Skip to main content

star trek - ST: First Contact: how did the crew get back to the future having destroyed the main deflector?


In the film First Contact, when in the past, the Borg from the future try to contact the Borg in the past's time period by building a transmitter out of the particle emitter on the main deflector dish. The particle emitter is detached from the deflector dish by Worf, Picard and Lieutenant Sean Hawk, and then blown up, to stop the Borg transmitting their message.



Now, fast forward to the end of the film - the crew of the Enterprise have to get back to the future, so Picard instructs whoever it is on the bridge to emit a reproduction of the inverse tachion pulse that opened the temporal vortex that the Borg sphere & the Enterprise went through to get back to the past at the near-beginning of the film.


My question is: With the particle emitter on the main deflector dish destroyed, how exactly did they emit this pulse? Do they carry spare particle emitters on board (doubtful - it's a pretty large piece of equipment to carry spares for), or did they construct a new one somehow? Or do they have a secondary deflector dish powerful enough to do the job? Or is it just a gaping plot hole?...



Answer



I realize there's an accepted answer to this -- but the dialog in the last moments of the movie contains an answer to this which is apparently being overlooked.


They don't need the deflector dish; they modify the warp field to generate the chronometric particles.



PICARD: Report.


WORF: The moon's gravitational field obscured our warp signature. The Vulcans did not detect us.


LAFORGE: Captain, I've reconfigured our warp field to match the chronometric readings of the Borg sphere.


PICARD: Recreate the vortex, Commander.



LAFORGE: Aye sir.


RIKER: All decks report ready.


DATA: Helm standing by.


PICARD: Mister Data, lay in a course for the twenty-fourth century. I suspect our future is there waiting for us.


DATA (OC): Course laid in, sir.


PICARD: Make it so.



Typically the deflector dish is the "Do Impossible Stuff" fixture on the ship, but in this instance they don't claim to even need it.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...

tolkiens legendarium - Did Gandalf wear his Ring of Power throughout the trilogy?

After Gandalf discovered that Sauron was back and sent Frodo on his quest to Rivendell, did he continue to wear Narya (one of the Three Rings)? It seems like a huge risk to continue to wear it after the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) started to try and reclaim the One Ring; if they managed to get the ring to Sauron, couldn't he be corrupted by his power? Whatever powers Narya bestows upon him couldn't possibly be worth the huge risk, could it? Answer When Sauron forged the one ring and put it on his finger, the other ring bearers were immediately aware of him and his intentions and removed their own rings. There is no reason why they couldn't merely do so again. As soon as Sauron set the One Ring upon his finger they were aware of him; and they knew him, and preceived that he would be master of them, and of all they wrought. Then in anger and fear they took off their rings. "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," Silmarillion