In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode The Alternative Factor, which aired on March 23, 1967, Star Date 3087.6.
As the Enterprise maps a planet with an iron-silicon surface and oxygen-hydrogen atmosphere and begins heading towards Starbase 200, the ship is twice subjected to massive disturbances. Spock reports that the magnetic field of the surrounding space “blinked,” and the planet’s gravity momentarily reached zero. Spock then finds a human life form on the planet’s surface, and Spock, Kirk, and a security detail of 3 beams down to investigate.
They find a spaceship and a bearded man who yells something about having time to stop still “him” and then jumps or falls off a cliff. Kirk discovers that the blinking phenomenon drained the Enterprise’s dilithium crystals, leaving only 10 hours before the orbit decays. Starfleet command reports that every galaxy quadrant has been subjected to magnetic, gravimetric, and electric disruption, and Kirk and Starfleet fear it may be a prelude to an invasion.
Kirk interviews the fallen man, who claims he is chasing a murderer who destroyed his entire civilization. He was saved because he was inspecting magnetic communication satellites. He attempts to enlist Kirk in his fanatic pursuit. It turns out that the strange phenomena are caused by the man, whose name is Lazarus.
Compliance Takeaways:
- How do you triage a whistleblower compliant?
- When expanding into new markets, scale up your compliance program.
- What is the role of gatekeepers?
Resources:
Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein
MissionLogPodcast.com
Memory Alpha
