A few months ago, I said that it was going to be a really great year to be a Trekkie. At the time, I couldn't say exactly why, but I think I can safely leak some details now.
First and foremost in my mind is the release this Fall of the Really Super-Awesome Trust Us You Totally Need To Have This One Even If You’ve Already Bought All The Other Ones DVD set, which includes two different documentaries. One of them I probably can't talk about, and the other one you already know about.
I have heard from the producers of the documentary that when they showed a rough cut to the suits at Paramount, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I'm told that they were "blown away" and got "vastly more than we ever expected" from us. Anyone who has watched Trek for any amount of time knows that things that make Paramount happy and things that make fans happy don't always overlap, but in this case, I think fans are going to love what we did.
There's also Gene Roddenberry's induction into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame this weekend, which means a great deal to me personally, not just because I get to present his award, but because it is an affirmation of Star Trek's importance to Science Fiction and Gene's contributions to society. This award honors Gene's legacy, which all of us are a part of; not just those of us who helped create the shows, but also those of us who watched them regularly, and especially the fans who won a third season for the original series and then kept Star Trek alive from its cancellation in 1969 to the first movie's release in 1979.
There's the Big Honkin' Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas this August, where we'll celebrate twenty years of The Next Generation, and I'll have a brand spanking new book to share with everyone. I think this could be the biggest party we've ever had for TNG, and I'm pretty sure we'll close down Quark's Bar at least once.
Finally, George Takei and I are hosting a really cool contest that I think Trekkies will just love. It's Star Trek: Kirk vs. Picard:
A shift in time. A series of cataclysmic events and the chance of a lifetime — Kirk and Picard face-to-face. But instead of standing together, the two captains land on opposite sides of a struggle. Kirk, a fierce man of action. Picard, calm and calculating. Who will win? That's for YOU to decide.
George Takei and Wil Wheaton have prepared an introduction video that explains the event and four possible story ideas. Watch the video then cast your vote for your favorite scenario and a chance to win some great Early Recruit prizes. Once the storyline has been chosen, we'll begin the writing rounds with the first "Scene Mission" posted by our Mission Director Andre Bormanis.
Two Captains. Four storylines. One Vote. You have until June 19th to make it so.
The contest is unique and set up to be a lot of fun for fans, and I think we're going to do some cool things with it before the whole thing is wrapped up.
I've referred to Ron Moore's sentiment that "Star Trek belongs to the fans again" so many times, I think I'll have to start sending him shiny gold rocks pretty soon, but I refer to it so often because it's so true. Star Trek fans kept Star Trek alive via conventions and parties and fan fiction for a decade after the original series was canceled, and are directly responsible for the movies and The Next Generation; in fact, this blog wouldn't exist if not for the butterfly effect of that first convention in the early 70s. This is the first year that I think we'll really get to see what Trekkies do with Star Trek now that it's back in their hands, and I'm confident that we're all going to have a hell of a lot of fun with it.
If you're thinking of participating in the contest, you may want to keep a bookmark to the Treknobabble generator handy, so you can write things like this:
Waves of electroplasmatic energy coruscated across the panel, knocking Ensign Arbee to the floor.
The ship's computer automatically went to red alert and called a medical team to engineering.
Wesley looked up from his science project. "The core processing confinement field is unstable, Commander!"
"No kidding," Geordi thought, as he furiously entered commands at his station. "Remodulate the frequency of the neutrino flow, and reconfigure the strength of the distortion field."
The commands were entered before Geordi was finished giving them. "Duh," Wesley thought. "Adults."
Though he was over twenty decks away on the bridge, Picard felt the danger to his crew. If the containment field failed completely, his ship and crew would be blasted into the vacuum of space before he could safely separate the saucer section. He turned to Riker.
"Make preparations for a full evacuation."
Riker jammed his hand onto his panel. He mustered all his training to keep the fear out of his voice, lest it infect the crew and their families. The last thing they needed now was full-blown panic. "Attention, this is the first officer: all non-engineering personnel report to evacuation stations in the saucer section. This is not a drill."
"Mr. Data, send a mayday to Starfleet command, priority one." Picard said.
If Data could feel gratitude, he would have been grateful he couldn't feel fear. Fortunately for all hands aboard, he could understand them both, and acted quickly.
"Aye sir," he said. "Starfleet command, this is Enterprise, sending a priority one mayday. We have a catastrophic failure of the primary warp containment field, and request diversion of all available ships for emergency crew evacuation. Our location is in quadrant . . ."
Picard hit his communicator. "Geordi, what is your status?"
"We've run the Probert Compensators on the temporal processing array. It's slowed the breach but it's failed to stop it. We're attempting to synchronize the hyperdrive now, sir."
"Make it so, Mr. LaForge."
Wesley jumped up from his desk. "Geordi! No! Synchronizing the configuration of the hyperdrive will randomize the polarity of the temporal transceiver!"
It was too late. The commands had been readied by the computer's emergency response system, and Geordi activated them with one key entry. The computer engaged the configuration synchronization sequence, and the Cochrane processing array was recalibrated before Geordi could curse the mistake.
A blinding flash accompanied a shockwave that seemed to originate from every point in the universe. Through his VISOR, Geordi saw every spectrum imaginable blur together and tear itself apart. Then, it was all gone.
He didn't know how much time had passed; it could have been minutes or days. Picard picked himself up off the floor, opened his eyes and looked around the bridge. His crew appeared safe and his ship appeared intact, but on the main viewer, a vaguely familiar ship appeared.
"Sir," Worf said, "We are being hailed . . . by Captain James T. Kirk of the Enterprise."
Wow. That was supposed to be three silly lines of treknobabble parody, and it kind of got away from me because it was so much fun to write. Now aren't you glad I'm ineligible to participate in the contest? I know I am; I am having serious flashbacks.
Yeah, it's going to be a good year to be a Trekkie.
