sign in sign up
<<
Home , Apocalypse Rising, Captive Pursuit, Empok Nor, Image in the Sand, Improbable Cause, Ira Steven Behr

15 15 

15 Publication of the U.S.S. Chesapeake and Science-Fiction Club February/March, 2008 New Voyages/Phase II carries on legacy of Star Trek Even though the Star Trek feature film about his experience on the set of the new Star continues production, most of the franchise Trek film. news is centered on the independent film group “It started because Marc Zicree, who di- James Cawley por- trays Captain Kirk in previously known as Star Trek: New Voyages. rected ‘World Enough and Time,’ was friends Star Trek: Phase II. The group recently changed its name to with J.J. Abrams,” Cawley said. “Marc told Star Trek: Phase II, a reference to what could him, ‘I’m doing this Star Trek thing,’ and J.J. have been a continuation of Classic Trek after was very interested because he had just taken the show’s initial three-year run. the job to do the new feature film. Marc said, When the episode “World Enough and ‘You really should take a look at James. Maybe Time” was recently nominated for a Nebula there’s something in the picture you could put Award, a controversy erupted over the group’s him in. That would be really cool.’ I thanked official status. Some consider them to be a Marc but never expected anything. Then I got “professional” filmmaking set-up. a call for an audition. I auditioned in New However, James Cawley, who plays Cap- York. They videotaped it and sent it out.” tain Kirk and serves as the Phase II leader, said Cawley, who never auditioned for the role that: “Legally, we are a fan-based production. of Kirk in the new film, never heard anything We exist solely because we maintain our ama- else about it until he happened to be called out teur status and good faith relationship with to meet with Paramount about Phase II and Paramount CBS. Contrary to anything stated happened to be on the set talking with a friend anywhere else, we have not sold tickets for any who had been a stuntwoman on Voyager. public exhibition of any of our episodes nor “J.J. came out on lunch break and recog- have we authorized anyone else to do so.” nized me,” said Cawley. “He knew who I was Cawley stated that some actors in good and said, ‘What are you doing here?’ I told standing with the Screen Actors Guild have him I was there for this other meeting, and been paid in the past, but it was with the un- he said, ‘When you’re done, you’re my guest; derstanding that they are a “fan production.” please come down.’ I ended up being a glori- Cawley felt that for the episode to be consid- fied extra in the movie, which was more than ered for a Nebula, the rules should be relaxed. enough for me. Even if they cut me out of the During an interview with trektoday.com at film, I’m satisfied because I’ve met J.J., and I In this issue: the recent Farpoint convention, Cawley talked got a sense of what he was trying to do.” Art Credits 3 Captain’s Log 2 Coming Events 6 “March” to the next club meeting in Maryland Meeting Minutes Insert front & back The next meeting of the U.S.S. Chesapeake We’ll discuss what fellow club members Reflections 4 Star Trek and Science-Fiction Club will be have been up to, talk about the upcoming Science Trek 3 held on Saturday, March 15, at the Potomac, Shore Leave convention as well as hear and Wayne’s Worlds 5 Maryland, home of Chief Operations Officer discuss the latest news about Star Trek and Phasers on Fun 6 Ann Harding. other sci-fi television shows and feature films. We’ll get together for dinner around 5:00 Need directions for this month’s club p.m., followed by our club meeting, which will meeting? Check out a previous edition of the start no later than 7:00 p.m. Insert. Volume 17, Issue 2 CAPTAIN’S LOG: “The Space Between” Let me start this column by explaining my title like that before?) jumped back to the start absence from the January newsletter. of the second season, as Wesley tried to get On Christmas (of all days) as I was driv- over the departure of his mother to ing back to D.C. to work the next three days, Medical by trying to befriend teenagers on a my stomach and abdomen began feeling like paradise planet—with a deadly secret. someone was pressing on them with his or her The final issue was called “An Inconve- hand. The pressure (and eventually pain) got nient Truth.” In it, Picard realized there was a worse as time went on, so I began a medical connection between the previous adventures quest to find out just what was up. and discovered that information from the En- I finally went to Washington Adventist terprise mission logs was being used to create Hospital in Takoma Park, Maryland, where deadly new weapons. they discovered tiny stones in my gall blad- Disobeying direct orders from Admiral der, which was removed after some more tests, Nechayev, the captain and his crew launched but even now, I’m not sure the whole ordeal is an all-out attack on the secret base where the over. We’ll find out in time. weapons were supposedly being kept, but the Where are Doctor McCoy’s super-duper site was destroyed too quickly, leaving only a The cover of an issue salt shakers when you really need them? few clues as to who was behind the operation. of IDW’s Star Trek: So one month late, I’m picking up where Rather than rate each issue, I’ll go over the The Next Generation mini-series. I started several issues ago, when I expressed series as a whole, which will soon be available high hopes that IDW Publishing would hit at your local comics specialty shop as a trade warp speed as the latest company to win the paperback.

Copyright 2008 rights to produce Star Trek comics. While Maloney’s art started off poor and U.S.S. Chesapeake To begin with, I’m going to review the first improved with each issue, Tischman’s writ- NCC-9102, a six-issue mini-series IDW put out. The initial ing was pretty even throughout. I particularly not-for-profit organization. offering was a 20th anniversary Star Trek: The enjoyed Picard’s archeological murder mystery All rights reserved, Next Generation celebration entitled “The and Wesley’s interaction with the teens on the including Space Between,” which was written by David farming planet, the latter because young Mis- reproducing parts of this document. Tischman and penciled by Casey Maloney. ter Crusher actually behaved like a teenager Each issue had an apparently self-con- and not a super genius. Check out our club website: www. tained story from a different season of Next However, my biggest complaint of the usschesapeake.org Gen. To start with, in the first season, Riker, series has to be the final issue. Don’t get me Yar and Data learned a “History Lesson” when wrong. There were lots of phaser fights, explo- The opinions expressed in this they beamed down to a planet where the sions and space battles, but the clues were so publication do not worldwide computer had become a bit TOO sparse that I came away not knowing who or necessarily represent efficient for the population’s own good. what was behind the six-issue series. those of the entire club. The second story, “Captain’s Pleasure,” was Was it Section 31? There were enough mys- set late in the second season as Picard went on terious figures around to make me think it could “Star Trek,” “Star Trek: The Next an archeological dig that found an incredibly be. Was it Nechayev? She seemed to know Generation,” “Star valuable treasure, only to have the members more than she was telling, but I’m not sure. Trek: Deep Space of the group begin dying one by one in this For that matter, what did the title mean? Nine,” “Star Trek: Voyager,” and “Star variation on a locked-room murder mystery. “The Space Between” what? Issues? Seasons? Trek: Enterprise,” In the third issue, “Strategy,” the Enterprise The producers’ paychecks? I’ve even searched as well as the terms D was attacked by a mysterious warship that online message boards and still don’t have a “starship” and “starship Enterprise,” used a combination of Starfleet, and clue. I love subtle writing, but there were too are registered Borg technology. many unanswered questions for this reader. trademarks of b b Paramount Pictures Part four was called “Light of the Day,” in Rating: . Corporation. which a shuttlecraft accident stranded , But fear not, comics fans. The next mini- All rights reserved. Geordi and Ro on an unexplored moon. series will take what I feared was a pedestrian Absolutely no infringement on Things got worse when the sun came up, turn- premise—viewing Classic Trek episodes from these rights is ing the nocturnal natives into reverse vamp— the ’ point of view—and give us a great intended. uh, merciless killers. story with wonderful continuity to boot! “Space Seeds” (now where have I heard a Captain Randy Hall COMSTAR, page 2 SCIENCE TREK: Science by Season IX—The Voyage Home When in the course of human events ... nature do not allow light (photons) to pass okay, forget it. I’m not feeling well enough through. However, there exists a transparent right now to connect the Declaration of Inde- alumina (corundum), which is often made pendence to whales and time travel. into gems. Perhaps in the 2130s, Dr. Nichols If you’re new to the club or just this col- “discovered” how to make transparent alumi- umn, let me give you a little background. A num based on this real-world form of alumi- long, long time ago in a column far, far away num oxide? (February 1997 to be precise), I wrote the first Time and glasses: We encounter another Science by Season column on Classic Trek (as possible temporal paradox in the film when opposed to New Trek aka The Next Genera- Captain Kirk barters the glasses Doctor Mc- tion). Every year or two since then, I’ve picked Coy gave him for some cold up the next season—or movie, as the case hard cash. Perhaps an instance may be. For those fans of SBS, don’t worry ... of a predestination paradox, there’ll be at least 32 more of these columns if which Kirk implies when Spock Star Trek XI comes out later this year. asks if the glasses were a gift Back to the subject at hand, Star Trek IV: from McCoy: “And they will be The Voyage Home. Continuing the tradition again, that’s the beauty of it.” begun in SBS VII, I present for your reading Interstellar whale songs: pleasure the good, the bad and the ugly: So we’re supposed to believe Time travel: In the Original Series epi- that whale songs travel not only sode “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” the crew of the through the dense oceans, but Enterprise used the slingshot effect to return also the vacuum of space? Well, to the 23rd century (though with a brief turn- contrary to common thought, ing back the clock as they approached the sound does travel in outer space sun ... kinda like diving your aircraft to gain because space is not empty ... enough speed to climb rapidly). it’s filled with dust and plasma. In The Voyage Home, the crew revisited Because of the low density of this method of time travel to head back three interplanetary material, the centuries or so to the “late 20th century” speed of sound in our solar (judging by the pollution content of the at- system is a few hundred miles mosphere ... amazing the Klingons had that in per second. As our esteemed their database ... or Spock was studying a lot science officer says: “Sound of obscure subjects during his rehabilitation does travel in outer space. It just doesn’t go on Vulcan). first class.” Time travel in a ‘bucket of bolts:’ Whale songs and weather patterns: So we know the Enterprise can handle time Given this speed limit on whale songs in space, travel via gravitational slingshot, but a rusty you have to wonder how long ago the Probe™ Klingon Bird-of-Prey? Like the Soviet craft of first heard whale songs and how long it took to the Original Trek’s broadcast era, the Klingon get to Earth. When it did, it rendered starships ships seem to have been built very simply and powerless, began evaporating the oceans and very durably—except, of course, the decrys- ionized the atmosphere. In the words of in- talization of the dilithium crystals. (I wonder trepid local reporter Liz Crenshaw, “Can it do if the fancy-schmancy Excelsior would have that?” (It’s science fiction; it can do anything it been able to handle the rigors of a time travel wants to!) and return mission ... I know how Scotty It’s a good thing Spock studied songs of ex- would answer.) tinct whales during his recuperation on Vulcan, ART CREDITS: startreknewvoyages.com 1 Scotty and the time cops: Speaking of though apparently he missed the vernacular of idwpublishing.com 2 our beloved Scottish engineer, I wonder if he 20th century English and Idioms of America. startrek.com 3, 4 th th fox.com 5, 6 was questioned by the Temporal Investiga- 23 Century medicine in the 20 Cen- images.google.com tions Division (if they existed at the time) tury: Pills to grow new kidneys? Brain surgery Insert front, about giving the chemical formula for trans- with a sonic screwdriver? As I’ve said before, Insert back parent aluminum to a certain Dr. Nichols amazing as these things are to us in the 20th back in 1986. Metals in general by their continued on page 6 COMSTAR, page 3 REFLECTIONS: What they left behind ... 2 (Editor’s note: Last issue, Lorenzo began a lot to move me and even more to impress his look back at DS9’s highlights, including the me. Deep Space Nine was everything you could show’s debut and the club’s first panel about the want it to be. series.) One week it could be a comedy (“Fascina- Sigh. Those were the days—the countless tion,” “Rules of Acquisition,” “,” hours on AOL on the DS9 boards weeding out “-less,” “The Magnificent ,” “Take Me the naysayers and the Next Gen zombies who Out to the Holosuite,” “Little Green Men”). claimed my show was the reason their show The next week it would give us tragedy was being canceled, battling the Babylon 5 (“Duet,” “Sacrifice of Angels,” “The Siege of evangelistas, sticking our chests and holding AR-558,” “Rocks and Shoals,” “The Sound our heads high because every week our show of Her Voice,” “Children of Time,” “Sons of delivered on exactly what we were promised— Mogh”). well-written drama. After that would come adventure (“The We also found ourselves dismissing the Jem’ Hadar,” “,” “Civil Defense,” yearly rumor that DS9 was being cancelled (J. ”Through the Looking Glass,” “Our Man M. Straczynski started that one), ignoring the Bashir,” “Shattered Mirror”). rumor that Avery Brooks was leaving (mostly Then it would bring us suspense (“Star- unfounded, but one season it was almost ship Down,” “,” “Necessary Evil,” true.), tolerating the yearly account from the “,” “Rules of Engagement,” The cast, ship and non-believers (the Next Gen zombies who fi- “The Ship,” “Armageddon Game,” “Whispers,” station from Star Trek: nally came around) who proclaimed that Deep “Tribunal,” “The Adversary”). Deep Space Nine. Space Nine was “finally” getting good, and We’d soon be treated to Shakespearean smiling with glee to those who moaned loudly storytelling (“Blood Oath,” “The Darkness and “I wish I had watched this from the begin- the Light,” “Sword of Kahless,” “By Inferno’s ning!” Light,” “In Purgatory’s Shadow,” “Facets,” “The Nostalgia, amber-tinted memories of Trek Way of the Warrior,” “Rapture,” “Sons and gone by, an homage to a simpler time—or at Daughters,” “,” “House least it seemed that way. I waited every week of ,” “Once More Unto the Breach”). with baited breath to see what was in store Of course, I can’t leave out romance (“His for my favorite residents of my favorite space Way,” “Looking for Par’Mach in All the Wrong station. I can honestly say I was never disap- Places,” “Melora,” “Second Sight,” “Chrysalis”). pointed. And yet they always managed to And they brought us pure science fiction surprise me and keep me off balance so that (“The Emissary,” “Badda-Bing Badda-Bang,” I couldn’t predict what they were doing or “Captive Pursuit,” “Change of Heart,” “Cross- where they were going. I soon got to the point over,” “”/“The Die Is Cast,” where I just relinquished the reins and went “Explorers,” “,” “In the along for the ride: no agenda, no wish list. I Pale Moonlight,” “Hard Time,” “In the Hands reconciled myself to boldly going wherever of the Prophets,” “,” “It’s they wanted to take me. Only a Paper Moon,” “One Little Ship,” “Past I have to give credit to and Tense,” “Sanctuary,” “Shadowplay,” “The Visi- , who created the show but had tor,” “Things Past,” “The Wire”). no idea what they begat or what it could be. Whew! That was supposed to be a short Yet in the end, they took total credit for every- list, and yet I felt I was holding back. thing, even the stuff they were not there for. I almost cried real tears while watching the I give big props to , who final episode. I felt as though I was losing one guided the show from the middle of the sec- of my best friends. What they left behind were ond season to its end. He was a man who saw great memories, a great ride and quite possibly the show’s potential early on, waited patiently the best Trek ever. until Piller and Berman were gone, and then However, I’m not sad at all because I have took the show to the zenith of creativity. all of the DVD box sets. I can revisit them I know I’m laying it on a little thick, but I anytime I want. am an extremely jaded individual, and it takes Conn Officer Lorenzo Heard COMSTAR, page 4 WAYNE’S WORLDS: New Amsterdam’s pilot WARNING: The following article contains the true love he was prophesied to meet must major spoilers for the premier episode of New have been on that train platform. Amsterdam. Looking through subway video at all the “I’ll take a crime drama special with a dash ladies who were there, John tries but fails to of unrequited romance, a pinch of fantasy and a single out the woman he’s looking for. (If this big slice of beefcake, please ... to go!” were taking place on Torchwood, he might also If the Fox Network were a deli, that’s how want to check out the guys there as well.) the first episode of this new show would be Playing the “Alfred the butler” role in this ordered. show by providing caustic remarks and yet If it were on CBS, it would be named Old also putting himself in danger to help John is Case. Omar, an African-American jazz club owner For the more refined among us, it could be and mystery man who has known John for titled New Amster-darn. much of his mortal life. Omar apparently has Now, don’t get me wrong—I kinda like his own set of secrets as well. the pilot of this new series. But star Nikolaj The two cops interrogate the girl’s previ- Coster-Waldau is obviously a graduate of the ous boyfriend, a rich guy who says he lost Justin Hartley/Sly Stallone school of acting interest in the dead girl and has a new love. where the character says several times each Pressed to get someone to back up his alibi, week, “Damn! I forgot my shirt again! Oh, he confesses (with his very rich father listen- well ... no one will notice ... .” ing) to being in love with a man. (See, I knew John Amsterdam is a dog-walking, alco- Torchwood would have something to do with holic, shirt-forgetting, hard-boiled, successful this eventually.) and sexually active homicide detective living in Analysis of the paint on the dead girl’s modern-day New York City. body leads John to a long-past love, who is He hasn’t gotten any older since 1642 now a senior and plagued by Alzheimer’s when he saved an American Indian girl’s life disease. John quizzes the lady about her work, as she was threatened by John’s co-settlers. In and she remembers who a certain painting was gratitude, she puts John through a ritual that sold to. However, she also remembers John, makes him immortal until he finds his one and ends up following him outside her home true love (but he can have sex with as many as he leaves, telling him that she knew he’d others as he wants). leave her the day they met. John is stunned John and his new partner Eva Marquez since he usually has thought the ladies never begin to investigate the case of a murdered picked up on that. socialite, which eventually forces them to cross During a transport from one jail to an- paths with John’s past. (Having lived in NYC other, the original suspect is allowed to escape, for 400 years, one would think that by now, and he heads straight to the rich father of the every case would do that.) girl’s old boyfriend who we learn was having a When he sees a suspect flee the scene of relationship with her since the son didn’t lean the crime, John gives chase. Just as he’s about that way any longer. The rich, older, evil, white to take Eddie Riley (who was the dead girl’s bad guy did it again!

The cast of the Fox most recent boyfriend) into custody, an appar- John continues to search for his one true series New Amsterdam. ent heart attack strikes John, and he lays seem- love, but isn’t encouraged at the prospects of ingly dead on the floor of a subway station. finding her. Only time (and some more epi- Nobody steals his wallet or anything else sodes) will tell. from John’s body (Hey, this is television, after A lot has been made about the fact that all!) before John’s carted off to the hospital the show has gone out of its way to hire actors and pronounced dead by the very woman who that the audience probably won’t recognize appeared just as John’s heart gave out. (Coin- very well. That’s a good thing, in this in- cidence? I don’t think so!) stance. They do lend a feeling that we haven’t John wakes up in the hospital morgue, seen them before, and I think more television then returns to work as if nothing happened. should go that route. He realizes this must have taken place because continued on page 6 COMSTAR, page 5 COMING EVENTS MARCH March 15 ...... The next meeting will be on Saturday, March 15, at the Potomac, Maryland, home of Chief Operations Officer Ann Harding!

SCIENCE TREK: Science by Season IX concluded Continued from page 3 (regulars and guests, TV and movies): Nyota century, it seems that at the rate we’re ad- Uhura (bridge officer, communications); Dr. vancing, we’ll be far more advanced in reality Richard Daystrom (brilliant—though later, before the 23rd century than Trek predicts we mentally ill—scientist); and the aforemen- will be. tioned, unnamed starship captain. Just some- (It’s interesting to note that McCoy once thing to think about since we just passed Black quipped that of all the organs, we know the History Month. least about the brain, and here he is 20 years later—his time—doing closed-head brain Web Notes: surgery. Of course, in Voyager’s “Lifesigns,” • http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_ the holographic Doctor mentions McCoy’s IV:_The Voyage Home: Gotta have Trek-wiki; brain tissue engrafting procedure.) • http://imdb.com/title/tt0092007/: Three words One final note: For all those who still every fan loves: Internet, movie, database; believe Voyager’s Captain Katherine Janeway • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_IV_ was Trek’s first female captain andDS9’s Avery The_Voyage_Home: Gotta have Wiki; Brooks the first black captain, watchThe • http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ Voyage Home again. You’ll see Madge Sinclair MOV/004/index.html: Might be going away, (uncredited) as the black female captain of but it’s still here and now; and the U.S.S. Saratoga. • http://www.astronomycafe.net/qadir/q1962. One final final thought: Think about html: Fine, here’s one non-Trek page. three black Trek characters from Classic Trek Second Officer Phil Margolies

WAYNE’S WORLDS: New Amsterdam’s pilot concluded Continued from page 5 ise. If John has been around for centuries and The pace of the story is somewhat slow, seen every crook and nanny of the city, it’s but that may just be I’m coming down from going to be hard to challenge him on his home watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor turf. We need to see a character struggle so we Chronicles for two hours the previous night. can identify with him. I thought things went a Probably anything will seem slow after that. little too smoothly for John—every time there My favorite quote from the episode was was a problem, he knew the solution ... except from John: “I’ve watched the world change. for the love problems, of course. Best invention: indoor plumbing. Worst Also, I don’t understand why someone who invention: the alarm clock.” is centuries old never left the NYC area, which My major “beef” with the show is all the is something I hope they explain. beefcake. Swimming in a public pool naked, For what it is worth, I thought the second even after hours, just felt really gratuitous episode was better. Amsterdam’s actions actu- A rare picture of to me. Honestly, we saw John’s bare chest ally have some consequences after all! the lead character from Fox’s New hanging out so many times that it helped me New Amsterdam airs on Fox and stars Amsterdam wearing notice a big mistake on the last viewing: the Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, a shirt. mark where he was run through by the sword Stephen Henderson and Alexie Gilmore. “Pi- early in the episode was not visible. Don’t lot” was written by Allan Loeb and Christian they hire people to keep up with these things? Taylor, and was directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Puhhh-lease, somebody give this guy a shirt! The series will air on Monday nights at 9 p.m. They don’t pay their actors very well at Fox. Rating: b b b. COMSTAR, page 6 My next concern has to do with the prem- Chief of Security Wayne Hall