Starfleet - Where are the enlisted men?

Cafe Society
41

Even well after Roddenberry’s death, DS9 occasionally harped on how humans didn’t have or need money (how they managed to pay their bar tabs at Quark’s remains unclear). It sort-of came to a head in one episode where Jake needed to wheedle some latinum out of Nog, who flatly refuses, saying “If you don’t need money, you certainly don’t need mine,” or words to that effect. Soon after that, the war arc started and the whole humans/money thing was pretty much forgotten. Voyager, of course, didn’t need cash of any kind. Janeway’s piercingly irritating voice was sufficient currency.

The few references to money in the original series used the word “credits,” which sounds downright Skinnerian.

42

In Voyager, the character played by Brad Dourif, a half Betazoid who murdered a fellow crewman, was “Crewman Suder”.

43

Skeezix, here are some photos of our heros as “Mirror” people from ths cardlist:
http://www.decipher.com/startrek/cardlists/mirrormirror/index.html

The Alliance are the Cardi/Klingon/Bajoran bad guys, and the Humans are the Terran Rebels (with Vulcan and Ferengi help). the flavor text should explain what most of them are up too in that universe.

44

Occasionally in various series and movies, one sees “Crewmen”, as when the Vulcan officer in ST VI tells a couple of them to “snap to” their work. I guess “Crewman” is equivalent to calling someone “Soldier” or “Sailor”. TOS had Uhura being accosted by the Salt Vampire, who’d taken the shape of a “crewman” who knew her slightly.

I’m not so sure about Chief O’Brien, though I don’t remember him very well. From the start, the writers of ST were never terribly accurate. I thought O’Brien was a high level director of engineering, and so would have been much like Scott in TOS, or at least of officer rank. I wondered if the writer just thought that Chief sounded like it should be a high officer rank? The first series had many egregious errors in the writing, as when Spock said that a sound amplifier could increase the power of sound by “one to the fourth power”…which any grade school student knows is meaningless.

45

Well, Javaman on at least two occassions on DS9, O’Brien’s rank was specified as “Chief Petty Officer”, which is an NCO rank.

46

SPOILERS AHEAD
(For the Trek book Dark Mirror)

Bryan, jab1, thanks. I do recall seeing one or two of the DS9 episodes, now that you mention 'em, but it was years ago (probably when they first aired.) Unfortunately, I’m still confused. Well, that or I’m just missing some important details, here.

The following assumes that the bit I mentioned, about everything Trek is canon, is true. (If it ain’t, well, say no more, because the book I read just becomes an interesting little “what if?”)

In Dark Mirror, the mirror Starfleet (the Empire) still exists, and in fact, the Klingons, after having significant parts of their homeworld laid waste, are slaves/subjects of the Human/Vulcan Empire. The mirror Enterprise is equipped with techno-doodads that enable it to pull the real Enterprise through into the mirror dimension, way out in the middle of noplace.

Without breaking down the entire story, it turns out that a few crew members need to sneak aboard the ISS Enterprise, with the intention of laying hands on the techno-doodad, and getting the hell home.

Picard, of course, eventually has to join the gang, where he runs into the mirror Worf. The two end up having a discussion awfully similar to the one Kirk had with the mirror Spock way back when.

(In a rather neat little sidetrack, Picard accesses the Imperial records on Spock, and learns that he did in fact try to reign in the Empire, only to end up the victim of political assassination.)

So, according to this, the Empire is still the dominant faction, the Klingons are a slave race, and I don’t think any mention is made of the Romlulans. In fact, the reason for this whole scheme is that the Empire needs new worlds to conquer, fast, or it’ll fall in on itself. Is this how it was explained in DS9, or did I just read a neat story? :slight_smile:

Incidentally, the book mentions that the story takes place during the 4th season of TNG. That have any bearing on anything?

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Tars, thanks, but I’m still scratchin’ my head. (Neat stuff, though. Still poking through the cards.) Seems, though, that something happening on one o’ the tv series pretty much trumps anything written in a book. Oh well.

Oh yeah, another neat bit: the agonizers, from TOS episode were replaced (in the book) by chest mounted ones. IOW, the communicator pins in the mirror, were actually the agonizers.

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Skeezix:

According to startrek.com:

**As a rule of thumb, the events that take place within the live action episodes and movies are canon, or official Star Trek facts. Story lines, characters, events, stardates, etc. that take place within the fictional novels, the Animated Adventures, and the various comic lines are not canon. **

49

I read Dark Mirror, and thought it was a great Trek novel, and then I was quite pissed when the first DS9 Mirror episode totally destroyed Diane Duane’s entire premise. (The sight of Kira in a leather catsuit made me quickly forgive them, though!) But I wonder how Duane felt about it? Did she ever write another Trek novel?

If the Dark Mirror situation doesn’t confuse you enough, you ought to read the Mirror issues of Marvel’s TOS comic book, set in the time between Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock. Imperial Earth invades this universe and Kirk manages to form a temporary alliance with the Klingons and Romulans to fight them off. In one issue, the two Spocks mindmeld with each other.

Then there are the novels written by William Shatner set in TNG’s time frame that involve a resurrected Kirk. The Mirror Universe is heavily involved in them, as well. Like all Trek novels, they are not canon and Trekkers everywhere ought to be grateful. Godzilla movies are more believable and have better dialogue.

50

Those comic-book events were published by DC and took place shortly after the fourth movie, i.e. after Spock’s Genesis regeneration. The eight-issue run (which includes the Spock/Spock mindmeld) is collectively known as The Mirror Universe Saga.

51

Is that an insult to Big G?? Don’t make me program myself to grow taller!!!
There is also a two novel series set in the mirror universe after DS9 involving that 7 of 9 as an assassin. But from the plot summaries on the back of the books i decided i’d rather buy another Redwall novel instead. Mirror Universe stories have an advantage if you keep that Episode with the thousands of Enterprises from different realities in mind, you could argue that there are that many Mirror universes so all stories could be valid. Or argue that all non-canon books took place in one of those universes. [sub](Or go outside, but where is the fun in that? and it smells outside…)[/sub]