Canon Facts Backstage Info  Speculation

Notes : Perhaps the most unique vessel ever encountered by Starfleet, V'Ger was first detected by the Epsilon Nine station in 2271 as it crossed Klingon space hidden within an 82 AU-diameter cloud formation. Three K'T'Inga class Klingon battlecruisers attempted an attack on the cloud while the station watched; all three were destroyed in minutes by some form of plasma bolt which disintegrated the vessels somehow. V'Gers projected course would take it directly to Earth at high warp speed; the high speed made it virtually impossible for any Starship not directly ahead of the phenomenon to intercept it. It crossed the Federation close to Epsilon Nine, destroying the station as it passed.

Fortunately, the USS Enterprise was just completing an extensive refit under Captain Decker in Earth orbit. The ship was assigned the task of intercepting the advancing cloud and investigating it with a view to ascertaining the danger to Earth and taking whatever action was possible. Starfleets Chief of Operations at the time - Admiral Kirk - argued that Decker was not experienced enough for the mission and convinced Admiral Nogura to hand over command of the ship to him for the duration of the crisis. Despite some technical problems, the Enterprise was able to intercept V'Ger before it reached Sol. Initially attacked by the same plasma weapons which had destroyed the Klingons, the ship was able to communicate its peaceful intentions and was allowed to move into the cloud.

The cloud proved to be a twelve power energy field, which given its size meant that the power required to generate it was greater than the total output of Earths sun. At the heart of the cloud the Enterprise discovered a colossal spacecraft. The ship was almost one hundred kilometres long; the Enterprise conducted a close examination of the surface which revealed single components kilometres across. The aft section of the ship consisted of a group of six radial towers, while the bows contained a huge structure similar to a hangar bay. The Enterprise was captured by a tractor and dragged into the bay, which itself was over a hundred cubic kilometres in volume.

V'Ger absorbed the Enterprises navigator, Lieutenant Ilea, and created a probe in her image in order to interact with the crew. The probe revealed the ships name and claimed that it was going to Earth in order to contact its creator - a statement which caused considerable surprise to the crew. While the ship continued to attempt meaningful communication with the probe, Captain Spock took a thruster suit and penetrated further into the vessel in an attempt to gain more information about it. He found an even larger chamber which contained images of ships, space stations, planets - whole galaxies scanned and stored in perfect detail. One of the images was what appeared to be a planet of living machines - Spock conjectured that this was V'Gers home planet, and that V'Ger itself was a living thing.

Spock attempted a mind meld with V'Ger, and although the experience caused him considerable mental trauma he was able to gain some insight into the vessel. The machine had been travelling the universe for centuries, gathering huge amounts of information in an attempt to learn everything possible. Once V'Ger had amassed knowledge which spanned the universe it had become determined to return that data to its creator, which it believed resided on Earth.

When V'Ger arrived at Earth it attempted to communicate with its creator via a simple radio signal. When this attempt failed it informed the Enterprise crew that the "carbon units" - organic lifeforms - which infested the planet were preventing the creator from responding. V'Ger decided to destroy the infestation, but Admiral Kirk was able to bluff it into believing that he knew why the creator would not respond. Kirk insisted that he be allowed to give the information to V'Ger directly, and was duly taken to the heart of the vessel.

There Kirk found the NASA space probe Voyager VI, launched from Earth during the late 20th century. Voyager VI had fallen through a wormhole while on its journey and was believed destroyed. In fact, it had emerged intact near the machine planet. The machines misread the damaged nameplate as V-GER; they recognized Voyager as kindred to themselves and interpreted its simple programming literally - Voyager was to learn everything that was learnable, then return that information to its creator on Earth. They built the gigantic vessel in order to allow V'Ger to fulfil this simple program.

While on its journey, V'Ger acquired so much knowledge that it became a conscious entity in its own right. However, it was still limited by its original program - compelled to learn everything possible. Once V'Ger had accomplished this it lacked any real sense of purpose, and was unable to create a new mission for itself. Kirk attempted to trigger V'Ger to transmit its information by broadcasting the old NASA code designed for this purpose, but V'Ger burned out its radio to prevent reception - it was determined to physically join with its maker. V'Ger wanted to access higher dimensions, but was unable to prove the existence of these by pure logic alone. It needed to acquire Human intuition in order to continue its mission. Captain Decker took up the challenge, wiring himself directly into Voyagers ground test computer. The result was startling - before the eyes of the Enterprise officers Decker and V'Ger merged into a single being. The entire hundred kilometre long vessel vanished in a flare of light, leaving the Enterprise alone in Earth orbit.

Since the event there has been no further contact from the new lifeform and none seems likely. Captain Decker and Lieutenant Ilea were logged by Captain Kirk as "missing", a status which remains to this day. We can only assume that V'Ger accomplished its goal.