Hanok was a male Karemma who served as a commerce minister in the 2370s.
In 2372, Hanok traveled to a remote Gamma Quadrant star system in a Karemma ship to meet with Benjamin Sisko and Quark aboard the USS Defiant.
He wished to discuss a trade dispute that had arisen between the Karemma and the Federation over taxes and fees imposed by the Ferengi Alliance, the intermediary between the two. Hanok told Sisko of the Ferengi charges including those for inspecting cargo for Founders and a tariff to help Tarkalean sheep herders – Ferengi-imposed taxes that had escaped the notice of the Federation Council.
The meeting between Hanok and the Defiant crew was detected by two Jem'Hadar warships that attacked Hanok's ship, which fled into the atmosphere of a nearby class-J gas giant. They did not respond to Hanok transmitting a request that they not flee.
After the Defiant entered the planet's atmosphere to help the Karemma, Hanok was escorted to the mess hall, where Quark told him that the trade dispute was Rom's fault. Hanok was unconvinced and told Quark, "If we survive this, I'll see to it that you never do business in the Gamma Quadrant again."
Later, a Jem'Hadar torpedo impacted into the mess hall near Hanok and Quark, but did not detonate. The two later worked together and successfully defused it, aided in part by Hanok's knowledge of the design; Hanok himself had sold the weapons to the Dominion. When Quark accused him of lying when he claimed to "never sell sub-standard merchandise", Hanok ironically responded that he should probably offer the Jem'Hadar a refund.
After the Defiant destroyed the Jem'Hadar ships and rescued the Karemma crew, Hanok was brought to Deep Space 9 to await transportation back to Karemma. As he had promised, Quark introduced Hanok to dabo. Hanok later won a substantial amount of money, much to Quark's surprise. (DS9: "Starship Down")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
Hanok was played by actor James Cromwell in his third of four Star Trek appearances.
Hanok was originally to have been a female Karemma. In the first draft script of "Starship Down", she held the title "negotiator" instead of "commerce minister" and was initially described thus; "She is exceptionally pretty – as Karemma go."
The final draft script for "Starship Down" stated the pronunciation of Hanok's name as "HUN-ock". It also described him and his people thus; "Tall, thin and elegant in bearing. Although the Karemma are mercantilist by nature, they're classy about it: think fine gem appraiser, not used car salesman." [1]
James Cromwell had difficulties filming in the heavy prosthetics required for the role of Hanok. As he explained, "The makeup was pretty dominating. I don't know how an alien feels about any particular thing, so I just played him as a Human character and tried to handle the makeup." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 284)
Robert Hewitt Wolfe described Hanok as "a great performance by James Cromwell" and "a great person for Quark to play against." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 109)
Apocrypha[]
The Pocket TNG novel Q&A states Hanok was elected chief overseer for the Karemma Commercial Authority twice.
External links[]
- Hanok at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works