Flare Sci-Fi Forums: File, TALOS IV, "The Menagerie", Part 1; Four questions

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Posted by colin (Member # 217) on :

"For eyes of STARFLEET Command Only

Subject: TALOS IV in third quadrant of vernal galaxy.

Known facts: Detailed information cross referenced with 3XY phagrin-level mass computer.

The only Earthship that ever visited planet TALOS IV was the USS Enterprise commanded by Captain Christopher Pike with half-Vulcan science officer Spock.

Recommendations: Be hereby noted that the following instructions be incorporated into STARFLEET policy

NO SHIP WILL EVER VISIT TALOS IV

The following officers have visited TALOS IV and recommended that no human should ever visit it again

Captain Christopher Pike
Half-Vulcan Science Officer Spock

STARFLEET COMMAND
BY ORDER OF
Robert L. Conrad
Commanding Officer"

First page of the file.

My questions
1. What is a vernal galaxy?
2. What is a phagrin?
3. Is there bigotry in the document when Spock is described as "...half-Vulcan Science Officer..."?
4 What is the rank of Robert L. Conrad?

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takeoffs are optional; landings are mandatory

Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :

My question is what is this document? Was this read verbatim in the show or was it posted somewhere or what?

Regarding question 1: "Vernal" refers to spring, as in "vernal equinox," when the lengths of the day and night become equal in the spring. It also means "youthful." How it relates to the galaxy, I don't know.
Question 3: It's racist. No question about it.

Whenever anyone mentions "half-" something, I always think of Woody Allen, who referred to a character in an essay as being "half-Mexican, half-nonfat dry milk."

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

I'd argue that defining Spock as half-Vulcan is anything but racist. It is an essential fact central to the subject of the document. After all, the whole document (whencever it comes from - I certainly have never heard of it before) seems to state that it is dangerous and thus forbidden for HUMANS to visit Talos IV. The quarantine is species-specific, presumably because of the species-specific abilities and machinations of the feared Talosians. (Talosians claimed they had abandoned humans as a potential slave race, but if I were this Bob Conrad, I wouldn't believe them. They had a menagerie full of species, and none of those seemed to meet their needs. The humans initially seemed to. Surely the evil Talosians would pursue to the fullest an effort to enslave humans despite their violent craving for freedom. All they needed was more test subjects... So one shouldn't give those to them!)

It is vital information to know that Spock was not entirely human, nor entirely Vulcan. Being a touch telepath, a partial Vulcan would be eminently qualified to judge the telepathic capabilities of the Talosians. Being part human, he would also have some information on how the telepathic manipulation affects the said species. Calling Spock half-Vulcan in this context serves to reinforce his authority on the matter, regardless of whether this Bob Conrad character intended it as a racist slur or not.

Would this document be what was inside the folder we saw in "The Menagerie" (the one that first canoncially confirmed the spelling of Starfleet as a single word)? I thought we never saw the contents of that folder. There's nothing to say somebody couldn't have written this text to be inside the folder, tho. Were the contents perhaps filmed but cut for syndication? I.e. does the original aired version show this document?

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by colin (Member # 217) on :

I saw this document in the episode after the file is opened. DVD, Chapter 2, approximate nine minutes in. Quoted word for word.

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takeoffs are optional; landings are mandatory

[This message has been edited by targetemployee (edited April 06, 2000).]

Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

An interesting piece of paper, definitely!

Since it's not stated what Bobby Conrad is the commanding officer of, I guess we must assume he commanded Starfleet Command. Would this mean he held the same position as "Commander of Starfleet" Admiral Morrow in STIII? Or would "Commander of SFC" be separate from "Commander of SF"?

Perhaps "C of SFC" is an adminstrator in charge of SFC itself and its headquarters affairs, but not of the entire organization that is in turn commanded by SFC?

Conrad would have had to hold flag rank for any of the above positions to make sense...

Do you know of any fanfic (novels, RPGs) that would have used an admiral Conrad?

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :

Since "quadrant" obviously refers to the horiziontal plane, "Vernal" probably denotes either the northern or the southern hemisphere of the galaxy, depending on which hemisphere of Earth "vernal" (equinox) refers to. A very crude galactic coordinate, since the slope between Earth's equator and the galactic equator is considerable.

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"Species 5618, human. Warp-capable, origin grid 325, physiology inefficient, below average cranium capacity, minimum redundant systems, limited regenerative abilities."
Ex Astris Scientia

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

Does this we can some how refer this back to the alpha,beta,gamma,delta quadrant system to place Talos?

Andrew

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"Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love." - Stand Inside Your Love, The Smashing Pumpkins

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Probably not. That system wasn't really around until TNG. This probably refers to the TOS "quadrant", which was a much smaller unit of space.

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"Good. I'll look forward to your report, Mr. Broccoli."
-Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, TNG: "Hollow Pursuits"

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

They could have called the four quadrants by some other name!?! Alpha could be Vernal, Beta could be something else... or yes, they could just be quadrants of something else...

Andrew

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"Who wouldn't be the one you love
Who wouldn't stand inside your love." - Stand Inside Your Love, The Smashing Pumpkins

Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :

But why is the big deal placed on Spock anyway? In the Cage, he was hardly more important than say, Number One. Why single him out? (Apart from him still beign on the show, obviously.)

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"Sometimes I wish the planet would be scoured with cleansing fire. Other times I just wish Frank would be."
Sol System

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

Well, I've never seen either "The Cage" or "The Menagerie", but I understand that more people than just Pike and Spock went down to the planet. However, since it's already been suggested that Spock's being half-human was important, is it possible that the others were not actually human? We know there are plenty of races in TOS who look human, but aren't. Maybe that's why Number One didn't have a real name. She was actually from some other species, and her real name was unpronounceable.

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"Compared to you, every male on this ship is an expert on women!"
-Geordi LaForge to Wesley Crusher, TNG: "Sarek"

Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :

I think that at that early stage of Trek, any aliens would have clearly been identified as aliens. As far as I know, no one has suggested there were any non-fully-human crewman other than spock in The Cage". In fact, are there any other non-humans in Starfleet in TOS (other than that ship full of Vulcans that blew up)?

I can't explain why the directive mentions only humans since Spock, non-human though he was, was still susceptible to the Talosians' jedi mind trick. Perhaps it was only a matter of preventing the Talosians from getting human breeding stock, but other races could have also been captured and examined for suitability. So, while humans might have been in particular danger, all races would have been in some danger too. Maybe Spock wasn't taken because there was anyone genetically similar to be his mate.

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum