Alien Isolation Activate Ricardo 39;s Override Command

[Aureo Harvey]

Althoughforce fields had been in use for many years, Starfleet did not begin research on such a device until around 2147, then referred to by Malcolm Reed as a "stable EM barrier." By about 2152, Starfleet hadn't found a method of controlling the particle density of the field. Reed nonetheless made use of such a barrier to save several crew members, including Jonathan Archer. (ENT: "Vox Sola")

The fact that Starfleet had been struggling to determine how to control the force field's particle density was not scripted. Also, although Reed states these efforts had been ongoing for the past five years prior to the setting of "Vox Sola", the episode's final draft script leaves this as an indeterminate number of years instead.

From the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 1, p. 280, "Malcolm's force field emitters were devised by Star Trek: Enterprise property master Craig Binkley. If you look closely at the props, you might notice that they have four energy emitter gizmos that bear a striking resemblance to Lieutenant Uhura's earpiece receivers from the original Star Trek series. Purely coincedental, of course."

By the 24th century, Starfleet force fields were commonplace and were rated by intensity, ranging in strength from levels 1 through 10. A level 10 force field was the strongest and was used, for example, during a scientific experiment of which the outcome was unknown, or known to be explosive in nature. Applications ranged from creating holograms to sealing a hull breach to personal force fields designed to keep potential assailants at bay. (TNG: "Realm Of Fear", "The Most Toys"; Star Trek Generations; Star Trek: Insurrection; DS9: "Playing God", "Starship Down", "Take Me Out to the Holosuite"; VOY: "State of Flux", "Course: Oblivion")

During pre-production of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a type of device called a "landing envelope" would have placed "a protective power field envelope around a person or landing party, allowing away teams to visit planets with much more hostile environments than was possible in the past." The reference book Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 (p. 004) hypothesizes that the exclusion of this concept from the series may have been due to the strain it would have put on both the effects budget and, by lowering the amount of peril typically encountered on away missions, the writing staff. (Star Trek: The Next Generation 365, p. 004)

The effects of a force field on its surroundings varied greatly. Contact with a force field could cause anything from a slight tingle to death. Most force fields were non-lethal, although some civilizations such as the Dominion preferred the lethal variety. If a force field was active, an object or transporter beam generally could not pass through it, although this was not always the case. The Borg were known to not be hindered by most force fields; they could adapt and simply walk through the field. This was effected by having the cranial implant activate particular nanoprobes to adjust the drone's bioelectric field. However, a Borg drone could be cut off from the Collective if it was surrounded by a Starfleet level 10 force field. (DS9: "The Jem'Hadar"; TNG: "I Borg"; VOY: "Hope and Fear")

Force fields could be activated from various locations. On Starfleet starships there were emitter points at almost every junction along every corridor. The computer could be programmed to run a series of force field activations and deactivations within the ship, effectively creating a protected corridor which could follow a person. Commander Data used this technique with great control when he commandeered the USS Enterprise-D on stardate 44085.7. He also demonstrated another technique involving instructing the computer to implement a scan series of force field activations, initiated by his movements along a short distance of corridor, thus forcing the security team to back away from him. (TNG: "Brothers")

When various security measures left over from the Cardassian occupation came on-line on Deep Space 9, Elim Garak was recognized as a person of sufficient importance by the computer to have the force fields dividing the station drop when he approached. (DS9: "Civil Defense")

If necessary, a transporter platform could be completely enclosed within a force field, to, for example, contain an alien subject or prisoner during transport. (TNG: "The Hunted", "Realm Of Fear"; VOY: "Death Wish", "Demon")

Force fields were also capable of selective positioning, allowing the majority of it to cover a secure location, while a smaller portion was deactivated to allow transport of food, drinks, and other items. This method was used when it would be considered dangerous to deactivate the entire force field. (VOY: "Repentance")

In 2369, Major Kira Nerys created cadderon force fields to arrest the Klaestrons who kidnapped Jadzia Dax and secured the airlock to their starship. Ilon Tandro was able to override the system and deactivate the cadderon force field. (DS9: "Dax")

Containment fields were usually raised when cargo bay or shuttlebay doors were opened to keep them pressurized, although the containment field was partially disengaged when a shuttlecraft passed through it. Unfortunately, eighteen engineers from the crew of the USS Yamato were killed when the containment fields in a shuttlebay failed after the ship was infected with an Iconian software transmission. (TNG: "Contagion") A containment field could be manually activated and deactivated should the need arise. (TNG: "Disaster") Containment fields would be used by Starfleet personnel to isolate an area for investigation, such as using a field to isolate a transporter room pad to beam aboard a sample of an object. (VOY: "Death Wish")

Containment fields could also be used to reinforce antimatter containment, although they could not prevent an impending warp core breach. Lieutenant Commander Data raised a level 3 containment field around the warp core of the Enterprise-D in 2369 when the ship was facing destruction by a core breach. (TNG: "Timescape") By 2379, it was a standard procedure on the USS Enterprise-E for the warp core to be reinforced by a high-level force field before engaging in battle. (Star Trek Nemesis)

In an alternate timeline Miles O'Brien tried to create a sort of a containment field in sickbay to retain Benjamin Sisko on the station. He was unable to and Sisko went into the temporal displacement again. (DS9: "The Visitor")

In the event of an outer hull breach, emergency force fields were automatically deployed to protect the damaged part from the influences of space; at the same time they prevented decompression of the entire deck by keeping the atmosphere in. During critical situations, such as ship-to-ship battles, if the main defensive force field was ruptured and a section of the ship was destroyed, it took longer for the computer to re-establish the structural integrity field than usual because of the large energy demands already placed on the vessel. In this short space of time, sections of a vessel could indeed be exposed to the vacuum of space. Captain Kirk was lost to the vacuum of space in this way, in 2293, when the USS Enterprise-B was struck by the Nexus energy ribbon. (Star Trek Generations)

A lieutenant aboard the Enterprise-E was blown out into space in 2379 before an emergency force field could be activated when the bridge front wall and viewscreen were destroyed by the Reman warbird Scimitar. (Star Trek Nemesis) A similar incident happened during the "Year of Hell" when an alien ship was disabled by the Krenim timeship's conventional weapons, and collided with the almost-already-crippled USS Voyager's bridge front/viewscreen and portions of her decks. Fortunately, Captain Janeway was not blown out into space, due to the quick activation of the emergency atmospheric force fields. (VOY: "Year of Hell, Part II")

On stardate 49263.5, the USS Defiant, under the command of Captain Benjamin Sisko, descended into the atmosphere of a Class J gas giant with 10,000 kilometer per hour wind speeds. The emergency force field that was erected to save the ship from decompression due to a hull breach was not able to withstand the pressure for more than a few minutes. (DS9: "Starship Down")

Starbases, starships, shuttlecraft, and even advanced weaponry were often equipped with external force field emitters, which, when activated, produced a "bubble" around the generating object, known as defensive shields. (VOY: "Dreadnought", "Warhead") These shields were variable, and could even be extended to encompass a nearby vessel or object. (TNG: "The Defector") Defensive force fields could be penetrated in two ways. The most conventional method involved firing energy weapons at the shielded object, which weakened the field. The other method was achieved by matching the frequency of the shield to the weapon used. (Star Trek Generations; VOY: "Equinox, Part II") Chroniton torpedoes could not be stopped by normal shielding but required modifications to enable temporal shielding. (VOY: "Year of Hell")

A security screen (also referred to as a security cover or security force field) was a type of force field employed by the Federation that surrounded the Tantalus Penal Colony. In addition to standard force field features, this security screen was also capable of blocking ship-to-shore communications, preventing contact between the colony, which was situated on planet Tantalus V, and nearby spacecraft. The security screen could be deactivated with a control that was in the office of the colony's director. Furthermore, the words "security screen" were visible on a wall of the colony's main power chamber, from where the force field could also be turned off.

While Captain James T. Kirk was visiting Tantalus colony in 2266, the security screen blocked contact between a communicator he had with him and the USS Enterprise, which was orbiting the planet. After Doctor Tristan Adams (the colony's director at that time) informed Kirk that the security screen was in effect, Adams temporarily turned off the force field, permitting Kirk to contact the Enterprise.

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