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From: throopw@rtp47.UUCP (Wayne Throop)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: Back in time
Message-ID: <46@rtp47.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 24-May-85 13:07:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: rtp47.46
Posted: Fri May 24 13:07:58 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 27-May-85 02:47:20 EDT
References: <1693@sunybcs.UUCP> <3135@dartvax.UUCP>
Organization: Data General, RTP, NC
Lines: 33

> Well, there are two ways to "go back in time."  One of them has something
> to do with really amazing accelleration or something like it.  The second
> is to use the Guardian of Forever.

Actually, I think there were *four* distinct methods of time travel
introduced in various episodes.  Two of these methods may be related,
but I think they are not.

  - The Guardian of Forever (simple gateway for person-sized objects).
  - The "Gravity breakaway" stuff which was re-used in the the Gary
    Seven & Isis episode.
  - The "Spock goes back in time and gets the girl while Kirk goes back
    in time and gets jailed for being a witch" episode.  (Another simple
    gateway for person-sized objects.)
  - The "Antimatter implosion" method introduced in the "decaying orbit
    while everybody goes crazy and Scotty tries to phaser thru a door"
    episode.

Anybody out there remember more time-travel methods from the series?

The last method is often overlooked, since the time-travel bit was
totally irrelevant to the story, and it was never (as far as I remember)
used in any other show, in spite of the hoop-la at the end of that
episode about "now we can go whenever we want to".  Maybe the antimatter
implosion proved too dangerous.

Sadly, I think the bit about the Klingons not being science-minded
enough to develop time-travel is not very plausible, given how easy it
seems to be.  (four distinct ways, two of them discovered totally by
accident by a single federation starship... gad the sky should be full
of the damn things! :-)
-- 
Wayne Throop at Data General, RTP, NC
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