andrew@alberta.UUCP (Andrew Folkins) (04/25/85)
*** PHASER THIS LINE ***
A question : In one of the animated ST episodes, I dimly remember
Kirk & co coming across a "Slaver stasis box" on a frozen planet
which contains various interesting and destructive devices
which Kirk trys to keep from the Klingons. Does anyone know
of any connection between this and Larry Niven's Slaver stasis
boxes in his Known Space series?
Something of possible interest to the WWII aircraft carrier
discussion, Saratoga was used in one of the Bikini H-bomb tests
to determine the effects of the explosion on ships. Apparently
the ship's island was bent down onto the flight deck by the force
of the {explosion, wave}. I would assume it was decommissioned
shortly thereafter.
--
Andrew Folkins ihnp4!alberta!andrew At home in the Great White North.
"Anyone who cannot handle mathematics is not truly human. At best
he is any animal who has learned to wear clothes and not make messes
in the house." - Lazarus Longokamoto@ucbvax.ARPA (Jeff Okamoto) (04/26/85)
> A question : In one of the animated ST episodes, I dimly remember > Kirk & co coming across a "Slaver stasis box" on a frozen planet > which contains various interesting and destructive devices > which Kirk trys to keep from the Klingons. Does anyone know > of any connection between this and Larry Niven's Slaver stasis > boxes in his Known Space series? *** LOCK PHASERS ON LINE-EATER *** Yes, this episode ("The Slaver Weapon") was an adaption of Larry Niven's short story "The Soft Weapon". This episode is the only one in which the Kzintis appear in the Star Trek mythos. The characters in the Star Trek episode have the following correspondences to the characters in Niven's story: Spock Nessus, a Pierson's puppeteer Sulu Jason Papondreau Uhura His wife (I don't recall her name exactly) Chuft-Captain Chuft-Captain I can still remember the picture in the Star Trek episode of what a Slaver (thrintun according to Kzanol) was supposed to look like. I didn't stop laughing until the end of the episode. "No more trouble in my body or my mind, Gonna live like a king on whatever I find, Eat all the fruit and throw away the rind, Yay brother." Jeff Okamoto ..!ucbvax!okamoto okamoto@Berkeley.ARPA
rob@osiris.UUCP (Robert St. Amant) (04/27/85)
> A question : In one of the animated ST episodes, I dimly remember > Kirk & co coming across a "Slaver stasis box" on a frozen planet > which contains various interesting and destructive devices > which Kirk trys to keep from the Klingons. Does anyone know > of any connection between this and Larry Niven's Slaver stasis > boxes in his Known Space series? > > Andrew Folkins ihnp4!alberta!andrew At home in the Great White North. That episode was a direct steal from "The Soft Weapon," in Niven's _Neutron Star_ collection. It wasn't the Klingons who wanted the Stasis Box, it was the kzinti (in the Star Trek universe, yet!) The kzinti were drawn small, angular, and cat-like, and wore human style clothing. No other characters from the story were included--puppeteers, Jinxians, or crashlanders (natives of We Made It.) For those interested, 2.5 billion years ago, a race with a kind of telepathic hypnosis ruled the galaxy. Their main tech slaves, the tnuctipun, eventually revolted. Devastating war, etc. When they all kicked off, they left stasis boxes, time capsules, around, full of interesting artifacts. The 'soft weapon' was a tnuctip spy's weapon, a complete matter to energy conversion weapon. Impressive, eh? Anyway, the good guys find it, the bad guys steal it, and you'll have to read the story to find out what happens. I think screenplays that draw on real science fiction in this way are sort of interesting. The only other example I can think of is "Arena", originally a story by Frederick Brown. One last thought: In this cartoon, they showed Kirk and co. on the planet, which had no atmosphere. Instead of putting them in space suits, each crew man was surrounded by a shimmering shield, generated by a little box on the belt. Kind of a whole body halo. I thought that was a pretty clean way of doing things. Better than the bee keeper suits the TV Trek crew had to wear in one episode.
root@trwatf.UUCP (Lord Frith) (05/06/85)
> A question : In one of the animated ST episodes, I dimly remember > Kirk & co coming across a "Slaver stasis box" on a frozen planet > which contains various interesting and destructive devices > which Kirk trys to keep from the Klingons. Does anyone know > of any connection between this and Larry Niven's Slaver stasis > boxes in his Known Space series? The connection is pretty clear since "Kzinti" were also featured in this short animated episode. "The Soft Weapon" is a rehash of Niven's short story.... "The Soft Weapon" (surprise!). I believe Niven actually did the screenplay for it although I can't swear to it. Niven has also done short stories for at least one other Saturday morning programme... the short story entitled "Tag Team" on the "Land of the Lost" series. -- UUCP: ...{decvax,ihnp4,allegra}!seismo!trwatf!root - Lord Frith ARPA: trwatf!root@SEISMO "Markland needs women!"