Also of note, the starboard side of the OL has a ramp that leads directly to the bridge, the Port side does not. Both sides also have curving ramps that apparently lead down to the lower part of deck one (your head would be about level with Data's ankles and you would be walking along side the bridge I think) where you can grab a turbo lift. There is also something noted that could either be stairs to deck two or part of the latching mechanism, I can't tell.

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"A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx

Aban's Illustration www.thespeakeasy.com/alanfore

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-If you ask me, I think continuity is highly overrated...
*Brannon Braga*

Whence do I derive such an outlandish theory, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. Observe this graphic:

Now, we know the main shuttlebay is on deck 4 (the purple line in the picture). Counting up from here, the bridge is deck 1, which is good. We also know the battle bridge to be located on deck 8 (green line). Counting down from here, Ten Forward (deck ten, blue line) is on the lower rim of the saucer. This is also good. However, if we count the decks between 4 and 8, we find four. These would be deck 5, deck 6, deck 7, and... what? Obviously, the extra deck is one of these four between 4 and 8.

Now, to see why I've placed it between 6 and 7, feast your eyes upon this:

Now, for those of you who have the E-D blueprints, you can also refer to them for this part. If you haven't got them, I'm afraid you'll have to take my word for some of this.

The escape pods that I've colored green (a selection as an example; this also applies to the others on that deck) are on deck 6. This is verified by the blueprints. The curved green line represents the outer edge of deck 6. Now, normally, one would expect the next deck down to be deck 7. However, the escape pods which I have colored red, according to the blueprints, are not on deck 7. In fact, they do not show up at all on any deck. One might attribute this to another blueprints error. However, there is more. If we assume that the blueprints are correct and deck 7 is not immeditely below deck 6, we can guess that it is, in fact, two decks below deck 6. This is where it would be placed if we counted up from deck 8 (see the first picture). In the top half of the saucer, the decks get progressively larger as one descends, yes? Therefore, deck 6 is one size, the deck below it is larger, and the next deck down is even larger than that. Now, if we go back to the blueprints and measure decks 6 and 7 (making sure they're in scale by measuring the computer cores and such), we find that deck 7 is not a bit larger than deck 6: it's much larger. Larger enough, in fact, that it corresponds to the blue curve I've drawn in the second picture.

Therefore, by locating the shutttlebay and battle bridge, we have evidence that the extra deck is between 4 and 8. Further, through the escape pods and the deck sizes, we have two pieces of evidence which suggest that the missing deck is between 6 and 7. While they may not have intended an extra deck there, there is plenty of evidence which all agrees that it is there, and apparently nothing to refute it. Quod erat demonstrandum.

TSN: I noticed a couple of problems with your commentary-

1)You say that ten forward is in the right place when counting down from the battle bridge, but it's not. The cutaway you used is the same as the one from the TNGTM p.11 and that shows that 10 forward would actually be on deck 11 if it's the bottom half of the rim.

2)The "lifeboats" that you marked in red, and can't find, aren't and never were lifeboats in the first place. Refer to Screen 1 of the Blueprints and you'll see my point.

It seems to me that either deck 8 or 9 has the two rows of windows. If I had to call it, I would say deck 8 is the culprit. I've mentioned this problem to Rick Sternbach (at his newsgroup forum) but he pretended that everything was as it should ie. he was completely unhelpful .

Also, I'm not sure what you're saying about the cutaway. I scanned that from the MSD in the encyclopedia. The battle bridge is on the deck that I drew the blue line on. Therefore, that is deck 8. The bottom rim of the saucer is two decks below that, hence, deck 10. This, of course, agrees w/ the blueprints (look at the escape pods on deck 10, and look at the underside of the saucer rim).

As for counting upward from deck 25... I don't remember whether I did that or not. I originally came up w/ this a while ago. I'll try it when I get a chance and see what happens...

Perhaps one of the designers liked deck 9 so much he included an extra one?

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"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
--Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
Come Hither and Yawn...

I was wrong what I said about the MSD. I assumed it was the same as the TNGTM cutaway. I now realise that there's three differing cutaways that disagree with eachother-

1)MSD - This shows the battle bridge to be on deck 9 and the lower rim to be deck 11.

2)TNGTM p.11 "Section at Centreline" - This shows the battle bridge to be on deck 8 and the lower rim to be deck 11.

3)Blueprints screen 4 "Starboard Cutaway View" - This shows the battle bridge to be on deck 8 and the lower rim to be deck 10.

Out of these only the MSD could be considered canon since it's been seen on the show.

Unfortunately we have a paradox on our hands.