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Quick column today! Have things to do. First, some comments from previous columns . . .
Brad Higgins of Kunsan Air Base, South Korea: I seem to recall a string in the Ask the Chief column recently about earth words and phrases that seem to crop up in alien cultures. Here's one for you: The word "Negus" is the Ethiopian word for Emperor. Very similar to "Nagus", the leader of the Ferengi financial empire.
Phil: Cool!
Murray Leeder: The episode "Cause and Effect" shares the same basic premise as the film "12:01", which was based on a short story by Richard Lupoff, published in "Fantasy And Science Fiction" magazine in 1973. Of course, that premise was also ripped-off by "Groundhog Day"...
Eddie C Marshall of Hampshire, UK: [Concerning the episode that Zachary Vogt references where the Voyager's bussard collectors are referred to as acting like ice cream scoops,] I think that episode is more likely to be "Flashback" the Sulu story where Tuvok throws a wobbly after seeing a nebula that the Voyager was going to collect rare elements from.
As to the Voyager having Bussard Collectors - it does - as I've previously mentioned here in the UK there is a "collectable" magazine called "The Star Trek Fact File" which is authorised by Paramount and is therefore canon. In its blueprints for Voyager there are clearly marked collectors, also these blueprints and their associated text give a canon confirmation of the "space friendly new warp nacelles" I have included a transcript taken from the text that accompanies the guides Voyager blueprints.
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: I thought the Defiant was a Defiant class starship. If it is a Valiant class, shouldn't they name the first ship the name of the class?
Phil: One would think so but we are dealing with Trek here!! ;-)
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: In ST: TMP the Enterprise started off with a brown deflector then changed color to blue. I would assume the Enterprise-E can do the same.
Nick Oven: About the shield bubbles. Maybe on those ships the shields just closely wrap around the ships. If i'm wrong, here' a nit kinda:
Remember in star trek 6, near the end, when the cloaked klingon ship was firing at the enterprise and excelsior? While the enterprise's shield were up, it looked like the klingon's torpedos were hitting the hull, AND it showed damage (wierd..), but it also showed the klingon torpedo hitting the Excelsior's hull, and they didn't show damage on it later in the movie. Either the VFX guys were too lazy to paint damage onto the model, or the Excelsior has a regenerating hull.
Phil: Curiouser and curiouser!
Gareth Wilson: Patrick Sweeny asked how the DS9 crew can talk with 21st century Americans. I believe that the Federation Language has been established as English. All the writing we see is in English, people say "Data, in English please!" and so on. As for Dax, I think it would be a waste of computer time for her to keep speaking in her native tongue and being translated while she works in Starfleet. She's probably learned English at some point in her 300 year lifetime. There's no problem with Bashir, because according to Robert Wolfe, he comes from England! There's no canonical source for this, of course.
Brian Dominguez, Oswego, NY: Since the notion that the Federation and other aliens seem to speak English is being rehashed again, I thought I'd bring in something that I thought was just funny. In fact, I've come up with a glossary term for it: TASE: They all speak English.
During TNG's "The Chase," the Romulan commander says the word "Acquiesce." I didn't know what it meant, but it seemed cool. Years later, I jest, "is that actually the best word or phrase that Universal Translator could use?" How about "give in," "yield" or "surrender." I thought it was so funny, now I start using it with friends. "I want to see "Conspiracy Theory." "Well, I want to see "Contact." "OK, I'll acquiesce." It such a word rarely use, I could just see the writer using the thesarus on that one. But it was still cool. I can't wait to see "Capitulate!"
On to the questions . . .
Wells P. Martin: I ain't ever seen an answer to "Where are their timepieces?" Has the 24th century seen the evolution of built-in clockworks ?
Phil: Well, Picard does ask for the time in several episodes so we know at least his model doesn't come with a fully integrated clock-radio! (Wink, wink.) My guess is that the creators are trying to tell us that people are so enlightened in the 24th century that they aren't that concerned with clock watching. (Although . . . Beverly Crusher seems to be wearing an antique watch she examines Yareena on the transporter pad near the end of "Code of Honor"! Hmmm.)
Danny Wiese: I've just recently started watching TOS, and in just about every episode during an away mission Kirk tells everybody to set their phasers to stun and then they make an adjustment to the phaser. Do they store there phasers on disrutor setting?
Phil: Perhaps, they store them on "off." (Wink, wink.)
Danny Wiese: I watch "ST:4 The Voyage Home." yesterday and when Kirk suggest time travel by going around the sun he said they did it before. When did they do it before?
Phil: As I recall, the first time-travelin' trip with the sun took place in the Classic Episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday" but they didn't actually travel around the sun the more of a "snapping the rubberband" kind of a thing. They accelerated toward the sun and then through everything into reverse. (Bet that was hard on the old Enterprise's transmission!)
Steven Perry: How do cloaking devices work? They bend light, right? So if I am standing in a cloaked ship and look out the window, will I see anything? And how do the sensors work? If everything is being bent around the ship then how can anything be detected?
Phil: My guess would be that the cloaking system is set up to allow some sort of synchronized sensor window. If it actually blinded the sensors, that would be a bummer. ("Well sure we bump into things a lot but, hey, nobody can see us! That's got to be worth something!")
Philip McGachey of Scotland, UK: I'm not sure if they have it cracked by the end of the third series, but at the start of Voyager, the crew were all subject to "Replicator Rations", presumably meaning a limit to how often they can use replicators, to save energy. This is why they all had to suffer Neelix's cooking. However, according to the Tech Manual, page 156, holodeck matter is made up partly of replicated matter. As the Holodeck energy is incompatable with the regular power grid, why can't they set up a restaurant on the holodeck using replicated food?
Phil: Yup! Seems like a problem doesn't it? Unless of course the Tech Manual is wrong and, in fact, none of the holomatter is permanent (as shows like "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Ship in a Bottle" seem to indicate). Then you would eat all you want, walk out of the holodeck and--presto--no fat grams!
Alex Otis: The topic of the Bajoran day made me think of this. Do we know how long a Klingon day or year are? Also, has anything been said about a Klingon's growth rate? These could explain away the nits on Alexander, even if he is only 3/4 Klingon. True, this is a cop out on why Alexander grew so much in a short time. K'elhyr might have used the Klingon calender since she had lived with them through Alexander's life. This calender business could also answer why Alexander is supposed to return this season as a teenager.
Phil: I can't recall any direct reference to the speed of maturation for Klingons. We might guess taht Klingons matured faster because they usually need "replacement warriors" more quickly! As for the length of the Klingon year, the only oddity I can think of off hand are the statements in "Rightful Heir." A Klingon cleric states that they have been waiting for Kahless for fifteen centuries while Gowron says Kahless has been dead for 1000 years.
Murray Leeder: Do you find it odd that Dr. Bashir's father has a lower class British accent than him? Especially given that class divisions apparently no longer exist on Earth in the 24th century?
Phil: I don't necessarily find it odd that they have different accents. That can be a form of rebellion. However, I do find is odd that it would be referred to as a lower class accent given the supreme enlightenment of the 24th century!
Corey Hines, Hamilton, ON: By the way, what's the next nitpicker guide going to be?
Phil: Not sure yet! Still talking!
Clay Johnson: You have to watch for this reason very carefully when you read this book. Jerry Taylor writes very well. You can't fault her for this because if I'm not mistaken she didn't join TNG until after "The Schizoid Man". In this episode, at least I think it is this one, Wesley and the possessed Data are on the bridge and Wesley makes a comment to the possessed Data that Data isn't much more chronologically older than Wesley. If this is true then a scene in the book couldn't have happened. A scene in the book has Katherine as a small child going to Mars with her father. When they arrive they meet Data as a young officer, either ensign or lieutenant I think. If Data and Wesley according to the episode are not much difference in age, then it stands to reason that Data couldn't be older than Captain Janeway, don't you think?
Phil: Hmmm. All depends on how old Janeway claims to be! I believe "Datalore" established that Data was found 26 years prior to this episode. According to the Chronology that would be 2338 AD. Now if I've figured it up correctly, I think we're somewhere around 2374 AD with the start of the next season for Voyager. That's a difference of 36 years. If Janeway saw Data as a "small child"--seven-ish years old--that would make her 42 years old at the most. If that makes sense to you then "Mosaic" is correct!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
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Copyright 1997 by Phil Farrand. All rights reserved.