Emory Erickson was a human male who lived during the 22nd century. He was credited with the invention of the transporter.
Biography[]
Erickson served as a father figure to Jonathan Archer. At one point, he was made honorary president of the Association of Transporter Technicians and was considered a VIP. He understood physics and engineering, and was knowledgeable about computers. At some point, a book was written about Erickson titled Emory Erickson: Father of the Transporter. (ENT episode: "Daedalus", CCG set: ST, card: "Bareil of Borg")
Erickson started work on the transporter in circa 2103. (ST reference: Federation: The First 150 Years)
In 2118, Erickson transported a banana, the first known use on a living organism. Zefram Cochrane jokingly told the United Earth Information Service that he thought Erickson was trying to put him "out of business." (ST reference: Federation: The First 150 Years)
In 2139, during a transporter test in the spacial area known as The Barrens, Emory's son, Quinn Erikson, served as the first human test subject to be transported. The test went wrong and Quinn's pattern was lost in subspace. This event devasted Emory, however he continued to work on perfecting transporter technology and eventually, it passed Starfleet's muster. It was gradually put into use on starships for organic use.
At some he learned that there were fluctuations within the subspace node of the Barrens, which caused Quinn's transporter signal to reappear, manifesting itself as an energy distortion. Convinced that his son was still alive, Emory was determined to rescue him.
In the year 2154, he and his daughter came aboard the Starfleet vessel Enterprise under the false pretens of testing a new kind of transporter in order to covertly attempt to rescue Quinn. During the attempt, a member of the Enterprise crew, Ensign Burrows was killed. When the deseption came to light, Emory was able to convince Captain Archer to make another attempt. In the end, he was successful, but Quinn didn't survive process. (ENT episode: "Daedalus")
After the disaster in The Barrens Emory had been sent to prison for his actions. While his daughter Danica had escaped imprisonment, her involvement scuttled any possibility of a career for her in Starfleet. Emory died in prison before the new-found danger of genetic damage caused by transporters came to light in 2162. (ENT - Rise of the Federation novel: Tower of Babel)
Skon and Tobin Dax's team at the Cochrane Institute of Alpha Centauri and the Human scientists Colin Blakeney and Janet Hester, as well as the Tellarite Grahd, have also been credited with inventing the transporter and/or advancing its use to teleport lifeforms safely. (DS9 - The Lives of Dax short story: "Dead Man's Hand", TNG comic: "Forgiveness", TOS comic: "Experiment in Vengeance!", Last Unicorn RPG module: All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook)
By the 23rd century, Erickson was thought of fondly. Paul Stamets, while investigating the mycellial network's affect on a living creature, wondered if his feelings about it were comparable to Erickson and the transporter. (DSC comic: "Discovery Annual 2018")
External link[]
- Emory Erickson article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.