After Ilia vanishes from the bridge in the movie “Star Trek:
The Motion Picture,” she reappears aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. Dr. McCoy determines that she is a probe,
sent by V’ger, and this replica confirms that the beautiful Deltan navigator no
longer lives. Still, the probe possesses not only Ilia’s looks, but also many of the dead woman’s mannerisms. As Commander Will Decker once had a
relationship with Ilia, he gives her replica a tour of the Enterprise, hoping he can
learn as much about V’ger through the probe as V’ger learns about the ship and
its crew.
Spock is concerned that the Ilia replica is their sole
source of information about this vast alien consciousness that is traveling toward
Earth, so he steals a space suit and departs the ship. He travels through vast chambers within
V’ger, and amid the darkness, sees immense holographic images, including a
planet, the Federation space station Epsilon 9 (which, like the Klingon ships, vanished
amid powerful bursts of white energy), and a giant image of Ilia.
In Marvel Comics’ “Star Trek” Vol. 1, Issue #3, writer Marv
Wolfman again diverges from Harold Livingston’s script. In his version, Captain Kirk immediately learns of Spock’s
unapproved jaunt, suits up, and pursues him.
Unlike his half-Vulcan Science Officer, a
crystalline swarm attacks Kirk, and must Spock delay his journey ahead of the
ship.
Instead of holographic images that illuminate the
surrounding darkness, the men travel through lighted caverns. Instead of projections powered by plasma
energy, Spock deduces that V’ger’s memory is stored by highly efficient
crystals, which have recorded everything they destroyed, from Ilia, to the
Epsilon 9 space station, to the three Klingon ships that attacked the space
cloud at the beginning of the film.
Wolfman’s
changes give us more interaction between the story’s two main protagonists,
tell us more about how V’ger functions, and better link the Klingons’ disappearance
to the overall plot. By showing us
caverns of light, he connects V'ger's destructive energy with its “memory,” as well as how this alien consciousness learns (or gains enlightenment). People and things may be dead
in a corporeal sense, but they remain very much alive to this vast alien entity. Thus, Wolfman perpetuates the theme he began
in Issue #1 (see last month's entry "Klingons and the Book of Genesis"), when he narrated:
“In the beginning there was darkness.
Then God said 'Let there be light.'
...and the light
was good.”
Of course, the humans, the Federation, and the Klingons disagree
with V’ger’s assessment. But then, V’ger
cannot comprehend how its actions affect others. As with a child, lecturing it will do no
good. Kirk and Spock must help this
growing alien entity develop a more mature viewpoint, one that respects others’
rights and differences, and recognizes its responsibility as a steward of the
universe. Unfortunately, instead of
having eighteen years in which to nurture their child, only a few hours remain
before the cloud reaches Earth. But
then, whoever said that parenting was easy?
