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9304.15 DATELINE: STARFLEET #34
Originating from the America Online "Star Trek: The Club" forum
Also distributed to:
FredMail BBS (Wyandotte, Michigan)
Florida State University's Center for Educational Technology
Internet (info-mac at sumex-aim.stanford.edu)
Paperback Jukebox BBS (Portland, Oregon)
Planet BMUG BBS (510-849-2684)
Ravenloft BBS (Ogden, Utah; 801-476-8704)
Rutgers University RUCS Loree Site
(Any SysOps who would be interested in joining the distribution
and that have Internet access, write to Bill Mason at Internet
address 'data1701d@aol.com'.)
From the Big Chair
------------------
Important note: due to a really stupid move on my part, I've
lost the Internet addresses of many of my distribution contacts at
the sites listed above. Loyal contacts, if this issue finds its way
to you, please drop me a note ASAP at 'data1701d@aol.com'. Loyal
readers, if you find yourself on one of those distribution sites and
can leave a general message for the Dateline contact to write me
immediately, I would be most grateful for the assistance!
Other minor note: readers of the fine print at the end of each
issue should note that my Prodigy ID has disappeared; I'm no longer
maintaining an account there.
--Bill
News from Over the Hailing Frequencies....
------------------------------------------
ATTENTION AOL'ERS!
Coming to "Center Stage" on AOL Tuesday, May 4th (10pm Eastern)
will be Mr. Naren Shankar, science consultant for TNG and DS9! As
well as writer on several episodes of both series. You are cordially
invited to come by and ask your questions!
WILL IT BE CALLED "STAR TREK VII: THE NEXT GENERATION"?
At the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas, Paramount officially
announced that the next Star Trek film would be a TNG film,
tentatively scheduled for release Christmas of 1994. (As posted on
AOL by SF Chris)
MORE TNG NOTES
From Rick Berman himself, appearing at the Pasadena convention
of April 4 (as posted on AOL by Mage655696):
This season's TNG cliffhanger will involve Hugh and the Borg.
(The Cardassian War rumor is now officially history). ;) Also along
for the ride in this one will be Lore, as well as scientist Stephen
Hawking (author of "A Brief History of Time") in a holodeck cameo.
Berman reported that the Star Trek VII project would involve
both the TNG and Classic crews, but will still essentially be a TNG
film. (In contrast, Leonard Nimoy that same day happened to comment
to the press that "no one has contacted me" about a Star Trek VII.)
Other things: there may possibly be another Trek TV series to
fill the gap when TNG leaves the air. And as far as TV series go,
there is discussion underway about releasing TNG episodes to video or
laserdisk (which is unknown) with added footage not included in the
original TV broadcast.
ANOTHER NIMOY NOTE
At the same time as commenting about ST VII, Leonard Nimoy also
noted that his son Adam would be directing another episode of TNG,
entitled "Timescape." (His first effort being in "Rascals.")
DEATH IN THE FAMILY
On December 10th Bill Theiss, long-time costume designer for
both Classic Trek and Next Generation, died from complications from
AIDS. (From "Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine")
TNG CAST RECEIVES AWARD
The cast of TNG received the "Children's Friendship Award" from
the Starlight Foundation on March 13th. The Starlight Foundation
works to fulfill the wishes of terminally ill children, and the
Foundation honored TNG for their help in that area. (From AP)
TNG AND DS9 SCHEDULES
With thanks to JurasicPrk for these.
TNG (dates are week of dates)
04/11: "Chain of Command, Part I" (rerun; Picard and the
Cardassians)
04/18: "Chain of Command, Part II" (rerun)
04/25: "The Chase" (Picard's mentor gives him a choice that the
captain may not be able to refuse; directed by Jonathan Frakes)
05/02: "Frame of Mind" (Riker is trapped in a insane asylum)
05/09: "Suspicions" (Beverly finds herself the subject of a
court-martial)
05/16: "Rightful Heir" (Could Kahless the Unforgettable still be
alive?)
05/23: "Aquiel" (rerun; Geordi falls for Lt. Aquiel)
05/30: "Second Chances" (an away team finds...another Will
Riker?)
06/06: "Timescape" (no confirmed plot; reportedly involves the
Romulans and uses a DS9 runabout)
06/13: "Face of the Enemy" (rerun; Troi captured by Romulans)
06/20: "Descent" (season-finale cliffhanger; the return of both
the Borg and Lore)
For DS9 (again, week of dates):
04/11: "Babel" (rerun) (aphasia virus hits station crew)
04/18: "Vortex" (Odo enters the wormhole to try and discover his
origin)
04/25: "Battle Line" (revelations about Kai Opaka in what will
reportedly be -- for Star Trek -- a rather violent episode)
05/02: "Storyteller" (O'Brien receives a mystical Bajoran power,
but has no idea how to use it to save an endangered village)
05/09: "Progress" (the Bajorans want to open a mine on one of
their moons -- only one dissident farmer & Major Kira stand in the
way)
05/16: "If Wishes Were Horses" (things the crew imagines
suddenly become real)
(this portion of the schedule is unconfirmed)
05/23: "The Foresaken" (Lwaxana Troi comes to DS9, and finds
herself trapped in a elevator with Odo)
05/30: "Captive Pursuit" (rerun; Tosk comes to DS9 in the course
of his people's ritual hunt)
06/06: "Dramatis Persona" (the crew splits into Sisko/Kira
camps)
06/13: "Duet" (a Kira episode; no other information)
06/20: "Hands of the Prophets" (non-cliffhanger season finale; a
Bajoran priest takes exception to Keiko teaching physics but not
Bajoran religion)
UPCOMING NOVELS
From author John Vornholt, as posted to AOL by Achernar:
April: DS9 #2, "The Siege," by Peter David
TNG #26, "The Romulan Prize," by Simon Hawke
May: TOS #65, "Windows on a Lost World," by V.E. Mitchell
June: Paperback version of "Imzadi" by Peter David
July: ST hardcover "Shadows of the Sun" by Michael Jan Friedman
(this one focuses on McCoy and his ex-wife)
"Worf's First Adventure" by Peter David; the first in a
series of Trek books for young readers
TOS #66, "From the Depths," by Victor Milan
DS9 #3, "Bloodletter," by K.W. Jeter
August: TNG #27, "Guises of the Mind," by Rebecca Neason
September: TOS #67, "The Great Starship Race," by Diane Carey
October: Paperback version of "Best Destiny" by Diane Carey
DS9 #4, "Valhalla," by Lawrence Watt-Evans
November: TNG hardcover "Dark Mirror," by Diane Duane
TNG #28, "Here There Be Dragons," by John Peel
MORE NOVEL NEWS
Bantam Books has begun reprinting their Star Trek novels from
the 70's and early 80's. Already on the market is "The Price of the
Phoenix." (From "Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine")
MIA
The O'Briens were missing from several episodes due to other
commitments on the part of Miles O'Brien (working on a sequel to "The
Commitments") and Rosalind Chao (also working on a film).
UNEMPLOYED. NOT!
Kirstie Alley, co-star of the about to end series "Cheers," has
already signed a deal with Universal Pictures to produce and star in
various TV/movie projects of her choosing.
(From Hollywood Hotline on AOL)
IOWA REMEMBERS CAPTAIN KIRK
As has become a yearly tradition, Riverside IA celebrated the
birthday of Captain James T. Kirk again this year, on March 26th.
Riverside laid claim to being the birthday of the noble captain years
ago and holds an annual birthday party in his honor. Noteworthy on
the menu at the bash were servings of Romulan Ale (leftover green
beer from St. Patrick's Day with blue coloring added). |) (From AP)
Editorial: Preserve Animated Star Trek (P*A*S*T)
by Bill Mason
------------------------------------------------
The "Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future" recently
was published and received a generally friendly reception across the
board from Trekkers. One distressing omission (IMHO) was the absence
of Animated Trek from the timeline, a decision by authors Michael &
Denise Okuda based on the feeling of Gene Roddenberry that his
Animated Trek should be left out of the official Trek universe.
With that in mind:
RESOLVED: Gene Roddenberry shall always be our Great Bird of the
Galaxy, may he rest in peace.
RESOLVED: With all due respect accorded to Gene's opinion we
believe that Animated Trek, created at the time as a sincere and
official effort to continue the Star Trek saga, is worthy of
consideration today as part of the Trek universe.
RESOLVED: Further, we believe that the retroactive deletion of
portions of the Star Trek universe as non-canon sets an undesirable
precedent for future Star Trek creators to dismiss segments of the
Trek universe that they find unsatisfactory.
THEREFORE: We would request that Animated Trek be restored to
the Star Trek timeline in a future revision to the "Star Trek
Chronology."
If you find yourself in agreement with these statements and
would like to join the P*A*S*T petition, drop a note to me (computer
network and US Mail addresses for me can be found at the end of this
issue) with your name and city/state of residence. Responses will be
forwarded to Michael & Denise Okuda, and thus the great Star Trek
tradition of fans making their opinions known will be upheld. |)
Currently, AOLers have contributed 61 signatures to the cause; I hope
some of you in the rest of the cyberverse join in!
--Bill
The Photon Torpedo
by Bill Mason
------------------
(Extract from USS Enterprise L-CARS "Photon Torpedo" entry.)
HISTORY, STARFLEET USE:
The photon torpedo was developed for Starfleet vessels as an
effective translight defensive weapon.
The first successful prototype was designed by Loraxial Ltd. It
was a relatively simple 1:1 deuterium/antideuterium projectile with a
range of 750,000 km. Finding it satisfactory for its intended
defensive purposes, Starfleet began outfitting its vessels with the
Loraxial design, beginning in 2215.
The second design, which is still in use today, was created by
Morris Magtronics. They came up with the innovation of arming the
photon torpedo with varying ratios of matter/antimatter that were
distributed into thousands of small packets throughout the torpedo
casing. The effect was to increase the effective explosive surface
area by an order of three times the Loraxial design. Effective range
was also increased to 3.5 million km. Starfleet switched to the
Morris design in 2271; its first operational deployment was on the
refitted Constitution-class USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).
USAGE BY OTHER RACES:
Klingons: It is not certain what type of translight weaponry, if
any, the Klingons mounted on their ships prior to 2271. Observations
and sensor recordings from various engagements suggest that the
Klingons may have been using some form of torpedo consisting of a
matter/antimatter payload held suspended in a magnetic force-field,
but this is unconfirmed.
It is known that with the Klingon/Romulan alliance circa 2268,
the Klingon received information on the Romulans' translight plasma
weapon. Using that technology and observations from combat with
Starfleet vessels, the Klingons began mounting a photon torpedo
essentially identical in function to the Morris torpedo on their
vessels. This weapon first appeared on their K't'inga class
battlecruisers. While the date of introduction of this class into
service is uncertain (conjectured by Starfleet Intelligence to be
2270), its photon torpedoes were observed in action by an Epsilon
Nine sensor probe during the V'Ger Incident of 2271. Photon
torpedoes have remained in active service on Klingon vessels since
that time.
Romulans: As part of the Klingon/Romulan alliance, the Klingons
did provide information on photon torpedo design to the Romulans.
The Romulans apparently found the photon torpedo a more tactically
flexible weapon to use in combat than their own plasma weaponry,
which they seemingly abandoned concurrently with the deployment of
Klingon-design starships in their fleet (first confirmed in 2268).
While the timeframe that the Romulans acquired and began to use
photon technology is unclear, it is known that they continue to use
it today.
Ferengi: While data is sketchy, it is believed that at least
some Marauder-class ships are equipped with some form of photon
torpedo.
Borg: During an engagement with the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
in 2365 (stardate 42761), the Borg utilized a weapon that collapsed
the Enterprise's subspace warp field and returned it to sublight
speed. With such a capacity, the Borg would presumably have little
use for a translight weapon, and indeed have never been seen using
such a weapon in combat.
Cardassians: No details are known about any translight weapon
capacity that the Cardassians might possess.
(Source material: TNG Technical Manual, TNG Writers' Technical
Manual, ST Chronology, FASA's Ship Construction Manual).
Happy Birthday!
---------------
April 20: George Takei
Trek-related Products/Happenings
--------------------------------
Playmates will be deluging us with new Star Trek action figure
releases this year. Among the new figures will be:
TNG: Locutus, Dr. Crusher, Wesley, Ambassador Spock (as seen in
"Unification"), Dr. McCoy (from "Farpoint"), Scotty (from "Relics"),
Guinan, Sela, Benzite (such as Ensign Mendon from "A Matter of
Honor"), Dathon (from "Darmok"), Vorgon (the time-traveling thieves
from "Captain's Holiday"), Worf in a Klingon uniform (a la
"Redemption"), Diagnostic Data, K'Ehleyr, and new Picard, Data,
Geordi, Riker, Worf, and Troi figures (new poses/uniforms; Picard
probably in the standard TNG uniform, Troi in her new Starfleet
uniform). New accessories/props include: Klingon Attack Cruiser,
Romulan Warbird, transporter, Enterprise Bridge, tricorder.
DS9: Sisko, Kira, Quark, O'Brien, Dax, Odo, the Cardassian Gul
Dukat, possibly others. Accessories: DS9 station playset, Cardassian
ship, a Runabout.
TOS: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Sulu, Uhura, Scotty (in a
limited edition numbered set).
(As related to me by Micael on AOL; thanks! Some other
information from "Star Trek: The Official Fan Club magazine")
The retail price of all the Trek movie videocassettes will be
cut to $14.95 on May 26th. That day will also mark the debut of two
new movie gift packs: "The Movie Collection" (all six films in a
"futuristic" storage case) and "The Screen Voyages" (all six films in
letterbox format, with an insignia pin thrown in).
Also coming to video on May 26 is a five-cassette series called
"The NASA Space Flight Series," a look at the history of the American
space program. William Shatner is one of several narrators of this
collection.
(From Hollywood Hotline on AOL)
Out right now on video is the horror film "Candyman," which
costars Tony Todd (Worf's brother Kurn), as well as "Sarafina" and
"The Player," both costarring Whoopi Goldberg.
New from Starlog are "Starlog" #191 (featuring interviews with
Avery Brooks and Malachi Throne -- from "Unification" and
"Menagerie") and issue #3 of the "Deep Space Nine" magazine
(includes, among other things, an interview with DS9's casting
director about the process of casting the DS9 regulars). (From "The
Westfield Newsletter")
New and exciting in comic-book land:
"William Shatner's TekWorld" #10 (Marvel): Jake continues
efforts to clear his name once and for all. Part 2 of 2.
"Star Trek" #49 (DC): Part 1 (of 2) -- "The Peacemaker" by
Howard Weinstein. The return of Gary Seven!
"Next Generation" #47 (DC): "The Worst of Both Worlds" (part 1
of 4), by Michael Jan Friedman. Our Enterprise finds itself in a
universe where the Federation lost the battle with the Borg.
(From "The Westfield Newsletter")
Personal Logs, Stardate Today
-----------------------------
"It's like Star Trek, she's gone where no woman has gone
before."
(Agent Steve Bartlett, speaking about his client Manon Rheaume
-- the first female professional hockey player after her debut in
goal for the minor league Atlanta Knights on April 10th)
Credits where Credits are Due
-----------------------------
"Dateline: Starfleet" -- edited by Bill Mason. Comments and
submissions are invited via any of these avenues: America Online
(E-Mail to Data1701D), Internet (send to 'data1701d@aol.com'), or the
US Postal Service (753 Rively Ave, Glenolden PA, 19036-1118)
The Away Team of Contributors -- Vacancy.
Copyright and Trademark Notice: In no case is use of any
copyrighted material and/or trademarks without identifying symbols
intended as a claim of ownership to those copyrights and/or
trademarks. "Dateline: Starfleet" is a non-profit production
reporting and commenting on the universe of Star Trek.
STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures. All
other copyrighted material, trademarks, and/or service marks cited
herein are registered to their respective owners.
Readers are granted permission to reproduce this file wherever
they think there's an interest. I make no copyright claims on this
file and encourage public distribution. Just tell 'em where you got
it from!
If you read all this, sign the P*A*S*T petition!
Dateline #35 will be out May 15th.