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From: rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: Plot for STIV
Message-ID: <528@ihlts.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 3-Aug-84 07:56:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihlts.528
Posted: Fri Aug  3 07:56:59 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 02:20:47 EDT
References: <466@ccieng2.UUCP> <757@aecom.UUCP> <348@ihuxo.UUCP> <2255@dartvax.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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>	Well, how does Starfleet know what happened out there?  For all they
>	know, Jim's ship went kerflooey by accident, so he just took over a
>	Klingon ship.  The Klingons have free reign on this one...they can
>	fake some nice broadcasts from their ship about how they were attacked
>	in the neutral zone by this Federation Starship.

Not quite.  Starfleet does NOT know exactly what happened unless Kirk decided
to make periodic reports (highly improbable) by subspace or Kirk & crew make
a full report (could be they decide to face the music) or if engaging self-
destruct on a starship automatically causes the log buoy to be ejected.  This
is very believable.  But in any event, the Klingons do not have "free reign"
to state what happened.  There will be physical evidence marking the passage
of Enterprise, Grissom, and probably the Klingon scout ship.  Both Enterprise
and Grissom made transmissions capable of being picked up by Starfleet.  We
also have Maltz, who knows all about the mission to invade Federation space
and learn how to use Genesis as a weapon.  Don't tell me that the Vulcans
can't pick out any detail they wish to from Maltz' unwilling mind.  Further,
it will be immediately apparent that Enterprise was nowhere near the neutral
zone and that the Klingons crossed the neutral zone and blasted away a
non-military scientific research vessel without warning or provocation.  The
Klingons can either say that Kruge was a renagade, without orders, and try
to continue peace talks or they can allow their cold war to continue.
It's a scenario such as the following which is the most improbable:

> Now, let's see.  The Klingons are all upset and, once again, threatening
> interstellar war if something isn't done about this silly renegade named
> Jim Kirk and his band of militiamen.  Now, which do you think is more
> important to Star Fleet: Jim Kirk's career/hide or the lives of billions
> of people if the Klingons make good their threat and go to war?

Yeah, and I'm sure the U.S. would have surrendered to the Soviet Union if
they had given us the same ultimatum regarding George Patton at the end
of World War II.  And Starfleet's situation regarding the Klingons is even
stronger!

Now, don't get me wrong - I am not for Kirk slipping away without some
difficulty.  But we don't need another court-martial he wins.  Here's what
I would like to see:

Kirk surrenders and takes full responsibility for what he did.  Scott, Sulu and
Chekov are suspended from Starfleet for some length of time.  Uhura gets off
with just a reprimand but Kirk is kicked out of Starfleet at court-martial and
says he doesn't plan to appeal.  McCoy is excused because of the mental strain
he was under at the time.  Meanwhile, Spock's recovery is nothing short of
amazing.  McCoy gets to like Vulcan so much he stays there to take care of
Spock (to whom he is close) and starts learning some Vulcan philosophy and
medicine.  Let's say they are both on leave from Starfleet.  We learn that
the state of uneasiness between Starfleet and the Klingons is reaching a crisis
point, something like our Cuban Missile Crisis.  We get lots of opportunities
to see Saavik in command training (played by the much more Vulcan-looking
Robin Curtis) and Uhura is also in some sort of command position (at LEAST
first officer on a starship, I hope).  The Klingons turn out to have put all
their resources on one offensive and have the bulk of Starfleet's forces at
bay.  Suddenly a Klingon scout ship appears behind them and orders the Klingons
to surrender.  It's Kirk, Scott, Sulu, and Chekov!  Klingons don't surrender.
A terrible fight ensues, and the Federation wins (mainly due to Kirk's sudden
appearance), sparing the Klingons from being annihilated.  The Klingons
realize they have nothing left to fight with so they negotiate a peace treaty.
Kirk and party reveal that their courts-martial were all ruses and that they
were under secret orders from the Federation to infiltrate and send back
information on the Klingon's movements.  Their tactics at the end were all
Kirk's idea, for which he is reinstated as Admiral.  He also gets the payment
he demanded from Starfleet:  command of one of the newest starships, of the
same class as Enterprise, and it is to be named Enterprise II, usually referred
to as just Enterprise.  As he, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov board the new
ship, they discover McCoy and Spock already on board.  Spock is recovered
(it appears) and his commission has been reactivated.  They have all requested
(and been granted) that they be allowed to serve under Kirk on Enterprise.
(No mention is made of Excelsior in the whole movie--it's still just an
experiment.)  Alternate ending: let some of the major characters explore
their own careers in Starfleet but keep Kirk, Spock, McCoy and probably
Scott together at the very least.  None has a reason to split apart.  But I
think it's time to give Sulu and Uhura a bit more and dump Chekov. >-|
-- 
"It's only by NOT taking the human race seriously that I retain what
    fragments of my once considerable mental powers I still possess."
Roger Noe			ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe