Star Trek VIII: First Contact Trivia Quiz

Answer: U.S.S. Defiant

Lt. Commander Worf, aboard the Defiant: "Perhaps today *is* a good day to die! Prepare for ramming speed!"

"Star Trek: First Contact" (1996) is the eighth "Star Trek" film, and the second to star the "TNG" cast. The Enterprise NCC 1701-D of the television series was destroyed in the preceding film ("Generations"), and was succeeded by the new model seen in this film, Enterprise NCC 1701-E.

The U.S.S. Defiant is a prototype ship, built to combat the Borg threat after Wolf 359. When the Dominion threat arose, the Defiant, equipped with a Romulan cloaking device, was assigned to DS9. In its "First Contact" appearance, Worf (Michael Dorn) takes the Defiant into its first battle against the enemy it was intended for: the Borg. Though severely damaged, the vessel survives the battle and the crew are transported to the Enterprise. An "easter egg" visible in the same battle against the cube, a CG Millennium Falcon (from "Star Wars") was added by special effects supervisor John Knoll.

Answer: Sphere

Lily Sloane: "Borg? Sounds Swedish." (after seeing the Borg) "Definitely not Swedish."

The Enterprise is caught in the temporal vortex created by the sphere, and is thus protected against the changes the Borg bring. Seeing that Earth is now inhabited by Borg, the crew realizes that the Borg have altered history and follow them back in time to set things straight.

The "TNG" episode "Q-Who?" marked the Borg's debut and their introduction to humanity, thanks to Q. Upon Picard's refusal to let Q join the crew, Q flung the Enterprise across the galaxy, into Borg territory. Unable to outrun the Borg cube, Picard had to swallow his pride and admit that he needed Q's help. His point regarding humanity's complacency proven, Q returned them to their own space. However, this incident put the Borg on the trail of the Enterprise, and future confrontations were soon to follow.

Answer: Cybernetic optical implants

Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) wore his VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) until about mid-2371, when he received the optical implants. The VISOR was painful, often giving him headaches, but it allowed him a form of vision - nothing like that of human eyes, though. The instrument, connected directly to his brain, allowed him to see into the electromagnetic spectrum.

Answer: World War III

Dr. Zefram Cochrane: "So you're all astronauts on some sort of ... star trek?"

When Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) first meet a very confused Lily (Alfre Woodard) after the Borg have attacked the all-important site in Montana, she believes them to be part of a coalition that has broken World War III's cease-fire. After trying to shoot at Data, Lily collapses, in part due to radiation exposure from the damaged warp engine. Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) takes her to sick bay aboard the Enterprise, and Geordi is called to do the necessary repair work on the spacecraft.

The Bell Riots of 2024 (as seen in the "DS9" episode, "Past Tense") brought major reforms to Earth. Sisko, Bashir, and Dax were accidentally transported to this time, and due to their presence, Gabriel Bell, for whom the riots were named, was killed before the riots took place. Sisko filled Bell's role, and the timeline was preserved. The Eugenics Wars took place on Earth, in the late 20th century, brought about by scientific attempts to genetically engineer humans.

Answer: Data

Captain Picard, to the Queen: "It's not too late. Locutus could still be with you. Just in the way you wanted: an equal. Let Data go, and I will take my place at your side. Willingly, without any resistance."

The Borg Queen (Alice Krige), the disembodied being who provides order and direction to the Borg Collective, takes advantage of Data's longtime desire of becoming more human. His emotion chip activated, she tries to seduce him into revealing the Enterprise's encryption codes by grafting organic flesh onto him, letting him feel sensations that he has never felt before. Despite the emotional anguish the Queen puts him through, Data's ethics program wins out. Though the Queen believes she has Data in her grasp, his seemingly compliant actions are only a deception and he ultimately thwarts her evil plot, killing her.

The series finale of "Star Trek: Voyager" guest stars Alice Krige, reprising her role as the Queen (actually, successor to the Queen seen in "First Contact"), who finds a new nemesis in Captain Janeway.

Answer: Nicky the Nose has a machine gun he needs.

The holodeck was quite a novelty when the Enterprise NCC 1701-D was commissioned, and the crew was much impressed with its versatility and realness. The "Dixon Hill" programs were a favorite with Captain Picard; one of these programs was called "The Big Goodbye" as seen on the episode of the same name. Dixon Hill (the role played by Picard, of course) was a 1940's private investigator who often encountered mobsters and the like.

Nicky the Nose is one such mobster, and with the holodeck safeties turned off, his gun proves to be an excellent weapon against the Borg, who are able to shield themselves against energy weapons but not projectiles. Picard, decked out in proper '40's ballroom attire, kills the Borg on their trail (two of whom were actually assimilated Enterprise crewmen), and takes a memory chip from one of them, from which he gleans crucial information.

Answer: Zefram Cochrane

Cmdr. Deanna Troi, somewhat inebriated, referring to Cochrane: "If you're looking for my professional opinion, as ship's counselor: he's nuts."

According to Riker (Jonathan Frakes, who also directed the film), Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) would make the statement Riker quoted in about 10 years. For the time being, finding out that he would be looked up to as a hero and a savior of mankind proves quite overwhelming, not to mention difficult to believe. In the future, the eccentric fellow with a penchant for alcohol and rock 'n' roll would have a school named for him (Zefram Cochrane High School, from which Geordi LaForge would graduate), and a statue made in his likeness.

Answer: Captain Ahab of "Moby Dick"

Captain Picard: "Six years ago, they assimilated me into their collective. I had their cybernetic devices implanted throughout my body. I was linked to the hive mind. Every trace of individuality erased. I was one of them."

During "The Best of Both Worlds" (the two-part episode that bridged Seasons 3 and 4 of "TNG"), Picard was captured and assimilated by the Borg, his Starfleet knowledge used against his people, and as Locutus, he was involved in the great atrocities at Wolf 359. This firsthand experience of Borg horrors leads Picard into an obsessive behavior, a personal quest to make the Borg pay. He even accuses Worf of cowardice for suggesting the step of setting the Enterprise's self-destruct device. Lily here makes the comparison to Captain Ahab, forever hunting his white whale. Picard realizes the fallacy of his thinking, and he, Worf, and Beverly set the self-destruct sequence.

"Moby Dick" is an 1851 novel, written by Herman Melville. Narrated by Ishmael, it tells the story of a whaling expedition, undertaken on the ship Pequod, by an obsessed captain who is determined to kill the "evil" whale who had taken his leg. Ishmael is the only survivor of the expedition - Captain Ahab's quest ends in death for himself and the rest.

Answer: Phoenix

Dr. Zefram Cochrane: "Engage!"

The Phoenix had been constructed from an old nuclear missile, at a missile silo complex in Bozeman, Montana. Just as the three are about to take off in the Phoenix, Cochrane declares that he forgot something, and cannot lift off without it. Riker is about to abort the flight, when Cochrane finds the illusive (and to him, necessary) item: a recording of "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf. It is a rare privilege indeed to experience a piece of one's history, but Will and Geordi are undoubtedly quite surprised by the flight's musical accompaniment.

Answer: Vulcans

One of the Vulcans, extending an offer of friendship to Cochrane: "Live long and prosper."

During the celebration of the flight that evening, Zefram Cochrane meets the three Vulcans, the first time a human has "officially" met aliens. Cochrane attempts, unsuccessfully, to include the Vulcans in the festivities: drinking and dancing to "Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison. The United Federation of Planets commemorates First Contact Day on April 5.