To Rick Sternbach: Puting a baby to bed

[Timo]

...Of course, much of the excitement stems from the fact that Kirk isn't in contact with his superiors. The bit about it being "Impossible!" for the Valiant to have been there reinforces the excitement, while the bit about there being Earthling automated facilities in the vicinity weakens it. Nevertheless, Kirk seems to be the next authority from God down in these parts - or actually one step above the local divine entity in terms of formal rank structure. For him to have the option of calling home (when the Valiant never could) would seem a bit like cheating.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[GodThingFormerly]

For him to have the option of calling home (when the Valiant never could) would seem a bit like cheating.

Interstellar communications technology obviously improved in the intervening two centuries. Indeed, I'm currently watching WNMHGB on DVD and have so far not heard anybody mention that the Enterprise is out of subspace radio range with Earth or a proximate starbase, although I did notice that Spock states "a few light days away from here" (not the "couple" I misremembered) which gives us a touch more wiggle room with distances.

TGT