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The Slaver Weapon (episode)edit

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Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)
"The Slaver Weapon"
TAS, Episode 1x14
Production number: 22011
First aired: 15 December 1973
← 11th of 22 produced in TAS →
← 14th of 22 released in TAS →
  {{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 22 released in TAS Remastered  
← 93rd of 727 released in all →
Written By
Larry Niven
Adapted from his story "The Soft Weapon"

Directed By
Hal Sutherland
4187.3 (2269)
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A group of Kzinti divert the shuttle Copernicus and retrieve a newly discovered Slaver weapon.

Contents

[edit] Summary

Uhura, Spock and Sulu
"First Officer's Log: Stardate 4187.3. The Enterprise shuttlecraft Copernicus is en route to Starbase 25 with an important cargo, a Slaver stasis box discovered by archaeologists on the planet Kzin. These stasis boxes are the most remarkable thing the Slavers ever produced – time stands still inside a stasis box. A billion years means nothing in there."

The boxes were used to carry valuables, scientific instruments, weapons and data. When the ship passes Beta Lyrae the stasis box glows, indicating a second box is hidden in that system. Spock remarks, "Stasis boxes and their content are the only remnant of the species which ruled most of this galaxy a billion years ago. Their effect on science has been incalculable. In one was found a flying belt which was the key to the artificial gravity field used by starships. Another box contained a disruptor bomb with the pin pulled. As a result all stasis boxes are now under the jurisdiction of Starfleet and only certain key specialists handle them. The boxes are rare, potentially dangerous, and we seem to have found a second one."

The shuttle lands on an ice planet where hostile Kzinti lie in ambush with an empty stasis box. The team are captured in a police web by a group of Kzinti and taken aboard their vessel. The Kzinti race once controlled the entire empire but now is bound to keep peace. Spock tells the others that the lean, bedraggled one is a mind-reader. He tells Sulu, "They won't read my mind because Vulcans are herbivorous pacifists and Uhura a mere female. The Kzinti are meat eaters and if he senses one trying to read his mind to think of eating raw vegetables." Spock advises Uhura to try to look harmless because Kzinti females are dumb animals. In an emergency they may forget a Human female is an intelligent creature giving them a chance to escape. At first, Uhura is irritated, telling Spock "Thanks. Thanks a lot!" Spock then reminds Uhura that while he values her intelligence, they may have a better chance at escape if the Kzinti thinks she has none. Uhura understands Spock's instructions and agrees.

Their captors are lead by Chuft Captain, who commands the Traitor's Claw. Their archaeologists found an empty box but it was a good way to draw them there. Many Kzinti still take part in raiding Federation shipping and seek Slaver weapons to regain control of their empire. In the opened box they find a picture of a Slaver, some fresh meat, and a weapon created by the Slavers.

"First Officer's Log: Supplemental. The Kzinti now possess a weapon potentially deadly to the entire galaxy. The extent of its power remains to be seen."

The Kzinti return to the surface to test the weapon. They run through settings inferior to present technology. One setting disengages the police web, giving the team a chance to flee and get back the weapon but Uhura is recaptured. Sulu thinks a spy owned the weapon. Spock agrees, therefore, it also has a self-destruct setting. When he explores other settings on the weapon he finds a null setting. Then Chuft Captain hails them wanting to trade Uhura's life for the weapon. He also wants to do combat with Spock to save face. Sulu refuses for him. As Spock tries another setting the weapon sets free a giant energy beam creating a huge explosion far away, a huge mushroom cloud and fallout, knocking Sulu and Spock off their feet. Sulu exclaims, "We can't give them THAT!" Spock then says, "No world in the Federation has produced anything so powerful. Almost beyond theoretical limits. Total conversion of matter to energy at a distance." Sulu remarks, "If the Kzinti had that, the whole galaxy would be their dinner table."

The Kzinti retake the weapon and put it on its "reasoning computer" mode, a remarkable achievement for hand-held equipment. It gives scant details of its origin and abilities, alluding to long ago war. Spock realizes it has a different appearance now. The weapon says unless it is supplied with "certain code words" it will answer no further questions. Awakened after an indeterminate time and surrounded by beings that do not know its proper interaction protocols it has decided to self-destruct to keep vital tactical information from falling into long extinct enemy hands. At Spock's behest the Enterprise crew flees. The Kzinti aren't interested in them, fascinated by their new toy. The Slaver weapon detonates, killing the Kzinti in a massive explosion.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Mr. Spock, if it takes a stasis box to find another stasis box, how did anyone ever find the first one?
 "As with a number of discoveries, purely by accident, lieutenant."

- Sulu and Spock


"Lieutenant Uhura, this may be crucial - in the presence of the Kzinti, do not say anything, do not do anything startling - try to look harmless."
"Any special reason?"
"Are you forgetting Kzinti females are dumb animals? In an emergency, the Kzinti may forget a Human female is an intelligent creature."
(Indignant)"Thanks - thanks a lot!"
"Lieutenant, I value your intelligence, but we may be able to seize an opportunity to escape if the Kzinti believe you have none."
(Understanding)"Yes, sir."

- Spock and Uhura


"Captain, he is too alien! He makes me taste yellow root munched between flat teeth!"
"Be glad if you need not read the Vulcan's mind."

- Kzin Telepath and Chuft Captain


"What of the picture?"
"The human, Sulu, believes it to be Slaver."
"So do I. It would have made a worthy enemy."

- Chuft Captain and Kzin Telepath


"I have the weapon."
"They've got Uhura - and subspace radio. They can call for help from the Kzin planet if they think the weapon's worth it."
"No...they can not - or, rather, will not."
"Why?"
"Because I kicked Chuft Captain. Consider. Chuft Captain has been attacked by an herbivorous pacifist, an eater of leaves and roots, one who traditionally does not fight. And the ultimate insult, I left him alive. Chuft Captain's honor is at stake. He must seek personal revenge before he can call for help."
"That gives us some time. You did plan it that way?"
"Of course."

- Spock and Sulu


"I have a feeling, Mr. Spock. This weapon must have belonged to a spy - an espionage agent."
"I acknowledge your expertise in the field of weapons, Mr. Sulu, but I do not see how you can determine probable ownership."
"Well, here - look at it. All these settings - we don't know a common Slaver soldier couldn't handle them, but as a weapon, only the laser is effective. The others aren't necessary for the line soldier's one purpose: to destroy the enemy."
"Assuming it's a spy weapon, then, the Slavers would have wanted to keep it a secret. If so, it is logical to assume that it has a self-destruct setting too."
"But we've seen all the phases."
"Perhaps not. There is the null setting. It seems to do nothing - but why should it be there?"

- Sulu and Spock


"We have the female prisoner as hostage. You have something we want. We will trade her life for the Slaver weapon."

- Chuft Captain


"I compute the odds of my defeating Chuft Captain in combat at sixteen to one against."
"Offer refused."
"They think very little of you."
"Wrong, they don't think much of YOU."

- Spock, Sulu, Chuft Captain, and Uhura


"The Kzinti have legends of weapons haunted by their owners."
"Could it be a voice-activated mechanism?"
"No. It appears to be conversing with them. A reasoning computer that small!"

- Spock and Uhura


"How long has it been since you were turned off?"
"I do not know. When I am off I have no sense of passing time."
"What is the last thing you remember?"
"We were on a mission. I may not tell you of it unless you know certain code words."

- Chuft Captain and The Slaver Weapon


"We can't let them have that weapon!"
"They are not about to get it, lieutenant."
"Why not?"
"Assume you are a Slaver war computer. You've been turned off - you do not know for how long - but when you were turned off, there was a war on. Now you are awakened by aliens you never saw before. They do not know any of the military passwords. They ask you so many questions, it is obvious they know little about you. Your owner is nowhere about. What would you think?"
"I'd think I'd been captured by the enemy, or an enemy at least."
"And when they asked you how to find your most powerful weapon setting, what would you give them?"
(Chuft Captain pulls the trigger, and the question is answered in an explosive manner)

- Uhura, Spock, and Sulu


"No sign of the weapon, of course... it would've looked nice in some museum..."
"It never would've reached a museum, lieutenant. There was too much power in one setting - if not the Kzinti, the Klingons or some other species would've tried to posess it."

- Sulu and Spock, after the weapon self-destructs

[edit] Background Information

  • This episode was based on Larry Niven's science fiction (not Star Trek) short story "The Soft Weapon", which was published in 1967. The characters in the original story were Jason Papandreou (changed to Lt. Sulu for the episode), Jason's wife Anne-Marie (changed to Lt. Uhura for the episode), and the Pierson's Puppeteer Nessus, a manic-depressive member of a race of pacifistic herbivores (changed to Spock for the episode). The device was originally made by a species (the Tnuctipun) rebelling against the Thrintun ("Slaver") Empire.
  • The pink uniforms for the Kzinti came to be because the director, Hal Sutherland, has a kind of color blindness. Usually, the art department revised his color schemes, but the animators received his original instructions and gave the Kzinti pink uniforms. During a documentary on the animated series (as part of the DVD release) D.C. Fontana reported that she personally apologized to Niven for the mistake. [1]
  • This is the only animated Star Trek episode that does not feature the Enterprise, apart from in credits sequences. It is the second of three animated episodes that do not feature any scenes set on the ship's bridge, the others being "Yesteryear" and "The Jihad".
  • William Shatner (Kirk), DeForest Kelley (McCoy), and James Doohan (Scotty) do not appear in this episode, although Doohan provided voices for all of the Kzinti. Between Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series and the first seven Star Trek films, this is the only time after the character of James T. Kirk was first introduced that he does not appear. He also did not appear in the first Original Series pilot, "The Cage".
  • Although Captain Kirk's character does not appear in this episode, we do see his face, as it was used for Sulu in several shots.
  • As Kirk did not appear, this episode is the second of four times that Leonard Nimoy appears on Star Trek without William Shatner. The other three are TOS: "The Cage", TNG: "Unification II" (plus TNG: "Unification I"), and Star Trek.
  • The events of the "Slaver Weapon" would be referenced, and the Kzinti themselves return, in the Star Trek comic strip story arc "The Wristwatch Plantation".
  • In Niven's "Known Space Universe" the Slavers are called Thrintun. Also, the other Kzinti don't receive a name here – in the original short story the crew consisted (beside Chuft Captain and Telepath) of Flyer, who later carries Telepath, and Slaverstudent, who opens the box.
  • The death of the Kzinti during this episode's conclusion marks the only time any characters are killed on screen during The Animated Series.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Starring

[edit] Also starring

[edit] References

1 billion years ago; 2069; 2169; archaeologist; artificial gravity; Beta Lyrae; Beta Lyrae system; Copernicus; disruptor bomb; disrupter field; Earth-Kzin Wars; energy absorber; Highest of Kzin; Klingons; Kzin; Kzin government; Kzinti; Kzinti police vessel; laser; life support belt; odds; omnivore; phaser; police web; protoplasm; Slavers; Slaver Empire; Slaver war; Slaver weapon; spy; Starbase 25; Starfleet; stasis box; telescope; Traitor's Claw; Treaty of Sirius; Vulcans

[edit] External links


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