Did Chekov disobey orders in STIV?

[JonnyQuest037]

When Kirk & co. land in the 20th Century, he orders everyone to remove any Starfleet insignia and the like. But when Chekov is captured on the aircraft carrier Enterprise, a security officer reads aloud from an ID that Chekov had on him, an ID that reveals Chekov's real name and identifies his affiliation with Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets! Just the sort of thing you want to carry on you during an undercover mission, the 23rd Century equivalent of your driver's license. You'd think that something like this would've been covered under Kirk's order, and that Chekov would've have saved everyone a lot of trouble if he didn't have it on him.

So what do you think? Was Chekov disobeying an order? Should Chekov have left his ID on the Bounty or not?

 

[Christopher]

The only order Kirk gave was, "Those of you in uniform, remove your rank insignia." He didn't say anything about ID cards or equipment kept in pockets -- he just didn't want their military insignias visibly showing. And the only ones in uniform were Scotty and Uhura. Chekov was in civvies and had no rank insignias to remove. So no, Chekov was not disobeying an order.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Kirk probably figured that if anyone found Chekov's ID, they'd think it was fake anyway. There is no Starfleet or Federation in that time period, so the ID was effectively worthless. The rank insignia thing was just to avoid attracting attention in public.

 

[jayrath]

You want problems? Chekov apparently left his communicator and Klingon phaser behind.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Which didn't work.

And Kirk and crew returned to the same future they left, so obviously there were no lasting repercussions to the timeline.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Besides, who's going to punish him for disobeying a fellow mutineer?

 

[Greg Cox]

^ Which didn't work.

And Kirk and crew returned to the same future they left, so obviously there were no lasting repercussions to the timeline.

That's because Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln retrieved them before any harm was done.

 

[David cgc]

And Kirk and crew returned to the same future they left, so obviously there were no lasting repercussions to the timeline.

"If my people had caused any changes in the timeline, we would've been the first to notice when we got back."

"Why do they all have to say that?"

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Besides, who's going to punish him for disobeying a fellow mutineer?

Good point!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Which didn't work.

And Kirk and crew returned to the same future they left, so obviously there were no lasting repercussions to the timeline.

That's because Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln retrieved them before any harm was done.

I'm OK with that.

(Did you put that in your Eugenics Wars novels? )

 

[Christopher]

^Yes, he did.

 

[Trekker4747]

I had done a fan fiction many years ago centered around various things left behind by the Strafleet heroes over the years, notably the phaser and communicator as well as the ID and how the government in 20th century Earth was putting things together. Notably they saw the "United Federation of Planets" written ont he side of Voyager when it flew across the sky in Voyagers "Present Tense" episodes and they recognized that phrase with Chekov's ID, which they'd always been curious about as the phaser worked when they got it away from the radiation of the nuclear vessel. (Sucky phaser that it can't work around shielded fission radiation cores.)

In universe, it's a bit of a plot hole that's there but could argue it's something that's pre-destined way of things working out, sort of how by Janeway's speculation the 29th century time ship that crashed on Earth in the 1960s inspired the computer revolution.

 

[Trevacious]

And Kirk and crew returned to the same future they left, so obviously there were no lasting repercussions to the timeline.

Like Scotty said of dropping off the formula for transparent aluminum...

 

[Doug Otte]

^ Which didn't work.

And Kirk and crew returned to the same future they left, so obviously there were no lasting repercussions to the timeline.

They didn't work in the vicinity of the Enterprise's nuclear generator, but what if some genius carried it back to a base or any other location?

Doug

 

[Christopher]

They didn't work in the vicinity of the Enterprise's nuclear generator, but what if some genius carried it back to a base or any other location?

Well, we know they did move the Klingon phaser and communicator to another location, since they were in the interrogation room with Chekov in the following scene. And it was there, not in the reactor room itself, that the phaser failed to work. That suggests that the phaser was damaged by the radiation in a lasting way.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Given that the reactor was safe enough for humans without radiation suits, Klingon electronics must suck. No wonder they use bat'leths and daggers -- their enemies only need to blanket an area with low level radiation to kill their advanced weapons.

 

[Christopher]

Well, it was only Chekov's conjecture that it "Must have been the radiation" that damaged the weapon. Just because he said it, that doesn't mean it has to be true. Maybe it was some aftereffect of the time warp that damaged the weapon. Maybe it was a defective unit. Maybe he just didn't recharge it or set it properly, it being alien tech and all.

 

[Doug Otte]

Given that the reactor was safe enough for humans without radiation suits, Klingon electronics must suck. No wonder they use bat'leths and daggers -- their enemies only need to blanket an area with low level radiation to kill their advanced weapons.

Can you imagine trying to exchange a defective Klingon disruptor at your local B'rhessh B'kie? If you're lucky, you'd be laughed at, spat upon, then kicked to the parking lot. If you're unlucky, you'd be laughed at, your mother insulted, and your head would be bouncing in the parking lot.

Doug