Immortality Blues
This was not meant to refer to the Flaming Lips song, but if anything to the
St.
James Infirmary Blues.
Lewis Bixby
Jerome Bixby was an author of numerous short stories and television scripts,
including "Requiem for Methuselah" and "Mirror, Mirror" for Star Trek. His real
name was Drexel Jerome Lewis Bixby, which formed the basis for several of his
pseudonyms (as well as both identities used by the Immortal in this story. The
Immortal, of course, is called Flint in "Requiem for Methuselah").
The city that never sleeps…
Although usually assumed to be just part of the lyrics to Sinatra song "New
York, New York" the phrase referring to New York goes back to a 1924 movie
called "The City that Never Sleeps", and even to a 1912 article in the Fort
Wayne News about the electrification of the city.
Rayna
Rayna Kapec is the name used by Flint for his android woman in "Requiem for
Methuselah", probably as a reference to Karel Čapek, the Czech author who
created the word "robot". The name Rayna is obscure, but suggestions have been
made that it's Bulgarian, Scandinavian, Hebrew, means "Queen", is the
feminization of "Reynard" (a medieval fox who's craftiness was legendary). The
computer system that is named Rayna in this story is Gary Seven's Beta Five
computer. My assumption is that the Immortal was only able to get some of the
computer working after Seven ceased to have any control over it. Whether or not
any other agents of Seven's people had any say in this might make for an
interesting story...
Camilla
The feminine of Camillus, and was the name of a female warrior in Virgil.
The name also appears in Robert W. Chambers the King in Yellow although I'm
pretty sure that has little if anything to do with this story…
Kaliste
The island in the Cyclades in the Southern Aegean, later known as Thera and
Santorini. According to Herodotus the original name was, Strongyle. Kaliste (or
Kalliste) means "the beautiful one". It had a civilization that some link to the
Minoans until it exploded in the 13th century BCE destroying much of the island,
and may have contributed to the collapse of the Minoan empire. Some people think
that Thera may have been Atlantis. Although Thera is only the name of the island
after the 9th century BCE. An interesting aside, Santorini is traditionally the "island
of the vampires."
Dzeos Pathair
Father Zeus.
Lykaugés
The reference to this part of the early morning, calling it the "wolf's tale"
and lykaugés I found in the The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî by
Sir Richard Burton.
Beyond Queens and Brooklyn
Bixby's apartment building is in Flushing in Queens. Fortunately most of that
material was edited out of the manuscript because it was really irrelevant.
Kuwaiti oil fields
You don't really need this one explained, right?
1609…Halve Maen or Half Moon
In 1609, the Half Moon under Henry Hudson first entered the Hudson River valley.
Halve Maen was the ship's correct name.
"StillHere"
Will there still be tagging in the mid-21st century? At least one person was
doing it. Actually this image was inspired by a description of the first
expedition under the WTC after 9-11, and seeing an old tag by the writer "StayHigh
149".
Graybar Building
Yes, the military built up a vault area beneath Grand Central Station, and it
was flooded during the blackout in 1973.
Cumberland Acts
Mentioned in TNG episode "The Measure of a Man", although it was not clear what
"the acts of Cumberland" were. I assume, from context and the primitive state of
AI in the Trek universe that these were laws limiting the development of
Artificial Intelligence.
Jerome Drexel
Another Bixby alias.
The Interface
This is mentioned in the DS9 episode "Past Tense".
"My eye-in-the-sky network"
I assume that even the Beta 5 can't keep an eye on the entire planet without
some sort way to see everything. I'm thinking very small cloaked satellites in
high orbit.
1 May 2053, 0230.26
Date and time do not contradict those given in The Sundered by Michael A.
Martin, and Andy Mangels.
ECON, Eastern Coalitions Of Nations, Grand Khanate of Noonien Singh
It made sense to me.
President Mendoza
Although there are many seeming contradictions between this timeline and the
one given in Federation by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, I'm not sure
that they can't be worked together if someone wanted to do that.
post-Holocaust protocols
Honestly, I edited this as much as I could since the original text made the test
audience suicidally depressed.
"low as half a billion" "only half a billion left"
The death toll for WWIII comes from two sources, Spock, in TOS, "Bread and
Circuses" says the death toll was 37 Million, while by Riker in "First Contact"
said it was 600 million people. Unfortunately, since he also said that all the
major cities were destroyed, this left me with a bigger problem since once you
shut down the infrastructure of a civilization that has to move all of its food
in to the cities, keeping a death toll of only 600 million is virtually
impossible. I assume that the two different numbers refer to the initial death
toll and the final toll.
Wintergreen
If you want to assume this refers to the weather control technology in The
Eugenics War: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh by Greg Cox you are
free to do so.
Parmen
Parmen is obviously a reference to the leader of the Sandarans in TOS "Plato's
Stepchildren". What it's doing here is up to the Immortal to explain.
Bilderberger, Cabal, Grandmasters, Golden Dawn and Phoenix
Secret societies, real and ficticious.
Al-Akharin
Flint claimed that his real name was Akharin, and that he was born in 3834
BC. It's always confused me why people actually believed him. For instance, Akharin
is not a Sumerian name (it's not even close). It is however, Persian,
and means last or final. A perfect code name for someone who at this point
probably does believe that he will be the last man.
Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana.
"His overall had unit flashes on the shoulders, a radiation counter and a
communication transmitter on his left shoulder, and truly kitschy braid around
the collar. An outfit designed to be worn beneath an outer garment, such as the
ballistic battle dress that Drexel suspected the soldiers standing behind him
were wearing."
Trying to get the clothing details from TOS "The Savage Curtain", TNG "Encounter
at Farpoint" and ENT "Demons" to mesh is tricky.
UHD card
This is mentioned in the DS9 episode "Past Tense".
Aaron Jenkins, aka ‘Colonel Green’
Col. Green was presented as one of those characters in his first appearance in
TOS "The Savage Curtain" to be someone we weren't supposed to like, sort of a
Hitler without the issues of actually using Hitler. Later uses of him, in
Federation
and ENT "Demons" make him more of a political philosopher as well as a soldier.
I decided to go with that, but needed to dispose of him (because logically, he'd
interfere with rebuilding after the war) without a lot of further warfare, and
without making him a martyr. Col. Green though as a name left a lot to be
desired, unless it were an alias, a one word statement of how he sees himself.
The name Aaron Jenkins is a fairly common one, and just reeks of Americana.
Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvili/Stalin
You did know that "Steel" wasn't his real name, right?
Optimal Purity and the Human Animal, Emerald Watch on the Twilight Line,
Necessary Sacrifice
I love those titles… And hint at other interpretations of the character.
White Company after the Hundred Years war
Yes, they really existed before Doyle wrote his novels. And the condotierre
model make sense to explain the "4th world mercenaries" comment in TNG
"Encounter at Farpoint".
‘This is not the time for timidity and second guessing – we can not afford to
doubt ourselves.’
From ENT "Demons"
The secret missile complex off in the foothills
I don't care what "First Contact" shows, Bozeman isn't actually in the mountains.
[Virus dropped from Orbit]
The Immortal clearly isn't a nice person.
The observatory dome
The Griffith Park Observatory
Santa Monica Bay stretching inwards nearly as far as Century and Culver Cities,
then down to the green and blue smudge that was Palos Verdes Island, and the
Long Beach Channel.
The Great Hermosa Earthquake of 2047 and some of its result was mentioned in VOY: "Futures End".
The death of Television
This was referred to in TNG "The Neutral Zone" as not lasting much after 2040.
Ellison
A generic name, although some have wondered if it's to Harlan Ellison, since the
character is completely different I'm more inclined to think it's more to Ralph.
The Accident
This accident doesn't contradict that described in The Sundered by
Michael A. Martin, and Andy Mangels. I had always wondered how the freezer
satellite showed up where it did in TNG "The Neutral Zone", and why nothing was
in orbit in "First Contact."
The earlier accident
This doesn't contradict that described in Federation by Judith and
Garfield Reeves-Stevens.
‘Somos cinco mil aquí, en esta pequeña parte de la ciudad …’
On 11 September 1973, in Santiago, Chile, General Pinochet's people slaughtered
an unclear number people at a soccer field. Among these was Victor Harra, a poet and
singer. Harra's last poem begins "We are five thousand here in this small part of
the city…"
Odyssey star launches
The fate of the Charybdys is learned in TNG "The Royale."
Chuck Clement
A nice meaningless name, although Hal Clement is another SF author.
Voyager, Pioneer, and Nomad probes
All of which appear farther away in space from the Solar System than
subluminal travel can possibly account for.
Brynner
Christopher Brynner is from DS9 "Past Tense". His interest in Cochrane does not
contradict The Sundered.
Ground Station Bozeman
Ok, ok, this IS from The Sundered.
Brynner's full body Maori tattoo
Mentioned in
DS9 "Past Tense". His military experience is not.
A group of people huddling around an older bald man in a long coat
Picard and Co. in "First Contact."
The Gods, the Sandarans, Q, Maestral, Gary Seven…
The Greek Gods in TOS "Who Mourns for Adonis", the Sandarans from TOS "Plato's
Stepchildren". Q from TNG, DS9 and VOY. Maestral from ENT "Carbon Creek", Gary
Seven from TNG "Assignment Earth".
Alexander, Solomon, Michelangelo, etc.
The Immortal, when pushed confesses to being a lot of historical figures, many
of whom have well documented childhoods. Why do people believe him?
Georges LeMat
No such person – which is kind of his point.
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This page was created by Marc Carlson
It was last edited 11 August 2006