Briar Patch (Star Trek)
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The Briar Patch is a fictional nebula in sector 441 in the Star Trek universe. It was first introduced in the 1998 film Star Trek: Insurrection. While the nebula's visual characteristics are reminiscent of astronomical photographs, many of its more interesting properties were invented to support the film's storyline.
Located in Federation territory, the Briar Patch is a region of space which most starships avoid. Various radiation sources and energy fluctuations impair communications systems, making it difficult for vessels inside the nebula to make contact with those outside the nebula. Cloud pockets of metreon gas, a highly volatile substance of unknown composition, make travel through the nebula difficult as well. Warp drive cannot be used, and even impulse drive is reduced in utility. The one featured in Star Trek: Insurrection is a class-M world unusual for its possession of an intricate planetary ring system. A Ba'ku colony established itself on the surface, where the colonists rejected most forms of advanced technology and attempted to create a utopian society. Some time after their arrival, the colonists discovered that "metaphasic radiation" from the Briar Patch, concentrated in the planet's rings, continually rejuvenate their genetic structure. Unbeknownst to the outside Universe, the Ba'ku planet was effectively a fountain of youth.
[edit] Klach D'Kel Brakt
The Klingon system Klach D'Kel Brakt was also given the designation "Briar Patch" by Arik Soong. At least two inhabitable planets existed there, according to the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode "The Augments" in which Arik Soong and his band of Augments attempted to reach the system and use it as a hideout. In 2272 it was also the site of a dramatic Romulan/Klingon confrontation, which was led on the Klingon side by the future Dahar Master Kor, who would re-enact the battle often with fellow Dahar Masters and veterans Koloth and Kang. This was mentioned in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Blood Oath".
[edit] One and the same?
Whether the Briar Patch seen in "The Augments" and later mentioned in "Blood Oath" was the same one seen in the film Star Trek: Insurrection is a source of confusion and disagreement among fans. Some argue that it may be a different area of space with the same name (as there are many instances of multiple cities on Earth with the same name), and that Admiral Dougherty's dialogue in Insurrection (“They’re calling this whole area the Briar Patch”) implies that it was recently-discovered location.
Other fans believe that the show's creators would not intentionally sow such obvious confusion by deliberately reusing a name for two different locations in a fictional universe without specific relevance to the plot, pointing out that the two locations appeared identical, and that the fact that two habitable planets were mentioned within it was a specific reference to the Baku planet in Insurrection. These fans suggest that perhaps the anomalies of the area were not known to Arik Soong or anyone else until much later, as well as the starship improvements needed to withstand them, and that Michael Sussman, who wrote "The Augments", merely forgot the details of Insurrection that indicated it was a recent discovery.
According to the non-canon Star Trek Atlas, which is based on official production materials and on-screen diagrams, the two areas are distinct. The Briar Patch of Insurrection is located in Federation space a few hundred light years from the Klingon border, while Klach D'Kel Brakt is positioned on the far side of Klingon space, near the Romulan border. It should be noted the Atlas book was released well before Enterprise's first season, and an updated version if released could conceivably combine the two references for clarity.
[edit] External links
- Briar Patch article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
