EPISODE: "Future Tense" PROD#: ENT042 TRAN#: 2.16 RATING: PG AIRDATE: wed-19-feb-2003-20:00 EPDATE: [no date given; autumn 2152 ?] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/library/ent_episodes/episodes_ent_detail_127586.asp FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 33.0 FORMAT#: 4.11 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent216_future_tense.txt This technical overview is intended to support discussion of the current episode, and to later serve as a reference: it contains PLOT SPOILERS; CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Whenever possible, it indicates who did/claimed/knew what; the official of technobabble and alien nouns is obtained from TV closed-captioning ("CC"). If you have corrections or clarifications, please contact me. Abbreviations used: (m/f/?) name belongs to mel/fem/unclear, (os) on [viewer] screen, (vo) voiceover, (?) quote is uncertain, (sp?) spelling is unclear, VDB Vulcan database, VHC Vulcan High Command; series: TOS TAS TNG DS9 VGR ENT. Although CC uses "Launch Bay", "Sick Bay", and "shuttle pod", I often condense those terms to single words. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures, while this overview is (c)2003 Phillip Thorne. Feel free to use this document as a reference, but please give credit where due. If you enjoyed my detailed style herein, consider subscribing to my similarly-detailed (but infrequent) free e-newsletter, the _Non-Sequitur Express_. I. TERMS TECHNICAL bio-signs, weapons signs, plasma exhaust port, thruster quad, organic circuitry, hyperspanner, spatial geometry, Cell-Ship, black box, semi-fluidic alloy, temporal displacement drive, temporal radiation, tractor beam, micro-caliper, Spacedock, Vulcan combat cruiser TECHNICAL: SHIPBOARD Launch Bay Two, grappler, Tactical Alert, hull plating, aft torpedoes, targeting scans, depolarize BIOLOGIC bio-signs, microcellular scan, genetic profile, bio-matter, genetic analysis, nucleotide sequence CULTURAL Suliban, Terrelian, Tholian, Earth Cargo Authority, Temporal Cold War, Vulcan Science Directorate, Vulcan High Command CHARACTERS Cpt.Jonathan Archer Travis Mayweather Dr.Phlox Lt.Malcolm Reed Ens.Hoshi Sato Sub-Cdr.T'Pol Cdr.Charles "Trip" Tucker III Vaughn Armstrong as Admiral Forrest Cullen Douglas as Suliban Soldier MENTIONS Zephram Cochrane Daniels Silik III. NOTES TEASER (ENT approaches derelict spacecraft) T'Pol can detect no "bio-signs", and Reed reads no "weapons signs". Archer orders it brought into "Launch Bay Two". The three officers enter the bay; the pod is sitting on the hatch marked "4". T'Pol locates a possible hatch, but it's fused shot. Reed takes a phase-pistol from a wall rack (which contains 6 rifles and 6 pistols) and cuts it loose; Archer slides it open. T'Pol scans inside (with her Vulcan scanner); Archer climbs in, and she hands him a flashlight. He finds a dessicated humanoid corpse in the single seat -- T'Pol identifies it as human. ACT I In Sickbay (the lights dramatically dimmed), Phlox (wearing a surgical gown but no mask) announces that it's male, and he'll perform a "microcellular scan" to determine age at time of death. If he was a member of Starfleet (Archer says), his "genetic profile" is "probably in our database". Archer wonders if this is the long-lost "Zephram Cochrane", who is said to have been piloting a "one-man" ship when he vanished; among the rumors after his disappearance, that it had an experimental warp drive. In LB2, Reed's scans indicate the hull "absorbs EM radiation", and they wouldn't have detected it without its damage. Mayweather climbs out; it's unlikely to be from a cargo ship, because they're "over 30 lightyears" from the "nearest trade route". Tucker can't find any "plasma exhaust ports", or even a "thruster quad"; it's unlikely to be an escape pod. Archer speaks realtime to Admiral Forrest, who's equally perplexed. He suggests it might be from "Vega Colony", and will contact the "Earth Cargo Authority". "A hundred lightyears from Earth", he says. Later, Reed and Archer pull up a deck plate, revealing a shallow circular insert containing a device leaking blue goo, "some kind of bio-matter" says Reed; "organic circuitry?" speculates Tucker. They pull it out for Phlox to examine, then discover and release three lever-locks. This plate comes out in turn, revealing -- an impossibly long ladder. "How could a ship be bigger on the inside than the outside?" asks Tucker. "It could be a hologram," suggests Reed. They drop a "hyperspanner" (a metal cylinder) to check. Over Reed's misgivings ("we should call the Bridge first"), they climb down. They debouch into a small angular chamber, with an unidentifiable device in the center, and signs of a possible "breach" or "overload". "I've read a few papers on spatial geometry," says Tucker, but nothing suggesting this. Reed detects a "faint energy signature". (New Suliban ship) On the Bridge, Mayweather reports a vessel "dropping out of warp"; T'Pol IDs it as Suliban, with minimal weapons. Sato receives a hail. Onscreen, the Suliban declares a salvage claim, that a Cell-Ship found it 3 days earlier. Archer suggests he contact "his superiors" and "ask for Silik". Tucker and Reed discover an intact device behind a protected panel, and remove it just as the ship shakes. The exit. (Suliban strafing run) Tucker calls the Bridge from a wall-intercom; a Suliban shimmers into view (transported? decloaked?) on the ceiling above, and pounces. Reed grabs a phase-pistol from the wall rack and shoots the intruder, but a second appears, and enters the control room, ducking out long enough to return fire. On the Bridge, they get no response from LB2, so Archer dispatches a "security team". They disable the weapons on the Suliban ship, and Archer orders "bring the grappler online". In LB2, the two Suliban vanish. (Suliban ship turns to run, cloaks) Bridge: Mayweather loses them. ACT II (ENT at warp) "Captain's Starlog, supplemental..." The Vulcan ship _Tal'Kir_ will meet them in 3 days and will return the pod to Earth. In Engineering, Tucker and Reed brief Archer and T'Pol on the device they removed, which uses the same "organic circuitry" as the rest of the ship, and which they speculate is a "black box". Archer and T'Pol exit when called by Phlox. In Sickbay (still dimly lit), Phlox explains the results of his "genetic analysis": unusual deviations in a "nucleotide sequence". It's a Vulcan sequence, implying the dead man had at least one Vulcan ancestor, at least 4 generations earlier. ("further back than a great-grandparent") He brings up five sequences onscreen, describes one as "Terrelian", and another he can't identify. Realizing the man might be from the future, Archer and T'Pol sneak into Daniels' sealed quarters (they leave the hatch open, but don't turn on the lights). Against T'Pol's misgivings, he activates Daniels' portable database, which projects a translucent rectangular holographic screen, conveniently already set to the starship section. The first is recognizably Vulcan, but T'Pol doesn't recognize it. They scroll past Klingon Vor'cha and Starfleet Intrepid classes, find a near-match to the pod, then the pod itself: commissioned 900 years in the future [31cen], and equipped with a "temporal displacement drive". "Daniels spoke of historians from the future," says Archer, and refers to the Temporal Cold War. "Few Vulcans have chosen to mate with another species ... it's unlikely we could reproduce," says T'Pol; Archer wonders if the child would "have pointed ears." Mayweather calls: another vessel is approaching at "high warp". (Tholian ship) It's at 20,000-km and closing. T'Pol IDs it as Tholian: extremely xenophobic, unusual to be found this far from "their home system", and (when Reed reports the internal temperature as >200°) "believed to be non-humanoid". They communicate: squeals, clicks and pops, then a translation into curt English. They demand the pod, and warn of "dangerous temporal radiation". When Archer refuses, they lock on with a "tractor beam" (T'Pol), and Archer orders "hull plating" and "aft torpedoes"; but Reed reports the beam is interfering with "targeting scans". (At warp. Tholian aft of ENT, projecting conical green beam. It's slightly shorter than ENT's nacelles. It flies off.) Bridge. ACT III (ENT at warp) T'Pol is alone in the Mess until Phlox joins her, and reports another DNA sequence: "Rigellian". T'Pol's "metallurgical analysis" reveals "several unusual alloys", including one in a "semi-fluidic state". She's still skeptical of time-travel. The VSD, Phlox says, "has always been a bit reluctant to embrace unorthodox ideas." The Denobulans believed themselves to be the sole intelligent species in the galaxy, until first contact with the "B'Saari". "I believe in embracing surprises." "I prefer to embrace logic." In Engineering, Tucker and Reed work on the device (with a plier-sized "micro-caliper"), and discuss rival philosophies of time-travel. They re-establish power, and decide to build an "interface" from circuits in the "cockpit". In LB2 (cluttered with diagnostic equipment), they pry loose a panel from the pod -- and time loop! They get déjà vu, and on the second repeat realize something's amiss. (Tucker wants to meet a stegosaurus, and Reed wants to see the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.) On the Bridge, around the briefing table, the pair explain to Archer while Phlox scans them. T'Pol detects "some kind of high-energy particles" emanating from the pod. Archer orders LB2 sealed, and the surrounding sections evacuated. (A brun-fem is working back there, and is joined by a brun-mel.) In his Ready Room, T'Pol is anxious. She's not sure they'll survive the "few hours" (Archer) to their rendezvous; the radiation could spread; she advises destroying the pod. Archer disagrees: "it's time we took a more active interest in this war," in which they've been involved "since we left Spacedock." Daniels (he says) hinted at other factions. The Vulcans can return the pod to Earth "in a few weeks." He placates T'Pol by ordering "Tactical Alert". (ENT at warp) Engineering: Tucker and Reed tell Archer the device is actually a "micro-transmitter", probably an emergency beacon. T'Pol(vo) calls: several Suliban are approaching. (ENT at warp. A Suliban fleet approaches from astern, consisting of >=7 Cell-Ships, a slab-ship and the dendrite-ship.) They're under 3 minutes to rendezvous, but Sato gets no response from the _Tal'Kir_. Archer warns the Suliban about the "Vulcan combat cruiser" "a few million kilometers from here"; then orders "aft cannon". (Cannon deploys. Fire is exchanged.) Bridge. (Fleet assaults landing bays.) Bridge: 200,000-km to rendezvous. Archer orders drop from warp. (ENT drops from warp.) Onscreen, they see the delta-type _Tal'Kir_ adrift, its ring-nacelle askew, debris around it. T'Pol reports the ship is disabled, but its crew is alive. (Four Tholian ships peel away from the cruiser.) Bridge. ACT IV Bridge: Archer orders return to warp. (Three of the Tholians fire blue pulses, which induce lightning to flow across ENT's hull.) Bridge: engines and weapons down, hull plating "depolarized". The "Cell-Ships" arrive. (Suliban battle Tholians.) Engineering: Tucker reports "antimatter injectors fused", and will need "a few hours to replace"; while "every power relay" aboard was "scrambled". Archer orders Tucker to activate the pod's beacon, then asks Reed if he can remove and manually arm a torpedo's warhead; it'll take him "four minutes, less if I have help." (Suliban battle Tholians some more.) Reed and Archer labor. Tucker labors. On the Bridge, T'Pol reports the Suliban have lose over half their ships. The pair remove the warhead (a long cylinder with a red-glowing middle section) then -- oops, time loop. On the Bridge, all the Cell-Ships are seen to be destroyed. The Tholians call, and T'Pol tries to stall; but two ships approach and mate to "both" docking ports. Archer loads the warhead into the pod -- loop. A three-man security team with rifles takes position near the hatch, which is being cut through. Archer loads the warhead, shuts the hatch; Reed enters the "control room". Tucker activates the beacon. LB2. (The pod drops out (aft port bay), and is quickly tractor-snagged by a Tholian.) The bomb fails to go off, and T'Pol reports that the Tholians "neutralized" it. In Engineering, the beacon suddenly vanishes; in Sickbay, the corpse. (Outside, the pod vanishes.) Bridge. (Without preamble, the four Tholians exit, zooming off and entering warp with four successive yellow booms.) On the Bridge, they wonder why the Tholians didn't fire. The Vulcans: warp engines damaged, life support stable. Archer(?) orders a "shuttlepod" prepped, and for Phlox to meet him in LB1. (Port side of _Tal'Kir_. Gas venting from the upper side of the ring-nacelle is intermittently illuminated in blue.) Archer(vo): no casualties, and a Vulcan transport is enroute to "tow" the ship. Captain's Mess: Archer, T'Pol, Tucker. Archer says he'll contact the VHC, apologize for the trouble he caused, and thank them for helping. T'Pol mentions that the VHC asked her to prepare a report; the captain wonders if they'll believe their two species will someday "be swapping chromosomes." "They're more likely to believe in time travel," answers T'Pol. V. CONNECTIONS Suliban Temporal Cold War Tholians "How could a ship be bigger on the inside than the outside?" asks Tucker -- the exact phrase used on [the 26-year BBC SF TV series] "Doctor Who" whenever a new companion wanders into the "dimensionally transcendental" interior of the TARDIS. When TNG-"Time's Arrow" was produced, Brannon & Braga (or Piller?) said they really enjoyed doing time-travel stories ... so is this further evidence of "Who"-envy? VI. ANALYSIS 1. How did T'Pol (and her scanner) ID the corpse as specifically human? Probably not through DNA (Phlox later found "only a few undamaged cells"), but through gross internal anatomy. 2. The new Suliban ship is tree-like ("dendritic"), consisting of a trunk from which emerge, at right angles, 3 ranks of 4 branches. The 12 branches are identical: flattened hexagonal prisms. The bow is a larger such prism, and the stern is "pinched". The predominant color is Suliban rust-orange. 3. The Tholian ships resemble the "Tholian Web" models in the same way as TMP's K'Tinga resembles TOS's D-7: more detail, better resolution, a standardized complement of features. While the TOS depiction made them look crystalline, these are clearly metallic. Each lobe has two (on each side) warp-blue-glowing triangular features (implong a tri-lobed warpfield), and (on its aft face) a single yellow-glowing quad (impulse?). They can emit a green tractor beam, a blue systems-disrupting pulse, or [weapons color?] -- and can easily outfight two-to-one Suliban opponents. They enter warp with a yellow-tinged warp-burst. In length [assuming no funny perspective], it's a bit shorter than one of ENT's nacelles. 4. The Tholian language consists of dolphin- or insect-like squeals, clicks and pops. The ENT's UT seems unable to translate it; instead, the Tholians provide their own post-translation of important phrases. (It's similar to the depiction of Vorlon utterances on "Babylon 5", when the native polyphony is followed/overlapped by an English translation.) 5. The "Vulcan combat cruiser" _Tal'Kir_ is of the delta-type. When seen by ENT, its ring-nacelle is knocked askew (as though tilted on its lateral mounts): this might be damage or [suggested by D.Joseph Creighton] variable-geometry. 6. The future Vulcan ship in Daniels' database resembles the Suurok-class, with a tapered cylindrical hull circled by a ring-nacelle. This one has a more slender (or longer) hull, and the ring is trefoil: it touches the hull at three points, without the large ventral keel-hull. 7. The temporal pod is (externally) about the size of an ENT shuttlepod, cylindrical, with a bifurcated truncated conical nose. (It's the nose because the pilot faces that direction.) It has a starboard hatch that slides horizontally forward; an access panel above and behind it. There are no detectable engine exhausts. The grey-colored hull consists of several alloys (including a "semi-fluidic" one), and absorbs EM radiation. Inside is a single pilot's seat and control panel; in the deck behind the seat is a concealed circular hatch (beneath a device of unknown purpose, possibly an organic circuit junction or distributor), covering a lengthy ladderway descending into the dimensionally-transcendental interior. At its base is a small angular chamber, possibly containing a power core, and with a covered alcove containing an emergency beacon. No other internals were discovered. 8. The hyperspanner used by Tucker to test the depth of the ladderway fell for ~1.5-sec. Assuming standard Earth gravity of 9.81 m/s^2, and d = gt^2, that's a distance of 22 meters. 9. They're ~100-Ly from Earth (Forrest) and the _Tal'Kir_ could cover that distance in "a few weeks" (Archer). Let's guess three (two, he'd say "a couple"; four, "a month"). That implies a velocity of 1700-c. VII. NITS 1. Archer, Reed and T'Pol were inexcusably careless when opening the derelict ship. What if it contained a toxic atmosphere, or the phasered hatch released toxic metal vapor, or the hull was booby-trapped? At the very least, they should have been wearing EV suits; better, it should have been examined by a teleoperated pod at some distance from the ship. ENT, being at least partially a vessel of scientific exploration, should have a "glove box" room in which large items of uncertain provenance can be examined. 2. The weapons rack in Launch Bay Two appears to contain 6 phase-pistols. In (?), Reed(?) said there were only (small number?) aboard; so (large percentage) in one place seems odd. 3. Reed suggests "we should call the Bridge first" before climbing down the derelict pod's impossible ladder. He's right -- how many times have intrepid explorers in SF caused grief for their successors by forgetting to leave notes? VIII. NEXT WEEK On 26-feb-2003, new episode "Canamar", in which Archer and Tucker are arrested by the Enolians. Also featuring a Nausicaan! (See: http://startrek.com/library/ent_episodes/episodes_ent_detail_127640.asp)