this man so it doesn’t contradict what we know, but also add depth to that, and flesh him out in a way we haven’t seen before? This book was more difficult for that reason. I had to really think what I wanted to say about James T. Kirk. STM: In the first part of the book, covering Kirk’s early life, you’ve managed to show him as someone who isn’t fully formed, avoiding the temptation to make him a hero from the outset. DG: One of the reasons that Kirk is a hero that has stood the test of time, in terms of the audience, is that his portrayal by Shatner in the original series is outwardly heroic, but there are plenty of moments where he expresses his insecurity. There’s this great scene, in the episode “Balance of Terror,” where he is alone in his quarters with McCoy, and he says “Here I am, and everything is riding on me, and what if I am wrong?” It’s a wonderful, insecure moment. Gene Roddenberry’s original conception of the character was as a futuristic Horatio Hornblower. If you read those books, Hornblower is a very insecure character. He knows outwardly he needs to be the decision maker, and not show any insecurity, but inwardly he is questioning and unsure about his career. I am a big fan of the Hornblower books, and I took that and said that was true of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of [Kirk],
“I WOULD LOOK AT THE EVENTS FROM STAR TREK HISTORY AND ASK MYSELF, ‘WOULD THIS HAVE AFFECTED KIRK PERSONALLY?’” that this guy outwardly is a hero but inwardly is at odds with himself. That makes it a more interesting read, and doesn’t contradict with the original conception of the character. STM: Were there any biographies or autobiographies of historical figures that influenced the way you looked at Kirk’s early life? DG: I read a couple of military autobiographies. The autobiography of Norman Schwarzkopf, who was the general who led the first Iraq war. His life definitely inspired my book a little bit. His Mom
was sick, an alcoholic, and I liked that there was this sense of this early life that wasn’t perfect. I didn’t make Kirk’s life that dark, but the idea that his home life wasn’t perfect, that his parents had struggles in their relationship, was something I could personally relate to, and would help describe who Kirk was. Perhaps it influenced why he couldn’t form permanent, personal relationships with women, why he always wanted to get away? If he had this idyllic life on the farm, why did he go into space? I also read a biography of Eisenhower, and I’m a big fan of the American author Herman
Wouk, specifically his book, “The Caine Mutiny,” about a young officer serving on an American naval vessel, and that influenced me as well. STM: How did you go about transferring Kirk’s unique voice onto the page? DG: That’s not something I can really quantify. My job for the last 27 years has been to adapt to the voices of the shows I’ve been hired to write for. That’s one of the reasons I got the “Federation” book, because they wanted someone who was able to write in different voices. Once I’d decided the story I was going to tell, I just started writing, and honestly, I don’t think I thought consciously of Kirks voice. I’m so bathed in Star Trek, because I’ve watched so much for so many years, that I have almost an instinct at this point as to what Kirk would sound like. That was probably the easiest
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TRICORDER INTERVIEW
David A. Goodman scans for ideas
part of the book, just because I’m such a huge fan. I know the rhythms, based on countless repeat watching of episodes, of how Shatner delivers lines of dialogue, and I think I get pretty close in my book. I’ll leave that for you to decide. STM: As the book goes on, and you’re dealing with him as an older man, the voice ages as well. DG: Mostly that came out of the events I was telling. Early on, it’s about a boy, and the hurt of his mom leaving. Those were childhood fears, so they’re expressed as a child, even though it’s an adult writing. And I made that [childhood] up. Nowhere in the canon does anybody really talk about where Kirk’s parents are, what happened with them. I don’t think, in the original series, that they even mentioned Kirk’s father. They mention his brother, but they don’t really talk about parents. These guys exist in the universe of the show, and they don’t really talk about their families. Spock’s family, yes, but you don’t get to meet Kirk’s, so it was very important figuring out what that relationship was. I don’t go too far – his parents aren’t bad people, but relationships with your parents are messy. My golden rule was not to fall into the trap of writing about Kirk, and saying his life on the farm is great, his life in Starfleet Academy is great. There were indications in the original series that some of his past wasn’t great. For instance, Starfleet Academy was a really important part of the book for me. It was clear that Roddenberry and the writer’s view of the academy was much closer to what West Point (The U.S. Military Academy) would have been.
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Kirk, a space-age Hornblower
A place where you were proud to have gone, but where you would have been hazed by upperclassmen, you would have felt insecure, that it was a challenge to go to Starfleet Academy, not just academically but emotionally, and it was important to me that that chapter reflect that. I read a bunch of books about West Point and the naval academy, and their traditions, and tried to reflect that in Starfleet. STM: In the era of the young, recently graduated Kirk, you describe a period in which space travel may be commonplace, but it isn’t easy. DG: I was reading books by Mike and Denise Okuda, the Star Trek Chronology and Star Trek Encyclopedia, and they really laid out
DG: That first posting, on the Republic, was really inspired by “The Caine Mutiny”, in which Wouk paints a picture of life in the World War II Navy, and it’s not like you see in the movies. The ships didn’t even have rooms, sometimes, for sleeping berths for these guys, so they crammed them in wherever they could find space. I felt that, as space travel was beginning, you would design ships that serve a certain function, then you would advance to the next class of starship and the old ships would be used for something else, something they weren’t designed for, so there would be a grittier version of Starfleet. It was always clear that the Constitution-class ships, like the Enterprise, were the top of the line. These were the great ships, and that means that the
“MY GOLDEN RULE WAS NOT TO FALL INTO THE TRAP OF WRITING ABOUT KIRK, AND SAYING HIS LIFE ON THE FARM IS GREAT, HIS LIFE IN STARFLEET ACADEMY IS GREAT.” the timeline, and based on what they figured out, when Kirk graduated from the academy, the academy had only had two generations of graduates. That’s not that old. So, there’s this idea that we’re really at the beginning, if not of space exploration, then as the Federation is only just growing. That’s why I think Kirk ends up being such a hero, because he’s there for the formative events of the Federation. STM: It feels like a grittier place. Some of his postings are pretty grubby.
other ships weren’t as nice! I wanted to show that Kirk, on his way to the finest ship in the fleet, had to serve on some ships that weren’t so much fun. STM: How did you approach retelling the major events from the TV series and the films? DG: In some ways, that was the hardest part of the book, because as a writer I didn’t want the book to read like a Wikipedia entry, or seem like I was just summarizing the events of certain episodes. On the other hand, how do I not talk about Khan, right? I’ve got to make sure that’s a big part of the book.
TRICORDER INTERVIEW And there are so many episodes to cover, how do I pick and choose which are the important ones? There were always a couple of things I would look at, in terms of the importance of an episode. One was which were important episodes in Federation history that Kirk was involved with, so “Errand of Mercy” was something that had to go in the book – the episode that introduced the Klingons. But what I would try to do was look at it from a different perspective, so with “Errand of Mercy,” for instance, Kirk is reporting to his superior, who I decided was Matt Decker. He was a commodore, so would have been Kirk’s commanding officer, and might have been the person Kirk had to report to about what happened on Organia. STM: There are also some story arcs which you return too throughout the book. DG: I set up a couple of through lines, one of which is Kirk’s relationship with his son, or lack of relationship with his son. That was a real revelation, when I realized that, during the original series, the Captain Kirk that we knew so well had a son that he wasn’t seeing. David Marcus was alive during the years of the original series, so what’s going on with this guy who’s our hero, who’s a Dad and never seeing his kid? A lot of the events I chose to talk about were based around that as well. Kirk’s relationship with a young officer that reminds him of himself, but ultimately of the son he’s not seeing. I would look at the events from Star Trek history and ask myself, “would this have affected Kirk personally?” Obviously the death of Edith Keeler is a big part of the book, the
Why could Kirk never hold on to the girl?
death of his brother, then later the way the events of the movies effected him personally, so they had to be included. Finding ways of entertainingly describing these events that we’re all so familiar with. STM: If you were to ever get the chance to write more stories in this vein, are there any ink would make an particular characters you think interesting read? DG: One of the good things about Kirkk he dies young! He dies at 60. That’s the age that the Okudas figured out he waas in t T ek Generations. Every other Star Trekk chara r this about – S ck, that you would do a book like th r l ng ti , so or Picard, or McCoy – lived a re i , andd there’s a lot of stuff you’d have fill in those cases I’d feel afraid of ingg on oo m h. Spock would be a very differentt k off ok, a very interesting book if you were to do it, be a e k, g t you would really, for the first time I think, into what happens when a Vul n chilildd n .H w taught to repress their emotions does that happen? And that is a eat metaphor for humans, in the sense that there are plenty of people who are raised to repress their emotions. Spock’s journey is an interesti g one, because he learns to integr e his human self and his emotion so that when he’s older he’s less s afraid of showing emotion, and a great story to tell. The pro l is at k when Kirk dies, at 60, you’ve t alive for another 80 years, so w t you
do with those 80 years? How do you tell that story, that it’s going to be interesting to people? Spock is the character that people would want to read, but it would have to be a much longer book! “The Autobiography of James T. Kirk – The Story of Starfleet’s Greatest Captain” by David A. Goodman, is published by becker&mayer! and Titan Books.
WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NET WORTH Share your Trek tales, photo memories, art, and creativity with fans far and wide. Email startrekmagazine@ titanemail.com, and we’ll find a corner of Quark’s Bar to showcase them.
LIKE A VEGAS WEDDING Dear Quark, Here are some pictures of me and my wife at our wedding at the Star Trek Experience, in Las Vegas. It was in 2007, on May 1 , and it was a great trip !!!! Our witness was a very friendly Klingon...! Moon & Vania, Belgium
ined?
Is that Klingon officially orda
“The bridesmaid was nothing but tribble!”
The perfect venue for a wedding reception
A match made on the bridge of the Enterprise
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t wouldn’t be easy. A show facing cancellation, a fanbase that couldn’t bear to see their show axed without a fight, and a cast galvanized into action to save their show. There was no chance they could win against the might of NBC – or could they…? In 1963, when the cast of NBC’s It’s a Man’s World (including Glenn Corbett, who played Zefram Cochrane in the Star Trek episode
I
“Metamorphosis”) learned that their show had been cancelled after just 19 episodes, some of the actors drove cross-country and picked up thousands of protest letters from fans. The performers proudly delivered the mail to sternfaced network men in New York City – only to receive an admonishment so blistering that the actors staggered out of the boardroom, dazed and defeated. Mail, in whatever quantity, was no substitute for poor ratings, they were told.
Many of those same NBC executives faced the “Save Star Trek” campaign five years later, as Gene Roddenberry’s sophisticated sciencefiction series faced the can in 1968. Until then, only one TV series had ever been saved by viewer mail, the comedy Father Knows Best, co-starring Jane Wyatt (Spock’s mother in “Journey to Babel”) and Elinor Donahue (later a guest-star in “Metamorphosis”). That show received 75,000 letters of support, thus ensuring its renewal.
Rescuing the Enterprise before she was phased out by low ratings was the challenge for fans who wrote to NBC to save Star Trek in the 1960s. Mark Phillips looks back at the action, and talks with fans who participated in one of the biggest protests in television history.
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SAVING STAR TREK Star Trek had been underestimated from the start. Twenty-four TV critics were asked to review the first episode, “The Man Trap,” in 1966. Only five called it “good.” Others condemned it as “confusing” and “dreary,” with some suggesting “it won’t work.” Despite a strong start, the critical reaction was soon mirrored in the audience numbers. “The Man Trap” reached 18th out of 92 shows in the ratings, but subsequent episodes saw viewership tumble. “Charlie X” came in at 33rd, and by “The Enemy Within,” the show had slumped to 51st.
THE FIRST SKIRMISH
Archive photos courtesy of Ctein (www.ctein.com)
When “The Galileo Seven” sank to 61st place in January 1967, creator Gene Roddenberry remarked, “We are in real danger of not being renewed for the second year.” He put part of the blame on the “late” timeslot, 8:30pm Thursdays. He stressed Star Trek was successfully running in 28 other countries, including Japan, where Mr. Spock was renamed “Officer Kato.” TvQ, a top media research company, reported the most liked new shows of 1966 were, in order, Star Trek, Time Tunnel, Family Affair, and Mission: Impossible. “Because of its expense, Star Trek must run two or more years just to recoup its costs,” said Roddenberry. Meanwhile, The Committee, made up of a group of famous science-fiction authors, spread the word that the series was in ratings trouble. When NBC announced in early 1967 that a new show, called Ironside, was poised to replace Star Trek, more letters poured in to save the Enterprise.
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Fan Bob Olsen's letters received replies from both NBC and Gene Roddenberrry
TV Guide magazine, in particular, liked the series, publishing many supportive letters. The popular magazine was edited, incidentally, by a man named James T. Quirk. After the network received a total of 68,000 letters from viewers, there was an announcement made following “The Devil in the Dark,” on March 9, 1967, confirming that Star Trek would return in the fall. “And please,” the announcer begged, “don’t write us any more letters!” The fans wrote anyway, this time to thank NBC. Columnist Milton Bass liked Star Trek, but was against Roddenberry’s efforts to move the series to a “kiddie” 7:30pm time slot. “That could turn it into a piece of junk, like Lost in Space,” he warned. Star Trek ended the 1966–67 season in 52nd place out of 100 shows. By comparison, its competition, Bewitched and My Three Sons, ranked 8th and 31st respectively. One young Massachusetts fan couldn’t understand the ratings. After calling 100 people in his city, he claimed 92 of them “are ardent Star Trek fans.” The good news was Star Trek would be back
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f r a coond year, pl ng Fri att 8:30pm. “We’ll be a better show this year,” Roddenb ryy promised. “Our scripts aree more fin ly tun
BUBBLES BUR RSTING For many years, The National Assoc ati fo Better Broadcasts had tri d to find a goodd i g judged The science-fiction TV series, h vin Outer Limits as “nightmarish ” Lost in Space as “too frightening,” nd ireball XL5 as “unacceptable… a vi lent dii or on of space exploration.” The o g niz n o me ded Star surprised many when it recom Trek as “a high quality show, with g o entertainment value for thhe family.” all answee ed Roddenberry personal many viewer letters, but when w one fan insisted on knowing how the phaserr o nd ass made, he wouldn’t say. However, he did reve l t att one frequent sound effec was created by usingg “the magnified sounds of bubble burstingg ” gt Shortly after the seco d s a n go underway, Roddenberry co fided that the new Friday time slot had turned n “a as r ”
model kit of the Enterprise being the best-selling TV model ever (surpassing sales of the Koach car from The Munsters). The series was also pulling in more fan mail than The Monkees, with 6,000 letters per week. Even a poll in Photoplay magazine named Star Trek as the “Favorite TV show of 1968.”
POINTED EARS FOREVER In January 1968, more than 1,000 fans (many of them students from the California Institute of
Technology) held a torchlight parade, holding signs with slogans such as, “Make Logic, Not Cancellation,” and “Pointed Ears Forever.” Anxious executives at NBC’s Burbank studios greeted the “well-behaved” fans, and while the suits could only say a decision was still pending, everyone at the network was surprised by the march. Many later conceded that the demonstration played an important role in Trek’s subsequent renewal. Roddenberry
Roddenberry would reward some fans with a Starfleet commission!
watched the march from a block away, sitting on his motorcycle, disguised in a helmet and black leather jacket. “I looked like one of the Hell’s Angels,” he joked to Isaac Asimov. “As far as I know, the idea of the march came from Bjo Trimble,” says Ctein, a noted photographer, artist, writer, and researcher, who not only participated in the historic demonstration, but helped to organize it. “Bjo had a lot of social ties to Caltech, where I was a freshman. An announcement had gone up there about meeting with Bjo to organize a campaign to save Star Trek. I showed up, along with half a dozen other classmates. That march got the public’s attention, and the mainstream news coverage. I was the most artistic of the bunch, so I made up a lot of the signs and placards that people carried that night. Someone else did the flyers and leaflets, and we had bumper stickers made up, ‘Mr. Spock For President,’ that we slapped on the bumpers of many cars of executives. Afterward, we were the heroes of the revolution!” When a cynical reporter observed that the young people seemed more interested in saving a mere TV show than with current events, Leonard Nimoy declared, “I get letters from our youth containing deep insights about their world. They ask me about Vietnam, LSD, and race relations. I know these
“I GET LETTERS FROM OUR YOUTH CONTAINING DEEP INSIGHTS ABOUT THEIR WORLD. THEY ASK ME ABOUT VIETNAM, LSD, AND RACE RELATIONS. I KNOW THESE KIDS ARE REALLY THINKING, AND THAT IS MORE THAN YOU CAN SAY ABOUT MY GENERATION.” Leonard Nimoy 70
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kids are really thinking, and that is more than you can say about my generation.”
RALLYING THE TROOPS Typically, a cancelled show would draw between 2,000–4,000 protest letters. 6,000 letters was considered a huge (and rare) response. Star Trek generated an incredible 12,000 letters between January and February 1968 alone. Trek fan Bob Olsen received a “Save Star Trek“ flyer, put out by Bjo Trimble. “About six of my friends and I watched Star Trek, and we’d talk on the phone about the exciting episodes or meet up in my friend’s treehouse to talk all things Trek,” he recalls. “We took a petition around our neighborhood, and almost all of the adults signed it. I think we got 100 signatures. I also got all of my newspaper route subscribers to sign it. My teacher also enjoyed Star Trek, and wrote to NBC. She helped me construct my first letter to them in an intelligent and persuasive way.” Other “Save Star Trek” participants included rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, writers Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, politicians Nelson Rockefeller and Barry Goldwater, and a 20-year-old named Vonda N. McIntyre (a future science-fiction novelist). Wanda Kendall flew from California to New York City and surreptitiously ers onn plastered 300 Star Trek bumper stickers executivvess’ cars executives cars. After Aftter finding Af nding a Mr Mr. Spock sticker
NBC comes under fire from the Enterprise (image courtesy of Ctein)
on his limousine, Johnny Carson invited William Shatner to appear on his popular Tonight Show. But the agonizing death-watch continued. “Those bad Nielsen ratings have blasted Star Trek out of the heavens,” noted columnist Vernon Scott, after “A Private Little War” limped to 68th place. “Mr. Nielsen never asked us,” declared a defiant Wanda Kendall. Patti, a student at John Sevier Junior High, nvinn ed 0 o her fellow students stud – and one t acher – to write tto NBBC. Meanwhi e, Leonarrd teacher
Nimoy was so impressed with Illinois fan Terry Hornsey’s letters, he invited Terry to fly out to the Star Trek set in late 1967. Roddenberry shook the boy’s hand and said, “Thank you for all of your letters on behalf of our show.” Some letters to TV Guide used humor (“I have constructed a successful laser beam to do battle with NBC”), extra-terrestrial threats (“We, the inhabitants of Omicron Delta System, will have no alternative but to destroy your planet if Star Tr k is dis ont ued ) and a pleea of o d p on
Star Trek inspired fan creativity and numerous events
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Fans Wanda Kendall and Clyde Chadwick after the "Save Star Trek" march
from a New Jersey man who said, “TV’s image will be shattered if Star Trek is cancelled. It is a literate, original and thought-provoking series.” Network executive Mort Werner officially announced Trek’s return for a third year. “More than 100,000 viewers, one of the largest mail responses in our network’s history, wrote in support of Star Trek,” he said. “The response has been gratifying.”
STAR TREK LIVES! An on-air announcement followed “The Omega Glory” on March 1, 1968, and fans were overjoyed. A few people, however, remained baffled by it all. UPI’s Rick du Brow asked people to stop writing “childish letters” for Star Trek, and instead save I Spy, “a much superior show.” Columnist Hal Bates said fans “won their battle only because they were loud and well-organized… but are there really more science fiction fans out there than fans of Bill Cosby’s I Spy or The Monkees?” Canadian writer Bob Shiels gave up on Star Trek after watching “The Immunity Syndrome,” because “it was about this big blob that kept gobbling up everything in space.” He judged Lost in Space as the better show, but cheered Star Trek fans for “a magnificent campaign” that proved a network’s thinking could be changed. Producer Irwin Allen promised to add a purple, talking llama to his Lost in Space show if it was renewed but, despite passable ratings, CBS complained that too many children were
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watching. Indeed, audience demographicss were becoming far more important than mere numbers, and Star Trek had been saved in part because it had a diverse and intelligent audience. While NBC’s President, Julian Goodman, acknowledgedd that “Much of the mail we’ve received has been from highly educated viewers,” the bottom line, according to NBC executive Paul Klein, was that “Star Trek has delivered thhe right kind of audience to our advertisers.”” Roddenberry was surprised to hear that many independent TV stations wanted Star Trek cancelled, so that they could immediately buy the 55 existing episodes for syndication. They knew the show could be a gold mine in reruns. The third season’s proposed 7:30 Monday time slot was suddenly switched to Fridays at 10pm after the producers of Laugh-In demanded the Monday slot. “If the network wants to kill us, it couldn’t have made a better move,” said Roddenberry. NBC’s research showed women were generally “terrified” of outer space, and only 13.1% of female viewers even liked science-fiction. New producer Fred Freiberger wanted to change this by adding more romance to the series, along with more female guests and less violence. He felt the late-night Friday spot was feasible, since another NBC program, popular with young people, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., had flourished there as a top ten hit two years earlier.
In 1968, fans had the chance to buy screen-used props
“Did letters really save Star Trek?” a skeptical writer, Bob MacKenzie, asked Nichelle Nichols. ‘You better believe it,” she said. “We were gone. But the network couldn’t ignore the grass-roots campaign,” she said proudly.
THIRD STRIKE AND YOU’RE OUT The third year would include “Spock’s Brain,” an interracial kiss, Abe Lincoln, and Mariette Hartley’s poignant portrayal of a woman trapped in time. Surprisingly, Star Trek edged out its ABC competitor, Judd for the Defense, but always placed a distant second to the CBS Friday Movie. “I really enjoyed the third season,” admits Bob Olsen. “I was probably too young to discriminate between the previous seasons’ quality and the decline of the third year. I did notice some episodes were kind of dumb, and ‘And the Children Shall Lead’ is my least favorite
SAVING STAR TREK episode. It’s a real stinker. Many episodes were also taking place aboard the Enterprise, and I missed the planet shows. Considering the budget cuts and loss of key staff, I thought the third year came out fairly well. It never descended into the goofiness of Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Land of the Giants, or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.” Ctein, however, had a different perspective. When Star Trek was finally cancelled in 1969, “I was in the student union office at Caltech, when the manager got a call from someone looking to get in touch with the original “Save Star Trek” committee, to organize a new protest to get the show renewed. I took the call and kindly explained that, given the lack of quality of the third season’s scripts, it was highly unlikely that such a campaign could be mounted. I certainly was not going to help do it.” The Associated Press reported Trek’s ratings as “fragile.” The question remained, why weren’t more adult viewers watching? “I discussed that with my husband, who was a high
school teacher,” said Star Trek writer Margaret Armen. “He wouldn’t watch Star Trek, not even my episodes. He explained that he couldn’t relate to a show about a spaceship warping out of our solar system. Sadly, I think many other adults at the time felt the same way. To them it was like a fairy tale, but younger people loved it.” The Independent Press-Telegram announced, “Star Trek is dead. Let’s hope we don’t have to go through another ‘Save Star Trek’ campaign!” But Cynthia Lowry of AP reported, “Once again the fans are deluging NBC with pleading letters, but Star Trek’s low national ratings make it unlikely the barrage will work this time.” The final outcry generated a staggering total of 126,518 letters, but the die had been cast. Bob Olsen received a letter from NBC program manager Stanley Robertson, who had worked closely with Roddenberry on the show. “The decision not to renew was one of the most difficult decisions this company has ever made,” Robertson said. He noted that while Star Trek
“was a critical and artistic success, unfortunately, and with enormous regret, it became obvious the show was not building up an audience and therefore would have to be replaced.” The last new episode, “Turnabout Intruder,” aired June 3, 1969. Its feeble 8.8 rating paled against a rerun of hippie cop show Mod Squad (15.2). “We knocked poor Star Trek into the ratings graveyard,” said Mod Squad producer Harve Bennett, who would later resurrect Star Trek’s fortunes with The Wrath of Khan in 1982. The rallying cry of fans in 1968 was “Save Star Trek.” By the early 1970s, it was “Star Trek Lives!” How NBC handled the original series during the 1960s is still open to debate, but few could have foreseen Star Trek becoming a worldwide phenomenon. “I can only imagine the people at NBC still scratching their heads over Star Trek,” a bemused Leonard Nimoy said to thousands of university students in 1975. “They’re probably still thinking to themselves, ‘Why, oh why, did we ever cancel that show?’”
“WE WERE GONE. BUT THE NETWORK COULDN’T IGNORE Nichelle Nichols
March organizer Ctein meets another big Star Trek fan
Instructions to fans for writing an effective letter
Model building time-consuming and intensely personal buildin iis a ti endeavor. Hours can be spent just making sure all of the pieces fit together, and even then the job isn’t finished... Model enthusiast Timothy J. Tuohy speaks to James Hood of Round 2 about their plans for the future of Trek model kits, and looks back at how it all began. tar Trek has maintained a long list of licensed products, and one of the most enduring has been model kits based on the franchise’s fantastic ships, props, and even a certain pointy-eared science officer. Since 1966 – with only a few interruptions – Star Trek models have been available to fans across the globe. Licensing is a great way for a studio to get both additional finances and promotion, but
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in typical Star Trek fashion, Desilu’s deal was just as groundbreaking as the show it produced. In the summer of 1966, one month before Star Trek’s television premiere, a deal was struck between Desilu and Aluminum Model Toys (AMT) to produce model kits based on their new show. What made this deal so unique was a provision of the license that allowed AMT unfettered access to the production lot and, in
return, they would assist with construction of sets and props if needed. This arrangement was highly beneficial to both parties, and would be responsible for the creation of two of Star Trek’s iconic ships. The budget for the Original Series episode “The Galileo Seven” was becoming a major source of concern for producer Robert Justman. As costs continued to skyrocket, the unprecedented nature of Desilu’s deal with AMT would prove its worth. Through a subsidiary of AMT, Speed and Custom Shop, the full-scale interior, exterior, and filming model of the eponymous shuttle were constructed. The only cost to Desilu was shipping from the construction site in Arizona to the studio.
MODEL KITS
THE TAIL WAGS THE TARG The cross-fertilization didn’t stop there. Spurred on by the success of their first kit, the U.S.S. Enterprise, AMT went directly to soon-tobe-legendary designer Matt Jefferies to get inspiration for a follow-up. But which starship could possibly match the million units that the Enterprise model had sold? The answer seemed
TREK TRIVIA
obvious – a Klingon Battle Cruiser! Except for one, not insignificant, problem – there wasn’t a Klingon ship to base a model kit on! Although the Klingons had made their debut appearance in the first season Star Trek episode “Errand of Mercy,” they were not given a proper ship until the third season’s “Elaan of Troyius.” Matt Jefferies, the visionary mind behind many of
MORE BANG FOR THEIR BUCK Wanting to give their new ship as much exposure as possible, and even though it was constructed to be the nemesis of the Enterprise, the Klingon D-7 would actually first appear on-screen during Star Trek’s second season episode, “The Enterprise Incident,” as a Romulan battle cruiser.
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hand-held tools – small razor blades, wire snips, sandpaper, and a tube of cement. Together we started to identify parts that were meant to fit together, and we cut those off the sprues (those plastic frames that I called “trees”). After we’d test fit a few sub-assemblies, he twisted the cap off the cement. Whoa! That smell!! It was a solvent. It actually melted the plastic together. I think it could have melted more than plastic! This was going to be difficult enough, being my first model and all, but nobody told me that I’d be getting, well… you know! Little by little, piece-by-piece, each of our ships began to take shape. We didn’t finish that day. It took about two more weekends, and the inevitable cement accident courtesy of your humble author, until both kits were finished. My glow-in-the-dark model looked almost like the box. But the Klingon cruiser was molded in a different color to the actual filming model – or at least how it looked on TV. My father took it to work and spray-painted it during his lunch hour. Except for forgetting to mask off those two small clear, green “lights” at the top, it was finished. He even surprised me by putting the decals on before coming home. We were done. Our first models. Through the years, one kit followed the next. Spock, the Galileo 7, the “Exploration Set,” and more Enterprises than I could ever count – and those are just the ones from the original series. Now, years later, and faced with a closet full of un-built kits waiting for me, I know that I will always have my father to thank for showing me how much fun building models could be. Thanks, Dad! You re wel “You’re welcome.”
Tim J. Tuohy’s life-long love affair with model-making ng was inspired by both Star Trek and the skills of his de: father. Here he talks about the first kit he ever made: ’d love to say that the first model that I ever built was a Star Trek model. I really would, but it wasn’t. That honor went to my father. Sometime in 1975, we picked out our first two model kits – AMT’s “Interplanetary U.F.O. Mystery Ship” and Star Trek’s “Klingon Battle Cruiser.” “What, no Enterprise?” Nope. They didn’t have one at the store. But mine was glow-in-the dark – it glowed! To an eight-year-old, that was epic. And for your information, fact fans, my model was also designed by Matt Jefferies, and originally released as the “Leif Ericson Galactic Cruiser.” The anticipation I had as my father opened the
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box containing the evil opponent of thee Fe FFederation ederation bbeing eing able was almost tangible. The excitement off be enn oonn TV was to physically possess something as seen app, llifted ifted the unbearable. He tore off the shrink-wrap, w h all the box top and removed… the bag filled with parts ready to be put together. “What did you expect?” i ffor id or that?! We had to put it together? And he paid g “It’s called a model KIT, smart guy, Assembly required!” wnn kit t’s box Undeterred, I opened up my own kit’s ppulled ed out and, just like my father had done, I pulle b My the bag of parts and the instruction book. thhat we we would father just smiled, and assured me that laaid out some make it look just like the boxes. He laid
MODEL KITS
Star Trek’s most memorable ships, scenery, and props, set about the daunting task of crafting a worthy adversary for the inimitable Enterprise. Essentially working outside his studio position, and as chronicled in the Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, Jefferies recounted his design thought process. “Since the Klingons were the enemy, I had to design a ship that would be instantly recognizable as an enemy ship, especially for a flash cut. There had to be no way it
could be mistaken for our guys. It had to lookk threatening, even vicious.” Taking two months from the initial concept, and with help from AMT’s Stephen Edward Poe, the man responsible for the licensing deal and future co-author (as Stephen E. Whitfield) of The Making of Star Trek, a design was eventually finalized. From there, two master tooling models were created. One was used for the model kit and the other by the studio for filming.
A SECOND HELPINNG
While Star Trekk model elss have beenn lilicensed for the international market under a variety of different companies such as Bandai, Tsukuda, and currently Revell of Germ many, it was AMT’s models by which the standard was set. But even the power of the Federation can’t halt the tides
“WE KNEW SCI-FI MODELING WAS A SOLID SEGMENT OF THE MODEL KIT HOBBY MARKET, AND THAT STAR TREK WAS ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR ROPERTIES.” JAMES HOOD, ROUND 2 of business. Following a long and successful history with AMT – through a variety of owners, and more kits than one article could properly cover – Star Trrek models eventually w, permanent home with Indiana based Round 2, LLC. “I guess that would have first started with the d we struck with deal RC2//Tomy, to start doing model kits,” explains James Hood, Senior Designner at Round 2. “A big part of the consideration was which model kit licenses were available at thhe time of the deal. Star Trekk was available, andd we had a lot of tools available and plenty of ideas to consider adding more. It was a great license. We knew sci-fi modeling was a solid segmeent of the model kit hobby market, and that Starr Trek was one of the most popular properties among modelers. It just made sense.” STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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most die-hard sci-fi modelers want it ‘right’ can be a challenge, when we only have a few screen shots of a ship like a Romulan Bird-of-Prey. We strive to meet, or exceed, the level of accuracy the market demands in injection-molded kits. We also keep the build process in mind to make customization a bit easier. Every new kit we do is engineered in mind that it can be someone’s first, and we don’t want to taint that experience with substandard construction. So even with some of the older kits, we do little fixes here and there as needed, to make them assemble better in areas that might have been tricky in the past. Going forward, expect more of the same. We hope what we’ve done so far proves the amount of respect we have for the property and the fans that hold it so dear.”
TO THUNDERCHILD OR NOT TO THUNDERCHILD?
Once Round 2 had the license, what were they going to do with it? Reissues? New kits? These were decisions that had to be made, and made quickly. Given the nature of the fanbase, and its hunger for quality and accuracy, these questions had to be answered. “Everything, from bringing back vintage kits that no one thought they would see on sh shelves
again, to correcting or improving previous releases, all the way to doing all-new, screenaccurate kits that range in size from a few inches to a few feet in length, were all on the table,” says Hood. “Once consumer interest and budget are taken into consideration, it comes down to what evidence can we find that provides the definitive n look at a given ship. Knowing that
One of the first kits announced by Round 2 was the enigmatic U.S.S. Thunderchild, fleetingly seen during the battle with the Borg in First Contact. Much like the never-published comic series that would have featured the popular ship (See the 2014 Special for more info on Phase 3 – Ed.), fans were once again left scratching their heads when the model failed to materialize. “I think the cancelation of the Thunderchild kit came down to us at Round 2 being too new
RECIPROCITY IS LOGICALITY R
AAurora Plastics Corporation actually leased molds from AMT to distribute Star TTrek model kits outside of the United States. Much like the deal between Desilu aand AMT, Aurora’s deal was also mutually beneficial to both companies. It was AAurora that designed the Mr. Spock model kit that was later released in the UUnited States, after Aurora leased the molds for that kit to AMT!
to the model kit business,” explains Hood. “Our announcement that we were bringing back Star Trek model kits was probably news enough, but we felt we needed to make a splash, and really show that we actually intended to do something great, unexpected, or just plain cool. We had only been in the business for literally a few months by that time. We chose the Akira-class ship as the first new kit to do, because it was cool. The design was awesome, and it wasn’t going to be ‘just another Enterprise.’ “Unfortunately,” continues Hood, “besides knowing it looked cool, we literally didn’t know much else about it. We didn’t even know how much it was going to cost to develop. By the time we realized what we had gotten ourselves into, we decided that the U.S.S. Enterprise Refit would be a quicker, and probably a more marketable, endeavor to bring out first. So we put the idea of an Akira aside. Personally, I would still like to do a plastic kit of the ship, but more likely in 1:2500 scale, as part of our Cadet Series of kits.” For information on Round 2’s Star Trek model kits, check out James’ blog at www.co coll llec ecto torm rmod odel el.com ccom om. www collectormodel
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T do any kit justice takes time and To patie p patience, but should a Klingon Battle Crui C Cruiser really be 14 years in the mak m making? Timothy J. Tuohy recounts his retu r return to kit-building, and gives a flavor of th o the processes involved. 80
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MODEL KITS
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t’s inevitable. Life gets in the way. In my case it was a new job, followed by marriage, relocation to a new home in a new state, and then children. The last model I’d completed was the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, and that was 14 years ago. The summer afte after my father’s passing, in February 2015, I decid decided to make the time and build a model. It wa wasn’t until I’d finished that I realized my choice of kit had been somewhat poetic – the Klingon Batt Battle Cruiser from Star Trek VI. Just like we had those many years ago, I separated su sub-assemblies and worked on those first. Thankf Thankfully, bonding technologies have advanced, aand now I use liquid cement that is brushed on – and not so hallucinogenic! With m many model kits, sometimes a bit of modification or “scratch-building” needs to be added for ac accuracy. The fore hull under the bridge was molded with a strange design that bore no resemblance to the actual model, as shown on the box cove cover. The first thing that had to be done was to comp completely sand off that pattern. Once completely ssmooth, I picked up some styrene strips from m my local hobby shop and attached them with extra strong cement, to hold across the curve. After my additions had fully dried and cured, I was ready to begin the painting process. I first sprayed on a matte black base coat, then a coat of Flat Gull Gray, as the instructions indicated, after the black dried. However, I thought that the color was a bit too light and green
“I REALIZED MY CHOICE OF KIT HAD AD BEEN SOMEWHAT POETIC OETIC – THE KLINGON BATTLE TLE CRUISER FROM STAR TREK VII.” ght Sea Gray, which, so I decided to repaint it Light r, but not as green. despite its name, was darker, After two coats and a light sanding, I ing rather than hand-painted the hull plating unt of time masking. spending a ridiculous amount Multiple layers of multiplee shades of gray, with red and gold, were paintedd over the course of ting the decals on, I two weekends. Before putting sprayed the model with a gloss coat, added the decals, and then a final dullll coat to finish it off. ferent It was the same yet different ompleted than the kit my father had completed ere in 1975. It’s not perfect. There are ave some seams that I should have sanded a bit more, and somee of the painted lights are uneven, but I like oved. to think he would have approved. In Memory of John T. Tuohy,, 1938–2015 STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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ORIGINAL FICTION
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STAR TREK ONLINE
The Ic T Iconian war is over at last, but with their own b priori p priorities and a bloody his story, can the Federation, history, the Empire, and the e Klingon Klin Romulan Ro omula Republic find the str rengt to remain allies? strength
By Katherine Bankson Courtesy of Cryptic Studios
C
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ompu omputer,” Nog said, “begin personal log.” The Ferengi captain took a mo moment to compose his thoughts. “Commander Jarok is bordering on im impossible. I’m not sure I’ve spoken much about her before. I was introduced to her as the Captain of the Lleiset, the Romulan Republic intro flagship. ags Through Chief O’Brien I found out she is the daughter of Alidar Jarok, JJarook, k a RRomulan Adm Admiral who contacted the Enterprise-D hoping to avoid a full-scale war, warr, and who died in exile. Given her father’s opposition to the Tal Shiar, it isn’t a surprise shee chose to join D’Tan’s D’T new republic.” Nog paused to rebalance a precarious stack of datapads dattapads on his des desk. The work orders and reports were endless. “During the war with the Iconians I thought she was a reasonable voice. And when the war ended ennded and we were assigned to work together, I was excited at the prospect. But as the weeks have have dragged on we have been,” he paused to think of a term that could politely describe the n thei daily conversations had devolved into, “disagreeing over how to conduct near-shouting their s recove operations. The crews are exhausted, and nerves are frayed. But if her salvage and recovery chhief engineer tries one more time to...” Nog cut himself off. Being angry wouldn’t help, and chief hi displeasure already. He sighed and picked up a long-abandoned mug of hee had expressed his raktajino. rakktajino. “The war was w hard,” Nog continued, “but cleaning up has been harder. I’ve invited
“Sir, an unidentified ship has just warped into the system. It’s approaching the asteroid field.” Jarok aboard the Chimera so we can resolve some of the details. I hope we’ll be able to come to some agreement.” Nog set his mug down in the replicator. “Computer, end log.” Half an hour later, Nog found his earlier optimism fading as Commander Jarok tried to convince him that they needed to rearrange their small fleet of ships, yet again. The Calidor system had played host to a large engagement. The Alliance of the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans had defended the mines and refineries in the rich asteroid field, but had taken heavy losses. Now that the war was over, the Alliance needed the mines and refineries operating at full capacity to supply the rebuilding efforts across the quadrant. But the vast debris field from the battle created hazards among the asteroids, which prevented the refineries from finding their mineral rich targets. “The system is secure. We don’t need to reassign any of the recovery ships to patrol our outer perimeter,” Nog said. “We’re spread thin, but this is the most efficient way to clear and recover. We both agreed to this plan two weeks ago.” Commander Tiaru Jarok narrowed her green eyes and gestured to the display once more. “Plans change with new information, Captain. My ships are picking up sensor ghosts.” “But only on occasion, you said. They’re probably echoes off the asteroids or the wrecked hulls; we’ve had trouble getting readings of the debris cloud for the same reason. Having us spread out allows for more
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accurate mapping, and for it to be done faster.” “I would be more comfortable if I took the Lleiset to investigate and moved our escorts closer to the Chimera.” “Bridge to Captain Nog.” Nog paused in his counter-argument. “Go ahead.” “Sir, an unidentified ship has just warped into the system. It’s approaching the asteroid field.” “Raise shields. We’ll be right there,” Nog said. He looked at Jarok and held up his hands. “Don’t say it, I will. I was wrong. There was something out there.” Tiaru regarded him for a moment then nodded back, accepting the apology. “I hope it isn’t hostile.” Nog gestured for Tiaru to follow him, as he left his ready room and entered the bridge. “What do we have?” he asked, regarding the unfamiliar ship already on the main viewscreen. Behind him he could hear Tiaru quietly having a similar conversation over the comm with her own bridge crew on the Lleiset.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Commander Adi Levy, Nog’s first officer said, moving from the captain’s chair to her usual seat. “It doesn’t match any configuration in the computer either.”
STAR TREK ONLINE The ship was sharp and sleek, the fore section of the hull pulled into an extended point. The hull was a fiery red that shifted into orange along the length of the ship. A strange halo of visible warping surrounded the entire vessel. “I’ve never seen this design before,” Nog admitted. He looked up at his guest. “Have you, Commander?” Tiaru shook her head. “This might be a first contact situation,” Nog said, fighting a grin. “I need to return to the Lleiset,” Tiaru said. Her hand was halfway to her comm badge when Nog spoke. “Open hailing frequencies. This is Captain Nog of the U.S.S. Chimera. I’m with Commander Jarok of the R.R.W. Lleiset. Would ease identify yourselves?” He nodded at his Ops officer. “Try you please broadcasting casting that on the standard frequencies.” What are you doing?” Jarok demanded, keeping her tone quiet. “What “Trying Trying to make contact,” Nog said, matching her tone. “Iss that wise? They could be here to take advantage of our d-out fleet.” spread-out Or they could be here to try to help ships in distress,” Nog “Or ered. He looked over at the Ops station. “Any word?” countered.
“This might be a first contact situation,” Nog said, fighting a grin. No, sir. I’ve tried all the standard frequencies,” the Saurian Ops “No, officerr replied. “The ship is continuing to approach.” arok to the Lleiset,” Jarok said, her words clipped. “Arm “Jarok ns and move to intercept. Wait for my order.” weapons Onn the viewscreen, the Lleisett moved into position between the wn vessel and the first ship in their small fleet. The strange red unknown vessel stopped its lazy forward movement. “What What are you doing?” Nog demanded. “Protecting Protecting us,” Tiaru countered. “Sir, Sir, I am getting an unusual energy reading,” Commander Levi said aid from her station. Onscreen, the space around the ship shimmered himmered more intensely before it jumped to warp and disappeared. peared. “It’s gone, sir.” “They They weren’t being hostile, and you scared them off,” Nog said, remembering emembering only at the last moment to moderate his voice. Jarok was an ally after all, and it wasn’t professional for him m to yell at the captain of the Romulan flagship in front of his bridge crew. Tiaru’s aru’s green eyes narrowed. “Yes. I did,” she stated, her voice ice as even and controlled as Nog wished his was. “Shall Shall we continue this discussion in my ready room?” Nog offered. ffered. Tiaru nodded sharply, her jaw still set and expression ssion hard. “You have the bridge, Adi,” he said as he led thee way. “Your Your actions were unnecessarily aggressive,” Nog said once the he door was closed. Jarok rok leaned forward a little. “We are not in a position to be courting ng alien races, especially potentially dangerous ones.”
“We’ve seen a lot of war, but it’s finally over,” Nog said, bringing up the image of the mystery ship onto the display on his desk. “Neither of us has seen a ship like that before. They could have been new allies. We could have learned something about them. I understand your caution, but after so much war we need to get back to exploration, to discovery, to positive gains in science that aren’t just bigger weapons.” Jarok studied him for a moment and uncrossed her arms. “Captain Nog, I can appreciate that you, and the rest of Starfleet, want to put the war behind you and go back to being explorers.” Jarok briefly had an expression as if she’d bitten into something bitter but was determined to eat it anyway. “The Federation can afford to jump right back into scientific discovery. The Republic can’t.” Of course Nog wanted to get back to Utopia Planitia, to design something other than a weapons platform. After so much war and death, didn’t everyone want to build? “Why can’t you join us in exploring the galaxy?” “New Romulus is all my people have. Our fleet is still in its infancy.” Jarok paused then continued. “Right now, everyone is
“The Federation can afford to jump right back into scientific discovery. The Republic can’t.” celebrating the end of the war with the Iconians, but there are other powers out there. That might have been a scout from one.” She gestured to the display of the strange, angular ship. “And the list of unknown enemies adds to an increasing list of known ones. Sela has disappeared. Again.” Jarok clenched a fist briefly. “The Dominion could decide it wants to move on us, now that we’re all weakened. New Romulus would be an easy target.” She leaned a hip against his desk and regarded the map of abandoned ships and battle debris. “It’s why I had my people scanning our perimeter, and why I’ve been driven to get these salvage operations concluded.” She offered an apologetic smile. “And why I have been terse. I apologize for that.” “It’s been getting to all of us, myself included,” Nog said, suppressing a shudder. Many had died in this battle alone. The system was a graveyard as much as a debris field. After so much death, the prospect of something new had been so tantalizing. But people heal in different ways. He’d learned that after the Dominion War, certainly. Nog watched Jarok for a moment and came to a conclusion. “Your people don’t need exploration to recover. The Republic needs security. Stability.” Jarok looked up and Nog thought he saw… surprise? Relief? Both? She nodded. “Yes.” The Federation needed hope to heal, which came from its mission to explore. But that wasn’t what everyone would need. Furthermore, without the Iconians to keep everyone unified, it was up to individuals like him and Jarok to keep reaffirming that they were working toward the same goals, despite potentially different priorities. Simple and yet so difficult, Nog thought to himself. “Well,” Nog said. “Given the circumstances, I agree maybe we need to be more cautious of sensor ghosts. Maybe have some of the ships run a perimeter picket in rotation? We can scan some of the outer edges of the field.”
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“It’d probably benefit everyone to do something other than salvage and recovery. At least for a little while.” Jarok uncrossed her arms; an indication she understood the peace offering. “And if that ship comes back, we’ll see it. Maybe it is friendly,” she added, extending an offering of understanding of her own. “And if it isn’t, or of it comes back with reinforcements, we’ll be prepared to handle it. Together,” Nog concluded with a nod, offering a hand. Jarok clasped it firmly. “Together then.”
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BOOKS - COMICS - COLLECTIBLES
REVIEWS BLUETOOTH STAR TREK COMMUNICATOR The Wand Company great many moons ago, this young Star Trek fan had a favorite toy (not counting his Dinky die-cast metal Enterprise) – a three-piece, all-plastic playset ser, tricorder, and ame with its own belt,
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reproduction, with a bonus, real-world application. And, boy, does that application make this device a must-have. Tech fans, your latest iPhone can go take a hike. We’re talking a perfect combination of iconic 1960s design, channeling a vision of the 23rd Century future,
well as being able to make and receive calls, you can even indulge your Trek fantasies and have two-way “conversations” with cleverly sampled Enterprise crewmembers, from Bones to Uhura – an example of the attention to detail and quest for a rewarding user experience that makes this
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE “SACRAMENTS OF FIRE” By David R. George III • Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books ipping into a modern-day TV series several seasons in can be tricky at the best of times – you’re more than likely to end up dazed and confused as the myriad plotlines whizz past at warp speed. For those of you not up-to-date with the Deep Space Nine “re-launch” series of novels, you could be in for a similar feeling. “Sacraments of Fire” leaps straight into the continuity stream of the previous books, including 2009’s “The Soul Key”, and 2013’s “Revelation and Dust”. When a mysterious time-traveling Bajoran arrives on the station hot on the heels of a devastating assassination, the crew must determine whether he was sent by the enigmatic Prophets, or if he holds a more sinister secret. Meanwhile, Kira finds herself thrown back in time six years, to the height of a crisis involving a group of religious zealots known as the Ascendants. With no indication of why she was sent back, time-travel paradoxes soon become
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the least of her worries as Kira finds herself threatened by the crazed Cardassian operative, Iliana Ghemor. The continuity hawks among you will no doubt enjoy the opportunity “Sacraments of Fire” takes to plug one of the more notable gaps in the DS9 novel series. The Ascendants storyline hasn’t been heard of since 2009, so it’s gratifying to find a nice amount of recap laid down for those of us with less-than perfect recall. However, despite the progress made across several key ongoing storylines, “Sacraments of Fire” could leave you feeling that it all seems rather disjointed. With such a large amount of the novel handed over to recap,
as well as set-up for the next DS9 book, the resultant pacing is often uneven, but if you’ve been following this series there’s plenty to reward your dedication in this latest instalment. If not, this one is going to need a bit of prep work before you dive in. Adam Walker
STAR TREK: SEEKERS #3 “LONG SHOT” By David Mack • Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books uch like the heralded Vanguard series that preceded it, Star Trek: Seekers stays true to the themes that make Star Trek so successful: exploring new worlds and meeting new civilizations. Yet at the same time, these books enjoy the rare privilege of playing with a whole new universe of characters unencumbered by the excess baggage of Trek canon. Don’t let that big “3” in the book’s title put you off – “Long Shot” can easily be taken as a standalone read for those uninitiated in the series. Responding to a distress call from the planet Anura, Captain Clark Terrell (of Wrath of Khan fame), and his small but loyal crew of the scout ship U.S.S. Sagittarius, set out to render assistance. Confronted by a series of highly improbable natural disasters befalling the Anurans, Terrell discovers that one of their
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chief scientists has inadvertently altered the laws of probability in the region, thanks to some dangerous experimentation with dark matter energy. Terrell’s crew face a dangerous race against time before meteorites, comets, and solar flares threaten to put an end to all life in the Anuran system. David Mack excels at writing believable characters and allowing them to interact in a natural way, which resonates with the reader. Half of the fun from reading books like “Long Shot” comes from the wonderful group dynamic on show, which gives each character their own chance to shine. No one is redundant here, and it makes their collective adventure all the more engaging. “Long Shot” benefits from doing away with the often-tired cliché of having a villain to best, instead opting for an adventure where everyone
can unite to solve a problem. Mack incorporates a healthy blend of fast-paced, clever, and often humorous adventuring, which makes for a welcome entry in the new Seekers line of novels. Adam Walker
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STAR TREK: VOYAGER “ATON By Kirsten Beyer • Simon & Schuster/Pocket Boo oks irsten Beyer’s intricately woven re-launch saga for Star Trek: Voyager continues apace with “Atonement,” wrapping up the trilogy of novels which started with the events of last year’s “Protectors” and “Acts of Contrition”. Never one to shy away from the consequences of her actions, Kathryn Janeway turns herself over to the Kinara Alliance, an assembly of species in the Delta Quadrant who have decided that Janeway must be held accountable for numerous crimes committed during Voyager’s long trip back to Earth. Meanwhile, Seven and Tom Paris are knee-deep in a mission to help victims of the unscrupulous Commander Briggs’ immoral research. At the same time, Lt. Barclay struggles to save the Doctor, in a procedure which will forever leave its mark. With so many plotlines left dangling in the second part of this trilogy, you could be forgiven for worrying that Beyer may have left too much on her plate to craft a meaningful conclusion in “Atonement”. Thankfully, such worries largely
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evaporate in one of the most satisffying codas to a multi-book Star Trek novel serries in quite some time. Beyer has crafted a wide-rangging array of believable supporting characterrs, from the frank yet endearing Counselor Hugh Cambridge to the enigmatic Tamarrian Dr. Sharak. Yet substance hasn’t been sacrificed for characterization, as “Atonemennt” tackles the nuances of idealism, morality, and ethics with a mature, intelligent approach. Terms like “epic” are often overused, but if ever there was a piece of Trek literature deserving such an accolade then “Atonement” surely qualifies. Recommended without hesitation – but with the obvious caveat that you’ll need to read “Protectors” and “Acts of Contrition” beforehand! Adam Walker
STAR TREK: TITAN “SIGHT UNSEEN” By James Swallow • Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books ow in its 11th year, the Star Trek: Titan series has followed Will Riker’s captaincy of the U.S.S. Titan, with a diverse crew including both Deanna Troi and Voyager’s Tuvok. After the events of 2013’s “The Fall” saga, the Titan was subject to a shakeup which saw the promotion of Riker to the admiralty. In many ways, “Sight Unseen” marks the opening of a new chapter in Titan’s legacy, complete with a new captain – former executive officer Christine Vale. Admiral Riker, Captain Vale and the crew of the Titan embark on a seemingly simple mission to aid the Dinac, who are embarking on their first tentative steps into space after discovering warp-drive. Yet after arriving to find the Starfleet ship Whitetree has vanished without trace, the crew start to experience a series of rather disturbing dreams which are all too familiar to Riker. The nightmarish
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Solanagen-based lifeforms first encountered in TNG’s “Schisms” are back with a vengeance, and this time they’ve upped their game. Despite drawing on the plot from a previous episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, James Swallow crafts an all-out thrilling adventure from start to finish, which manages to make thorough use of virtually every character introduced. Far from side-stepping such a major change in crew dynamics, “Sight Unseen” pulls back the curtain on some very believable tension between Admiral Riker (struggling to accept he’s no longer in the captain’s chair), and newly promoted Christine Vale, the latter realizing that the life and death decisions she must make will cause her more anxious moments than she ever thought possible. Fast-paced and replete with amazing, suspenseful storytelling, “Sight Unseen” is yet another Star Trek: Titan novel that leaves you wishing it was a TV series. The subject material
has never been more relevant, and the author consistently captures the absolute core of what Star Trek is. Adam Walker
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STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATIO “WARPED: AN ENGAGING GUIDE TO THE NEVER-AIRED 8TH SEASON” Written by Mike McMahan, Illustrations by Jason Ho • Gallery Books f you’re one of the many fans who thought Star Trek: The Next Generation had at least one more year in it, then this is definitely the book for you. Taking its inspiration from the incredibly popular Twitter account @TNG_S8, “Warped” teases us with a whole new season of zany, tongue-in-cheek adventures for the crew of the Enterprise, had they continued boldly going after TV left them behind. From Beverly Crusher enjoying a romantic dinner date with a sentient virus, to a freak transporter accident merging an entire away team into one single being (affectionately known as “Captain Doctor Lieutenant Commander Picariketroi LaCrusher”), “Warped” ties together a full 26 episodes of an imaginary TNG Season 8. Along with full outlines for the new episodes, McMahan has also included script excerpts from memorable scenes, episode trivia (apparently Worf was almost replaced by a
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tobacco-loving hummingbird), and that staple of every nitpicking fan: mistakes and goofs. Of course, there are always times when random bits of absurdity defy categorization. Thankfully the author has you covered with supplementary sections, including the ever useful “Starfleet-Approved Cat Capture Methods.” Apparently both holodogs and “gentle phasering” are totally acceptable. Perhaps best of all, “Warped” features a rather effective combination of wacky cartoon drawings by artist Jason Ho, and genuine (and hilariously captioned) press photos and stills from the show. It’s a mixture which works perfectly for “Warped,” allowing you to flick through the book until something catches your eye and draws you into its leftfield take on The Next Generation universe. McMahan’s humor is probably best described as screwball, verging on goofy, so this may not be for everyone, but it’s safe
to say that even a coldly logical Vulcan would find it hard to repress a giggle. If you’re really not sure if “Warped” will be your cup of Tea (Earl Grey, Hot), then head on over to the Twitter account that inspired it, for a preview. If one of the 140-character plotlines you’ll find there doesn’t tickle your funny bone, you have a heart as cold as Uranus. Adam Walker
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STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY Written by Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott Art by Derek Charm • IDW Comics ou may remember an idea floating around, long before the 2009 reboot of Star Trek became an (alternate) reality, that serious consideration was being given to a new Trek movie or TV series set entirely on the campus of Starfleet Academy. Rumors suggested it would follow the misadventures of a young Kirk and his pals, and the very idea sent shivers down the spines of many a fan. Visions of Police Academy in Space mixed with National Lampoon’s Animal House sprang to mind, and it didn’t really sound much like Star Trek. What J.J. Abrams proved (as did Marvel in the 1990s, with their 19-issue Starfleet Academy comic book series), is that there is storytelling mileage in that academy setting, and now IDW have chosen to go back to school too, in this five-issue mini-series written by Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott, with art by Derek Charm. With a narrative that skips back and forth between 2258 and three years later, we find Cadet Uhura becoming increasingly obsessed with a mysterious distress signal she’s picked up from deep space. With academy facilities not up to the task of tracking the source of that signal, she
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enlists the help of Jim Kirk (Spock having “temporarily suspended their interaction” in the opening pages of issue 1), to sneak into the Starfleet Archives – and that’s when her problems really begin. Meanwhile, in 2261, we’re introduced to a diverse new group of cadets, brought together to compete in Starfleet’s Centennial Games. The te m consists of a disillusioned Vulcan named T’Laa a feistyy Andorian, a Monc zkin who vocalizes every thought likee an uninspiring sports commentator, andd two humans – onee a genius who likes to have fun, and the other a girl with a fanbooyfriendly sci-fi exoo-suit. Quirky, spiky and cool, they are a likeable bunch, though they don’tt seem to
like each other very much. Guiding them on their path of self-discovery is a Yoda-like Telarite called Professor Trumble, who sees a great future for T’Laan, even if she sees no future for herself in Starfleet. The mystery plot is enough to keep you turning the pages, and there are moments of fun throughout, from background Easter Eggs to Monchezkin Vel’s random breakdancing turn in issue 2. This being the alternate timeline, it’s a shock when the story flashes back a further 100 years, to reveal what happened g , and we discover at Wagner-219, the U.S.S. Slayton was an NXX class ship. The 5 es f a ple singg link to the Prime T lilne of ta T Enterprise. Star Trek S rfleet Academy feels like an effective pilot episode for a spin-off series, and there’s enough going on here to hope the cadets make the grade, and that we get to see them again. And if nothing else, the least you’ll have learned from this series is that the Klingon word for “antidisestablishmentarianism” is “T’OK!” Christopher Cooper
MAKING SENSE OF THE FUTURE IN…
With
Larry Nemecek Confused about canon? Struck by a continuity snafu? Then our resident Trexpert, Larry Nemecek, is here to help. Contact us at: startrekmagazine@titanemail.com, or via larrynemecek.com
This tribble has had one tipple too many
TRIBBLE TIMELINES I was watching Star Trek Into Darkness the other day, and I heard Kirk say to Bones, “Bones, what are you doing with that tribble?” Knowing that Kirk did not meet his first tribble until the five-year mission, how did he know what it was? MRS. MARILYN P. BROWN WINNABOW, NC Thanks for asking and sharing this one, Marilyn, as it brings up a point that may be tribbling (ahem...) even to longtime fans. Spock’s reaction to Cyrano Jones’ tribbles on DSS K-7 in 2267 seems to be truly a “first contact,” even for Vulcans and their storied early travels, and thus the root of your question.
The timeline of the “rebooted” Trek movies can be confusing to canon fans, as the order of events doesn’t necessarily match those of the Prime universe. The writers took great pains to explain it all, but the key point to recall that the events we’ve seen in this alternate universe occur roughly a decade prior to the adventures we watched in the original TV series. While the main alt-characters share the same birth dates as their Prime counterparts (except for young alt-Chekov, whose birth occurred some four years early thanks to the “Kelvin ripple”), that doesn’t mean that events in the wider universe didn’t happen sooner (or later) because of the Kelvin incident. The alt-universe’s timeline split off on its own in 2233, amid Nero’s dimensional
incursion and battle with the U.S.S. Kelvin. But in the alt-verse, even a year before Bones’ experiments with “magic blood” in alt-2259, we see a tribble causing trouble for alt-Scotty in his isolated Delta Vega lab. What it all means is, in this timeline, tribbles have simply come in contact with the Federation worlds far earlier than they did in the Prime timeline – and, obviously, under much different circumstances. And far beyond tribbles, it’s a concept to keep in mind whenever any post-Kelvin events are compared between the universes after 2233. Alt-Orion women are not only “free,” but their culture is welcomed to apply to Starfleet Academy; basic alt-starship design is constructed to a much bigger vessel scale than in Prime, and so on. STAR TREK MAGAZINE
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Advanced assimilation makes for badder Borg
humans subjugated by the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance there, it’s a bit of an echo to the yellow stars, pink triangles, and other odious “labels” similarly forced upon concentration camp inmates to wear during the Nazi Holocaust.
BETTER DEAD THAN BORG? "Through the Looking Glass"
MRS. IN THE MIRROR In the DS9 episode “Through the Looking Glass,” Ben Sisko was kidnapped and taken to the Mirror Universe, where he was asked to stop – or kill! – a woman from developing a system to trace outlaws for elimination. That woman turned out to be a mirror-version of his deceased wife, Jennifer. For some reason I noticed that Jennifer was wearing a uniform with a badge in the shape of the continent of America. I wonder if anyone else had noticed? TONY GAMBLE NORFOLK, UK I’m sure they did, Tony, and in the grand tradition of Star Trek’s iconic insignias, that visual touch was very much intended. Aside from being a bit of a stylistic shout-out to the Earth logos on the medical jumpsuits seen in the original series’ pilot “The Cage,” it’s also a foreshadowing of the United Earth logo (which, of course, in Trek-time had already occurred). In any case, that giant, stylized Earth logo is meant to help viewers keep things straight amid a completely inverted, confusing universe, and with
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My peeve is in First Contact, with Picard killing his Borgified crewmembers and telling his 21st Century companion that it was for the best. Did the writers forget that it was reversible, as with Picard/Locutus himself, and as seen later on Voyager with Seven of Nine? EVAN WARDWELL, NORMAN, OK The thought had occurred to me as well, Evan – and let’s not forget that Janeway, Tuvok, and Torres were all assimilated too at one point, even if the Doctor had a plan in place to reverse their Borgification later!) I feel the best explanation for Picard’s defeatist attitude toward his victimized crew in First Contact lies in recalling the situation around this confrontation with the Borg. In the real world, we know that a feature film budget allowed the Borg make-up to be enhanced, and better textured for the needs of a large movie screen’s scope, and for visual effects that would allow a much faster assimilation process than the only other time we had seen a real-time attack, with the slow and stagey injection effect carried out against Picard in The Best of Both Worlds. But let’s use that movie-making reality in a canon context: If this was, likewise, the crew’s first contact with these souped-up
drones, who could blame Picard for being a little overwhelmed at the sight of them and their faster, more mobile, injection gear? His assimilation regime was seen to take at least a little while for full effect, and he was indeed retrieved a couple days later and “cleansed” of implants, but for all he knew, this new “breed” of Borg might have ramped all that up. In his desperate battle for all of history, the captain simply must have decided he could no longer bet on slow-motion sentimentality when it came to “repairing” recent drones.
DATACORE LARRY NEMECEK Coming from a background in news and theatre, Larry Nemecek now creates his TREKLAND blog and videos, alongside archives at larrynemecek.com, sporting his longtime career as Star Trek author, editor, studio consultant, interviewer, speaker, archivist and even film site tour leader. Producer of documentary The Con of Wrath, and his Trekland: On Speaker remastered interview archives, Nemecek’s “Star Trek: Stellar Cartography” book and maps set is available now from 47North/ Amazon.
A FISTFUL OF DATA
CANON FODDER
Geordi checks out Data's online dating profile
Some questions plague my thoughts as much as they do our readers. Welcome to Canon Fodder, our chance to delve a little deeper into a canon conundrum...
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eader Scott Saslow, of London, UK, asks about something that has also bugged me for many years: “In ‘Encounter at Farpoint,’ it’s as if Data is fresh out of the box, so to speak. Considering he had been in Starfleet for several years up to that point, why is he only just learning about basic emotions and idioms for the first time?”
Good point, Scott. Fortunately, the workings of Data’s personal canon have been clearly spelled out on screen, from his history as one of Dr. Soong’s androids in “Datalore,” to his entry on the Starfleet database in TNG episode “Conundrum.” that the We know th h UU.S.S. S S TTripoli i li crew fifirst ffoundd the abanddoned and deactivated Data on Omicron Theta in 2338, and that the android was later admitted to Starfleet Academy for a normal, four-year tenure in 2341–45. Between then and oour actual first with Data in 2364, in meeting w the TNG premiere “Encounter at Farpoinnt,” lie 19 mysterious years – Orr 26, if you go all the way back to his activation. We know all about Data’s Pinocchio-like naiveté seen in “Farpoint,” and how truly far his sentience would advance oover the years throough his quest be
“more human.” It was such a gradual, yet radical change we saw in Data that his then/now contrast made for an obvious, and irresistible, motif to utilize in the finale, “All Good Things…” even before we add in the radical new hairdo of that future Data, too. Still, what’s with those first 19–26 years after he was re-activated? Did Data not make any progress on his quest for humanity until he set foot on the Enterprise-D? Surprisingly, the answer might be the simplest – a resounding “no.” It’s likely that not only did his move to the Enterprise spark a new plateau in personal development, but a newfound attention his exploits i on hi l i andd exist i ence, as borne out by lingering limits to his legal rights of selfdetermination, sounded by Coommander o Bruce Maddox and then Admiral Haftel. It was not for lack of action: Maddox’s self-interessted “nay” to Data’s Academy admission aside, the android had already acquired a enough independence and socialization since his reboot by the U.S.S. Tripoli to be able to graduate from the academy in just three short yearrs. Even then, though, Data would struggle s to understand and deal with his organic colleagues. He progresssed s through the ranks in nominal fashion: three years as an ensign, 12 as
a lieutenant, and then his promotion to lieutenant commander in 2360 – four years before his posting to the 1701-D. We know Data served aboard the Trieste before his Enterprise stint began, and that’s about it. What’s more illuminating are all those Starfleet awards and ribbons the computer reels off at his hearing in “The Measure of the Man,” barely only a year into the D’s mission. There’s no way Data’s first season was so exciting and jam-packed that his service record suddenly brimmed over with citations enough to win so much metal in one year. No, we can imagine Data had an active and even illustrious career – just not a very personable one. That’s where we first find him in “Farpoint.” On the side, the official yet non-canon Pocket Books novel, “The Buried Age,” by Christopher Bennett, posits a mission where Data meets Picard and other future crewmates, long before they move to the “D,” but he had not yet begun to develop subroutines to do more than asked, or to think “outside the box,” until Picard urged him to make it so. Although it may seem implausible that Data studied, served, and even excelled heroically for a quarter-century with a personality and sense of humor stuck at zero the whole time, perhaps that’s exactly the kind of officer he was. And it provides yet another barometer of just how special Picard’s senior staff and crew were at that time, affording a critical mass in Data’s environment that had never come together before, enabling him to move forward toward his next plateau of personal development.
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CAPTIONS LOGGED
Send your hilarious Trek captions to startrekmagazine@titanemail.com, and we’ll print the best in our next issue!
LAST TIME, IN CAPTIONS LOGGED… Will “Burgundy” Riker, Comic-Con 2365
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n line with the theme of engineers this issue, here’s a rare behind-the-scenes moment for Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton, modeling a fetching peach velour jacket on the chilly winter soundstage), taking a time-out to chat with guest-Klingon John Tesh (then co-host of Entertainment Tonight and, of course, a big a Star Trek fan). The date was February 14, 1989 – the seventh and final day of shooting “The Icarus Factor” – and Tesh was in for the day to have fun playing an uncredited holo-Klingon, conjured up for Worf’s Day of Ascension ceremony. But what exactly is the chilled chief engineer explaining to his bumpy-headed friend, and who left an official Starfleet safety ladder right in the middle of everything...?
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YOU STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO.
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Can Humanity Achieve Roddenberry’s Utopia?
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