dr37@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Joanna Bryson) (12/06/85)
The problem I noticed when I first saw The Wrath (notice I didn't say TWOK :-) was that the nuetral zone was pictured as spherical in the graphic display. I've never been one for memorizing sectors, but my understanding of the configuration of Klingon and Romulan space made me think this was more Romulanesk. I seem to recall that the Romulans all live in just one or two star systems, the one circling Romulas and possibly Remus. (As named by the Roman astrologers, I've forgotten the constellations...) So a neutral zone around them could logically be spherical, and entirely contained within Federation space. The Klingons, on the other hand, seem to have a pretty vast empire from which we keep hearing reports of atrocities during their conquests. So I would assume that the Klingon neutral zone, even if it exists, would be some kind of open figure, bordering on the top and bottom of the gallaxy, at an edge somewhere near our arm, and becoming hazily defined as we leave known space, probably towards the center of the galaxy. Since the Enterprise frequently explores "where no man has gone before" this would explain the frequent contacts with Klingons which don't seem in treaty violation...the bench marks aren't well enough defined that far out. At any rate, it would seem extremely unlikely that the Klingon Empire could be contained by anything like a sphere. Joanna
ins_bbdg@jhunix.UUCP (Bruce Dani Goldstein) (12/07/85)
> I seem to recall that the Romulans all live in just one or two > star systems, the one circling Romulas and possibly Remus. (As named by the > Roman astrologers, I've forgotten the constellations...) So a neutral zone > around them could logically be spherical, and entirely contained within > Federation space. In the episode, Balance of Terror, the navigator (I forget the name) tells Kirk that his father was in the Fed/Romulan war. This was a particularly bloody war. I find it hard to believe that two star systems (which had not developed faster-than-light travel before they met the Klingons) could effectively keep at bay--if not defeat--a collection of united and organized planets. Furthermore, in Balance, Kirk puts on the screen a picture of the Fed-Romulan border, which is far from spherical, and is guarded by no fewer than eight outposts. I will not argue with your description of the neutral zone on Wrath of Khan, since I have not seen it in a while. However, I can not accept the fact that Star Fleet would dispatch their single most powerful starship to guard two star systems, while the Klingons loom in the distance. -- BITNET: ins_bbdg@jhunix UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!aplcen!jhunix!ins_bbdg CSNET: ins_bbdg@jhunix.csnet ARPA: ins_bbdg%jhunix@hopkins.ARPA