Oros and Tarka attempt to use their interdimensional transporter
An interdimensional transporter was a transporter capable of moving its subject into a parallel universe.
Oros, a scientist enslaved by the Emerald Chain in the late 32nd century, spent years secretly designing an interdimensional transporter so that he could escape to Kayalise, a paradise dimension from the folklore of his people. His fellow slave Ruon Tarka, despite once telling the Chain that such a device could never work, came to share Oros's vision after the two were imprisoned together, and assisted in its development.
According to Oros, targeting a specific universe required a tremendous amount of power, which he believed could be provided by a combination of their work camp's geothermal energy source and a warp core that he and Tarka were ostensibly building for the Chain. The two secreted a stash of programmable antimatter for use in the transporter.
When Oros and Tarka learned that the Chain was closing down their camp, they were forced to use their interdimensional transporter sooner than planned. Their attempt failed due to insufficient power, and only Tarka was able to subsequently escape to the outside. A week later, Oros disappeared amid a massive power surge at the camp; Tarka chose to believe that he could have succeeded, against all odds, and was waiting in Kayalise.
Tarka proceeded to build his own interdimensional transporter, and figured that the Dark Matter Anomaly that appeared in 3190 contained a suitably powerful energy source for it. Thus, he advocated destroying the DMA with an isolytic weapon of his own design, and eventually recruited Cleveland Booker to aid him. Upon discovering that the DMA was actually powered remotely from the hyperfield of Species 10-C outside the galaxy, Tarka convinced Booker to take them there in his ship. (DIS: "The Galactic Barrier")
Within the hyperfield, Tarka commandeered Booker's ship and made a last-ditch attempt to remove the hyperfield power source, which would have likely destroyed everything inside the hyperfield, along with Earth and Ni'Var. He was thwarted when General Diatta Ndoye rammed a USS Discovery shuttle into Booker's ship, putting it on a collision course with the hyperfield. Tarka refused to evacuate the doomed vessel, spending his final moments activating the transporter in the hope that perhaps the impact would be enough for it to work. His ultimate fate was uncertain. (DIS: "Coming Home")
Appendices[]
Background information[]
The multidimensional transporter device, used in several episodes to reach the mirror universe, did not seem to have such onerous power requirements. However, Kovich noted in "Die Trying" that travel to the mirror universe became much more difficult after the 24th century.
Apocrypha[]
In the novel Watching the Clock, an alternate version of the Tandaran scientist Vard is inspired by the events of TNG: "Parallels" to invent the track-jumper, a highly portable interdimensional transporter capable of traveling across many different universes. However, when his hostile government pursues him to the prime reality, Vard is forced to flee before the Department of Temporal Investigations could study the device further.
External link[]
- Interdimensional transporter at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works