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Relics (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Relics" is the 130th episode of the science fiction
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
and the fourth episode of the sixth season.
starship
USS Enterprise-D
crew discovers the former Chief Engineer
of the Constitution class starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701
, Montgomery Scott
(James Doohan
), alive in a transporter
buffer.
to discover a nearby Dyson sphere
. They trace the distress call to the USS Jenolen, a Federation transport ship that has been reported missing for 75 years, and which has crashed intact on the sphere's outer hull. Riker
, La Forge
and Worf
transport to the Jenolen while the Enterprise investigates the sphere. La Forge discovers that the Jenolens transporter has been jury-rigged to sustain two life signals within its pattern buffer indefinitely, though one has degraded too far to be recovered. La Forge reverses the process and restores the remaining life form, which turns out to be former Starfleet officer Captain Montgomery Scott
.
Scott explains during a check up of his health aboard the Enterprise that he was only a passenger aboard the Jenolen as he was en route to a colony to retire, but when the ship was caught in the Dyson sphere's gravity field, only he and one other officer survived the crash, and Scott had rigged the transporter to try to keep them "alive" until a rescue vessel could arrive. After being cleared by Dr. Crusher
, Scott is eager to see the advances in technology including a tour of the Engineering deck, but quickly finds that his old knowledge has long been surpassed and his efforts to help are instead getting in the way of normal operations. Ordered to leave Engineering by La Forge, Scott heads to Ten Forward, and is upset to learn that alcohol is no longer served on Starfleet ships. Having tasted synthetic alcohol; Scotty voices his distaste. Data
offers a potent beverage from Guinan's private stock to Scott, which Data can only describe as being "green". With the bottle in hand, Scott uses one of the Enterprises holodeck
s to recreate the bridge of his old ship, the Enterprise, to try to relive his past. Captain Picard locates Scotty in the holodeck and the two share stories about their love of there former ships. Picard offers to help Scotty in becoming adjusted to the 24th century and tries to console him, to which Scott declares himself a relic of the past.
The next day, in continuing the survey of the Dyson sphere, Picard suggests to La Forge to enlist Scott's help to recover existing survey data from the older Jenolen systems, technology at which Scott is adept. The two return to the Jenolen and begin to recover its memory core with Scott's help. The Enterprise discovers a port on the side of the Dyson sphere, but when they try to communicate with the systems, the ship is pulled into the Dyson sphere by automated controls which temporarily disables their systems. Though they are able to recover control before the ship impacts with the star inside the sphere, they find the star is unstable and emitting large amounts of radiation which will be lethal to the crew, and surmise that the sphere was long abandoned by its creators due to this. The Enterprise quickly realizes the only exit from the interior of the sphere is the port they used but cannot figure out how to open it from this side. When La Forge tries to make contact with the Enterprise, he discovers it missing, and works with Scott to make the Jenolen flight-worthy. They discover the same port the Enterprise found and surmise the Enterprise is trapped inside. Gordi takes the bridge at Scotty's urging to spite Scotty being a Captain by rank as Scotty is "an engineer and never wanted to be anything else" La Forge and Scott manage to open the port without being pulled in and then wedge the Jenolen in the open port, using its shields to keep it open while the Enterprise escapes, rescuing the two engineers from the Jenolen just before destroying it with photon torpedoes.
As the Enterprise returns to its mission, the crew of the ship give Scott his very own shuttlecraft "on extended loan" to either continue to his retirement or to explore the galaxy. Scott thanks the crew and reminds La Forge to make the most of his time as the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise before he departs.
's novelization of the episode, he expands upon the holodeck scene, recreating the The Original Series bridge crew from their youthful heyday. He also adds some backstory to Scotty's trip on the transport ship, including interaction between Scotty and Franklin, the crew member who is also stuck in the transporter, prior to the crash into the Dyson Sphere.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
and the fourth episode of the sixth season.
Overview
In this episode, while investigating the 75 year-old wreck of a Federation transport vessel, the StarfleetStarfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS Enterprise-D
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
crew discovers the former Chief Engineer
Chief Engineer
In marine transportation, the chief engineer is a licensed mariner in charge of the engineering department on a merchant vessel. "Chief engineer" is the official title of someone qualified to oversee the entire engine department; the qualification is colloquially called a "chief's...
of the Constitution class starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
, Montgomery Scott
Montgomery Scott
Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is a Scottish engineer in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous...
(James Doohan
James Doohan
James Montgomery "Jimmy" Doohan was a Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek...
), alive in a transporter
Transporter (Star Trek)
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern , then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter...
buffer.
Plot
The USS Enterprise-D, responding to a distress call, drops out of warpWarp drive (Star Trek)
Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...
to discover a nearby Dyson sphere
Dyson sphere
A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure originally described by Freeman Dyson. Such a "sphere" would be a system of orbiting solar power satellites meant to completely encompass a star and capture most or all of its energy output...
. They trace the distress call to the USS Jenolen, a Federation transport ship that has been reported missing for 75 years, and which has crashed intact on the sphere's outer hull. Riker
William Riker
William Thomas Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe primarily appearing as a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation...
, La Forge
Geordi La Forge
Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge is a regular character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its feature films, played by LeVar Burton...
and Worf
Worf
Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a main character in Star Trek: The Next Generation and in seasons four to seven of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appears in the films based on The Next Generation. Worf is the first Klingon main character to appear in Star Trek, and has appeared in more Star...
transport to the Jenolen while the Enterprise investigates the sphere. La Forge discovers that the Jenolens transporter has been jury-rigged to sustain two life signals within its pattern buffer indefinitely, though one has degraded too far to be recovered. La Forge reverses the process and restores the remaining life form, which turns out to be former Starfleet officer Captain Montgomery Scott
Montgomery Scott
Montgomery "Scotty" Scott is a Scottish engineer in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous...
.
Scott explains during a check up of his health aboard the Enterprise that he was only a passenger aboard the Jenolen as he was en route to a colony to retire, but when the ship was caught in the Dyson sphere's gravity field, only he and one other officer survived the crash, and Scott had rigged the transporter to try to keep them "alive" until a rescue vessel could arrive. After being cleared by Dr. Crusher
Beverly Crusher
Commander Beverly Crusher, M.D. , played by actress Gates McFadden, is a fictional character on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its subsequent spinoff films...
, Scott is eager to see the advances in technology including a tour of the Engineering deck, but quickly finds that his old knowledge has long been surpassed and his efforts to help are instead getting in the way of normal operations. Ordered to leave Engineering by La Forge, Scott heads to Ten Forward, and is upset to learn that alcohol is no longer served on Starfleet ships. Having tasted synthetic alcohol; Scotty voices his distaste. Data
Data (Star Trek)
Lieutenant Commander Data is a character in the fictional Star Trek universe portrayed by actor Brent Spiner. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek...
offers a potent beverage from Guinan's private stock to Scott, which Data can only describe as being "green". With the bottle in hand, Scott uses one of the Enterprises holodeck
Holodeck
A holodeck, in the fictional Star Trek universe, is a simulated reality facility located on starships and starbases. The first use of a "holodeck" by that name in the Star Trek universe was in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Encounter at Farpoint", although a conceptually...
s to recreate the bridge of his old ship, the Enterprise, to try to relive his past. Captain Picard locates Scotty in the holodeck and the two share stories about their love of there former ships. Picard offers to help Scotty in becoming adjusted to the 24th century and tries to console him, to which Scott declares himself a relic of the past.
The next day, in continuing the survey of the Dyson sphere, Picard suggests to La Forge to enlist Scott's help to recover existing survey data from the older Jenolen systems, technology at which Scott is adept. The two return to the Jenolen and begin to recover its memory core with Scott's help. The Enterprise discovers a port on the side of the Dyson sphere, but when they try to communicate with the systems, the ship is pulled into the Dyson sphere by automated controls which temporarily disables their systems. Though they are able to recover control before the ship impacts with the star inside the sphere, they find the star is unstable and emitting large amounts of radiation which will be lethal to the crew, and surmise that the sphere was long abandoned by its creators due to this. The Enterprise quickly realizes the only exit from the interior of the sphere is the port they used but cannot figure out how to open it from this side. When La Forge tries to make contact with the Enterprise, he discovers it missing, and works with Scott to make the Jenolen flight-worthy. They discover the same port the Enterprise found and surmise the Enterprise is trapped inside. Gordi takes the bridge at Scotty's urging to spite Scotty being a Captain by rank as Scotty is "an engineer and never wanted to be anything else" La Forge and Scott manage to open the port without being pulled in and then wedge the Jenolen in the open port, using its shields to keep it open while the Enterprise escapes, rescuing the two engineers from the Jenolen just before destroying it with photon torpedoes.
As the Enterprise returns to its mission, the crew of the ship give Scott his very own shuttlecraft "on extended loan" to either continue to his retirement or to explore the galaxy. Scott thanks the crew and reminds La Forge to make the most of his time as the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise before he departs.
Production
- The original bridge set had been destroyed decades before this episode, so the production staff re-created the bridge by building a single station from the bridge and the turbolift alcove, and combining it with a fan-made center console and captain's chair. The wide shot of the entire bridge was taken from the Star Trek episode "This Side of Paradise", after nearly the entire crew had beamed off the ship.
- When Scotty is rematerialized aboard the Jenolen, the sound and visual effects from the original series are used, not the teleportation effect usually used in the "Star Trek" film series, specifically, the blue "slash" pattern first seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanStar Trek II: The Wrath of KhanStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T...
.
Novelization
In author Michael Jan FriedmanMichael Jan Friedman
Michael Jan Friedman is an author of nearly sixty books of fiction and nonfiction, more than half of which are in the Star Trek universe. Ten of his titles have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list...
's novelization of the episode, he expands upon the holodeck scene, recreating the The Original Series bridge crew from their youthful heyday. He also adds some backstory to Scotty's trip on the transport ship, including interaction between Scotty and Franklin, the crew member who is also stuck in the transporter, prior to the crash into the Dyson Sphere.