@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society Club Notice - 12/16/88 -- Vol. 7, No. 25 MEETINGS UPCOMING: Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon. LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158. _D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C 12/19 Star Trek in the 20th Century Club: Future Science and Technology *Monday* (LZ 2D-305, 6:30 PM) (co-sponsored) 12/21 LZ: General Organizational Meeting 1989: 01/11 LZ: TBA 01/18 MT: "Space Colonies in Fact and Fiction" (video) (MT 3K-402) _D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C. 12/17 New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA (Party?) (phone 201-432-5965 for details) 01/14 Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: Martha Marshall (editor, Atheneum Books) (phone 201-933-2724 for details) 05/05/89 CONTRAPTION. MI. GoH: Mike Resnick; FGoHs: Mark & Evelyn Leeper. -05/07/89 Info: Diana Harlan Stein, 1325 Key West, Troy MI 48083. 08/31/89 NOREASCON III (47th World SF Con). MA. GoHs: Andre Norton, Ian & Betty -09/04/89 Ballantine; FGoH: The Stranger Club. Info: Noreascon Three, Box 46, MIT Branch P.O., Cambridge, MA 02139. HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 mtuxo!jetzt LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3E-433 957-5619 mtgzz!leeper HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3M-420 949-5866 homxb!tps LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-6142 lzfme!lfl MT Librarian: Will Harmon MT 3C-406 957-5128 mtgzz!wch Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted. 1. ATTENTION STAR TREK FANS: The latest episode of ST: TNG ("The Outrageous Okona") will not be broadcast on WPIX (NY) at 7 PM Saturday, December 17. It will, however, be broadcast in its usual "re-broadcast" slot of midnight Sunday night/Monday morning and then again at midnight Monday night/Tuesday morning. This is not a THE MT VOID Page 2 permanent change; they have a telethon this week. [-ecl] 2. Time for the mailbag. Bruce Hillyer (HO 4F-627, 201-949-7318) sends me the following: I missed the bookswap (out of town). Is there some mechanism to distribute "I'm looking for this book" requests to the science fiction club members? In my case, I am looking to borrow, rent, or buy John Varley's Ophiuci Hotline, and to buy Varley's Picnic on Nearside. Any suggestions? -B. Sorry, Bruce, there is no current mechanism for distributing your request to other members. Perhaps there will be such a mechanism at some point in the future. Does anybody have suggestions as to how members may be informed of Bruce's request? 3. A minor editorial here. Somebody has recommended to me the book on the making of the film _B_r_a_z_i_l as an example of the stupid, inane, insane, horribly inefficient, drug-induced way in which films are made (and unmade) and presented to the public. I generally am interested to read such books and put it on my list of priorities just below learning how to make my own shoelaces. I find that it usually more valuable, at least for me, to look at the output rather than the industry (and I have little enough time for that). I know the industry has soured because it is making films like _A_l_i_e_n _N_a_t_i_o_n and _F_r_i_d_a_y _t_h_e _1_3_t_h _L_X_X_V_I_I. The thing is, the industry is in a constant state of flux, and to my taste getting worse. But the way it works now may not be the way it works in three years. I have never yet heard of an industry of any kind that under scrutiny is not run as if stupidity is their most important product and run for the benefit of just the wrong people and is creating a product that could be a lot better (or at least more to my tastes). How American industry survives is a total mystery, but somehow it does. I am pretty sure the inner workings of the movie industry are bad as any industry and that even if they were not, a devoted writer could make them look that way. I look at the movie industry much like I look at Evelyn. If I really could see in detail -- close up, and personal -- what is going on in the internals I would probably lose my lunch. But I often find I like the results of all those internal workings. Mark Leeper MT 3E-433 957-5619 ...mtgzz!leeper A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper Capsule review: Ted Turner could not colorize _A _M_a_n _f_o_r _A_l_l _S_e_a_s_o_n_s, so he remade it, letting Charleton Heston direst himself. He gave it a good cast, restored all the dialogue of the stage play, and did all the right things. But why remake a film that cannot be improved? Rating: high +2. Rating of the original film +4 and a must-see. Over and over. I like film more than most people. And I have seen a lot of films that have deeply affected me, but my favorite film of all time is Fred Zinnemann's 1966 _A _M_a_n _f_o_r _A_l_l _S_e_a_s_o_n_s. Back when I was in graduate school I had the entire film on audiotape and would play it two or three times a week. It was the second film I had recorded on audiotape in a collection of eventually hundreds. It was the _f_i_r_s_t film I ever recorded on videotape to keep. Very well, I could never expect the new version to measure up. I was sure I would begrudge the film every minor variation from the original. That expectation turned out to be wrong, but not by a whole lot. The plot and most of the dialogue are, of course, identical to the Zinnemann version. The first plus for the remake is that it follows very closely the original stage play. The original film rearranged things a little. For those who have not seen the 1966 version, you have my pity and this plot synopsis. _A _M_a_n _f_o_r _A_l_l _S_e_a_s_o_n_s is Robert Bolt's play about the results of Thomas More's choice of principle and integrity over all else. More had an extremely nimble mind, a love of his king and close friend Henry VIII, and a love of his religion, Catholicism. These loves are perfectly consistent until Henry decides to split from the Church and expects the endorsement of the nobility. Being asked to choose between his loves, More decides to be officially neutral with full knowledge that the law should protect his stand. For the lack of one oath of support, Henry's agents make war on More. They have the power of the king; More has only the law and his agile use of it to protect himself. For this version Charleton Heston both plays More and directs. He certainly has more name recognition than Paul Scofield, who played the role in the Zinnemann version. Scofield is better known for stage than for film. Heston's dramatic talent and acting range lie somewhere between those of a Scofield and those of, say, a Sylvester Stallone, and I would guess it lies at just about the halfway point. Heston has none of the frailty of Scofield. He has always overpowered his roles. When More tells Henry that he is sick to think how much his (More's) actions grieve Henry, Heston gives the line as if it is a matter of form, as if he is playing chess. The pain in Scofield's delivery gives the line far Man for All Seasons December 10, 1988 Page 2 more sincerity. He is a friend who has to hurt a friend and does not want to, while Heston's More is only saying what is expected. In one scene in the play, More breaks down and cries. Scofield lets his voice break up and then sobs. He does it gently. Heston contorts his face in agony. He just cannot project gentle emotions so he rarely uses them. One place where the remake should have been an improvement and disappointingly was not was in the role of Wolsey. Where Zinnemann had Orson Welles, Heston had John Gielgud. Both are good actors but I generally would give the edge to Gielgud. But not in this film. When Heston faces Gielgud, each knows his own lines but they are not playing off of each other. Talking about actions that will be taken against the Church, Wolsey refers to "certain measures, perhaps regrettable, perhaps not," then noting More's wry smile, "All right, regrettable." Gielgud does not stop to see the smile. He runs the two lines together with no change of tone and there is no wry smile. It is a misdelivery and a better director than Heston would have corrected it. Vanessa Redgrave, the only obvious actor to play in both versions goes from playing a nubile Anne Boleyn to Alice, More's wife. Wendy Hiller played the role as an intelligent, willful woman who, when she calls herself "a fool" clearly means it only in contrast to More. Redgrave really plays it as a fool--doughty, flutterly, and superficial, with just a hint of something deeper behind the gestures. Her interpretation is certainly a valid one, but as with most interpretations of roles in the Heston version, she is not as appealing as she was in the original film. All these criticisms are, of course, only contrasts to the original film. In its own right, the Heston version is an excellent film. It is a superb play done with a very good cast. It raises the same issues as the other version and has the same excellent writing. There is little even an indifferent filmmaker could have done to hurt the story. In good conscience I could not give the Heston film anything beneath a high +2. To my mind, however, the Best Picture of 1966 remains the best picture of all seasons. STAR TREK TIMELINE Copyright 1988 by Nick Sauer and Donald Aehl INTRODUCTION: The original idea for this project came to me about one year ago. At the time I was running a Star Trek based role-playing game. I had given up on the FASA game when the second edition was released, and modified another system to be able to run the Star Trek universe. My ideal was to try to use only material presented in the episodes/movies. At one point either one of my players or myself thought to ask about a timeline for the Star Trek universe. I was aware of the two commonly used timelines, but was not happy with either as I could remember quotes that contradicted both. Then I thought (always a dangerous action on my part) why not build one just using quotes from the episodes/movies. I started the project and didn't work much on it until The Next Generation episode The Neutral Zone. At that point I met Donald (who was also interested in building a timeline) and with his help I resumed the project. So, here is the timeline of the Star Trek universe. GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS: A) In all references the word "year" is equal to one 365-day year. SPECIFIC ASSUMPTIONS: 1) One season of ST time equals one year. 2) The animateds are year 4 of the five year mission. 3) One Vulcan year is approximately equal to the standard "year". 4) Uhura meant approximately two centuries. TIMELINE: 1969=Man walks on Moon. Reality 1977=Voyager 6 launched. TMP(Decker:more than 300 years ago) 1992=Khan is ruler of unnamed country (probably India). TOS:SS(Spock) 1993=Eugenic War (also called WWIII) begins. TOS:SS(Spock) 1996=Eugenic War ends after Khan rules 3/4 of Earth. Khan and some supermen escape in the Botany Bay. TOS:SS(Spock) 21st Century=Humpback Whales hunted to extinction. TVH(Spock: Humpbacks have been extinct since the 21st century) 21st Century(Early)=Col. Green fights genocidal war on Earth. TOS:TSC(Yarnek) 2018=Last use of "sleeper ships". TOS:SS(Spock) Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 2 2034=Zephram Cochrane is born on Alpha Centuari. TOS:Mt(Spock:ZC was 87 years old when he disappeared) 2036=New United Nations Charter. TNG:EAFP(Data) 2040=Television disappears as entertainment media. TNG:NZ(Data:Television as an entertainment media disappeared by the year 2040) Mid 21st Century=POST Atomic Horror. TNG:EAFP(Picard) Mid 21st Century=Cryonics stopped. TNG:NZ(Data) 2070=SS Valiant disappears at edge of the galaxy. TOS:WNMHGB(Kirk:ship missing almost/over 200 years ago) 2073=Skorr are a warrior race. End of fourth Human-Kzin War. TAS:Ji(Tchar). TAS:TSW(Sulu) 2079=All United Earth nonsense abolished. TNG:EAFP(the Q) 2109=Earth ship lost to Taurean system. TAS:TLS(Kirk/Spock) 4 2110=Earth colonists who will form Terra Ten colony depart. TAS:TTI(Uhura: Intersat code .. been out of use for two centuries) 2121=Zephram Cochrane disappears. TOS:Mt(Spock:ZC disappeared 150 years ago) 2150=Earth-Romulan War. Scout ship explores the Daelus system. TOS:BOT(Spock/McCoy). TNG:Sy(Data) 2164=Formation of the UFP. TNG:COA(Quinn:everything we set up in the last 200 years) 2198=April born. TAS:TCCI 2227=McCoy born. TNG:EAFP(Data) 3 2237=Spock born. Kirk born. TAS:Yy(Ship's Computer/Spock). TOS:TDY(Kirk) 2239=SS Columbia crashes on Talos IV. TOS:TM(Spock) 3 2244=Spock goes through Kahswan. Cerca Vulcan year 8877. TAS:Yy(Ship's Computer/Spock.Spock) 2253=April becomes ambassador. TAS:TCCI 2254=McCoy on Dramia II. TAS:Al 2255=Lt. Kirk at Star Fleet Academy. TOS:WNMHGB(Mitchell) 2256.2=Spock Begins service under Captain Pike. TOS:TM(Spock) 2257=USS Enterprise visits Talos IV. TOS:TM(Spock) 2264=McCoy's daughter on Cerberus during crop failure. TAS:TS(McCoy) 2264.7=Kirk left Dr. Wallace. TOS:TDY(Wallace) Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 3 2265=Last message from Roger Corby on Exo III. TOS:WALGMO(Spock) 2267.5=Kirk takes command of Enterprise. TMPn(Kirk: it was nine years ago that Kirk had taken command of Enterprise) 2269=Carter Winston disappears. TAS:TS(McCoy/Vandorian) 1 2270=TOS:WNMHGB and year 1 of the five year mission. 1 2271=Year 2 of the five year mission. 1 2272=Year 3 of the five year mission. TMOST(McCoy was 45 during the third season) 1,2 2273=Year 4 of the five year mission. 2274=Year 5 of the five year mission. Kirk promoted to Admiral. TMPn(Kirk) 2275.5=Enterprise refit. TMP(Scotty) 2276.5=TMP TMP(Kirk/Scotty) 2285=TWOK TWOK(Khan: marooned here 15 years ago) 2286=TSFS/TVH TNG:EAFP(Intro: 78 years since the days of the original Enterprise) 2311=Last "contact" with Romulans TNG:NZ 2342=Picard shipped out from Earth with Star Fleet. TNG:WAHP(Picard) 2349=Dr. Manheim leaves to find site to begin temporal experiments. TNG:WAHP(Picard) 2351=Manheim begins temporal experiments on Vandor IV. TNG:WAHP(Woman) 2364=Year 1 of TNG. Parasites begin invasion of the Federation. TNG:NZ(Data). TNG:Co(Data) NOTES ON ASSUMPTIONS: During my viewing of Yesteryear it suddenly dawned on me that any reference made in years may not be the standard 365-day year that we all know and love. If the calendar really has change by the time of Star Trek then any reference made in "years" may mean Federation years (whatever those may be). If someone wishes to try to make a timeline based on this line of reasoning they have my blessings and sympathies. It was at the above point in the creation of the timeline that I put in this assumption. The only real defense that I can offer for this assumption is that I doubt that any of the writers thought of the above problem while they were putting in their historical references. 1. Someone pointed out the main problem with this assumption. The problem is that in one year 26 major events (episodes) took place. This averages out to an adventure every two weeks. Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 4 This is further complicated by a lack of any reference to time passed since previous adventures, and the travel time necessary to get from system to system. Again, my defense is the "lack of a better way" argument. Since I can't think of a better way to align the episodes into a five year period I am going to stick with this. If anyone has a better method please feel free to do so. 2. This assumption follows directly from the one above. Since each season of TOS had 26 episodes and TAS had 22 this seemed like a logical assumption to make. My defense for doing this is the same as in one. 3. This is easily the poorest assumption of the lot. It would be nice if an age for Spock were given elsewhere in the program so that we could get a conversion factor between standard years and Vulcan years. If such a reference is available I would immediately assume that the ship's computer gave time measurements in Vulcan years to help better clarify what the situation was. The conversion factor could then be used to give all of the above dates in Vulcan, as well as, Terran years. However, until I see otherwise this assumption will stand. 4. Another problem assumption. In TAS:TTI Uhura mentions that the Intersat code used by the Terratins to contact Enterprise has been out of use for two centuries. The problem is that it is also clearly stated that these are Earth colonists and that they have matter transporters. Going directly from Uhura's line would mean that the colonists left Earth around the year 2073, which by all other references would be hardly likely. I would find it hard to believe that in a post atomic world that the matter transporter and an interstellar space program would be in full bloom. So, to give a more reasonable date I have decided that by her reference Uhura meant approximately two centuries. METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION: McCoy's age was the key. By accepting the reference in TMOST I was able to set a date to the third season from the date of TNG. This gave me dates for all of the years of the five year mission. I was then able to set a date for TWOK based on what Khan had said in that movie. I then looked at the "78 years since the days of the original Enterprise" line from the introduction to TNG:EAFP to see what date that would generate. It turned out to be 2286! Suddenly, it made sense! The original Enterprise must be the vehicle labeled NCC-1701(no post-fix). That would mean that it was lost in the year 2286. Therefore, this was the year of TSFS! The fourth movie had to have occurred three months later. From the novel of TMP by GR I remembered some reference to nine years in some way related to Kirk's command of Enterprise. I found the Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 5 quote again and it said "nine years since he had taken command of the Enterprise". I then took the liberty of assuming that the five year mission occurred immediately when Kirk took the Enterprise. The reason for this assumption are presented in the notes on assumption four. In any case, this gave me a date for TMP. The rest is just looking at historical references as they occur and just adding or subtracting from the year of the episode in which the reference is made. MATERIAL NOT USED IN THE TIMELINE: The timeline was constructed as democratically as possible. When ever there was contradictory references to a specific event the majority of the references that were in agreement were used. Specific cases of material not used because of this process are presented below for completeness sake. The first of these is a statement that Kirk made in the episode Space Seed. When Khan wakes he asks "How long?" to which Kirk (without even bothering to ask the historical expert that he brought along) says "two centuries". Based on the above timeline it was actually closer to 285 years. This is also the same man who said in TOS:WNMHGB that the SS Valiant disappeared "over two hundred years ago" only to later say (in the same episode) that it disappeared "just under two hundred years ago"! Any person who can rationalize this one is a lot smarter than I am. I realized this early enough in my episode watching to put a star by any other genius comments from the good captain. Just take anything Kirk says with a few tons of salt. The second statement was from TAS:TCCI. In it Robert April's wife says that she was the first medical officer to serve aboard a ship equipped with warp drive. Now, giving her the benefit of a doubt and assuming she meant first "Federation" ship equipped with warp drive and that she was 22 at the time of her appointment we can calculate her age at the time of the episode. Further helping her by saying that the first Federation starship came out in the year 2170 gives her an age of 125 in the episode. This only makes her Mr. April's senior by 50 years. I would normally try to work the quote in reverse assuming that she was nearly 75 years old also, but I am assuming that no race in its right mind would send off starships without medical personal including officer grade people. Another rationalization could be that she meant the first ship equipped with "time" warp drive (as mentioned in The Menagerie/Cage). Given that the crew of the SS Columbia didn't know about this, and that the Enterprise had it, its development must have come sometime after 2239, but no later than the early 2250's. This would make Doctor April somewhere around 57 years old. If she received her appointment to the first "time" warp equipped vessel at about 40 this would make her 75 at the time of the TAS:TCCI. Actually, this is probably a pretty sound Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 6 assumption as the "time" warp drive was apparently shortened to warp drive after it became the new standard starship drive system. The third statement was made by Admiral Morrow in TSFS. He says that the Enterprise is twenty years old. Since Robert April was the ships first captain and he became an ambassador in 2253 then the Enterprise is at least 35 years old. I like Donald's assumption that Morrow was referring to the first refit of Enterprise. This may have occurred at about 18.5 years ago if WNMHGB was Kirk's first mission as ship captain. The fourth statement came from Scotty in TOS:TSC. Scotty makes reference to Lincoln being dead three centuries ago. This would be 1972! Actually, the figure should be four centuries. There was a second class of quotes that were not used in the timeline. These were not used because they did not conflict with previously established material, and at the same time did not establish anything that wasn't already "known". Again, they are included here for completeness. The first of these is a line McCoy had in TAS:TIV. The ship's computer calls up a file on Stravos Keniclius, and mentions that he was active during the Eugenics Wars. McCoy says to this that he must be over 150 years old. By the timeline he would be about 200 so McCoy was right. The second of these was a line by Kirk in TAS:TPOO. In it he makes reference to McCoy being a doctor for 25 years. This would make McCoy about 21 when he became a practicing doctor. Assuming that academy training is roughly like college then he would have graduated at age 22. So, Kirk's line was not too badly off (this time). I realize that this is pretty early by our standards to be a practicing MD, but I assume that in the future teaching and learning techniques would probably be vastly improved. The third was Carol Marcus' line from TWOK about the Federation keeping the peace for 100 years. Since the Federation is about 120 years old at the time of the statement, and the last major conflict was the Romulan War (which was probably pre-Federation anyway) then her statement is valid. The fourth and fifth such lines occurred in TVH. In this movie Kirk says that the time he is from would be the late 23rd century on Gillian's calendar. At the end of the movie Gillian leaves for her assignment saying that she has 300 years of catch up learning to do. Both of these quotes fit well within the timeline. The sixth line occurred in TNG:EAFP. When the Q turns into an American soldier, Picard makes reference to the uniform being 400 years Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 7 old. This would make the uniform from the year 1964. I'm not an expert on military uniforms, but this date does match Q's line about fighting the commies. The seventh is from Sulu in TAS:TSW. He states that a hand laser the Kzinti discover is not a threat to the Federation as they (the Federation) has had a better model for over 100 years. Assuming that the hand laser was one of the first Federation standard issue weapons this quote fits in nicely. THE HISTORY OF THE FEDERATION: Starting with the late 20th century we see that things are not very nice. The Earth has three major wars in a very close span. First, the Eugenics War causes global battles and paranoia about Eugenic Science. This forces Stravos Keniclius into hiding and later off of the Planet. Perhaps it was at this time that the new United Nations was formed? Or, it could have been after Col. Green's war in the early 21st century. In either case, the new UN was in place no later than 2036. The next and most devastating war was large and mostly nuclear. It probably occurred in the year (or slightly before) 2040. This would explain the sudden disappearance of TV and the stopping of Cryonics. So Earth was in the state we saw in TNG:EAFP by 2079. Meanwhile, on nearby Alpha Centauri, things aren't going so well either. While still in a sublight stage of their space exploration program they are attacked by the Kzin (who are also probably in sublight ships). They fight the first of what is to be four wars with the Kzin. During this period Zephram Cochrane is born in 2034 (by our calendar). He develops warp theory in his early twenties (late 2050's). It is developed into a working concept and tested aboard the SS Bonaventure. Now, where's the nearest star to test going to? Sol! Away it goes and look at the mess it finds. The Bonaventure will later disappear in the Delta Triangle on its third voyage. The SS Valiant is sent to explore the edge of the galaxy (a mission that it will not return from). Shortly afterwards the Kzin attack for the fourth time. The war is short lived as the Kzinti fleet is rapidly outclassed by the new AC warp drive ships. The ability to move warships to battle regions faster than the Kzin can move their fleets to defend themselves causes massive losses on the Kzin side, and ends the war by the year 2073 (our calendar). Now that things have settled down exploration begins again. After observing us for awhile the people of AC make contact with local governments and start to help us on our feet again in the last quarter of the 21st century. This seems to give a fairly consistent early history of Sol and AC. The above history really makes Earth look bad and AC look good, but it does fit with GR's hopeful view of the Human race. Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 8 Earth and AC begin early galactic exploration and colonization in the early 22nd century. Given the damage done to the Earth's ecology by the atomic war there is probably a strong incentive for Earth to colonize. Space exploration is further aided by the development of the matter transporter (probably a combined project by AC and Earth) in the very early 22nd century. Things proceed well until first contact is made with the Romulan Star Empire. This leads to a war between Earth (and her allies) and the Romulans. The major weapons used in the war are nuclear, although lasers are also probably used to a lesser degree. Eventually, the war ends and a peace treaty is agreed to by subspace radio which leads to the formation of the neutral zone. It is interesting to note that even with warp and transporter technology that visual subspace communications had not yet been developed. Perhaps subspace technology was new at the time, and previously warp ships themselves were the carriers of messages between worlds. Then in the year 2164 came the formation of the Federation. The recent war was probably a strong incentive to unify into a single stellar alliance. Once formed, the construction of the Star Fleet began almost immediately. With its formation the hand laser was accepted as the first standard Star Fleet weapon. The "national" fleets of the original member races would soon be disbanded and replaced by the Star Fleet. Early Federation history seems relatively quiet. Only the loss of the USS Horizon and USS Valiant dim an otherwise calm time in history. Worlds like Cerberus are saved by the philanthropist Carter Winston until his disappearance in the year 2269. Similarly, Roger Corby one of the greatest exobiologists disappears on Exo III in 2265. It is also in this period that the "time-barrier" is broken and the new "time" warp drive created. This probably occurred in the 2040's, and resulted in the construction of a new class (Constitution Class) of Federation starships. Then in 2267 Captain Kirk is given command of the USS Enterprise. In the year 2270 the now famous Five year mission is begun. After the successful and safe return of the Enterprise in 2274 Kirk is promoted to Admiral and Spock returns to Vulcan to undergo the Kholinar. Only a few years later (after the Enterprise is refit for the second time) the crew will be brought back together again to face V'ger. The crew then broke up again only to be re-united during TWOK, TSFS and TVH. These events lead to the destruction of the first Enterprise, and the production of the new (NCC-1701A) vessel. We will see more adventures of this vessel in future movies. The time leading up to the next generation hasn't been filled in much yet. The only major event is the loss of contact with the Romulan Star Empire. This may have been due to internal political problems Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 9 within the Empire. Romulan vessels are apparently still observed, but visual or audio communication with them is non-existent. The only other major events mentioned thus far are two fold. First, in the year 2349 Dr. Manheim and a group of scientists leave to find a site to begin experiments to prove Manheim's theories of time. They start the experiments two years later on Vandor II. Second, the parasite invasion of the Federation begins during the first year of the fifth (Galaxy Class) Enterprise. CONCLUSION: I was surprised at the number of quotes that we were able to fit into the timeline. Another reason that I worked on this project was to see just how badly ST continuity was on the historical level. I was anticipating that 20 to 40% of the historical references would be unusable. Instead only about 8% were not usable. At the time of this writing I have watched all of TAS and movies for historical references. I have watched about 15 TOS episodes (ones that I remember having particularly important references), and about half of TNG episodes. Even though there is still quite alot left I would say that the above timeline is very close to complete. There will be a few references that will add some details (for example, the dates of the disappearances of the USS Horizon and the USS Valiant have yet to be added). It should also be noted that future historical references in TNG could severely alter the timeline. Finally, I would like to state that I agree with Gene Roddenberry's attitude of throwing out continuity for a good story. However, I don't believe that any of the episodes, that had historical references, would have suffered in quality if dates mentioned had been changed by a few years or centuries to fit better into an established timeline. REFERENCE CODES: TOS:The Original Series TMP: The Motion Picture TMPn: The Motion Picture (novelization) WNMHGB: Where No Man Has Gone Before TWOK: The Wrath Of Khan WALGMO: What Are Little Girls Made Of? TSFS: The Search For Spock BOT: Balance of Terror TVH: The Voyage Home TM: The Menagerie SS: Space Seed TAS:The Animated Series Mt: Metamorphosis TDY: The Deadly Years Yy: Yesteryear TSC: The Savage Curtain TLS: The Laureli Signal TSW: The Slaver Weapon TNG:The Next Generation Ji: Jihad TTI: The Terratin Incident EAFP: Encounter At Farpoint Al: Albatross COA: Coming Of Age TS: The Survivor Sy: Symbiosis TPOO: The Pirates Of Orion WAHP: We'll Always Have Paris TIV: The Infinite Vulcan Star Trek Timeline December 16, 1988 Page 10 Co: Conspiracy TCCI: The Counter Clock Incident NZ: The Neutral Zone TMOST: The Making Of Star Trek