Subject: Answers
Date: Wed, Apr 22, 1998 18:49 EDT
From: RonDMoore

<<I see your point about the importance of slavery in the underlying conflict.
I prefer to say, and it is safe to say, that while slavery was a necessary
factor in the actual Civil War, it was not a sufficient one.  Secessionism,
however, was both necessary and sufficient for the Civil War to occur.>>

I think we're close to agreement, however, I think that the slavery debate
drove the secessionist movement, not vice versa.  Secessionism had come up
before, notably during the War of 1812 (and in New England of all places) but
absent the slavery question I find it hard to believe that any of the southern
states would've moved toward actual disunion. 

<<Will the fall Betazed be followed up on in the future? >>

We will deal with it next year.

<<Is there any truth to the rumor that the producers, at least briefly,
considered bringing Scotty aboard DS9 following the ratings smash that was
"Relics"?>>

Not that I'm aware of.  I think this was something talked about by the fans,
but not seriously on the DS9 staff.

<<Any chance of seeing the Borg or Commander Seela before DS9 is over?>>

I don't think so.

<<Can you tease us a little about ep. 23 Profit and Lace? Is it true that Zek
will die and Brunt will become the new Nagus (something I read about on
USTIP)?>>

Zek, Brunt and Moogie will all be in "Profit and Lace."  And you'll get a
chance to see Quark... in a new way.

<<Did Peter Allan Fields do "In the Pale Moonlight" as a freelance writer, or
is he actually back working in the series? Is it also true that he left DS9
because of a fight he got into with Ira Steven Behr?>>

Peter did the story as a freelancer.  There is no truth to the rumor of a
fight between Peter and Ira.

<<Is there anything that would make the Dominion turn around and go back to
where they came from? Peacefully?>>

Possibly, but nothing that I can think of at the moment.

<<Ron, is it a possibility that we will see any resolution ONSCREEN to the
Betazed occupation? Or will it just vanish once the Dominion is defeated? >>

Won't know the answer to this until next season.

<<When does your hiatus start?>>

Today is the last day of filming on Season 6, so officially, hiatus begins
tomorrow.  The writing staff will still be here, however, for a couple more
weeks and then we'll all be taking off the last three weeks of May for
vacation and recharge.

<<why the abscense of Jake Stories this year?>>

As I said in a previous post, "In the Pale Moonlight" was originally designed
as a Jake story.  "Valiant" is a Jake & Nog story.

<<My southron friends tell me some of the Northern Generals favored slavery.
That Grant owned slaves and said if he felt the war was about Slavery he
wouldn't be fighting. True? False? Half Truth? I don't know. But my image of
the heroic north has been tarnished a bit, I'll tell you that.>>

I'm pretty sure that Grant didn't own slaves.  I believe that Gen. Sherman
once declared that he wasn't interested in fighting for the freedom of slaves
at the beginning of the conflict, but even he continued the fight after the
Emancipation Proclamation.  The Proclamation is what turned the Civil War into
a moral crusade and gave meaning to the bloodshed.  Polish up that image of
the North again.  They weren't perfect and they certainly weren't pure
in thought and deed, but thousands of men in blue died and thousands more were
maimed in the cause of freedom, while the brave men in gray died defending the
right to hold other men in shackles.  As much as I admire the tactical
brilliance of the southern generals and courage and honor of their soldiers,
in the end their cause was not just and their sacrifice was in vain.

<<So you used the Hells Angels as a template for the Klingons?
That explains a lot.  That explains the debasement of Klingon women ever since
you took over their development in Next Gen.>>

Puh-leeze.

<<What is the name of the five Galaxy class starships seen in Sacrifice of
angles(DS9).>>

I don't think we named them.

<<My second question is why did we not see any Sovereign class or Intrepid
class ships
in the episode seeing that the Sovereign class ships are ment to be starfleets
most
powerfull ships. I mean you could have used the Enterprise model from First
Contact.>>

The Sovereigns are the exclusive property of the Trek features and you won't
be seeing any of them on DS9.  Likewise, the Intrepid-class belongs to Voyager
and you won't be seeing them either.

<<Now the the Romulans are getting more involved in The Dominion War, is there
a chance that Martha Hackett will resurface as "T'Rul" from "The Search?">>

It's possible, but we have no plans to bring back T'Rul at the present.