March 30th, 1992, "The First Duty"
Fiver by Kira
The Episode
Captain's log, stardate 45703.9. We are en route to Earth, where it will be my pleasant duty to deliver this year's commencement address at Starfleet Academy. I'm also looking forward to seeing Wesley Crusher again. His flight team will perform a demonstration near Saturn that will be transmitted to the graduation ceremonies.
I suddenly wonder how cameras work in space here. It'll later be said that the ships are going at 80,000 kph ten meters apart. The camera must be several kilometers away, how does it track ships going that fast?
RIKER: When I was at the Academy, we had a Vulcan Superintendent who had memorised the personnel files of every single cadet. He knew everything about them. It was like having your parents around all the time.
PICARD: My superintendent was a Betazoid, a full telepath. When he sent for you to his office, he didn't have to ask what you'd done.
The expanded universe doesn't give a name to Picard's superintendent, but there's a Starfleet Academy novel that gives Riker's as Sulak. Sulak was still superintendent when Worf was there a few years later.
Another novel gives the name of the Commandant (second after superintendent) in 2324 as Oonnoommi. Picard was at the Academy from 2323-2327, so perhaps Oonnoommi was promoted in time to be the one Picard is referring to. Then again, "Oonnoommi" doesn't sound like a Betazoid name, does it?
CRUSHER: Wesley's allergic to metorapan treatments. I think they'll have to use a bicaridine substitute. I should send his complete records to the Academy infirmary. Of course, they probably have them already, but you can't be too sure.
I get that Beverly is under a lot of stress right now, but I still can't forgive this moment of idiocy. I expect the Academy to collect all necessary medical records of incoming students. And to be frank, Wesley's status on the Enterprise should've been such that his service record just moved to the Academy.
Both metorapan and bicardine made appearances in Star Trek Online. Metorapan is addictive, unlike bicaridine. Metorapan allergy is very rare, but a bout with polywater intoxication makes it more likely.
"Flight ranges" don't exist today. In military terminology a "range" is simply an area for testing. While I could imagine a section of desert on Earth being designated for atmospheric flight, interstellar space near moons can't really be sectioned off into "ranges". Or are you going to tell me that Starfleet maintains hundreds of sensor bouys like in "Drive"?
CRUSHER: Do you know who it was?
PICARD: Yes. His name was Joshua Albert.
CRUSHER: Wesley spoke of him. They were friends.
To my surprise Josh Albert isn't even mentioned once in the expanded universe. There are other Joshes out there, including Christopher Pike's father and Tom Riker's son.
BRAND: There was very little left to salvage from the wreckage. We did recover one of the ships' data recorders, but it was badly damaged. We're attempting to restore the information, but that will take some time.
It's always amazing to me when they imply black boxes that aren't durable. Are you really telling me that in the 24th century you can't make thin layers of neutronium that can handle exposure to warp core explosions?
(Wesley is using a resistance device to strengthen his broken arm. There's a knock on the door. He goes to open it by turning the handle!)
Yeah, I agree with Chakoteya here. Even Bajor has automatic doors, are you telling me that Starfleet Academy doesn't?
Furthermore, you'd think it wouldn't be that hard to have a quarters set that you can tweak to be the Academy, or a Starbase, or Risa, or whatever.
(another knock on the door)
WESLEY: Hi.
LOCARNO: Hi.
(enter Robert Duncan McNeill, who will become Tom Paris in Voyager)
Let me state for the record, the writers of this episode got screwed. Locarno should've been in Voyager, not Paris.
CRUSHER: And how are you feeling, Nicholas?
LOCARNO: I'm okay. I just never lost anyone under my command before.
PICARD: I'm afraid that never gets easier.
Has Locarno even had anyone under his command before? What is he comparing this to? Was he captain of the Parrises Squares team?
PICARD: Boothby? Jean-Luc Picard, class of twenty seven.
BOOTHBY: I know that. What happened to your hair?
If Nemesis is to be believed (and I don't), Picard was bald as a cadet. If other flashbacks are to be believed he had an awful toupee as a cadet.
FYI, Boothby's first name is Liam. He was born in the Marian Colonies in 2263 and died in 2382. His only 23rd century appearance is in "The Captain's Daughter", when he meets Demora Sulu when he was assisting his father. He doesn't quite trust Nechayev, and suspects her of being a member of a group obviously meant to be Section 31.
BOOTHBY: Nothing you ever did surprised me, son. Except that time you caught that Ligonian with a reverse body lift and pinned him in the first fourteen seconds of the match. Didn't think you had it in you.
PICARD: Well, it was all in the legs, all that running I did.
This must be a species name recycle that we weren't supposed to notice. The Ligonians are the guys from "Code of Honor"! I don't think any of them are cadets NOW!
It's been established that for a non-Federation citizen to join Starfleet they need a letter of recommendation. Who would give a letter to a Ligonian?
PICARD: Yes, there is. I just wanted to, while I was here. Look, you know as well as I do I would never have graduated if you
BOOTHBY: You made a mistake. There isn't a man among us who hasn't been young enough to make one.
Boy does this one hit home.
PICARD: Did you know the boy from Nova Squadron who was killed?
BOOTHBY: Josh Albert? Yeah. Crusher, Hajar, Sito, Locarno. I know them all.
Jean Hajar never appeared again. A later member of Nova Squadron is Sarita Carson, who cameoed in DS9 episode "Starship Down" and was later a main character in the Prometheus novels.
LOCARNO: We executed a low apogee turn around Titan then began a z-plus twenty five degree climb in preparation for a Yeager loop.
(named for Chuck Yeager, who broke the sound barrier in 1947)
I want to be a bit snarky at Chakoteya. No, really, I'm sure the Yeager Loop is named after characters from Attack on Titan!
LOCARNO: Approximately nine seconds later, Cadet Albert's ship collided with Cadet Hajar's. We had less than two seconds to activate our emergency transporters and beam to the evac stations at Mimas. Everyone made it except Josh.
Mimas is a moon of Saturn. It's the smallest astronomical body that has managed to achieve a rounded shape through self-gravitation. It has a crater named Hershel that makes the moon look vaguely like the Death Star. Mimas Station makes an appearance in a RPG module.
SITO: No, sir. I was flying solely on sensor readings at the time. I did not have any visual contact with Cadet Albert's ship when he broke formation.
SATELK: Sensor readings?
(a murmur goes around the room)
CRUSHER: What's wrong?
PICARD: Well, it's unusual to fly on sensors alone in this type of manoeuvre. The pilot relies on visual clues from the other ships to maintain formation.
This is a whole other screed waiting to happen, but it would require a lot of research that I don't care to do. Long story short, at 80,000 kph and ten meters away I would want autopilot to be doing most of the work!
SATELK: Mister Crusher, will you describe a Yeager loop?
WESLEY: The ships begin in a diamond slot formation, and climb and loop backwards at a steep angle, and at the peak of the loop, turn over and accelerate in a new direction.
I can picture this maneuver, but it doesn't seem that impressive to me. The biggest danger would be the other ships.