In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, which aired on November 1, 1968, Star Date Unknown.
McCoy calls Kirk to sick bay and informs him that the ship’s Chief Medical Officer (himself) has contracted an incurable fatal disease called xenopolycythemia and has only one year to live. However, McCoy assures Kirk he can still do his job until the end.
Suddenly, the Enterprise is attacked and diverts and determines their point of origin, an asteroid 200 km in diameter, which is a nuclear-powered spaceship on a collision course with planet Daran V. The inhabitants do not know that they are on a spacecraft, except for one old man who had climbed a mountain when he was young and intones “For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky.” After uttering this, the oracle punishes the old man with death using a subcutaneous “instrument of obedience.”
They can put the ship back on course. They also discover databanks of the Fabrini containing a great deal of medical knowledge, including the cure for McCoy’s xenopolycythemia.
Commentary
The episode synopsis includes McCoy’s diagnosis with a fatal disease and the Enterprise’s encounter with a nuclear-powered asteroid spaceship on a collision course with a planet. Through the storyline, Fox draws analogies to various continuous monitoring activities crucial for effective compliance programs, such as transaction monitoring, regulatory change monitoring, audit and incident monitoring, employee behavior monitoring, third-party risk monitoring, whistleblower hotline monitoring, regulatory development screening, and automated controls monitoring. Fox emphasizes the importance of proactive and continuous compliance monitoring to mitigate risks and uphold regulatory adherence.
Key Highlights
- Story Breakdown and Key Events
- Fun Fact: The Concept of an Interstellar Ark
- Compliance Insights: Continuous Monitoring
Resources
Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein
