For nearly fifty years Star Trek fans around the globe have been entertained and inspired by a vision of the future full of sights and sounds to astound the mind. From Vulcans to Klingons, Tribbles to Ferengi, the starship Enterprise to station Deep Space Nine and beyond, the universe begun by Gene Roddenberry and continued by a host of producers and writers continues to thrive well into the 21st century. Star Trek has enthralled its legions of fans with some of the most intriguing and thought provoking stories of the past five decades. Unfortunately, during its lifetime, it has not always been able to go back and further explore some of the best stories of the bunch. For every appearance of the Borg over the years (and there have certainly been quite a few, thank you Voyager) fans have been left to wonder "Whatever happened to...?" or "Why didn't we ever see again?" What follows is just a few of the many story ideas that devoted fans would have seen more of in a perfect world. Engage! 11. Warp Speed Limit Is Imposed (TNG: Force of Nature) What if all the warp travel throughout the galaxy over the years was actually wearing thin the very fabric of space itself? This is the question posed by the TNG seventh-season episode Force of Nature, in which a brother and sister science team from the planet Hekaras II contacts the Enterprise to present their evidence that constant warp travel has damaged space to the point that most of the populated areas of the galaxy are in damage. It takes an act of self-sacrifice on the part of one of the scientists to prove that what they say is true. As a result the Federation institutes a "speed-limit" of no greater than warp 5, to be broken only in cases of extreme emergencies. The problem presented here would have had the potential to radically change the world of Star Trek that fans had become accustomed to over the years. What would happen to the Enterprise's mission of exploration if it suddenly took not days but years to travel from one point of the quadrant to another? Unfortunately, outside of a passing reference in a later episode, the story possibilities Force of Nature offered were never mentioned again. The audience was left to assume that a better warp engine design was eventually created since in subsequent episodes and films starships are seen "breaking the speed limit" over and over again.
I've been a huge sci-fi fan ever since going to see "Star Wars" at the tender age of 3 (and yes I actually do remember it! I love pretty much any intelligent and entertaining film and television series (some of my all time favorites are 2001, Lawrence of Arabia, Battlestar Galactica [SyFy], and The West Wing). Must thank the stars above for such things as HBOGO and Netflix (Am thoroughly enjoying Ripper Street btw). I've also been an avid comic book collector since childhood. I earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing with a second emphasis in film studies from Florida State University (Go Noles!) and definitely enjoy sitting back and watching pretty much any sports. I wish I had a joke to end with, but I don't so I'll simply say "The End."
