Trip and T'Pol's future in the relaunch novels - Your Though

[CX]

For me the problem is having an engineer play a spy.

[hth2k]

The concept of an engineer as a spy does not bother me in the least. If you recall recent news of China having many engineers acting as spies as well as scientists.

Apparently the James Bond concept of a spy is a fantasy and the reality is they are usually the ones you would never suspect.

HtH

[CoffeeCat]

I don't think it bothers me either if he's doing it because he's scouting out the kind of technology they have.

[CX]

What bothers me is that it takes years of training to be a spy, or to even work in intel at all for that matter.

[CoffeeCat]

That's true...

Actually, you just gave me an idea, CX. Thanx!

[Zane Gray]

On the other hand, sometimes the best spies are the people you'd least expect. And the first key to being a good spy is having the specialized knowledge required for the job at hand - like the knowledge of warp mechanics needed to understand how a warp seven engine would work. Plus, you need to be good at interacting with (and reading) people, which Trip is - he's naturally socialable. In this case, a good spy would need experience dealing with alien races and cultures, and the strange situations that can arise as a result of those interactions, which is probably not something that a lot of humans have yet in this era given how new Starfleet is. And yet Trip is an old hat at that by now. Being the kind of a person who others trust (like how the Romulan warp scientist in this book connects with Trip even after he realizes that Trip isn't who he thought) helps immensely as well. All the other stuff is just tradecraft and can be taught. If you get right down to it, Trip really is a better spy candidate that you'd expect at first glance. It's really just about keeping a low profile, with your head down and your eyes and ears open. And knowing who you can trust.

[Reanok]

Great post Zane I agree with you about Trip being a good spy he has the people skills that they trust him and it can be a great use for him while being undercover in the Romulan empire.And the technical skills and reading alien languages. It will be interesting to see what he's doing undercover in the next book along with Valdore causing trouble how will he get the information back to section 31 ? And what will happen on Enterprise now that T'Pol knows the truth that Trip isn't dead and how she feels about being tricked by Archer,Malcolm and Phlox into faking his death and having a new engineer take Trip's place on enterprise a new Third in Command coming on board.

[Zane Gray]

Yeah, I really want to know what T'Pol does (and how she reacts) in the days right after the end of the book. She's got to be pissed at Archer, Phlox and Reed for lying to her like they did, even if she logically understands why they did it. There has to be a little bit of fallout in her working relationships/friendships with them, at least for a little while. Archer definitely, but I think especially Phlox, whom she's come to trust with very personal details about her struggles. That Phlox would decieve her about Trip's death has got to sting a bit. I don't imagine we'll get to see any of that, because the next book will probably be set months later. It would make a great fanfic challenge though. Too bad I'm still busy finishing my last one...

[pookha]

the cia is out looking for people with physics and engineering back grounds.
and if you have military service that counts toward your training and puts one into an accelarated program.
trip has all of his years in starfleet, including combat experience.
he has gone through being tortured.
he also was just about the most highly qualified person for what they were dealing with in terms actually being on the romulan drone and his warp background.

it was a special situation with a limited amount of time.
and i wouldnt be suprised if trip will along the way pick up more training as he is partnered up with senior spies.


and i agree with he also does have a way of getting through and communicating with people along with getting them to trust him.
we see in shadows of pjemm to dawn to other episodes.


Shakabutt
that is really great news that trip will have a big part in the next book. that was something a lot of us were wondering..

[CX]

Trip is expeianced in engineering, but not intel. He'd need a lot of training to get him ready for that. It's a dangerous business, a lot of places still shoot spies, one could only expect that the Romulans would give him the same treatment if he ever got found out. Also keep in mind that with organizations like the Tal Shiar in their society, Romulans are very paranoid people, and someone as open as Trip is as likely to draw suspicion as someone who keeps to themselves all the time. Of course it worked in the book because it needed to for the story to go forward, but I'm still not buying it because I don't buy Trip the spy.

[pookha]

it worked in the book for me due to the special circumstances of the situation, it was an act out of desperation on the part of certain parties of section 31 because they knew they were running out of time.
it was why they put him with a far more experienced field officer./

he does have a military background, he has the special knowledge. and despite his ability to be open with people he can be very closed off if the circumstances dictate.

at times he even thinks the thing is crazy but the threat is so great he dosnt dare walk away. the visions of the romulans attacking earth are still there.

[blacknblue]

Well, CX. The thing about Intell is that it is specialized. Intel among an alien race would probably not be exactly like Intel among Humans. You would need to tailor your approach to fit the species that you are working with. At this point in history, nobody knows much about Romulans. The closest they have come is Vulcans and honestly, Trip knows as much about Vulcans as anybody else in Starfleet. Knows as much about Vulcans at a gut level I mean. Not just technical knowledge but understanding from working with them, establishing rapport with T'Pol and Soval and Kov. He understands VUlcans and, by extension, presumably would have a leg up on understanding Vulcanoids like Romulans.

[aeverett]

Well, CX. The thing about Intell is that it is specialized. Intel among an alien race would probably not be exactly like Intel among Humans. You would need to tailor your approach to fit the species that you are working with. At this point in history, nobody knows much about Romulans. The closest they have come is Vulcans and honestly, Trip knows as much about Vulcans as anybody else in Starfleet. Knows as much about Vulcans at a gut level I mean. Not just technical knowledge but understanding from working with them, establishing rapport with T'Pol and Soval and Kov. He understands VUlcans and, by extension, presumably would have a leg up on understanding Vulcanoids like Romulans.

Exactly, and being Star Fleet is a newish organization and humans haven't even known other alien races for that long, Intel proceedures would have to be built up. By Picard or even Kirk's time, you would be unlikely to yank a Chief Engineer out of service on the flagship and throw him into espionage duty, but Trip's skills in engineering, as well as his ability to read people (he seems the most skilled at reading Vulcans. Archer and the rest of the crew still have this 'Vulcans don't feel, so I can't gage their feelings.' idea. Trip, not only with T'Pol, but also with Soval and before her death, T'Les, has learned to gage their reactions with the same allacrity that he reads his fellow humans.) Now that Section 31 knows who the Romulans are, species-wise, his continued missions make sense. The only other person I'd think who would have sufficed on Earth was Admiral Forest and he's dead. Nobody else could read and manipulate a Vulcan like Trip. Now he must take his power to the dark side.

[CX]

It's still a stretch, and I'm still calling it. Someone who had experiance at the intel part of it would stand a far better chance. Like Reed, for example, or even Harris for that matter.

[pookha]

but they wouldnt have the technical knowledge which was needed to play the specific part trip was chosen to play.
see that is part of the problem, in many pages the novel sets up why things are the way they are.
that trip wasnt chosen just to be a generic spy but to play a role.

and when did reality have to do with fictional spies. bond isnt real.
tinker tailor soldier spy is more so but still has its very exaggerated fictional elements.

the good that men do does what a good book will do but especially so in sf ..
it keeps up the suspension of disbelief.