An Alternate Trek

[Lindseyman]

The Alternate Trek Universe with analogues from OTL Star Trek

1.The Federation exists except it is called the Commonwealth of Planets
2.The Commonwealth headquarters are in New York, built on the ruins of the old UN building
3. Starfleet is the Commonwealth Navy and the Commonwealth Fleet, the Navy handles the defense of the Commonwealth whilst the Fleet handles exploration and research. There is some commonality of ship design and also some conflict of interest.(Think of the conlict between the RAF and Admiralty over the Fleet Air Arm- asimilar conflict exists between the navy and Science bureau of the Commonwealth.
4.The Navy is a PROPER Navy run by an Admiralty and with lots of tradition. It sees itself as the heir to the USN, RN,Russian Fleets etc that survived WWV). It is very traditional with respect to rank and chain of command.
5. The Fleet is far looser and closer to the approach of Starfleet in OTL Star Trek.
6. WWIII is the name now given to the cold war and decolonisation conflicts from the Suez crisis onwards to about 1980
7.WWIV is the anologue of the Eugenics Wars and happened in the mid 1990s
8.WWV is the analogue of Star Trek's WWIII and happened in the 2050s
9. First contact happened much as in OTL Star Trek (without the Borg) when Christopher Cochrane makes the First warp flight from Woomera in the Phoenix.
10 The Vulcans in this timeline are just as logical as in OTL Star Trek but not as controlling of Earth as implied in Star Trek Enterprise.
11. The Commonwealth is founded by Earth with surviving independent worlds of the collapsed Bajoran Empire in about 2180. (Bajor occupied by the Cardassians). This empire collapsed under attack from the Klingons, Rhihannaun and Cardassians much as the Terran Empire did in the Mirror universe. Also in the Commonwealth are Vulcan and Andor.
12.The Klingons are the honourable version from STNG but look like those from TOS (remember this is a British TV production, money is even tighter!)
13. The main enemy are the Rhihannaun(pronounced Rheenan which the Earth people hear as Roman!) Think of a cross between the TOS Klingons and STNG Romulans and nastier!
14. CSS Ark Royal is one of 7 Endeavor class heavy cruisers fitted for exploration as opposed to the 18 Illustrious Class Battleships in the navy which are identical in exterior design but with far more power devoted to weapon systems.

 

[Lindseyman]

Here is my suggested cast. Thanks to all of you who have suggested actors they all have their merits:
Captain Christopher Pike: Christopher Plummer
Number One: Sian Phillips (Name of Character still not decided)
Chief Science Officer Spock:Stuart Damon
Chief Helmsman Erik Eisen: Ian McKellen
Chief Navigator Leo Chekoverek Jacobi
Chief Security Officer Norman Stiles: Edward Woodward
Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott: Michael Sheard
Chief Medical Officer Phillip Noyce:Leo McKern
Chief Communications Officer Esther McKenzie: Carmen Munroe

 

[Lindseyman]

During the hiatus whilst a replacement was sought for Patrick McGoohan there was a lot of debate about Spock especially about how devilish he would look. Gene Roddenberry wanted him to be very demonic in appearance, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson were not so sure. Eventually a compromise was hammered out. Vulcanians would have slanted eyebrows and pointed ears and a very red complexion but neither prominant teeth nor a tail. Nor would they have facial hair. (An observer from OTL would recognise a black and white shot of Stuart Damon as indeed being a Vulcan). It was also decided that Vulcanians would be very spiritual much like Buddhists in many ways. They had adopted this approach to curb their emotions,note NOT suppress them, to avoid a final war about four hundred years earlier. (This was eventually established as the reason that they had helped Earth in the mid 21st century as they had felt that we needed help to recover from WWV as we were in much the same position that they had been in in our 17th century). This enabled the Sian Phillips character to remain the logical even cold and impersonal character, she was to be a follower of a post WWIV offshoot of Christianity which preached that a form of logic was the only way to survive in the fallout from that war. It was decided therefore that her character would be German (no stereotyping there then!!) with the name Katharina Braun.

 

[Lindseyman]

Problems with the lead

Filming started in mid 1966, however it soon became apparent that Christopher Plummer wasn't happy. The Anderson's and Roddenberry finally sat him down in August 1966 and talked through the problem. it appeared that Plummer was aware of what a committment he had undertaken and was now realising that it would interfere with his film and theatre work. On reading the scripts he thought that this was going to be a big success and he really didn't want to be typecast as a ships captain for ever more. With Lew Grades acquiescence, they came to a compromise, Christopher Pike would be replaced as captain of the Endeavour a third of the way through the series. However he would be promoted to the Admiralty of the Fleet rather than killed off. In fact Christopher Plummer would continue to make cameo appearances as Admiral Pike throughout the entire run of Star Trek as his other committments allowed. As a replacement Richard Bradford who had been employed as star of Man in a Suitcase was approached and agreed to step in. From episode 10 he would star as Captain Matthew Decker.

 

[Lindseyman]

From the ITC Star Trek Script Writer's Handbook

The Bridge Crew

Captain Matthew Decker; American from Houston, Texas. A driven officer. Decker has risen rapidly through the ranks of the Commonwealth Fleet. he was a captain by the age of 26. The Endeavour is his second command. he has gained the reputation of being a bit of a cowboy with regards to regulations. However he is respected by his crews as he never asks them to do things that he wouldn't do himself.
First Officer Commander Katharina Braun (Number One): A German from Neu Munchen on Mars. She is very efficient and a stickler for following the rules and regulations. She found Decker very hard to work with at the start of his tour of duty but they have now found a modus vivendi. She is a practising member of the "Hanovarian Way" a form of North German Protestantism that promotes frugality and logic. This was founded in Hamburg in the late 1990s as a means of coping with the aftermath of WWIV which had left much of Northern Europe in ruins.
Science Officer Lieutenant Commander Spock (Second Officer): A Vulcanian from s'Karrh on Vucanis. A passionate scientist who has an intense curiosity especially about humans. He is one of the few Vulcanians that serve in the Fleet(many do serve in the Navy). Spock is the grandson of the Vulcanian, Savek, who instigated first contact with Earth after Christopher Cochranes flight in the Phoenix.
Navigator Lieutenant Leo Chekov: An ethnic Russian from Sevastopol in the Ukraine. His family had served with distinction in the Black Sea Fleet in WWIV and WWV and he is very aware of his family tradition of service to the state. He is very slightly a black sheep of his family as he joined the Fleet rather than the Navy. He is very intense but shows a real flair bordering on genius for navigation. He is best friends with Erik Eisen.
Helmsman Lieutenant Erik Eisen: An Argentinian of German extraction. A flamboyant, larger than life character who has some slight ability to manipulate metal with his mind. He claims that he knows exactly how the ship is going to respond to any manouvers, he doesn't know how he just feels it. Best friends with Leo Chekov. They have come up from the academy together.
Communications Officer Lieutenant Esther McKenzie: A Jamaican from Kingston. She graduated as top of her class in the Academy and expects nothing but the best from her subordinate officers in communications and gets it. Maintains a professional distance from her fellow officers but is renowned for her ability to play matchmaker for the crew. She has an instinctive knack at knowing who will get along well with whom and what they are feeling. This ability also extends to non humans whom she meets.
Security Officer Lieutenant Commander Norman Stiles: A By the Book Security Officer from south London. He does however have enough sense to realise when by the book won't work and can improvise accordingly. He comes from a long line of London policemen. He is near worshipped by the security men as he has a reputation of being lucky and bringing his men back alive. He is married with two children.

 

[Lindseyman]

More from the Handbook

Other Bridge Characters

Helmsman Ensign Daniel Dare:a Mancunian who tries hard to be known as Danny. This works most of the time, however English crewmembers tease him incessantly about his name especially as his full name is Daniel Macgregor Dare!(when drunk he curses his parents' sense of humour). He is nearly as good a helmsman as Eisen.
Helmsman Lieutenant Gary Mitchell: A New Yorker who has some problems with authority hence him still being a lieutenant. More than a little foolhardy but a good helmsman if not in the same class as Dare and Eisen.
Navigator Ensign Robert Bailey: An Englishman from Wellstown on Mars. Very conscientious but tries too hard on occasion. Jealous of Chekovs natural ability but gets along well with everyone else.
Navigator Lieutenant Elizabeth Tydder: A Welshwoman from Baglan. Very quiet and understated but with a wicked sense of humour. Fluent in 5 languages.
Navigator Ensign Caroline D'Alembert: Very confident French Canadian from Montreal. Has to put up with men finding her attractive. She finds this annoying as she feels that they never see her excellence at her job.
Communications Officer Ensign Samantha Kennedy: Lacks confidence in her own ability at times but is gaining confidence under Esther McKenzie's tutelage.
Science Officer Lieutenant Joseph Holmes: An Edinburgh Scot knicknamed Sherlock both because of his surname and his resemblance to Sidney Paget's illustrations. Is also a follower of Hanovarian Way.
Science Officer Lieutenant Alan Stein: A very loud bear of a man who hails from Middlesborough. His larger than life blustery character hides an exceptionally intelligent and insightful mind. He is MUCH better at working things out in the lab rather than when dealing with other people who can find him insufferable especially when he's proved right. It takes newcomers to the crew a long time to work out why his nickname is George, unless they have read more Conan Doyle than the Holmes stories.
Security Officer Lieutenant Connor Lynch: An Ulsterman from Belfast. More voluable than Stiles but an excellent foil and second in command to him.

 

[Lindseyman]

Engineering

Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott: A BRILLIANT practical Engineer born in Linlithgow but having lived in Aberdeen since being a young child. He can solve any engineering problem given to him. the Endeavour systems now bear little resemblance to the official blueprints but operate at least 30% more efficiently as a result. Many other ships are now having similar alterations made to their systems. He is intensely protective of his bairns (the engines) and the ship. Although technically he is third ranking officer after Braun and Decker, it would take Spock to be also incapacitated before he would leave the engine room. Scotty has a love/hate relationship with Aedh O'Gorman.

CPO Aedh O'Gorman: A native Dubliner, Aedh is another brilliant practical engineer but his solutions are not always the same as Scotty's. They argue incessantly about the best solution to problems but Aedh is the only person to whom Scotty will entrust Engineering if he has to leave for any reason. This can lead to problems with other Engineering Officers but the better ones soon learn to do as Aedh suggests!

Medical Staff

CMO Lieutenant Commander Phillip Noyce: An Australian from Sydney. Noyce is a gruff and taciturn man with a heart of gold. He also has an almost pathological hatred of paperwork. In his 10 years as CMO he has gone through 5 seconds before Richard Fynely. Noyce is a firm subscriber to "if they think it works" school of medicine and it takes a lot to convince him to adopt new methodology. Divorced from Christine Chapel they have found a way of working together.

Lieutenant Richard Fynely: A blunt almost rude Yorkshireman. Fynely is a brilliant surgeon but has an apalling bedside manner. However he is very good at paperwork so he does it all and so gets along well with Phillip Noyce. His best friend in the crew is Alan Stein and they spend a lot of time commiserating with each other over Yorkshire's latest poor performance in the county Championship.

Admiral Sergei Karentov: CMO of the Endeavour before Noyce and now Admiral in Charge of Medical Central, which deploys and trains medical staff for both the Fleet and the Navy. Does an odd tour of duty as relief CMO if both Noyce and Fynely are absent to keep his hand in "practicing real medicine".

Chief Nurse (equivalent to a CPO) Christine Chapel: Ex wife of Phillip Noyce. They divorced because they couldn't live together, Noyce being completely disorganised and untidy and Chapel being very organised and tidy. However (given that character fault,as they see it, in the other!) they do like each other and work together very well.

 

[Lindseyman]

The Cage

The Cage aired at 7:30pm on Saturday 7th January 1967.
Actually the plot for this is basically as per OTL the Cage except Vina is played by Suzy Kendall. However the subtext that Pike is tired of Starship command is a present subtext through all Plummer's 9 episodes. The main difference is that you see Scotty, whilst the Endeavour is attempting to break free of the Talosians, coming up with ideas to boost the power to the engines and weapons (You didn't see much of the engineers in OTL the Cage). The reviews in the Sunday papers were mixed. Some dismissed it as more Sci fi tosh, yet others praised its production values , excitement and the fact that it wasn't afraid to make the audience think. When the viewing figures were released it had got 60% of the audience at that time in the evening.

 

[Lindseyman]

Some more from the scriptwriters' handbook

The Klingons

A warrior race dominated by their sense of honour. Everything is dealt with according to the Code of kh'Less. Breaking the code leads to ones entire family being exiled from the Klingon Empire.(please note that there hasn't actually been an Emperor for nearly 1000 years, the Empire has been run by the President of the High Council,think of an "elected" version of the Ruling Stewards of Gondor)
However the code does NOT necessarily apply to non Klingons. In the entire history of the Empire only two races have been awarded full status under the code(although individuals of many races have been so honoured). Both races fought the Klingons to a standstill. One race is the Andorians, awarded 1600 years ago, the other is the Humans. This was awarded 70 years ago after the Earth Navy defeated the Klingon Fleet at the Battles of Alpha Centuri.
There is a formal peace between the Empire and the Commonwealth which is honoured by the Klingons as both the Humans and Andorians are members. However there is constant warfare between the Klingons and the Rhihannaun,often continual border skirmishes rather than fleet engagements, who regard each other as lower than pond scum with no honour.
Klingons are very dark skinned (think a very dark blue black), with black straight hair with dark blue eyes. They wear a high tech lightweight version of chainmail paired with blood red leggings and knee high boots. Officers carry a ceremonial spear like a small assegai. This helps to denote their rank.

 

[Lindseyman]

The Human Conundrum

(Humans call it the Klingon Conundrum!)

During the Earth-Klingon War both sides analysed corpses of the slain and they came to the same conclusion. It was apparent that Humans and Klingons were no more different genetically from each other than Klingons from different regions of Kh'Onnos or Humans from different regions of Earth. This caused some ructions as it couldn't be explained. Earth had a fragmentary history for 6000 years with no evidence of space faring capability. Klingons had established records for this period of time and fragmentary history for the previous 2000 years with no records of anything more than extremely cursory planetary surveys of Earth (Klingons could live on it but it was in the Vulcanian sphere of influence so left alone). Added to which there was enough fossil evidence that they had evolved on their own planets!

 

[Lindseyman]

Uniform

Thanks viewcode!
Commonwealth Fleet Uniform.

Charcoal turtle necked long sleeved jacket.
Charcoal trousers
Black boots
Tunic as per Captain Scarlet(OTL) EXCEPT the zip is hidden rather than on view.
Command:Black
Ship board Security:Red
(landing party security have combat fatigues as per RN Commandos)
Engineering:Yellow
Operations:Green
Science:Blue (OK complete lack of imagination there on my part!)
Fleet logo on front of Tunic pocket
Officer rank insignia by collar of charcoal jacket
Non Coms insignia on upper sleeves
(Rank insignia shows obvious descent from USN insignia)

Commonwealth Navy Uniform

As above EXCEPT all tunics are British Navy Blue and the Rank insignia are much more obvious.

 

[Lindseyman]

Timekeeping

A lot of thought was put into how time was measured. It was accepted that all planets would have their own dating systems. It was asumed that spacefaing civilisations like the Klingons and the Vulcanians would have come up with some system of timekeeping that allowed for the movements of the planets and the relatavistic effects caused by FTL travel. By May 1966 everybody had massive headaches thinking about this. Several Astronomers and Physicists were consulted. In the end it was a throw away comment by Patrick Moore that generated a solution.His comment was that it would be a lot easier if travel between stars was instantaneous. It was then that Gerry Anderson had a Eureka moment and Gene Roddenberry leapt at it. Travel between stars was instantaneous as long as you were at the right point, it was intra system travel that took the time. Jump engines would power ships between the stars, warp drive would work within star systems (as they still needed a way to make intra system journeys last at most days not months or years). They then decided that if you measured how far the centre of the milky way appeared to move in a period of time then that could be the basic time unit and it could be standard for a section of space such as the Commonwealth as that would be very small compared to the distance to the centre of the milky way. Roughly 1 Commonwealth unit of time was 1.5 Earth Years. It was explained in the series that The Commonwealth had adopted the Vulcanian system but set Commonwealth Standard Time 0 as being 15th February 2185 (Earth time) as that was when the Commonwealth of Planets came into existence. This way travel within the Commonwealth was OK it was the exploration ships that would have problems. They would maintain their time units on their homeplanet but Mission Date was calculated in shifts from the start of the mission (Earth crewed ships used a shift of 8 hours). So Endeavour Mission Date 2345 would be the 782nd day of the mission (in the 3rd Year).
There was then an argument that when Decker took over from Pike the mission date would be reset to 0. However the PR and Sales people argued that it would be confusing to have a Plummer episode with mission date 542 and a Bradford episode with mission date 097. It would make sense to a regular follower of the show but not casual viewers. It was decided that a change of captain within a mission would not reset the mission date.

 

[Lindseyman]

Episode 2 Inhibitions broadcast Jan 14th 1967

On missiondate 204.2, the Commonwealth starship CSS Endeavour, arrives in orbit around the dying planet I187 , in order to observe and document the planet's break up. A landing team is also beamed down to the research station based on the planet in order to discover what has happened to the team of scientists who were stationed there, but who have not been heard from for months. The team is confused to find that all six of the scientists have died for no readily apparent reason. They are found in a number of bizarre positions - one man apparently in the middle of taking a shower fully clothed, and another having seemingly just sat at his desk until freezing to death - and all life support systems have been shut down and the controls frozen solid.

One of the Endeavour crewmen, Alan Stein, removes his glove while examining the station, and is contaminated by a strange red liquid. When Lt. Stein and Science Officer Spock return to the ship they are given a clean bill of health by Chief Medical Officer Dr. Noyce, but Stein notices a strange itch on his hands, and begins to act irrationally. After yelling that human space exploration is actually doing more harm than good, he threatens Lieutenant Chekov and CPO O’Gorman with a knife, then attempts to turn it on himself. He suffers a minor wound, but is stopped and escorted to the Medical Centre Dr. Noyce is then left bewildered when Stein inexplicably lapses into catatonia.

Soon, Stein’s affliction begins to affect other crew members and quickly spreads throughout the ship. They each begin to display both comical and horrific exaggerations of character, revealing things about themselves which they would have usually kept secret.

As the affliction spreads, Chekov abandons his post on the bridge and begins acting like an 18th-century sword-fighter, running around the ship and challenging everyone to a duel. Ship's Engineer CPO Aedh O’Gorman, who believes himself to be descended from Irish royalty, wanders down to Engineering where he tricks the staff into leaving and takes over control of the ship, declaring himself the Captain of the Endeavour, before giving orders and warbling inane songs repeatedly over the public address system. The Endeavour starts to drift out of control and slowly falls out of orbit, pulled down by the erratic gravity of I187.

Noyce and Spock manage to avoid the affliction and find that the water on I187 has a complex chain of molecules, which, once in the bloodstream, affects people in a similar way to alcohol, depressing the centers of judgment and self-control. They find that eventually the molecules break down with no residual effects worse than a mild headache.

Chekov charges into the ship's bridge and threatens Pike and Braun's lives but he is finally stripped of his sword and rendered unconscious by Pike. Meanwhile, O’Gorman is stopped and control of Engineering is regained. However, O’Gorman has turned the engines off and Chief Engineer Scott tells Pike that there is not enough time to get them started again before the Endeavour is dragged down by I187's break up.

To avoid crashing into the planet, Captain Pike orders a highly dangerous attempt at a full-power restart, using the Jump Engines to start the ship's warp engines by creating a "controlled implosion". Spock warns that this is possible in theory but that it has never been tested before.

The warp engines start and the Endeavour reaches the Jump point. However the effect of using the Jump Engines to start the warp engines and the gravitational effects of the break up of the planet cause a malfunction in the Jump Engines. When they arrive at Earth, they receive a signal that is announcing the “I have a dream” speech of Martin Luther King.

 

[Lindseyman]

Episode 3 Yesterday is Tomorrow Broadcast Jan 21st 1967

On mission date 208.5, the Commonwealth starship CSS Endeavour is thrown back in time to Earth in the year 1964 by the effects of the Jump Engine malfunction at the end of Inhibitions. The Endeavour ends up in Earth's upper atmosphere due to an inability to slow down sufficiently quickly, and is picked up as a UFO on military radar

An RAF English Electric Lightning piloted by Squadron Leader John Cochrane (guest star Tony Booth), is scrambled to identify the craft. The pilot, surprised to see the strange craft above him, is ordered to stop the Endeavour from escaping. Captain Pike uses a tractor beam on the jet, which accidentally tears the plane apart. Pike orders the pilot to be beamed aboard the Enterprise to save him.

The man is at first confused by his new surroundings, then amazed by what the future holds, and impressed and awed when he discovers that Endeavour is one of 7 such starships under the authority of a combined service.

Fearing Cochrane could disrupt the timeline if returned to Earth after glimpsing the future, Pike decides Cochrane must stay with the Endeavour. After Science Officer Spock later discovers that the pilot is the great great grandfather of Christopher Cochrane, Pike realizes he must return Cochrane to Earth without any knowledge of Endeavour or other future events.

After learning of the existence of film taken of Endeavour by Cochranes's wing-cameras, Science Officer Holmes and Lt.Commander Stiles beam down to the RAF base to recover it. Upon obtaining the sensitive computer-tapes, Holmes and Stiles evade capture by the Military Police (John Thaw is one of them). When Spock attempts to contact Stiles, via communicator, Stiles and Holmes are rediscovered. They manage to beam out but one of the military Policemen (Thaw)is beamed aboard with them.

After they return to the ship, Scott and O’Gorman(who still can’t believe that he acted as drunk as he did in the previous episode after not drinking anything!) inform Pike of a possible escape method by slingshotting around the Sun using a combination of Warp and Jump Engines to break away and return to their time. The maneuver is risky, since even a small miscalculation could destroy the ship, or make them miss their own era.

Pike okays the maneuver, and time on board the Endeavour moves backwards. Squadron Leader Cochrane is beamed back to his fighter jet at the instant he first encountered Endeavour, preventing, as far as Pike knows, any evidence of the ship being produced, and the sighting is written off as just another UFO. The Military Policeman is also returned to his own time, just moments before he stumbles upon Stiles and Holmes. Endeavour then successfully returns to the 23rd Century, in the right time.

 

[Lindseyman]

Thank you! I was beginning to think that no one was actually reading this thread just looking at it! I'm starting close then diverging more and more as I find my feet.

In my defense I did say that they were equivalent episodes not just translations across the timelines. The sparks of inspiration that caused Star Trek in OTL would be leaping around in this one as well, just hitting different tagets with more and more divergent results as time goes on.(Think of Hwel the dwarf playwright from the Discworld series and the adjacency of some of his plays to a certain W.Shakespeare!)
I have already decided on one change I'm swapping Court Martial to be the last Plummer episode after Guardian of Time. Given that we will have had two time travel episodes(three if you include Shiva) the new DTI is going to want to get its point across about playing with time! The OTL Star Trek OTS rarely dealt with long term consequences. This was in fairness so each episode could be stand alone and watched with little or no prior knowledge but Kirk never even seemed to get his wrist slapped and by season 3 he was really playing fast and loose with rules and regulations!

The Plummer Episodes
1. The Cage(The Cage)
2. Inhibitions (The Naked Time)
3. Yesterday is Tomorrow (Tomorrow is Yesterday)
4. The Herschel (The Galileo 7)
5. The Mind Sifter (Dagger of the Mind)
6. The Federation (The Corbomite manouver)
7. Shiva (Space Seed)
8. The Guardian of Time (City on the Edge of Forever)
9. Court Martial (same name but completely different from OTL Court Martial)
The Bradford Episodes
10. Where no one has gone before (WNMHGB)
11. Yin and Yang (The Enemy Within)
12. The Aphrodite Syndrome (Mudd's Women)
13. Sugar and Spice (What are little girls made of?)
14. The Lost
15. Elsinore (The Conscience of the King)
16. Shore Leave (Shore Leave)
17. The Forgotten(The Return of the Archons)
18. MAD (Balance of Terror) (introduces the Rhihannuan)
19. Triskelon (Arena)
20. Old Wounds (The Man Trap)
21. The Spores (This Side of Paradise)
22. The Miners (Devil in the Dark)
23. Organia (Errand of Mercy)(introduces the Klingons)
24. Brothers (Operation:Annihilate)
25. The Computer War (A Taste of Armageddon)
26. Janus (The Alternative Factor)

 

[Lindseyman]

The DTI

The reasoning that the Commonwealth use for the formation of its DTI is much the same as the Federation use for forming their DTI as expounded in Christopher Bennett's books in OTL. However in TTL there is never any doubt that the DTI will be an independant body free of any interference by either the Fleet or the Navy. Having said that its first chair is Admiral(retd) John Campbell-Foreman.
This British Trek was going to be more aware of, and deal with,the potential problems caused by time travel because of a certain programme on the other side. However the DTI investigators are not going to have to deal with a disappearing blue box and its occupant(s) despite the help and advice freely flowing between both production staff (usually in pubs around London).

 

[Lindseyman]

Epidode 4 The Herschel Broadcast 28th January 1967

On mission date 321.5, CSS Endeavour is undertaking a survey of the Hoyle system. The asteroid belt shows a distinctly unusual tendency to bunch up and then move apart, much like the ebb and flow of a traffic system. As the Endeavour is too large to manouver within the asteroid belt, Pike decides to send a science team composed of Braun, Stein, Scott, and two other members of the science staff Lieutenant Brennan (guest star Glynn Edwards) and Ensign Hawkins (guest star Jackie Lane) in the shuttle, Herschel, to investigate the formation. Pike warns Braun to be careful as there is something in the asteroid belt that is badly affecting the long rangesensors making tracking them very difficult but also that Spock is working on it.

To start with it is an uneventful if slightly bumpy ride and Stein, Brennan and Hawkins take lots of readings which half suggest answers to the motion of the asteroids. Then suddenly the shuttle is pulled off course and out of the Endeavours's erratic sensor range. The shuttle hits something that the sensors haven’t detected and one of the engines is damaged. Braun makes an emergency landing on a large asteroid. However the damaged engine fails completely during the attempt and it ends up being a crash landing.

When the crew come too, only the emergency lights are working and Brennan has been badly injured and concussed having not correctly fastened his safety straps during the crash. Scotty works hard and manages to restore partial power. This does not bring good news. In the landing the damaged engine was ripped off and the oxygen tanks holed. There is only enough breathable air for an hour. The EVA suits have enough air for an extra hour. Also the landing has brought them under a ledge comprised of rock that would shield them from the Endeavour’s sensors even if they were working properly.

Stein frantically works on the data collected, despite Braun and Scott insisting that all efforts should be concentrated on contacting the Endeavour, and together with Hawkins works out that there is a minature black hole moving through the asteroid belt. As its movement is not completely synchronous with the asteroids, it creates a tide like effect hence the strange movement of the asteroids. It was with this that the shuttle collided. Meanwhile Scott and Braun are frantically trying to get enough power to communicate with the Endeavour. Mr. Scott concludes that he will need to siphon the energy from all the phaser power packs in order to boost the shuttles coms enough to signal the Endeavour. Scott's plan is partially successful and Spock picks up the signal on the Endeavour.

Pike orders another two shuttles to search along the heading given by the signal. However although they find some wreckage they cannot find the Herschel. By now the crew is in the eva suits and have only a few minutes left in those. However although they can pick up the signals between the shuttles and the Endeavour, they no longer have enough power left to signal themselves. Braun gets an idea and decides to pressurise the remaing atmosphere in the airlock and flare it with a remaining almost drained phaser. The flare produced is spotted by one of the shuttles and a rescue is effected.

Back on board the Endeavour, Pike questions Braun, attempting to get her to admit that her expending the air was illogical as she couldn’t have known that it would work. When Braun replies that at that stage such an apparently illogical action was the logical course of action to take, the Bridge crew cannot contain their mirth much to Braun’s chagrin..

 

[Lindseyman]

Even more from the Handbook

The Andorians

At one time the most effective warriors in this part of space. Up until the arrival of the Humans they were the only civilisation to defeat the Klingons and stop their expansion (at least in their direction) abruptly enough to be recognised under the Code. They are natives to the planet Andor which orbits its sun at about an equivalent distance as Earth from its sun. however the Andorian sun is smaller and cooler. This has led to the climate of Andor being cooler to that of Earth (the Andorian Tropics are similar temperatures to the UK!). The Andorians consider Earth to be warm and Vulcanis to be uncomfortably hot! They are humanoids but are covered in short fur similar to colour to Earth's Polar Bears although they become bluer the closer they live to their tropics.

Over the past 1000 years the Andorian Birthrate has fallen drastically . Successful births had fallen to 1 in 10 and since Andorian females cannot become pregnant again for 10 "years" after giving birth (even a still birth) the Andorian population has plummeted to almost crisis levels. By careful shielding the Andorians had increased successful births to 1 in 7.

Humans with their "there is no problem that cannot be solved if either enough money or scientists are thrown at it " approach, have helped the birth rate to rise to 1 in 5. Andorian Females who are away from their planet for the birth have a 1in 2 success rate for births but they cannot live away from Andor for the length of the pregnancy (14 earth months). Both the Humans and Vulcanians suspect that more is going on than just the erratic behaviour of the Andorian sun (which the Andorians believe is the problem) but have no proof.

As a result Andorians no longer tend to leave Andor until they are past child rearing age. Once they are they willingly join in Commonwealth politics, the Fleet and the Navy.

 

[Lindseyman]

Episode 5 The Mind Sifter Broadcast 4th February 1967

On mission date 389.7 the CSS Endeavour is visiting an archaeological dig on Quehordhorr. This planet has ruins from the Wotadynne Autarchy a space faring civilisation which collapsed some 600 000 years previously. The expedition leader Professor Duncan Laird (guest star Gordon Jackson) believes that Quehordorr was where the Wotadynne had their last stand and that the legendary Wyrrddhister (the mind sifter) could be found somewhere on the planet.
One day Laird runs about shouting "I've found it! I've found it" and collapses. Later the second in command (guest star George Sewell) Macmillan Beith finds him dead in his tent. Beith notifies the Endeavour and Stiles and Holmes beam down with a security team to conduct an investigation. They are thwarted throughout the investigation as everybody contradicts each other and themselves, constantly changing their stories, as if they don't really remember what happened and are making stories up from the fragments that they do recall. Stiles falls prey to the same affliction but seems to keep repeating "ladiglamist". Spock beams down and together he and Holmes piece together what happened. When they confront Beith and his wife(guest star Judi Dench), Beith makes a run for it. He is cornered holding a strange glowing implement which flares up and then crumbles in his hands. His wife breaks down as Beith is now unable to recall anything and seems to be mentally fragmenting. She confesses to the murder of Laird as she and Beith wanted to take the fame and credit for the discovery of the mindsifter for which they had done 90% of the work.
On recovering Stiles said that all he could think of was the Scottish Play hence he was trying to say Lady of Glamis. Spock comments that he never ceases to be amazed at how many ways human life seems to mirror Shakespeare's plays.

 

[Lindseyman]

Episode 6 The Federation broadcast February 11th 1967

On mission date 392.2, the Endeavour, finishes a third day of mapping an unknown planetary system, when navigator Lt. Bailey spots a large object floating in space. Braun orders Dare to sound an alert.

On the bridge, Chief Engineer Scott studies the cube, but is at a loss as to how it works. A nervous Bailey advocates attacking it with phasers. Pike arrives and instead orders the ship to back away from the object. The cube responds by coming even closer and emitting harmful radiation, and Pike reluctantly destroys it.
Two hours later Braun informs Pike that a much larger object is rapidly approaching from the second planet.

Responding to the object's destruction – which the crew soon learn was a boundary marker – a gigantic glowing sphere quickly approaches the Endeavour. It fills the bridge viewscreen, even at low magnification. The vessel's controller, Commander Balok, identifies his ship as the Fist of the Archon, the flagship of the Federation.

Mr. Spock manages to get a visual of Balok, a green-skinned humanoid. Balok ignores Pike's greetings, and announces that he will destroy the Endeavour for trespassing into Federation territory and destroying the marker buoy. Balok informs the crew they have ten minutes to pray to their deities before their demise.
Braun compares the situation to a game of chess: "In chess, when one player is outmatched, the game is over." She regrets that she can find no logical answer. Pike replies that the solution is not chess, but poker. He bluffs, telling Balok that the Endeavour has a defence system which, when the ship is attacked, creates an equal force rebounding on the attacker.

Apparently falling for the ruse, Balok does not destroy the ship as previously announced. Meanwhile there is a shift change and Chekov,Eisen and McKenzie assume their posts. Afterward, Balok makes direct contact with the Endeavour, requesting details on the system. After allowing sufficient time, mostly to cause Balok to worry the details, Pike refuses.

A tug ship then detaches from the Fist of the Archon and tows the Endeavour deeper into the Federation space, where Balok announces he will intern the crew and destroy the Endeavour. Under tow, Pike orders the Endeavour to increasingly resist the tug ship's tractor beam. Just as the Endeavour's engines are about to explode from the overload, it breaks free. This disables the alien vessel. With the power supply nearly drained, the tug cannot even call for help from the bigger ship.

Rather than flee, Lynch, Fynely, and Braun form a boarding party to render assistance. Pike and Spock remain on the Endeavour to assist them, in case this was a trap. Scott, operating the transporter, tells them to bend down, as the scan on the alien ship reveals it has a very low ceiling. Upon arrival they discover that Balok is the size of a human child. He enthusiastically welcomes them aboard, offering them food and drink.

Balok explains that he was merely testing the Endeavour and its crew, to discover their true intentions. Although he had read the Endeavour computer records, he felt they could have been a deception. He knew his true appearance would never frighten anyone. Balok informs them that he runs the Fist of the Archon entirely by himself. The Federation only has one other ship the Fist of the Archona which is currently under repair after they were involved in a battle with an unknown ship which had refused all communication and had attacked at first sighting. Balok shows the Endeavour crew recordings of this ship in the hope that they can identify it. None of them can except Spock who gives a very obvious start upon seeing the ship. When Stiles questions him Spock replies that if it is whom he fears, then this sector of space is in grave danger, This race are in a state of constant war with the Klingons on the opposite side of the Empire to the Commonwealth. They are called the Rhihannaun.

Pike agrees to leave the Federation details on how to contact the Commonwealth if they should ever feel the need to do so and they part on good terms.