The Whale Probe's Signal Radius

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Is there any information about the radius affected by the whale probe's signal (canon or otherwise)? I ask because there are some things about the probe's effects that don't make sense.

We first see the probe disable USS Saratoga en route to Earth. We later learn that other Federation vessels, as well as Klingon vessels, have been neutralized by its signal. Eventually, it travels to Earth's solar system and disables the spacedock, the Excelsior (which was moored inside) and Earth's defensive systems and power grid.

Spock surmises that the probe's signal is not meant to be harmful (despite its effects), and that what's happened is merely accidental. That being the case, why is every vessel that encounters the probe disabled until the probe travels back the way it came after George and Gracie have communicated with it? I can understand the spacedock and the BOP being affected because they were near the probe when it stopped transmitting, but Saratoga was apparently disabled until the probe traveled back toward the Neutral Zone.

Did the probe transmit another (inaudible) signal as it passed? Or, by chance, was the probe "told" by the whales that it was affecting everything in its path? Or was its radius so large that anything within several light years was affected? If that's the case, it seems unlikely that the BOP would have been able to make its jump backward in time in the first place, as it first had to re-enter Earth's solar system in order to reach the sun for the slingshot maneuver.

--Sran

 

[MacLeod]

^There was nothing onscreen from what I can remember about when or if the Saratoga's power was restored.

Couldn't the probe have sent a signal through subspace to restore power to the affected ships, and eventravellingsubspace it might take some time for it to reach all ships

 

[SicOne]

There are two possibilities I see right off the bat.

(1) It is possible that the initial signal the probe made while heading towards Earth, hailing the whales, was what caused the loss of power to Saratoga and other Federation ships, including SpaceDock/Excelsior, as well as the Klingon ships. Upon arrival at Earth, it is likely that it changed the signal slightly, using a somewhat "lower" tone of voice (as opposed to yelling from across the room), but the original hailing signal that caused the power loss to the ships still had lingering effects upon their power systems. Kirk's appropriated Bird-of-Prey probably merely had the sheer good fortune to have arrived at Earth while the probe was using its "inside voice" and thus was able to skirt around the range of signal and then slingshot around the Sun. If they had gotten any closer, or had arrived while the probe was hollering loudly, they too might have suffered power loss.

Arguments could be made for (A) the robustness of power systems aboard the BoP (and precedence for that is set somewhat many decades later by the fact that Klingon ships were less susceptible to Breen energy-dampening weapons in the Dominion War...) and/or (B) Scotty's tinkering around with the BoP while on exile on Vulcan. Or all three situations might have contributed to the Bounty's survival and ability to operate in ST4.

(2) It is also possible that it was merely the proximity of the probe to the ships involved that caused the power loss. Although we never see any Federation starships than Saratoga and Excelsior lose power, we do know that other Fed ships as well as Klingon ships lost power, presumably upon entering the sphere of influence of the probe (several kilometers). The probe is in the scene with Saratoga when she begins to lose power, as well as passing within spitting distance of SpaceDock/Excelsior when they grow dark. That same proximity keeps power out in the SpaceDock complex while the probe is in orbit, beaming down whatever energy it's sending down to affect the oceans. After the probe speaks to the whales, it reorients and heads away from Earth, and once it passes by SpaceDock, SpaceDock lights up again after the probe has left, giving additional credence to that theory. In that case, as long as the Bounty gave the probe a wide berth, it may have been able to operate relatively unaffected by the probe.

I think there might have been a line or two of dialogue about the Federation President warding off any ships from approaching Earth, but whether that was because the probe's signals caused power loss within a substantial radius of Earth or the Prez not wanting to risk any further loss of life is unknown.

 

[Ithekro]

There is no indication that the Probe effected another other planets in the Sol System. I don't recall even a mention of any problems on Luna. Just Earth and Earth orbit. The Bird of Prey didn't start to lose power until it approached Earth itself.

 

[SicOne]

Also makes me wonder if there might have been some aspect of the probe signal that damaged the BoP as it passed by Earth, causing the power drain that manifested itself fully once they'd arrived in 1986 Earth.

 

[Ithekro]

That might just have been the jump through time. The BoP is not exactly the Enterprise when it comes to its warp drive. They might have had the same problem after getting back to the 23rd century, but the Probe's message turned the ship off before it could manifest again.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

That might just have been the jump through time. The BoP is not exactly the Enterprise when it comes to its warp drive. They might have had the same problem after getting back to the 23rd century, but the Probe's message turned the ship off before it could manifest again.

It was the time travel, as Scotty mentions that the vessel's dilithium crystals were trained.

--Sran

 

[Maurice]

"Trained"?

 

[Ithekro]

"Trained" ...by the Klingons to fail if used by Earthers, or perhaps trained to prevent adventurous Klingons from changing their own history via time travel.

 

[Nebusj]

Well, obviously, the Probe's signal blew out every single fuse the Saratoga and other starships had, and they couldn't restore power until someone shipped them a box of replacements. Kirk's ship, flying without those blasted contraptions, could carry on.

 

[The Old Mixer]

If the crystals weren't trained, the engine room would be a mess....

 

[Shon T'Hara]

(2) It is also possible that it was merely the proximity of the probe to the ships involved that caused the power loss. Although we never see any Federation starships than Saratoga and Excelsior lose power, we do know that other Fed ships as well as Klingon ships lost power, presumably upon entering the sphere of influence of the probe (several kilometers). The probe is in the scene with Saratoga when she begins to lose power, as well as passing within spitting distance of SpaceDock/Excelsior when they grow dark. That same proximity keeps power out in the SpaceDock complex while the probe is in orbit, beaming down whatever energy it's sending down to affect the oceans. After the probe speaks to the whales, it reorients and heads away from Earth, and once it passes by SpaceDock, SpaceDock lights up again after the probe has left, giving additional credence to that theory. In that case, as long as the Bounty gave the probe a wide berth, it may have been able to operate relatively unaffected by the probe.

The problem is the Yorktown, which never regained power after the Probe left -- remember, the chief engineer was trying to deploy a makeshift solar sail to keep them operational.

There's also a question of how much damage the probe did the the Earth's ecosystem. It looked like it was evaporating water from the ocean, which would screw up currents, salinity and force fish from upper levels into lower onces.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

"Trained"?

"Trained" ...by the Klingons to fail if used by Earthers, or perhaps trained to prevent adventurous Klingons from changing their own history via time travel.

Sorry! That should be drained.

--Sran

 

[FormerLurker]

You shouldn't have picked at it in the first place.

 

[Timo]

If the crystals weren't trained, the engine room would be a mess....

And the mess would be an engine room?

It might be the probe's signal is quite permanently destructive to starships, not just draining power from their powerplants but also seriously damaging those. But the big Spacedock might have been a tougher nut to crack: the signal would keep draining power, and destroying a powerplant or three for good - but once it went away, enough backup systems existed to allow emergency power to be instated. Some nearby spacecraft would then also enjoy the benefits of surviving nearby power sources, there being a wireless power network inside and next to Spacedock Earth. Similarly, the planetside power net would be robust enough to restore global power once the jamming signal went away.

It's very nice that we never learn whether the signal was a weapon aimed at neutralizing opposition; a weapon with the side effect of neutralizing opposition (a bit like Nero's drill); or a tool performing an important job the Probe was so intensely concentrating on that it didn't even notice it was also harming starships left and right.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^Well, the Yorktown/Enterprise-A was a disaster in the next movie; whether this was due to the probe's effects or to Kirk pushing the ship too hard during its shakedown ("Let's see what she's got...") isn't clear, but it wasn't until the Enterprise encountered the entity beyond the Great Barrier that she had anything approaching her normal power level (which was short-lived due to Klaa's BOP firing a torpedo at close range).

--Sran

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I always assumed that by the time the probe reached Earth, it knew the whales were extinct, became angry, and intended to wipe out all life on the planet as retribution.

It may not have intended to destroy the passing starships, but its "attitude" after it began its close bombardment of Earth does seem to suggest it knew exactly what it was doing.

Although since I'm sure the probe had been communicating with whales across vast distances - closer than the starships had been - it could very well be that it had, for some time, known the whales were gone, and the only reason it came to Earth at all was to destroy all life there...

 

[SicOne]

^ IIRC, the novelization of ST4 said the probe had previously been able to communicate to the whales from light-years distant that it was enroute and anxious to hear their stories when it arrived, and mankind hadn't reached a technological age where the communications would have caused any problems to man the last time the probe was around. Also, that the ionization effect on the oceans was the probe's attempt to reach wherever the whales had gone into the ocean depths, not realizing that the whales had gone altogether. It didn't really perceive mankind as an intelligence to be communicated with, just the whales, and stopped the ionization effect caused by its "song" only once it heard George or Gracie sing back to it.

I do remember the book saying that the probe asked the whales where they were for however long it had been bombarding Earth's oceans with whalesong, the whales replying that they didn't know, they were there and then and now they were here and now, talking to the probe, the probe asking where the rest of the whales were and the two whales saying that they were all that was left, and the probe departed, wishing them well and anticipating new songs at some future point as it left Earth's orbit, SpaceDock lights up, the rain stops, cue the fanfare.

It wasn't that the probe was trying to wipe out humanity on Earth, but that was just the collateral damage from its whalesong.

 

[SicOne]

(2) It is also possible that it was merely the proximity of the probe to the ships involved that caused the power loss. Although we never see any Federation starships than Saratoga and Excelsior lose power, we do know that other Fed ships as well as Klingon ships lost power, presumably upon entering the sphere of influence of the probe (several kilometers). The probe is in the scene with Saratoga when she begins to lose power, as well as passing within spitting distance of SpaceDock/Excelsior when they grow dark. That same proximity keeps power out in the SpaceDock complex while the probe is in orbit, beaming down whatever energy it's sending down to affect the oceans. After the probe speaks to the whales, it reorients and heads away from Earth, and once it passes by SpaceDock, SpaceDock lights up again after the probe has left, giving additional credence to that theory. In that case, as long as the Bounty gave the probe a wide berth, it may have been able to operate relatively unaffected by the probe.

The problem is the Yorktown, which never regained power after the Probe left -- remember, the chief engineer was trying to deploy a makeshift solar sail to keep them operational.

There's also a question of how much damage the probe did the the Earth's ecosystem. It looked like it was evaporating water from the ocean, which would screw up currents, salinity and force fish from upper levels into lower onces.

I'm thinking that perhaps Yorktown suffered permanent damage to her energy systems from the probe using its "outside voice" in a power amplification to reach Earth from wherever it happened to be. As it drew nearer to Earth, it changed over to "inside voice", disrupting energy systems on Earth and in SpaceDock. After a few farewell toots and bloops to the whales as it reoriented itself to a new course and pulled out of Earth orbit, it quit "speaking" altogether and the lights came back on.

 

[Timo]

What the Probe does can be interpreted as malicious - but it can also be chalked up to utter indifference. The Probe never "lifted a finger" against anybody in specific: the starships came to it and had to pay the price.

In the most straightforward interpretation, the Probe came to Earth to do something to her oceans in case there were no whales there. When it spotted some, it stopped and went away. No communication of any sort took place other than the Probe sending a "ping" to test for whales; no aggression was involved. Now that could describe a terraforming system paving way for a species that needs planets with their oceans boiled; collateral damage is acceptable, but only to a certain point, and hordes of advanced and communicative animals dying is a tad past the redline. Humans aren't a factor either because land animals don't count - or because it's clear that enough humans will survive anyway even with the oceans boiled.

Timo Saloniemi