Henry Starling was a Human computer technology pioneer and philanthropist who was largely responsible for the computer age of the late 20th century. Unknown to anyone at the time, Starling's innovations were based on his limited understanding of the technology found aboard the 29th century timeship Aeon, which he appropriated after discovering the crashed vessel in 1967.
Cannibalizing the Aeon, Starling single-handedly advanced Human computer technology to the point where innovations such as the Internet, laptops, and barcode readers were commonplace and taken for granted. Using the notoriety and money which came along with introducing these technologies, Starling constructed a corporate empire called "Chronowerx Industries."
Biography[]
Camping in the High Sierras in 1967, Starling came upon the crashed Federation timeship Aeon, abandoned by its pilot, Captain Braxton, via an emergency transport. Discovering the ship intact, Starling then began the process of examining it and learning about its capabilities and technologies. Between 1967 and 1996, Starling utilized and exploited the Aeon to the extent of his abilities, developing a technologically-based corporate empire which spanned the planet.
By 1969, Starling had introduced the very first isograted circuit. Every few years thereafter, he released an equally revolutionary advance in computer technology, based on his understanding of 29th century technology. Starling's rising influence and power was evidenced by a photograph of him shaking hands with Richard M. Nixon, then President of the United States.
In late 1996, Starling planned to launch the Aeon to travel to the 29th century and collect technology to use as the basis for new commercial products. Before his scheduled launch, however, Starling was notified to the arrival of the USS Voyager by a graduate student in his employ, and began the process of learning all he could about the starship, which he believed to have been sent from the 29th century to retrieve the timeship from its wrongful place in the timeline. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay broke into Starling's office to retrieve information on Starling and his activities, and thereby learned about the Aeon and how Starling had inappropriately exploited its technology. Attempting to reason with Starling, Janeway informed him that, if he were to use the Aeon to travel into the future, he would cause a devastating temporal explosion which would destroy all of Earth's solar system. Starling refused to believe her, however, believing that she simply wanted to appropriate the timeship for herself. Starling was successful in thwarting their effort to transport the Aeon from his launch bay, and effectively turned the tables on Voyager's crew when he utilized their own transporter stream to access their computer database and download over twenty percent of their computer files. Amongst the data stolen from Voyager was The Doctor, whom Starling proceeded to torture for information about Voyager and her crew using his access to The Doctor's program to create the 'illusion' of pain by accessing The Doctor's tactile response sensors.
Starling is killed in the destruction of the Aeon
Soon thereafter, Starling was lured into a meeting with Tom Paris, Tuvok, and their new ally Rain Robinson, but despite his attempts to use The Doctor as a hostage by transferring his program to a mobile emitter – allowing The Doctor to exist outside holographic environments but with the emitter now an easy target to destroy The Doctor's entire program – he was captured when Tuvok sent Starling's coordinates to a shuttle in orbit, the shuttle transferring Starling to Voyager. The crew confined him within sickbay to prevent his further participation in the plot to travel to the future, their own research having confirmed that Starling's lack of training in the timeship could easily trigger a temporal explosion. Unfortunately, 29th century technology came to Starling's aid once again as his assistant, H. Dunbar, used the Aeon in conjunction with a Chronowerx satellite to transport Starling through Voyager's shields and back into his office. After successfully baiting the Voyager crew by convincing them to chase a faux timeship, Starling launched the Aeon directly through the front of Chronowerx headquarters, determined to continue his plan despite their warnings. Ultimately, Starling died while trying to travel to the future with the Aeon when both he and the timeship were destroyed by Voyager, Janeway having managed to manually launch a photon torpedo at the timeship. (VOY: "Future's End", "Future's End, Part II")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
Henry Starling was played by Ed Begley, Jr.
Henry Starling was originally named "Harvey Starling", such as in the first draft script of "Future's End, Part II".
From the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 4th ed., vol. 2, p. 323, "The destruction of the timeship and the death of Starling apparentely prevented the temporal explosion in the 29th century that had originally caused Braxton and the Aeon to go back into the past. It is nevertheless unclear what happened to the 20th century events in the altered timeline. One might infer that all of Starling's "innovations" disappeared in the altered timeline. However, the holographic doctor's autonomous holoemitter did not disappear, suggesting that some effects of Braxton's 1967 crash remained, even in the altered timeline."
Awards[]
Henry Starling had acquired many awards over his career. Some of these awards included:
- Photograph with Richard M. Nixon, then President of the United States
- On the cover of Technology Future
- A Certificate of Excellence from the Philanthropology Honors Society [1](X)
- A Certificate of Excellence in Astronomical Sciences [2](X)
- An award from the Minnesota Society of Certified Professional Accountants (MN CPA) in 1992 [3](X)
- A Certificate of Achievement in Academic Excellence from the United States Office of Science and Technology in 1992 [4](X)
- A "Man of the Year" award from the Partners in Science in Silicon Valley, California in 1992 [5](X)
- A Diploma in Humanitary Aid. [6](X)
- A Certificate of Recognition as a High-Tech Computer Operator in May 1996 [7](X)
- An award for his philanthropic work in the city of Los Angeles [8](X)
- A Bachelor of Science degree in 1992 [9](X)
- An award for his contributions to exotic collections from the Collectors Emporium in June 1996 [10](X)
- A Certificate of Excellence for Advanced Technological Sciences from the Technological Studies Honors Society[11](X)
- A "Learning & Growing Award" from The California State Aerospace Society in 1990 [12](X)
- A Commendation from theAssociation of Philanthropological Studies [13](X)
- An award from the Los Angeles Chapter of the International Memorabilia and Collectibles Club in June 7, 1996 [14](X)
These awards were presented for and sold at the It's A Wrap! sale and auction.
External links[]
- Henry Starling at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works