Why was the mobile-emitter in the timeship? From what we see of it when it’s intact, it’s a one-man craft, and the only occupant is Captain Braxton. No hologram(s). So why was there a mobile emitter on board?
The Mobile-Emitter
- Thread starter Yuri Nikolayev
- Start date
Similar to Rios' ship it may be that there were holograms in the ship's computer to fill certain roles - especially important if you are the only crew member.
Very small ship (looked smaller than the Flyer) but we don't know if it may have the "Tardis tech" like we saw in Enterprise with that future ship so there might be more than the cockpit
Very small ship (looked smaller than the Flyer) but we don't know if it may have the "Tardis tech" like we saw in Enterprise with that future ship so there might be more than the cockpit
To allow someone to stay safe in the ship and pilot a holo-body for hostile environment landing parties.
"Hey Siri , activate the mobile emitter"
how come we never saw that????
how come we never saw that????
Especially since Sterling already had holo-emitters built in to his office - likely, he often used holograms to portray his developments in there, and had a mobile emitter readily on hand if he ever had to take a display to other places. As a result, giving the Doctor one that he already had available... Not that difficult to arrange.
We didn't see evidence of such holoemitters anywhere else, which suggests Starling couldn't mass-produce most of the future technology -- otherwise we'd have Jaws 19 being advertised by large holographic sharks.
That would imply a mobile emitter (which is presumably more advanced than desk-bound or ship-bound ones, just like in the 24th century) would be equally unique.
One wonders why the 29th century timecops weren't interested in stopping Starling, but I guess if they hadn't they wouldn't exist as the computer revolution of the 20th century (which led to Voyager and their timeline) wouldn't exist, although that would mean Braxton's ship wouldn't exist and paradox unchained.
It could also imply that he was keeping a backlog of things to steadily "invent" over time, the way that Berlinghoff Rasmussen planned to do with the tech he pilfered from the Enterprise in A Matter of Time. He'd kicked off a tech revolution in the 20th century, but (particularly considering that Ed Begley Jr. is still around and kicking himself after almost thirty years since the episode was made) he had every reason to believe that he'd be around for a long time - means a lot of time to keep building on his previous success with new "creations." Holographic technology would be absolutely useful, but not something that he'd want to just drop right away.
When I think of a scale of tech to release, holographic technology, and especially mobile holograms - capable of computer infiltration (as we see with SAM in the latest episode of Starfleet Academy) or espionage through disguise (like the Doctor in Live Fast and Prosper)... That's a powerful tool that he could easily be saving for a rainy day with things like government contracts, saying he's "working" on making it viable for the major powers of the world, so keeping his contracts while holding off on releasing everything at once.
Presumably, though, the way that time travel worked in the episode was that it was a closed loop - the incursion that sent Braxton after Voyager in the first place was an instance of effect preceding cause, leading to the tech revolution that Starling engineered, while throwing Braxton's ship to the sixties and Voyager to the nineties, and then, when Voyager destroyed Starling and the timeship he was trying to fly into the future, the loop was closed, and oh I've gone cross-eyed.
Yes, this is what Braxton explains to Janeway in 1996. He tried to prevent the catastrophe in the future by destroying Voyager, not realising that doing so would create the time loop to start with. The loop is broken instead by destroying the Timeship in the past.
Braxton, now having never been part of those events, is doing his normal Time Cop routine by taking the anomalous Voyager back to the future.
It’s actually quite a neat resolution, because it also explains why 29th century timeships don’t turn up every time our characters go back in time - because usually they are a part of events and get themselves back home at the end. From this Braxton’s Voyager just appeared out of nowhere in the late 20th century, so flagged up as something weird to be fixed.
Quite why he later went insane and vowed to get his convoluted revenge on Janeway was never satisfactorily explained.
Similar threads
- Locked
