- For other uses, see Deadlock.
"Deadlock" was the fifth of 13 regular episode scripts prepared for the abortive development of the television series Star Trek: Phase II. Although the episode went unproduced, a detailed synopsis was published in the reference work Phase II: The Lost Series.
In this story, in the Phase II continuity, the crew of the USS Enterprise participates in unusual psychological tests at Starbase 7.
Publisher's description[]
- Story Introduction
- Here's a story that reflects a typical 1970s view of the military by building a portrait of Starfleet gone mad — practicing mind-control techniques on its personnel, lying to them, and experimenting upon them by altering their perceptions of reality. Fortunately, there's another explanation for what Kirk and his crew experience...
Summary[]
The USS Enterprise picked up a distress signal from the USS Intrepid in sector 019. The signal then disappeared, followed immediately by a direct order for Kirk to report to Starbase 7. Kirk reluctantly altered course for the starbase, only to learn from Commodore Hunter that his crew would participate in psychological testing. The faked distress signal was part of it.
In charge of the tests was Lang Caradon, an expert in brainwashing and disorientation tactics. During one test, a hypnotic flashing of light patterns in the recreation room, Xon detected a subliminal message from a female voice warning about Caradon. Kirk asked him about this message, then was congratulated for how quickly that riddle was solved. Suspicious, Kirk transported to the source of the transmission, where he was immediately phaser stunned and held behind a force field. Confronting him was the starbase's actual CO, Lieutenant Commander Anderson, who did not know Caradon and said Hunter was not on the station. Further, Anderson showed Kirk conflicting messages sent by Kirk, one requesting medical assistance for his crew, the other overreacting when interrupted by a screaming woman, neither of which Kirk had sent.
Meanwhile, Willard Decker received a message from Kirk saying that the Starfleet exercises were legitimate. However, Xon created a formula to expose some falsified starbase communications, and Decker realized that no messages could be trusted. Decker ordered Scott to take over the starbase if he did not contact him within 30 minutes. Scott then fabricated transporter signals implying that Enterprise security teams were beaming throughout the starbase, then in the confusion beamed Decker and Xon to a location where Kirk might be. They located him and disabled the force field.
Kirk, Decker and Xon headed for the base's communications relay station. Inside, they found Caradon and Hunter, but phaser beams passed straight through them. With hypnotic glances, they made the three officers drop their weapons. The two men revealed that they were actually inhabitants of sector 019 who co-opted the forms of Caradon and Hunter to test whether human violence was a threat to their race. They warned that their next actions would show whether they were right to distrust humans, then disappeared.
Meanwhile, realizing that the Enterprise was about to attack, Anderson readied the starbase's phaser banks and seized the starship in a tractor beam. When he and his men broke into the relay station, Kirk warned him that the aliens expected they would all destroy themselves, and everyone needed to stand down. With no evidence, Anderson couldn't believe him. Kirk contacted Scott to power down, but with all the falsified messages, Scott couldn't believe him either. Xon proposed a solution: through telepathy he broadcast to Ilia the formula he'd created to find subliminal messages. When she reproduced it on a viewscreen, Scott knew that Kirk was really on screen, and he dropped the deflector shields. Reassured, Anderson released the tractor beam.
- Captain's log.
- I recommend that no further passage be attempted in region zero-one-nine until we have received a formal invitation from the inhabitants there. I can only hope that whatever influence they continue to feel from us will be felt in a more positive light as a result of our demonstrated, if somewhat tenuous, self-control.
References[]
Characters[]
- Anderson • Lang Caradon (imposter) • Pavel Chekov • Willard Decker • Ilia • Hunter (imposter) • James T. Kirk • Leonard McCoy • Montgomery Scott • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Xon
- Referenced only
- Lang Caradon • Hunter (Commodore)
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Sector 019 • Starbase 7
- Referenced only
- Starfleet Headquarters
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and technology[]
- communicator • computer • deflector shield • drug • elevator • force field • isolation unit • microtape • phaser • phaser bank • robot • sensor • tractor beam • transporter • viewscreen • warp drive • warp reactor
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • chief medical officer • chief science advisor • commander • commodore • doctor • duty officer • engineer • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • first officer • guard • lieutenant • lieutenant commander • rank • science officer • Starfleet ranks
Other references[]
- beam • brainwashing • bridge • bridge crew • captain's log • captain's log, USS Enterprise, 2273 • chameleon • communications • conference • day • distress call • engineering • galaxy • hour • hypnosis • minute • orbit • radiation • recreation room • sector • stun • technology • telepathy • transporter room
Appendices[]
Background[]
- In author David Ambrose's initial story treatment, "All Done With Mirrors", the psychological testing was made by a disgruntled Section 31-like group. (TOS reference: Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
- The location where the aliens came from was variously referred to as galaxy sector 019 and uncharted region 019.
Related stories[]
- TOS comic: "By Order of the Empire" – Klingon Professor Karkax hypnotized the crew of the USS Enterprise, then ordered them to crash the ship on Earth.
- TNG novel: Gulliver's Fugitives – Jean-Luc Picard and others were brainwashed, with their personal histories rewritten
Connections[]
published order | ||
---|---|---|
Previous episode: Practice in Waking |
Star Trek: Phase II episodes | Next episode: Savage Syndrome |
External links[]
- Deadlock (Phase II) article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- Deadlock review at Eruditorum Press.