The Aegis in literature

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Aegis, of course, being Gary Seven's employer.

Here's what I want to know: Is it ever explained, in any of the novels the Aegis appear or are mentioned in, how Agents 201 and 347 from "Assignment: Earth" can be so weak as to allow themselves to be killed in a car accident (as the Beta 5 computer said)? I say 'weak' not as an insult to everyday accident victims, but in this case - because these are essentially superhumans here, as we know Seven himself was. All that training, selective breeding, (possible) genetic engineering, and they're killed in a *car crash*? Apparently the Aegis did not train their agents to be good drivers.

For that matter: Why were they even travelling by car in the first place, given how Seven himself obviously could transport directly from place to place? Is there something happening here that we don't know about?

 

[Dayton Ward]

I have one possible explanation.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I have one possible explanation.

*pumps fist in air*

YES!

So when do we get to read about it?

 

[Therin of Andor]

Is it ever explained, in any of the novels the Aegis appear or are mentioned in, how Agents 201 and 347 from "Assignment: Earth" can be so weak as to allow themselves to be killed in a car accident (as the Beta 5 computer said)?

Memory Beta has an article on the Aegis.
http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/Aegis

I can think of hundreds of reasons why they'd be using a car. It's not as if Gary Seven only used the computer to travel. Sometimes he even walked.

Maybe the agents were escorting someone somewhere and had to pass as chauffeurs or security guards? Maybe the car was hit by another car? Maybe it exploded on impact? Hundreds of possibilities.

 

[Christopher]

All that training, selective breeding, (possible) genetic engineering, and they're killed in a *car crash*? Apparently the Aegis did not train their agents to be good drivers.

Even the best driver can fall victim to a crash caused by another driver or by uncontrollable external factors. And the forces involved in automobile collisions are immense. Think about it. The frame of an automobile is much stronger and heavier than a human body, but it can be totally torn apart, twisted, crushed, etc. by a collision. So even a human of superior strength and durability could be just as thoroughly destroyed by forces of that magnitude.

Besides, automobiles in 1968 had far fewer safety features. Seatbelts were standard by that time, but there were no airbags, crumple zones, roll cages, etc.

 

[Dayton Ward]

It also assumes that the accident was...indeed...an accident.

 

[KLauderdale]

Some day. . . maybe some day I'll get to tell a story involving those two. I've had visions not of their final mission, but of an earlier one. Visions that sprang from a summer spent listening to about a hundred episodes of the Jean Shepherd program on MP3. I have no doubt that the agents would have eaten at Duck Chang's in the late Sixties.

And I bet they were cruising in a Mustang convertable, with 201's long, blonde hair flying in the wind. Kim Novak eat your heart out.

 

[William Leisner]

It also assumes that the accident was...indeed...an accident.

Dun dun duuuuuunnnnn!!!

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ And, yes, before anyone asks....THEY SAVED THEIR BRAINS!!!!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I can think of hundreds of reasons why they'd be using a car. It's not as if Gary Seven only used the computer to travel. Sometimes he even walked.

True, but it's a lot easier to get out of the way of a car if you're walking, rather than driving your own car. At any rate, whenever Seven does walk, it's always in a place he's already used the transporter to get to (such as walking around in his own building, or at the rocket base, etc.). Seven was surely smart enough not to get in a car now that he knows that is exactly what killed 201 and 347...

Maybe the agents were escorting someone somewhere and had to pass as chauffeurs or security guards? Maybe the car was hit by another car? Maybe it exploded on impact? Hundreds of possibilities.

At the very least, it was poor planning to have both 201 *and* 347 in the same car where they died. If they were on a mission, why'd they need both of them? Having only one agent on the scene, wherever that may have been, would have lessened the risk of something going wrong and taking out both of them.

And another thing: Since the Aegis are time travelers, why didn't they warn 201 and 347 of the accident which was about to occur?

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ It's important to remember that "the Aegis" and the notion of them being able to travel through time is a conceit applied in the later fiction, not the episode itself. So far as "Assignment: Earth" was concerned, Gary Seven (and his predecessors) were deposited on Earth at their respective points in time to carry out their mission, presumably with certain advanced tools and technology at their disposal, but also apparently relying on tools, materials and other resources of the day. That would include, I'd think, the necessity to travel using conventional modes of transportation.

(As for warning 201 and 347, nobody told Gary Seven right where he needed to go and what he needed to do in order to continue their mission...he had to figure that one out on his own.)

 

[Therin of Andor]

it was poor planning to have both 201 *and* 347 in the same car where they died

Tell that to Agents 86 and 99. They were discouraged about getting married.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's important to remember that "the Aegis" and the notion of them being able to travel through time is a conceit applied in the later fiction, not the episode itself.

Wasn't Gary Seven transporting through time when the Enterprise intercepted him?

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ We don't know that for sure. Scotty was theorizing that as one possible explanation for the origin of the beam bringing Seven to Earth

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

As for why the Aegis didn't help Seven complete his mission: That's because they must have already known he would succeed. Unless they grabbed 201 and 347 with their temporal transporter (substituting appropriate bodies for later discovery, of course) seconds before the crash, the Aegis must have considered them expendable...

 

[Dayton Ward]

^ That's all dandy, but it's just supposition. You were asking why things were and weren't done, but the episode itself doesn't provide enough information as to why Seven's superiors acted (or failed to act/decided not to act).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

the episode itself doesn't provide enough information as to why Seven's superiors acted (or failed to act/decided not to act).

Apparently the novels don't either?

 

[Dayton Ward]

Not in so many words (as I recall...somebody jump in here if they know), but we can infer that their intention was to place their agents on Earth, provide them with certain tools and resources, and let them work in place without a lot of supervision or hands-on support. After all, if Gary Seven was able to time travel when it suited him, or had access to all relevant information about future events, why did he not just jump to 1996 and face off against Khan at the key moment and in the key location while still in his prime, rather than remaining on Earth from 1968 until 1996, living and aging while chasing after Khan and trying to figure out what he was up to all those years?

Interesting questions....ones I've pondered.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

^ And, yes, before anyone asks....THEY SAVED THEIR BRAINS!!!!

Were they stored in a stygian darkness?

 

[Dayton Ward]

Does opaque Tupperware count?