Before we start this month's festivities, just a quick plea. There are about 50-odd readers of "Dateline" out there. Who are you all?!?! If I think real hard, I can probably come up with maybe 10 Linkers that I know read it. Just drop me a quick note, please, and let me know how we're doing here. Send it here on PC-Link to Data1701D, or on Prodigy to ID# WPHM91A.
This is the third issue since the birth of Star Trek: The Club, and mostly all they've gotten is silence. Loved it or hated it, please let us know how we're being received, and especially any suggestions that you might have. Thanks!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled issue....
News from over the hailing frequencies....
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WHOOPS DEPARTMENT: As you probably figured out by now, Star Trek VI is not going to release in November 1990, as I stated last issue. Christmas 1991 is the projected release.
Nicholas Meyer, who directed Star Trek II, has been named the director for Star Trek VI. Meyer will also write or co-write the movie. No plot has been established yet, except for a one-line quote from Meyer when asked what he had in mind: "Spock falls in love"; shooting is scheduled to start in March/April '91.
Upcoming TNG plots, as mentioned in "USA Today" November 1st: Deanna loses her empathic ability, and doesn't handle it well; Picard and Wesley are caught together in a shuttlecraft crash on a desert world (next week's episode). Also mentioned in the article was the just-shown "Future Imperfect," the return of K'Ehleyr (you knew about this one though, 'cause you read "Dateline" #3, right?!), and the long-circulating rumor of Spock finally making a TNG appearance.
The drive continues to see the Classic Trek video collection closed-captioned next year. The letters are coming in to Paramount Video, including 145 written at the Gallaudet University Homecoming Day festivities. ST novelist Ann Crispin continues to support the campaign, speaking on its behalf at ST conventions around the country. Still no decision yet, but the letters are having an impact on that decision-making process.
Editorial: We Had an Intruder Aboard
by Data1701D, Editor
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Lately, several of us here on the Command Board have had difficulties operating on PC-Link. Among other problems, one Linker actually posed as JL Picard2, our captain, using the screen name JLPicard02.
Needless to say, this has caused some aggravation. So, speaking for the Command Board, let me say:
About impostor Board members: the Command Board conducts Trek Club business under the following names: JL Picard2, Guinan1701, RobB4, Maryann2, Troi2, and Data1701D. While some of us maintain other screen names on PC-Link, we do NOT use any other names when hosting Trek functions in the Ten Forward Lounge, simulations, Trivia (and other meetings on The Bridge), or when sending Trek E-Mail or posting messages on the Trek bulletin boards. (Major exception: RobB4 is using the screen name Capt RobB4 in relation to his new role-playing simulation starship, the USS Ingram II.) Anything you see posted or hear said that purportedly is from the Command Board, but is not from these screen names, should be greeted with a Spock-like raised eyebrow and taken with a cargo hold full of salt until proven otherwise.
And as always, we thank you for your support!
Transwarp: What is it really?
A speculative essay by KSC
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Transwarp has been an area of controversy for Star Trek fans even since it debuted in "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock", on the USS Excelsior. Unfortunately, no explanation of it ever came for those that crave that bit of technical knowledge. Some Trekkies have come up with explanations for this fantastic device, which was supposed to make a starship go above warp 15, perhaps even warp 20 or more. By drawing on "official" sources, I hope to present a clearer picture of what the device constitutes. I realize there are people out there who do not view the novels and books as true "Trek", but bear with me.
The first mention of transwarp in a Star Trek novel is in "Battlestations!" by Diane Carey. In it, transwarp is simply a device which could be installed onto a Constitution-class starship, requiring trilithium as an energy conduit. Unfortunately, trilithium must be synthesized, and it lasts only microseconds. Several scientists have devised a way to prolong the life of trilithium crystals, making transwarp practical.
This version of transwarp has been contradicted several times. One, trilithium is not new. In an very early Star Trek novel, "Black Fire" by Sonni Cooper, trilithium was already mentioned. In that book, trilithium is actually mined, thus it occurs in natural crystalline form. In an earlier novel, "Spock, Messiah!" published by Bantam, Enterprise has a trilithium main energizer! Well, to each his/her own. Two, if transwarp is merely a device, then why do they built a brand new ship, the Excelsior, instead of just build a device and testing it on some Constitution-class starship? Three, the novel "Battlestations!" is clearly set during Kirk's five year mission. Since Kirk already knew of transwarp, why does he still refer to the Excelsior as the "Great Experiment" in Star Trek III?
In "Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise" by Shane Johnson, transwarp was defined as traveling into a third space, discovered by Spock in "The Tholian Web." In this interphase, time flows faster than in normal space. So by traveling in that space for three weeks and coming back to normal space, only two days would pass. Thus the ship's effective speed is increased substantially. The book went on to claim that the Enterprise-A was equipped with transwarp.
Loopholes abound in this version. One, does that mean people who travel by transwarp a lot will be older than normal? Two, what about the detrimental effect of the interphase, which drove the Defiant crew mad? Three, what date do the people traveling in transwarp space use? And four, the newest Enterprise just doesn't look like a transwarp ship, forgive me Captain Kirk!
In the "ST:TNG Officer's Manual" published by FASA, transwarp was mentioned and explained with a brief sentence. The warp field was projected forward of the ship, thus producing a multiplier effect. That was almost an exact quote. That explanation was simply much too short, and it says next to nothing! Why does it produce a multiplier effect? And how does the engine project the warp field forward? That answer simply creates more questions than it answers.
Many sources, including "ST:TNG First Year Sourcebook" published by FASA have written about the operational failure of transwarp. It was rumored that Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, said that himself. That was not clear either. If transwarp was a failure, then why were the Excelsior-class ships still around? Several Next Generation episodes have shown Excelsior-class ships. The Officer's Manual mentioned earlier even said that the NCC-1701-B Enterprise was an Excelsior-class ship. If transwarp was not working, then none of the preceding makes sense.
[Note from Data1701D: the story of transwarp being a failure is a behind the scenes fact decided by the Trek production team. We must presume that transwarp was removed from any ships with it, and conventional engines were installed. This doesn't stop us from wondering how transwarp was supposed to work, though, so keep reading!]
Based on the information available from the "Officer's Manual" and the "First Year Sourcebook", I hereby propose an alternative definition of transwarp. All transwarp vessels must have two nacelles or more. Each nacelle produces a warp field. A transporter matrix in each nacelle is controlled by the main drive computer. The computer projects one of the fields forward, while retaining the other field around the ship. The ship moves between fields, thus accelerating. After the field that was originally forward has now enveloped the ship, the field that was on the ship is now aft. Computer then projects the now aft field forward and the process starts over. The faster the ship is moving, the faster the fields alternate. It is like log rolling, or walking.
The limit of this method was originally the computer processing time, since going at beyond the speed of which the computer can cope could cause misalignment of the warp fields. Despite the complexities, the advantages were enormous. Computer simulations showed that the shifting between fields improves acceleration by far, and the maximum speed was improved by more than 150%. Emergency speed of the Excelsior-class ship could reach warp 32. Cruising speed is about warp 20.
Years later, Dr. Katherine Ballantine and her team of engineers and scientists decided to try mated nacelles. By using two pairs of nacelles, and with advances in hyperduotronics made by Daystrom Computers, speed beyond warp 40 was no longer a dream. By using four alternating warp fields, acceleration was improved further, and the shifting produced a higher multiplier effect that revolutionized warp physics. After considerable research, Dr. Ballantine was able to ascertain that the absolute limit of speed is warp 46.416, or under the new system, warp 10, or 100,000 times the speed of light. The new system was termed "ultrawarp," and was field tested successfully. It was used on the new Galaxy-class starships, a.k.a. Enterprise-D.
I realize most materials published by FASA Corporation are held at particularly low esteem by some die-hard Trekkies but once in a while, FASA has some good ideas.
I welcome any comments about this essay, though please get in touch with me before you put this idea/premise into your new book or short story or script.
Family album: Jean-Luc Picard
by Data1701D
with some help from the online encyclopedia
(keyword: encyclopedia)
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It turns out that Captain Picard has some real-life astronomy in his family tree. During the years 1668 to 1670, the French astronomer Jean Picard did measurements with his telescope that provided better estimates on the size of the Earth. This was the first major improvement since Eratosthenes (circa 275-195 BC).
His size estimates had even more significance later. In 1687, Isaac Newton used Picard's work to help confirm his law of gravitation.
Picard lived from 7/21/1620 to 10/12/1682. So, three hundred and eight years later, a Vulcan salute for Jean Picard! \\//
Happy Birthday!
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...Denise Crosby, November 24th
...Ricardo Montalban (Khan), November 25th
...Michael Dorn, December 9th
...John Colicos (Kor), December 10th
...Teri Garr (Roberta Lincoln, "Assignment: Earth") and Rex Holman (Morgan Earp, "Spectre of the Gun"; J'onn, Star Trek V), December 11th
Club Happenings Around the Link
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The latest club project, the "Holodeck," is suffering from growing pains, as its debut in People Connection was less than stellar. Check out the bulletin boards for details on this newest room on PC-Link, and offer your suggestions on how to use it most logically!
The third role-playing simulation, the USS Ingram II, has been launched by RobB4. Interested parties should contact him at screen names RobB4 and Capt RobB4 for more information.
Every Saturday night at 11pm Eastern, it's Trivia on The Bridge. Why not come out and quiz your fellow Trekkers, and be quizzed in return?! Maryann2 is your hostess, and she'd love to see you, I'm sure!
Can't make it to Trivia? Try "Data1701D's trivia," a new question every Sunday. Questions are posted in folders on the Star Trek Board.
The "Ten-Forward Lounge" is open most weeknights as a Public room in People Connection (keyword: pc). Drop in and chat about Classic Trek, the Next Generation, and anything else you feel like chatting about!
Books and stuff from your friendly online android
by Data1701D
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RobB4, your friendly online Klingon, has been kept busy by the constraints of real life, whatever that is. So we'll just note the upcoming Trek novel releases: for Classic Trek, it's "Home Is the Hunter" by Dana Kramer-Rolls (a time-travel story featuring Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty); for TNG we have "Spartacus," by T.L. Mancour (the Enterprise tries to help a race of slaves).
Other Trek-related products/happenings
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Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes are now available on video cassette through the CBS/Columbia video club; the "buy one every other month" type deals. The episodes are being packaged two to a tape, for $19.95 a tape. The first tape, "Encounter at Farpoint," is $4.95. This, I think, is the first time that a series was offered on video while still on the air.
Conventions: Marina Sirtis will be at Fan-Out in San Mateo CA on November 24th and 25th.
John de Lancie (Q) will be at Visions '90 in Chicago, November 23rd through the 25th.
DC Comics: "Star Trek" has fallen behind in its schedule, so we'll save the plot summary of issue #16 for the next "Dateline." In "The Next Generation" #15, Riker and Geordi must try to stop the Ferengi's latest insidious plot, although the duo are captives of the Ferengi themselves.
"Starlog" #162 includes an interview with actress Suzi Plakson, who has played the Vulcan Dr. Selar ("The Schizoid Man") and the Klingon K'Ehleyr ("The Emissary"; "Reunion") on TNG.
Whoopi Goldberg is just one star that will tell you everything about serving wine that could possibly want to know, on the new video "Celebrity Guide to Wine."
Kirstie Alley's latest movie, "Sibling Rivalry," is out in theaters.
Personal logs, stardate today
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When the people planning "Star Trek: The Next Generation" asked [Brent Spiner] to play the sallow android Data, Spiner says, "I thought to myself, 'It won't go more than a week. It'll be a good pilot salary and I'll be out....'"
"We weren't counting on it being as good as it is...."
[from the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 3rd]
More and more celebrities are going into orbit. They're showing up as guest aliens on..."Star Trek: The Next Generation...."
The list of guest aliens...includes [Mick Fleetwood, Whoopi Goldberg, John Tesh of "Entertainment Tonight,"] Corbin Bernsen of "L.A. Law," comedian Joe Piscopo and Saul Rubinek, who stars in the forthcoming film "The Bonfire of the Vanities."
Among those who have expressed interest in future appearances are Stevie Wonder, actresses Sean Young, Jean Simmons, Roseanna Arquette, and Adrienne Barbeau and "Cheers" cast members Bebe Neuwirth and Roger Rees....
Bernsen...explained his participation: "A, it's a hip show, and B--I hate to sound serious--but it was a great role. 'Star Trek' is part of a legacy."
[from the Philadelphia Inquirer, October 28th]
Kirstie Alley says that if "Cheers" hadn't come along, Hollywood still might only think of her as the Vulcan officer in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan."
"Now they see me as funny...."
With comic film roles like "Look Who's Talking" and the upcoming "Sibling Rivalry," Alley said she might not renew her "Cheers" contract when it expires at the end of this season.
"I used to think that I was a television actress who dabbled in movies," she said. "Now I like to think of myself as a movie star who also works on a TV series...."
"I have a big ego."
[from People magazine, as quoted in the Philadelphia Daily News, October 23rd]
[Patrick Stewart's casting as Captain Picard] was initially nixed by Roddenberry. "He was bald and British. Gene wasn't ready for that," says executive producer Rick Berman. Before a final reading for Paramount honchos, he sent to England for his toupee. He didn't need it.
[from Newsweek, October 22nd]
And in conclusion....
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Next issue will be in mid-December (tentatively the weekend of the 15th/16th); until then, happy Thanksgiving!
Credit where credit is due:
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Star Trek: The Club--captained by JL Picard2
"Dateline: Starfleet"--edited by Data1701D
The Away Team of contributors this month--KSC, Asimov SF (who pointed out that the TNG "Newsweek" article existed, or I would have missed it!) and Caption Action's Jamie Berke.
