Xon and the Star Trek That Never Was

X is for Xon!

Today I have been making my way through File Magazines' "The Star Trek That Never Was" from 1985. It holds an interesting collection of planned episodes and characters from what was going to Star Trek: Phase II, with Xon (a young full Vulcan) replacing Spock, and with Decker and Ilia on board.

I got this book on a dusty old shelf behind strange romance novels!

I have always been fascinated by Xon, from what I have been able to find out about him - I wish I could have seen his character in action.

Xon is quite young, only 22 - extremely young for a Vulcan - and is a genius, personally selected by the Vulcan Academy of Science as their representative on the Enterprise. Xon realizes that part of the reason why Spock did so well was his ability to better comprehend the crew's emotions due to his human half. Because of this, he tries to copy human emotions (without actually experiencing them) so that he can better understand humanity. Xon is also a much stronger telepath than Spock, and is able to easily link with Ilia.

Full profile... I wish it had happened.

The image used for the above profile is not that of Xon, but of Sonak in The Motion Picture. Xon was to be played by David Gautreaux:

The first episode draft, "In Thy Image", was eventually adapted into the Motion Picture and involves Ilia being used as a probe and V'Ger (spelled Vejur in the article), Xon, and Decker. There are many differences - Ilia and Decker resume duty aboard the enterprise, and Xon is Science officer throughout. Kirk beams down to earth with the probe and it is amazed at the beauty of it. But through Ilia "Vejur" begins to like Kirk, and when the time comes to destroy earth it decides that the biological units have a reason to live, and that it cannot learn from them.

Ilia materializes naked in Kirk's shower...

Not the most unique story.

The pictures that accompany the episode's overview don't have much to do with "In Thy Image" specifically - the first is from the Motion Picture with Ilia, and the second is Kirk with Nomad (it is suggested that the episode would have been too similar to "The Changeling").

Still, I would have loved to see Xon in action!

Uniforms for Star Trek: The Motion Picture - From the Files of Starfleet Command Headquarters

U is for Uniforms!

Within the Marvel comic "Spock... the Barbarian!" from 1981 is a few pages on Starfleet uniforms as seen in The Motion Picture. The coloring is a little off from what we see in the Motion Picture, but the information still applies.

First we get a look at the Class-A uniforms, along with the gold insignia styles and their ranks. The Class-A uniforms are only worn when VIPs (ambassadors, admirals, etc.) are on board, or at ceremonial functions such as funerals, special dinners, or weddings. During the motion picture we see Kirk in both the Admiral's (or Flag Officer's) and the Captain's Class-A uniform, as he was an admiral at the very beginning of the movie until he took over as Captain.

This page also informs us on the "Commodore" rank - "An honorary title; usually the senior Captain in an organization - a captain who performs the duties of an admiral."

As far as Class-A uniforms go, this page states that the command level officers (Kirk, Spock, Decker, Scotty, etc.) wear grey (although it usually looks blue),  whereas the lower-level officers and crew (Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, etc.) wear beige. For whatever reason, Spock wears his Class-A uniform with a black collar.

And by the way, those are life support monitor belt buckles on the front of their uniforms (referred to in this guide as a bio-scan belt buckle).

The Class-B uniforms are more casual, with either long or short sleeves, and are worn daily around the ship. There are three uniform colors, shown below, and shoulder tabs and insignia showing department and rank. A white shirt and grey pants are worn by command level officers, and  the lower officers wear beige. Enlisted personnel wear light and dark brown. The insignia worn on the breast match the tabs in color.

Grey: Operations division: Security
Yellow/Gold: Operations division: Communications and Command division: Helm and Navigation
Green: Sciences division: Medical
Orange: Sciences division: Research and technical
Red: Operations division: Engineering and maintenance
White: Command.

Rank is indicated by stripes, except for the yellow squares worn on the tabs of Chiefs.

The medical Class-A uniforms are very much like the others, but with a v-cut collar. Dr. McCoy, being a command level officer, wears grey, while Dr. Chapel wears beige.

The medical work uniforms are white, but without a bio-scan belt buckle. These uniforms are worn only in sickbay and in surgery. The medical worksuits for lower ranking officers are also white, but have the bio-scan buckle. Both the medical work uniform and the medical worksuit have a caduceus instead of the insignia, but the work uniforms have shoulder tabs that indicate rank.

For informal occasions outside of sickbay, Both McCoy and Chapel wear white pants, with either a white tunic (McCoy) or a beige tunic (Chapel) over top.

The general leisure uniforms (wraparound tunics) are generally worn while off duty. Like the other uniforms, these come in grey, beige, and brown depending on rank.

The duty jackets/excursion jacket worn by the landing parties were manila, with colored strips around the upper arm indicating rank. There is a "blooper" in the Motion Picture where at one point, Spock and McCoy's rank strips are reversed. The duty jackets have two large pockets on either side. There is also an alternate duty jacket for colder conditions, with fur cuffs and a hood.

The work suit uniform is worn by engineering, technicians, and maintenance personnel on the job, and sometimes under a duty jacket. Kirk and Spock wear these uniforms as well in grey. These suits also come in white, brown, and beige - and green on planetary stations. Also known as a jumpsuit, some of these suits had large pockets on the thighs.

The engineering anti-radiation suits are worn "in and around warp engines and matter/antimatter power chambers" and come in white or brown.

The shoes worn by the Enterprise crew are attached to their trousers.

Some security personnel (starship and base) wore full body armor with a helmet, which was dark with white details. These pages also fail to go over the protective suit worn by certain (minor) members of the crew, the thruster suit, the civilian tunic (also seen only on minor/background characters), pressure suits, and the petty officer insignia (which is a gold triangle).

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Bubble Gum Pack 1979

Here's a little anecdote: I was walking down one of the isles at the Comic and Toy Expo when I saw some old bubble gum packs with the Joker and Batman. The man behind the table, however, took one look (or I would assume it was only one look - maybe he took a few looks) at my "Mirror Mirror" shirt and beckoned me over to the other side of the table. There he rummaged though piles of items until he found the one thing I never knew I wanted:

So for a mere two dollars (I would have paid fifty, I swear) I found myself in possession of a pack of 33 year old bubble gum:

Fortunately, I was not after the gum. I don`t even like gum. I do, however, like Star Trek cards and stickers. In fact, I had previously seen scans of a few of these cards on tumblr and was wondering how one might procure a pack.

You don`t. Random packs procure you.

I have scanned the sticker and the cards that came in the package - both the front and back. On the backs of the cards are either bits of information or pieces of a puzzle. Unfortunately I do not have enough cards to make any of the puzzle pictures at the moment, but I am now on the lookout for more.

Quick notes: For those unsure of the species shown on the "Advanced Life Form" card, it is an Aaamazzarite. The sticker features a Saurian. On the "Terror in the Transporter Room" card, the woman with Commander Sonak is unnamed in the movie, but is named Lori Ciana in the novel. You can read more about her in the TOS novel "The Lost Years".

PS. Never try chewing 33 year old gum. My curiosity got the best of me - but it just crumbled into a weird paste in my mouth, and it tasted like pills.

Movies are just so much more exciting when turned into interactive pop-up books.

I tend to frequent antique book shops for the unique Star Trek books they get in. I recently got this Motion Picture pop-up book for a mere ten dollars: (click images to enlarge)

Best find ever. I will read this to my children.

The story is vague almost to the point of error, but the book is fun to look at none the less. Allow me to take you on a magical journey into the world of pop-up magic.

You walk home from the antique shop, holding on to your prize and trying to keep it dry in the rain. Finally you find some shelter, and give in - you open the book.

Suddenly, two Klingon cruisers jump out at you! Gee-whiz, the effect is so real!

It's like they're coming right at you. Or something.

You turn the page, anticipating fun-times galore. You are not disappointed - pull tabs appear! You spend ten minutes making the travel pod travel to and from the enterprise, and opening the sticky door.

True to the movie, the door only opens part way. Now that is what I call quality.

You finally turn another page, engaging in childish delights. You see... the transporter room! My goodness, it is like you are right there! But wait... there's trouble! you pull the tab back and forth, replicating the transporter trouble that killed poor Vice Admiral Lori Ciana (misspelled Ciani in the novelization) and Xon/Sonak  

Note: there is some discrepancy as to whether the character was Xon or Sonak. In the Motion Picture novel he is named Sonak, however many other sources name him as Xon, the Vulcan who was to replace Spock in the planned series, Star Trek: Phase II.

The drama! Starfleet should have checked with the Enterprise before beaming people up. I blame them.

What intense interactive surprises await us on the next page?

None. But there is a pop-up enterprise.

It just doesn't measure up.

You don't worry too much about that lack of excitement, however. As you turn the page you see that you, you yourself, must assist the enterprise in blasting the wormhole! You pull the tab, folding out an explosion. It is a technical masterpiece, and you marvel over it for hours. Wormhole. Pull... KABOOM!

Interactivities, gaze in wonder as with a swift motion I blast a wormhole into oblivion. I am all powerful.

Cower at my might, puny earthlings.

You then look to the other side of the page, and come face to face with one of your favorite Vulcans - Spock. He controls his emotions, but you find that YOU are in charge of his eyebrows. Hilarity ensues as you pull the tab controlling his reactions, and the eyebrows go high above his bangs (they do go higher than shown in the picture).

Mr. Spock reacts to all the excitement in his usual way...

My golly, that is quite the expression! I wish my eyebrows looked like that. Or not.

Turn the page, and you can control the "mysterious ship", teasing the Enterprise for hours on end. Pull the tab, and it opens... but will it stay open long enough for the Enterprise to get through? You realize that you are in control of that now, and the enterprise just sits there, waiting.

And of course, we all know what is through the opening right?

If you don't, you are about to find out!

Finally - flip to the last page, and the final scene rises - slowly, just to be dramatic. You see V'ger, surrounded by the landing party in all their glory. Spock is on the far right, but the illustration makes his cheeks look bizarre and chubby (once again, click to enlarge).

The landing party finally finds V'ger!

The book ends there, leaving out much of the story. I would have liked to see at least a couple more pages, but it is still an epically amusing book.

Note: I was watching Trekkies the other day (for the first time) and I noticed as one boy was going through his collection that he had the pop-up book as well. I don't know why, but I found that really exciting and special. Human emotions are illogical.