The fate of Tryla Scott

[JM1776]

Is it reasonable to assume the (to that point) youngest captain in Starfleet history could have survived the events of "Conspiracy"? I have little doubt Riker's phaser was set to kill, but ... with Starfleet Medical's state-of-the-art facilities so close, might she, along with the others downed in that firefight (excepting Merrick, of course; his head 'sploded), have been saved?

Opinions?

 

[Unicron]

Personally, I doubt it. It would defeat the whole purpose of having to set the phasers that high to begin with. I think Star Trek: The Magazine also suggested that the parasites eventually burned their bodies out, because they stimulated the brain's adrenaline production to give their hosts unusual strength. That would also explain the memory problems.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Admiral Quinn was shot with a phaser set on kill, yet he survived.

The same bug that gave the possessed officers such strength, must have kept them from actually being killed by those phaser shots.

So the others could also have survived. Except for Remmick, of course.

 

[JM1776]

Actually, there's no real evidence to indicate that Quinn survived a phaser set on kill. Instead, it's quite possible Crusher's was set for heavy stun, which would no doubt be the default when going into such a situation; but when he resisted her initial hit, she was smart and distant enough to employ a strategy of keeping the beam trained on him until he dropped, both host and parasite overwhelmed by the sheer amount of energy absorbed.

It'd be highly unlikely that Quinn could resist a phaser set on kill for long seconds and survive while Scott was taken down by a short burst. She was younger and no doubt stronger.

 

[JM1776]

Personally, I doubt it. It would defeat the whole purpose of having to set the phasers that high to begin with. I think Star Trek: The Magazine also suggested that the parasites eventually burned their bodies out, because they stimulated the brain's adrenaline production to give their hosts unusual strength. That would also explain the memory problems.

Good points, all. I'm leaning towards "possible, but unlikely" myself.

 

[Kegek]

^
But as Quinn proved, the parasite improved the general strength and stamina of the host body enormously. That, and the episode's own evasiveness on the issue, always suggested that Scott remained alive to me.

 

[JM1776]

^
But as Quinn proved, the parasite improved the general strength and stamina of the host body enormously. That, and the episode's own evasiveness on the issue, always suggested that Scott remained alive to me.

Indeed. She could have been killed, and subsequently revived before any sort of degradation took place.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Actually, there's no real evidence to indicate that Quinn survived a phaser set on kill. Instead, it's quite possible Crusher's was set for heavy stun

AFAIK, stun settings of any kind didn't work. The kill setting was required (even then, it only disabled).

 

[Unicron]

I think Quinn was stunned. Crusher shot him several times to bring him down, and I think she simply suggested kill because it was the only way to take down a compromised officer in one shot.

 

[greenmystik]

I believe that after prolonged exposure with the parasite the host is unable to survive on it's own. It was covered in Lit with the Mission Gamma series. (I know it isn't canon.)

If nobody is happy with that explanation, since it's not canon, then I would assume that after the parasites were dealt with they immediately went to help everyone that had been infected.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think Quinn was stunned.

Yeah, he was, but a phaser set on kill was required just to stun him.

 

[JM1776]

I believe that after prolonged exposure with the parasite the host is unable to survive on it's own. It was covered in Lit with the Mission Gamma series. (I know it isn't canon.)

And may thus be summarily dismissed.

If nobody is happy with that explanation, since it's not canon, then I would assume that after the parasites were dealt with they immediately went to help everyone that had been infected.

Quite possible.

 

[JM1776]

I think Quinn was stunned.

Yeah, he was, but a phaser set on kill was required just to stun him.

Um ... there's no substantive evidence supporting that, Babaganoosh.

From what I remember, it went down like this:

• Crusher fired a phaser set on heavy stun at Quinn, who shrugged it off
• Seeing that it'd had some effect, Bev, with smarts and distance, decided to train a beam on Quinn until he (and his little lobster pal) fell down and went nighty-night
• Upon examining him, she told Picard that "stun has very little effect," or something of that sort, and advised him to set his phaser on "kill"; Riker, who'd beamed down after having heard her briefing, had already adjusted his weapon's setting accordingly
• Riker shoots Tryla Scott, whose parasite immediately flees, either because it has somewhere to flee (Mumsie and Merrick are right down the hall), or because Scott is dead/incapacitated and therefore useless permanently/at the moment

Seems to me that:

• A beam set on heavy stun and applied to a parasite-driven host for long seconds incapacitates both body and Pink Lobster gUidance System [PLUS]
• Tryla Scott was probably dead (or so near to it as to have become useless to a parasite needing a body right then) as a result of having been hit by a phaser set on kill—which delivered too much energy for a host body to absorb, but was not sufficiently on target long enough to overwhelm a parasite, which then took the opportunity to flee
• The near magical nature of 24th century medicine, especially that at Starfleet Medical itself, might allow for Scott to be revivified, so long as she'd not already been dead for hours

In other words ... she may have died, or she may have survived. Either is a reasonable direction. It really depends on what the writer wants.

Interestingly enough, though ... the Vulcan, Savar, after Picard's phaser hit, is described in the script (which is not canonical, but gives an idea of the writers' intent) thus: "The VULCAN drops to his knees, finally releasing his grip. He falls over, dead."

Puts yet another twist on this ... but does not prevent revival via the above described method, per se.

 

[Blueicus]

If indeed Picard and Riker did kill off much of the top of the Admiralty in Conspiracy then we can blame them for the number of crazy admirals that appeared in later seasons, possibly as a result of a quick promotion to fill in the gaps of the dead in Starfleet Command.

Perhaps even Norah Satie was promoted to Admiral after her involvement in uncovering the conspiracy and the need to bring up new ranks of Admirals after killing much of them.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Perhaps even Norah Satie was promoted to Admiral after her involvement in uncovering the conspiracy and the need to bring up new ranks of Admirals after killing much of them.

Norah Satie was an Admiral prior to "Encounter at Farpoint," as she was the one who cut the orders for Picard to take command of the Enterprise. (See "All Good Things...")

 

[Blueicus]

Oh yes, my mistake.

 

[Huntingdon]

There are a couple of references in the series to resuscitating dead people, including after a phaser blast. There's the Code White Transport from Voyager and (not a phaser death) Tasha's death in Code of Honor.

It seems reasonable to think that they could have resuscitated her if they kept their heads and got her to a medical facility quickly. The parasites did enhance the bodies initially. Everything else being equal - it probably depends on when she was infected. If it was on arriving at Command then the parasite probably hadn't done much damage. If it was as early as the meeting with the other captains then it might have been too late.

 

[JM1776]

Everything else being equal - it probably depends on when she was infected. If it was on arriving at Command then the parasite probably hadn't done much damage. If it was as early as the meeting with the other captains then it might have been too late.

I'm not sure we have any canonical evidence that time of infection has any effect on ability to recover, or that protracted infestation is worse than transitory. I got the impression that Quinn'd been infected far longer than Scott, for example.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Well, according to this thread she might end up being Wesley's date to the Starfleet Academy Homecoming Dance!

 

[McCovey Cove]

I vote for she lived. Quinn was like... 100 and he managed to show Worf a good time right before Beverly made the admiral crumple to the floor. Also, since Scott was pretty young and healthy and suffered the same fate of life over death.

-- ZC