Getting Away With Murder

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It is dangerous to presume an ultimate and complete knowledge of the past. Humans have most frequently used so-called "absolute" knowledge as justifications for behavior that would otherwise be considered reprehensible. The use of slaves was justified because the enslaved were thought to have a lesser capacity for intellect. Hitler convinced Germans that Jews were to blame for all their problems. The "religious right" of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries harangued those who did not believe in a literal interpretation of a book over two thousand years old.

Humans have not been the only species limited by such failings. There are several pre-Surak incidents recorded on Vulcan in which competing factions wiped one another out because of such absolute knowledge, including the Slaughter of Mount Seleya and the Sorkin Purge. More recently in the 2150s, the discovery of Surak's original writings headed off a movement towards militant absolutism in the Vulcan government. Andorians successfully stopped a civil war three hundred years ago when a historical line of thought was proved to be incorrect. Romulus fell to the control of Remus while propaganda detailing the inferiority of the Remans was still being circulated on the street.

The study of history can have both wonderful and tragic consequences, but it is nearly a lost art in this age of technological marvels. It's certainly not alone in its company of fellow cast-offs. The science of meteorology was lost to the development of climate control. Cinema and almost all theatre acting have lost their sway to the lure of holotechnology.

Most of the medical fields of three hundred years ago have been lost over the centuries as medical science evolved away from their need; the diseases and afflictions were cured, leaving the doctors who treated the patients out of a job. A technician is no longer needed to run a machine that can run itself and a diagnostician isn't necessary when the machine can make the diagnosis. Complicated procedures and treatments have been distilled down to a single hypospray shot.

Even writing is nearly obsolete next to the grandeur of the holodeck. Why read a book when you can live it for yourself as a holonovel? And what of history? Why waste your time reading a dry account of the Battle of Wolf 359 when you can experience the terror of the Borg firsthand? History classes are taught through the holodeck so often that the greater context of the stories is lost in the haze of instant gratification. Indeed written history has become an almost obscure branch of the social sciences, adored by those the general populace considers eccentric.

And the false history that is often propagated for the sake of a dramatic storytelling leaves many historians amazed by what the popular consciousness believes to be true. One of the most famous mistakes among historians relates to the 20th century trial of a teacher named John Scopes. The drama that has been injected into the story since the twentieth century is astounding and led to several popular holonovels on the subject. When one such holonovel was cited at an academic conference ten years ago, historians realized their tenuous grasp on popular history was slipping.

Perhaps even more telling is what historians have taken to calling "the greatest mistake holonovels have ever made." The birth of the United Federation of Planets is considered among historians to be a huge turning point in galactic history. What started as a small alliance between four species (human, Vulcan, Andorian, and Tellarite) grew to the organization of 156 worlds that we know today. The era is a popular field of study, one with many books on the various subjects and aspects if you know where to look for them.

As the biographer of the crew of the Earth ship USS Enterprise NX-01 (it is important to note that the NX-01 was of the pre-Federation Starfleet and was nearly exclusively an Earth-vessel with only two non-humans aboard), I was startled to discover that the NX-01's entry in the popular Enterprise Series of holonovels contained startling inaccuracies to the point of premature death for some of the unfortunate crew. I thoroughly documented the inaccuracies and presented a paper on the topic to the Historian's Forum, a biannual convention of Federation historians.

On the top of the list of my grievances was the death of Charles Tucker, III, chief engineer and co-designer of the NX-01. When I consulted the holoprogrammer I was surprised to hear he'd added the death on the eve of the signing of the Federation Charter as a dramatic twist. When I asked him why the rest of Tucker's life wasn't dramatic enough, he shrugged and said he wasn't concerned with the rest of the story.

This kind of attitude towards history engenders a dangerous standard, one which this written history is intended to correct. No, we cannot be certain of anything that happened in the past, but neither can we blithely teach our children information we know to be inaccurate. Tucker did not die in fact, but went on to run the second iteration of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers and was the first human to marry a Vulcan. It is also of interest to note that he was already engaged during some of the later events depicted in the holonovel, but the relationship was omitted entirely.

Strange that Tucker's life should be abruptly cut off forty years early, but worse is the staggering survey of school-aged children that showed a full ninety percent of them either didn't know who he was or believed him to have died in 2161! Fifty-three percent of them indicated this "knowledge" came from a holonovel; a highly disturbing figure.

Allow me to set the record straight: Captain Trip Tucker wed Captain T'Pol in a traditional Vulcan ceremony in San Francisco, the first Vulcan-human wedding in recorded history and the first such ceremony to take place on Earth, in 2162. Shortly thereafter T'Pol retired into the Federation diplomatic services and Captain Tucker was given charge of reorganizing the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. He did so in such an efficient fashion that he was promoted to rear admiral in 2165. He retired in 2184 to Vulcan where he engaged in freelance engineering work until his death in 2213. As of this publication, both his daughter and son are still alive and engaged in the family tradition of engineering.

It is a dishonor to Admiral Tucker, his family, and the field of history to claim he died early for the sake of "entertainment." It is for this reason that I entitled my introduction "Getting Away with Murder," for that what holonovelists and holoprogrammers have managed to do in so many cases like Admiral Tucker's. My passion for history and the crew of the USS Enterprise NX-01 was what led me to write this volume of Federation history.

Stand up, my fellow historians, and do not let our field slip into obscurity.

Patricia Dean
August 27, 2380
Stardate 57654.14

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

What a novel approach (pardon the pun) to fixing the Fatale - very well done. ""It is a dishonor to Admiral Tucker, his family, and the field of history to claim he died early for the sake of "entertainment.""" - too true!

Thanks for sharing - hope to read more of your work

-j

Don't ya think it's a little extreme to compare fundamentalist preachers to Hitler and to slavery? I find the idea of the creation of the world happening in six literal twenty-four hour days to be just as nonsensical as any other scientifically minded person, but... really, duck. Your liberal underpinnings are showing!

Excellent! One of my hobbies I love as much as Star Trek is reading about the Revolutionary War era. You won't believe how much of the "biography" we have been taught was straight-out made up about fifty years after the actual fact--as patriotic story books for children. For instance Patrick Henry and his "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death" speech. That speech was first written down like forty years after the fact, from the recollections of ONE person who heard it--for the purposes of a children's book. All anyone could really remember was that the guy gave a REALLY GREAT speech. My own fix-the-finale story was inspired, in part, by my previous outrage over a certain historical study of Alexander Hamilton's life (I'm a huge fan of his), where certain unknowable aspects of his personal life were presented as established fact, through the inner thoughts of his associates. What business were inner thoughts doing in a historical study? I saw the same kind of thing going on in the Enterprise holodrama. (Conversely, there plenty of original source material available to take you straight to the people and the time--you just have to read it instead of watching the Mel Gibson movie)

Anyway I totally buy this "fix." Really simple, totally plausible, and it makes a point about a broader, and important social issue. Something to consider. That's what science fiction is supposed to be about. Well done!
Ann

As a once history major in university, I found this a different and novel approach to righting 'historical wrongs'. And even though it is written for a Star Trek universe, some things ie Trips' death should have been allowed to happen!

Very unique and well done. I don't think that I can add more than I have already. ;)

Whoops! I meant to say that there was nothing more that I could add that others haven't said already! LOL

Anyway, good work.

Original, entertaining, and believable! Loved it!

Ahhh dont ya just love it when people rewrite history to suit their needs/wants,,, Its revisionest crap like that that leads people to believe other historical figures were compleatley different from what they actualy were for example "Blood an Gutts" AKA as Patton,, Kinda ironic that in todays military we get most of our stratigies an tactics from his examples,, yet he was considered heartless or cold by so many,, Guess I just revealed my history nut side,,, Great idea ya had there. Cant quite say I agree on your writin view of "fundamentalist preachers",,and since Darwin's views are still only theory I dont agree with them,,, but to each his/her own right.,, But i really did enjoy it,,, I hope ya keep writing.

Well Done! Bravo! Yes I too had issues with that TNG episode and your correction of history is the proper path to take.

I love this. Its short, its sweet, and plot wise its infallible. Trust me, I'm a nerd and I spent most of my time at school correcting the teachers in all the subjects (they hated me!), but history has always been the worst, I swear Xena is more accurate than Year 12 Ancient History. You rock duck I hope to read more from you soon.

An insightful, and thoroughly unprecedented manner in which to rectify a situation which, I think I speak for nearly everyone who visits this site on a regular basis, left an inconceivably sour taste in the mouth. I usually approach attempts to fix the Finale with scepticism, but the sheer infallibilty of this method defies my usual viewpoint.I declare myself a convert.

Just like AM STC, I'm a history major and I can't tell you how much I can see this being exactly correct. Kudos for your original approach, duck, although, like Distracted, I did find the shot at the religious right a bit much.

Still, I very much liked this approach and would LOVE to see something like it incorporated into a TNG-era book. Perhaps only as a background note or something but it would be an excellent and easy fix. It's not like the holodeck is ever right anyway...

As an historian, I found this wonderful, hilarious, and sadly, possible!

And yes, fundamentalist preachers suck. ;)

The blow to the "religious right" was a little low and distracted me somewhat from the story. That being said, I love your original approach to a stupid problem that never should have happened; the idea that the holonovel was wrong is not totally original, but the format (a history book introduction) was (as far as I know). Thanks for a quick fix that isn't full of holes.

Sincerely,

Emily

I, for one, found the "religious right" comment... interesting. I'll leave it at that. Great stuff though, a nice way to fix the glitch. (Although "Photons Be Free" is now refusing to get out of my head.) :)

This is amazing! Especially the beginning can also be easily transformed into our time! Go on, I'm curious about that thesis!!!

That is a very nice take on that! I'm guessing you are interested in history. ;)