USS EQUINOX : page 7

article accompanying [EQUINOX] Episodes 120 and 121

BRIDGE continued - scroll        CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM - jump

DECK BY DECK DETAIL: BRIDGE continued

 

The bridge's master situation display provides continually updated information about ship's systems.
The detail in this drawing is seen in the next image.
Red alert: The picture below is 172Kb.

source: ST:M

 

source ST:M

 

Interior detail of USS Equinox, taken from the master situation display on the bridge.
The bridge module is recessed into the top of ship's saucer section, directly above the vessel's main computer core.
Red alert: The picture below is 165Kb.

source TOSTFF

DECK BY DECK DETAIL: CAPTAIN'S READY ROOM

The captain's ready room is on deck 1, adjacent to the bridge, as is practical and standard in the design of Federation Starships since at least the mid-24th century.

Much of the interior detail of USS Equinox looks similar to that of USS Voyager. This is part of the continuity of design produced by Starfleet's ship designers - one can tell immediately that it is a Starfleet vessel. This is true with the bridge and the location of the command centre and work stations. It is also true with the captain's ready room.

Behind-the-scenes: Starfleet's continuity is also desirable policy for Star Trek - anything too different is unsettling for the fans, which might explain why the former Cardassian station Deep Space 9's interior design felt like an unsettling backdrop for Starfleet personnel, resulting in a delay before some fans fully embraced [DS9]. For budgetary reasons, interior style continuity is a blessing. If whole sets cannot be re-used by being re-dressed or re-arranged, then parts of other sets can be employed and/or items brought out from stock.

above and below: looking toward the room's exit onto the bridge

Like the rest of the ship, Captain Ransom's ready room shows evidence of damage caused as a result of their travails since being brought into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. The travails included shortage of materials and food supplies. At one point, Ransom recalls: "We had nothing! My ship was in pieces! Our dilithium was gone. We were running on thrusters. We hadn't eaten in sixteen days." When they encounter Voyager, the ship does have two kilotons of kemacite ore and a dozen canisters of mercurium. In many ways the Equinox was like Voyager, with the crew having to economise in order to eke out the power supplies. This partly accounts for the very low light levels aboard the Equinox.

A replicator can be seen in the background. The captain can just about be seen entering the room. The desk contains several personal items.

One of the items on the desk is a synaptic stimulator. Equinox officer Ensign Gilmore explains to Paris and Kim: "It's a neural interface you wear behind your ear. It taps into your visual cortex and shows you different alien vistas. Just think of it as a poor man's holodeck. Beats checkers. The Ponea gave it to us." It is not clear whether there is only one of the device or more than one. If there is only one, then probably the crew would have taken turns, so when we see the device it is Ransom's turn. He deliberately uses the device during his last moments of life.

The synaptic stimulator on the desk. The screenshot below identifies it clearly - it is the object that the captain is reaching for.

reaching for the synaptic stimulator

Wearing the synaptic stimulator. Ransom "feels" he is at the beautiful Tenkaran coast, picture.