6/5/23:
Ah, transporters. The seemingly impossibly amazing technology that every space-faring race has somehow also invented. But that's just Trek canon! (And, ultimately, because The Original Series couldn't afford to show shuttles in every episode.)

Comments from the Tagboard:

---

06/05/23 01:00 PM
BrickVoid: More importantly, are the Romulan ships also in orbit able to detect transporter activations? They would get mad at that if they can detect them!
06/05/23 12:54 PM
BrickVoid: It will be interesting to see how Dale gets the Spoogian aboard the Intrepid without the point-ears knowing he got him there. I'll tune in next week, to see what's up! :D 06/05/23 12:50 PM
BrickVoid: Most of the series I've watched where a transporter was used were done on a rather limited budget. Blakes7 was one example. It literally had an image of the people being transported resized and sent off-screen somewhere, followed by a cutaway to the destination they were teleporting to. As often as not, they never cut to the destination shot.
06/05/23 12:48 PM
BrickVoid: Transporters: The technological advancement every space sci-fi show uses whenever they're too lazy to assemble and shoot a space scene. It cost a lot to do space special effects and scenes and props, and one example of where that actually happened was Star Wars: Episode IV. They must have spent many hours putting together the miniature scenese just for that movie alone. :D

Transcript
Panel 1:
Commander Dale Zurkett: Your children? All of them? Where do they take them?
Stickleback: Not all. If they took all, then Spoogians would finally rise up instead of hiding in their homes.
    No, they take only from those who resist or speak ill of the point-ears.
    Some are taken to special schools... others we do not know where. Sometimes we can visit... but they cannot come home.
    This is the new rule of the point-eared evil ones.

Panel 2:
Mandeltot: Not all point-ears are evil, Stickleback! Remember the kings and queens of the olden days. If they would return...
Stickleback: I do not forget, Mandeltot! But Spoogians should rule themselves.
Mandeltot: We always argue on this, Stickleback. I only crave the golden ages of yore. Maybe the human knows... humans were among the kings and queens, too.

Panel 3:
Dale: Whoa, whoa... slow down. I'm no king. I'm just a guy from another planet.

Panel 4:
Rogglefonk: The point-ears come from another planeet, too. Their ships come and go. We destroy them when we can. Maybe we should destroy yours.
Dale: You took out a transport. You don't have the firepower to take on the ship I came in.
Rogglefonk: We have bigger guns! We hide them. Many caches. We--
Mandeltot: You do not trust the human, but you tell him an awful lot, Rogglefonk.
Dale: Oh, look... I'm here to help. Really. But I can't do that if I'm just sitting in this house.
    I have to go back to my ship.
Rogglefonk: Or maybe better we hold you hostage to get biggest guns from your people.

Panel 5:
Stickleback: No! Spoogians do not need two enemies. I think the human is true.
    Like the humans of old.

Panel 6:
Rogglefonk: The old point-ears were true, too. We cannot trust any of the newcomers.
Stickleback: Then I will go to the human ship with him. And we shall see.
Rogglefonk: They will take you prisoner, Stickleback!
Stickleback: I will take that chance. Knowing that you all will carry on without me.

Panel 7:
Stickleback: For Spoogians! For freedom!
SFX: salute! salute! salute!

Panel 8:
Stickleback: How do we get to this ship of yours, human?
Dale: You can call me Dale. And we have this transporter device, you see. We use it to--
Stickleback: Oh,yes. Point-ears have this, too. But then we must wait... the sky fire will take apart your insides if you transport while it storms.
Dale: Right, yes. Then I suppose... we wait.