Welcome back to part two of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture novelization read through, #TMPRead. Today we'll be learning more about future Earth, Kirk's years as an admiral, and his relationship with Admiral Heihachiro Nogura all straight from Roddenberry's pen.
Chapter 4 finds Kirk on approach to Star Fleet headquarters which is nestled in the redwood forest that is what was San Francisco. Its a lone building on a planet where most stuff in now underground. #TMPRead
Kirk takes a "tube" from Gibraltar to Los Angeles and then the air tram to SF from there. World spanning subshuttles and underground living are two concepts from Roddenberry's 1970's pilot "Genesis II" (trekmovie.com/2016/11/17/for…)
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Kirk is stewing over the past three years of being an admiral. He feels manipulated and he really thinks Ciana, his lover during that time, was part of a ploy to keep him placated. #TMPRead
Interesting that Gene thought it fully plausible that a female Vice Admiral would screw Kirk for years in order to take one for the team. #TMPRead
New Humans don't like the concept of Star Fleet at all and hate resources being funneled into it. Kirk was to act as a heroic poster boy to keep the institution looking relevant. #TMPRead
Alcatraz is a children's park. The tram entrance in the book is at Telegraph Hill which is on the opposite side of SF from the Sea Cliff location it's at in the film. #TMPRead
Calling a Vulcan's name in public is consider a "shameful breach of privacy"was a no and Sonak isn't too pleased about it when he and Kirk first meet. #TMPRead
We're in "the room where it happened" now, so to speak. The famous Kirk/Nogura meeting is actually played out here. #TMPRead
It pretty much goes how you'd think. Kirk blusters that Decker is untested. Nogura scoffs a bit and asks how badly Kirk wants the Enterprise back. Kirk acts like the ship isn't the point even though it totally is. Nogura gives in. #TMPRead
The orbital station Kirk meets Scotty on is called the "Centroplex". #TMPRead
The Kirk/Scott trip to the Enterprise is mostly the same as the film. There is some talk of the Klingons and emphasis on how they attacked the cloud first. #TMPRead
Chapter 6 three pages of maneuvering around the Enterprise. An exact description of the action in the film. #TMPRead
Kirk wonders if even the turbolifts open the same way on the new Enterprise. Does he still just have to stand there? #TMPRead
On the bridge Sulu is described as an "Asian romantic". #TMPRead
Chapter 7. Uhura is the only one who's figured out earth is at risk so far from piecing it together from random comm chatter. #TMPRead
Decker has a "well-muscled, young torso". Who knew? #TMPRead
Decker is quite a great engineer. He spots tiny faults in control boards others have missed. Right now he's specifically working on the transporter fault. #TMPRead
The transporter control bursts at the right moment, interrupting the Decker/Kirk talk as seen in the film. #TMPRead
We join Rand in the transporter room. As before Sonak bites it in the accident. And the "attractive female" on the pad next to him? It's... dum, dum, dum, Lori Ciana! #TMPRead
So, what's the point of the Ciana character? She's introduced as Kirk's lover and possible conspiratorial sex sedative. She's Nogura's right-hand lady. Now she's dead. And...? #TMPRead
Kirk considerers whether it was Rand's fault the people on the pad dies, letting us know why his condolences to her were so cold in the film. But why would he think that? #TMPRead
Chapter 8. Kirk goes over his relationship with Ciana in a little more detail. When he first got back to earth she was "exactly what he needed". Perhaps she was there to apologize? This rumination lasts a second before Kirk gets back on the job. #TMPRead
Kirk's line "I'd still like a Vulcan" is as racist in the book as on screen. Racial reduction to traits, unfortunately, is a common trope that we somehow accept with aliens and fantasy creatures in a way we (hopefully) wouldn't with people. #TMPRead
Kirk is very full of doubt about himself, his relationship with Decker, and the space worthiness of the ship. The transporter accident really throws off his sense of self-worth. #TMPRead
The assembly on the Rec Deck is the first time Kirk remember's any commanding officer calling an assembly of a crew that large. #TMPRead
Many in Star Fleet thought the Enterprise Rec Room was too decadent for a star ship, with so much focus on games and fun. What would they have said of the Enterprise D's facilities? #TMPRead
The Klingon/Cloud battle is the same as the film, as is the Epsilon 9 breaking news update. This is the first time Epsilon 9 is mentioned in the book. The station commander's name is "Branch". #TMPRead
Gene lets us know Branch is flanked by a "pretty, young female lieutenant on scanner duty". That's Kirk for you, always checking out the underlings in a crisis. #TMPRead
The station is destroyed on screen. One of the many times both the audience and the crew alike will be watching action unfold on TV. All the dialogue in this scene is quoted straight from the script. #TMPRead
And there you have it! Tomorrow we'll learn way more than we want about Deltans as Ilia is introduced. See you again here at 1pm ET/10am PT! #TMPRead
