In the ST:TOS episode of I, Mudd, we see an extraordinarily stoic crewman named Norman, who turns out to be an android, and hijacks the Enterprise to a planet where the Honorable Harry Mudd has set himself up as Mudd the First. Hilarity and illogic ensues when the crew of the Enterprise conquer Norman and the rest of the androids.
Naturally, it’s not given in the TV episode, but are there any novelizations or other stories in which it’s told how Norman came to be on the Enterprise? Certainly he would’ve transferred from somewhere, otherwise he’d be a stowaway, and Kirk would be even more pathetic than he already is by allowing a stowaway on the bridge.
Any answers? Idle speculation? For my part, I think he simply forged the required paperwork, or the 23rd century equivalent, and got himself on board during the Enterprise’s last stop at a starbase. But that seems pretty routine and boring from a storytelling standpoint. I’d like some other ideas if you please.
*Norman left the planet and, posing as a Starfleet sciences division lieutenant, signed aboard the USS Enterprise. After successfully taking over the ship, he redirected it to Mudd to carry out “Lord” Mudd’s plan. *
The androids could have been made in any image, right? Witness Mudd making one in the image of his wife, Stella, so that he could have the last word with her. Norman could have been made in the image of a Federation crewman scheduled to transfer to the Enterprise. It would have then been a simple matter for Norman to eliminate the crewman and take his place on the Enterprise.
But that would have required Norman to have infiltrated Star Fleet, accessed the necessary information, return to the planet, get reworked, then return to Star Fleet to make the switch. Rather complex for an android that can’t master basic logic puzzles.
I always assumed that was what happened. Mudd sent him, after all. The real Norman was a recent transfer; the fake one assumed his identity immediately before Real!Norman came aboard. Real!Normal probably got sent through an airlock at a starbase.
True, that’s why I posed the question. Somewhere along the line, Norman snuck into Starfleet and integrated himself amongst the crew. Kirk wouldn’t be too concerned with him, as personnel transfers happen all the time and would be routine, but I’m just wondering how Norman managed it all, and fairly quickly to boot, since Harry Mudd hadn’t been on the planet for that long a time.
It seems like a deus ex machina situation in reverse (instead of a god solving the problem, it sets it up).
As per the first lines of the episode, Norman’s only been on board for 72 hours; McCoy has already noticed he’s a guy who “never smiles, whose conversation never varies from the routine of the job, and who won’t talk about his background” and already “has avoided two appointments that I’ve made for his physical exam without reason”.
How much communication did the Enterprise have with Starfleet headquarters on a regular basis? I honestly can’t remember. It’s possible all Norman needed was a uniform and some forged orders - Enterprise arrives at a Starbase, and Norman shows up orders in hand and claims to be a new transfer. That’s the way it used to happen in the wet Navy before instantaneous communications, isn’t it?
With Kirk’s Enterprise, the amount of communication the ship had with Starfleet varied. More often than not, Command was hours away by subspace radio. In “Balance of Terror,” for instance, Kirk reports the enemy incursion into the Neutral Zone immediately, but by the time he gets a response it’s too late to matter. And in the episode with the space Indians (Miramanee?) they’re out of contact with Command for months, and it’s not though tof as unusual.
Norman could also have selected a likely ship, then selected someone at that starbase hanging around to transfer on to it, kill the human, than alter the computer records so that his (Norman’s) physical description is written in place of the victims original particulars.
So, no reworking of the cosmetics necessary.
Norman’s challenges would be to be able to log in to Star Fleet the database, and committing a murder without getting caught.
You would have to select a victim who is transient (and thus not know well), and has no long term contacts on the base (i.e. friends who would notice that the human Norman has gone missing, or who changed appearance). This might be doable in a busy enough transportation hub.
I was going to write that we don’t know that they’re fully functional, but then I remembered who programmed them (and presumably directed their fabrication). Yeah, they were robo-whores.
Norman beamed aboard Starbase 3 via a Warp Transporter. Then, he won his ticket to the Enterprise in a bar room poker game. As originally filmed, all the androids on planet were naked. The clothes were added by hand coloring each frame (pre digital, don’t you know), which is why all the clothes look so form fitting.
The above post is a lie and is not logical.
Somewhere along the line, Norman snuck into Starfleet and integrated himself amongst the crew. Kirk wouldn’t be too concerned with him, as personnel transfers happen all the time and would be routine, but I’m just wondering how Norman managed it all, and fairly quickly to boot, since Harry Mudd hadn’t been on the planet for that long a time.