How'd they get into the Nexus in the first place?

[Fedaykin]

All those El-Aurians.

Data says that any ship approaching the Nexus is severely damaged (although Kirk did fine with the trip that way)...so they aren't flying into it. Did it pass by a planet they were on? And for that matter, who was "pulling" or "ripping" them out of it? Seems kind of rude. They weren't bothering anyone. Couldn't Soran just use whatever method was used to remove them and reverse it?

Just came to me in the shower. Maybe it's in the novelization, I never read it.

 

[Joshua Howard]

...The question of why it wouldn't be possible to beam somebody into the Nexus, and the question of why the victims of severely damaged ships 75 years prior were integrated into the Nexus while later attempts wouldn't be possible is something that isn't really addressed. It might be worth noting that if a ship got close enough to beam into the cloud, it would risk severe damage (as did the Enterprise B) - hense no crew would intelligently attempt to do such. It might also be the case that the energy has somewhat of a hit-and-miss quality - to say that not every ship that flew into the Nexus would necessarily created the necessary elements for rapture of the people inside it.

I think one might suffice to say that it is just as explainable as the question of how Picard and the entire Enterprise could be destroyed and later brought back by a system of time travel that is based soley upon - more or less - mental whim. Of the many Trek incidents, the Nexus stands out as one of the most complex to explain, as even if one acknowledges multiple dimentions - there are still a number of apparent holes. It can give you a headache, a bit like trying to comprehend the Improbability Drive from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

...I don't aim to do any injustice to Trek Canon here, and of course... it is worth noting that a 2 hour movie simply doesn't have the time to cover all the psychological and scientific principles behind an idea as complex as the one at hand. It probably comes down to, in some element, just accepting it as canon just the way it is - without attempting to pull - or rip - the storyline apart too much.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

It's a difficult question.

 

[Michael]

All those El-Aurians.

Where in the movie do they indicate that the El-Aurians got into the nexus?

 

[Fedaykin]

^

Those ships were carrying El-Aurian refugees, among them Soran and Guinan. Soran was shouting at Chekov that he had to go back, and Guinan tells Picard she was "ripped" from the Nexus. From Soran's reaction it seemed that he had just come out of the Nexus. Just seems logical to me.

 

[Timo]

From the discussion about the 40-year cycle of the Nexus in and out of our galaxy, one would deduce that Soran had already had one try at it before resorting to blowing up stars. It seems clear that Soran would first have tried to fly into the thing, because that's how he almost got in there the first time around, before the E-B intervened. And it seems clear that something went badly wrong that time.

It might be perfectly possible to fly into the Nexus; after all, Data is merely speculating. But Soran would have no reason to take the risk. He had only one life to experiment with, and once he got in, he couldn't care less about the consequences of blowing up stars. He wouldn't want to be too timid about it, because it would be 40 more years before the Nexus returned again - perhaps too much for the old man.

Quite possibly Data gave Soran's motivations the benefit of doubt, while in fact Soran was merely a selfish bastard who was ready to kill billions in order to improve his chances of success from 68% to 92%.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[T'Cal]

I have the audio-novel and it tells of Soran's experience in the nexus. As the Lakul was "phasing in and out of our space/time continuum," as Scotty put it, he was pulled into the nexus where he saw his wife and two children who were killed in the Borg invasion of their homeworld. All the bitterness, anger, and frustration fades quickly when he embraces his wife. Apparently, Guinnan's description of being wrapped in joy was quite accurate. Just as Soran was succumbing to that joy, he was ripped out, probably by the transporter beam that "rescued" him and the others that were fading back and forth between the ship and the nexus. The bitterness, anger, and frustration are now compounded by rage and fury, which fuel him to find a way back to the nexus at any cost.

The audio-novel is a better story than the movie. It's narrated by John DeLance who does a fantastic job. It includes a couple of scenes with Kirk, Bones, and Spock that would've translated well to the screen. One takes place at the beginning, just after the events in TUC in which the three sit in Jim's quarters and exchange gifts. The next takes place at a memorial service for Kirk some time after his loss while on the E-B's maiden voyage. Lastly, in Kirk's nexus, he sees Carol and David before he moves onto another experience. They are all written and performed very well.

 

[doublegood]

What does the Nexus orbit? The Galactic center?

 

[RAMA]

OK well 4 words: STGEN doesn't make sense!

 

[Hermiod]

It does make sense.

My interpretation was that the Lakul and the other transport got stuck as the Enterprise-B did. Since they were closer to the Nexus, it eventually passed through a part of their ship causing a number of the El-Aurians, including Guinan and Soran, to enter it, at least partially.

However, the Enterprise-B was beginning rescue operations at the time and so their transporters prevented the El-Aurians from fully entering the Nexus, forcing them out.

While it may be possible for a Federation Starship such as the Enterprise-B to survive the heavy damage it received, I do not believe that Soran would have been able to get a ship as powerful as an Excelsior-class Starship to attempt to transport inside.

 

[Timo]

In the end, Soran had the sensible idea to do it the lowest-risk way. Blowing up those two stars didn't seem like much effort for him, after all, and wouldn't have presented much personal risk if somebody hadn't tipped off the Romulans.

What makes less sense is the behavior of the Nexus. Apprently, for most of four decades, the phenomenon flies somewhere outside the reach of Soran or the Federation, implying high warp speeds. But the thing slows down to a virtual crawl when hitting Veridian. Was that Soran's doing, too? Did the re-routing slow down the phenomenon? Or did Soran exploit a slow stretch of the thing's travels?

One might argue that the thing was especially sensitive to gravity. The very slight change in mass that results from blowing up a star in the Amargosa fashion (that is, merely redistributing the mass across a sphere a few AUs wide while still keeping it centered at the same spot) resulted in a huge change in course of several degrees. Quite possibly an approach close to another star would radically alter the speed of the phenomenon, then.

ST:GEN isn't as leaky as it first seems. Then again, being a movie, what it seems like is more important and more damning than what it is...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[scorpius1701]

I always figured that they went, "It's the Nexus! GET IT!" and thats how they got stuck.

 

[Hermiod]

In the end, Soran had the sensible idea to do it the lowest-risk way. Blowing up those two stars didn't seem like much effort for him, after all, and wouldn't have presented much personal risk if somebody hadn't tipped off the Romulans.

What makes less sense is the behavior of the Nexus. Apprently, for most of four decades, the phenomenon flies somewhere outside the reach of Soran or the Federation, implying high warp speeds. But the thing slows down to a virtual crawl when hitting Veridian. Was that Soran's doing, too? Did the re-routing slow down the phenomenon? Or did Soran exploit a slow stretch of the thing's travels?

One might argue that the thing was especially sensitive to gravity. The very slight change in mass that results from blowing up a star in the Amargosa fashion (that is, merely redistributing the mass across a sphere a few AUs wide while still keeping it centered at the same spot) resulted in a huge change in course of several degrees. Quite possibly an approach close to another star would radically alter the speed of the phenomenon, then.

Maybe it might have been out of reach because it was moving slowly in between star systems and not close enough to a star system so that Soran could manipulate it's path so it passes through a planet.

ST:GEN isn't as leaky as it first seems. Then again, being a movie, what it seems like is more important and more damning than what it is...

Yes, I think the problems people have are more emotional than scientific. They did, after all, blow up the Enterprise-D and kill off Kirk in the same movie.

 

[Anthony Sabre]

A huge slingshot or catapult should do the trick, as the Nexus passes by your planet.

 

[balls]

I always thought the idea of the only way to get into the Nexus was to have it "come over you" and the way to get out was to just walk out was a bit too much. However, when I think about some of the alien technology that we saw, specifically, the Guardian of Forever, I'm able to suspend disbelief for the Nexus. With the GOF, when Kirk and Spock were done they were returned. So, I guess anything is possible.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

A huge slingshot or catapult should do the trick, as the Nexus passes by your planet.

Oh, goodness! That gave me an interesting mental picture. ^^

 

[Fedaykin]

Seems like you could just get one of those STTMP spacesuits with a good air supply and wait for the freakin thing to come by...no muss, no fuss.

 

[JoeZhang]

someone remind me - if he could be teleported out of the nexus, why didn't he just get a spaceship and beam back in - or get fired out of an airlock into the nexus?

 

[Fedaykin]

I dunno. Seems like it should work. The Nexus is a clusterf%$k.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

^^^ Exactly. Watch the DVD commentary by Moore and Braga. If the screenwriters don't know how it works, nobody does.