STAR TREK: SPACE SEEDLING (2016)
UHURA PRIME (Nichelle Nichols) describes small actions that enact mass change, as we see KHIVI NOONIEN SINGH (Nazneen Contractor) interrupt Kirkâs flirting, making Starfleet cadet NYOTA UHURA (ZoeÌ SaldanÌa) laugh. Khivi gazes at Nyota.
Forward in time, Nyota and Khivi rest alone and apart, thoughtful and longing. Years later, Nyota, now a Lieutenant, sees Khivi in a ceremonyâs civilian crowd. They share an unspoken conversation through a regretful glance: Khivi has a child through her current marriage to military officer THOMAS HAREWOOD (Noel Clarke), and desire between the two women is no longer allowable.Â
Later, Khivi grins and promises to protect her daughter, ANEESHA NOONIEN SINGH (Anjini Taneja Azhar). Forward again, Aneesha is dying of a sudden and suspicious illness. Khivi vows to prove the cause.
Using her husbandâs Starfleet security codes, she discovers an underground project, âSection 31.â She finds documentation of government-authorized, non- consensual drug testing on poor children of color in public hospitals and schoolsâher daughter includedâfor the supposed purpose of planetary security. In a laboratory, Khivi finds records of an unstable drug named âBotany Bay,â a failed experiment intended to make genetically-enhanced super-soldiers. The drugâs properties would allow Khivi to use her blood to heal Aneesha only at the eventual cost of Khiviâs own life. Desperate, Khivi takes a leftover sample of the drug from a biohazard disposal container, and injects it into herself. Khivi donates blood to her daughter, and Aneesha begins to recover.
Unbeknownst to Khivi, Starfleet detected her break-in, and alerted ADMIRAL MARCUS (Peter Weller), head of Section 31. Marcus destroys the facilityâwith Harewood apparently still insideâand frames Khivi for the âterrorist attack.â Terrified for the life of her newly-healed daughter, Khivi turns to Nyota for help.Â
Nyota defects from Starfleet, and this upheaval of her lifeâs path radiates to other timelines. Uhura Prime begins to see visions of her alternate younger self, and is pulled into the universe by a temporal rift. Uhura Prime allies with Khivi and Nyota against Starfleet. Marcus orders the capture and assassination of Khivi and all companions, even as Khiviâs health deteriorates from Botany Bayâs side effects.
Nyota confesses to Uhura Prime how painful the transition from ambitious career officer to hunted âterroristâ is for her. Uhura Prime rejects Nyotaâs past idealism, and insists Starfleet and its allies are âbutchers.â Uhura Prime critiques the governmentâs concept of security and the greater good, questioning who is truly protected, and who is considered disposable.
HIKARU SULU (John Cho), captain of the USS Enterprise, contemplates a request for help from Nyota, his friend and former First Officer. Sulu looks to her empty officer station, and decides to turn his ship and its crew against Starfleet. Marcus prepares for the attack by the Enterprise.
Khivi, overwhelmed by their circumstances, panics, but Nyota, fluent in the Klingon language, has a plan. They travel to the Klingon homeworld QoânoS, where Nyota requests help from the Klingons, who have been oppressed by Starfleet since its inception. Klingon leader BATLHâCHOQ (Sean Blakemore) is reluctant to involve his people in human conflict, but Nyotaâs appeal to the Klingon moral code sways him. He agrees to an alliance. Aneesha smiles at Batlhâchoq, who, surprised, nods in respect.Â
Later, Khivi thanks a pleased Nyota for her help, smiling and gazing at her, their romantic tensions growing once more.
Battles and sickness lie ahead, but unexpected powers arise too, including from the littlest of sources, as Aneesha begins to exhibit supernatural abilities. This discovery, and alliances against oppression, hold the key to saving the universe.
Closed captions available.
Nazneen Contractor as Khivi Noonien Singh
ZoeÌ SaldanÌa as Nyota Uhura
Anjini Taneja Azhar as Aneesha Noonien Singh
Nichelle Nichols as Admiral Nyota Uhura (Uhura Prime)
John Cho as Captain Hikaru Sulu
Sean Blakemore as Batlhâchoq
Noel Clarke as Thomas Harewood
In late April 2013, Star Trek: Into Darkness (ST:ID) plot details began leaking on the internet in anticipation of the May 16, 2013 U.S. movie release date. The film was a sequel within director J.J. Abramsâ ârebootâ franchise of the original 1960s television series, Star Trek (plus its accompanying movies). These details revealed that white actor Benedict Cumberbatch, despite lying to the contrary, had been cast in the role of character Khan Noonien Singh.
Singh, who appeared first in a Trek TV episode, âSpace Seedâ (1967), and again in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), was originally played by Mexican actor of color Ricardo MontalbaÌn, though written as a man of color from Northern India.
Despite gaslighting from Abrams and white cast members, as well as racist attacks from white Trek fans, the fans of color who viewed ST:ID, myself included, discovered that the leaked information was indeed true. Khan Noonien Singh was whitewashed, with a white British man cast in the role.
Around the time, I was also engaged in interviews with other queer people of color pop culture fans for my Masterâs thesis. These fans were primarily queer women of color like myself, and frequently spoke of the desire to see characters who shared some of our diverse intersecting identities and experiences represented and respected not only in popular media, but in fan works as well.
In the context of these experiences, Space Seedling was born. This project is an alternate universe to ST:ID centering queer women of color, with themes of resistance to state violence and colonization. I created an early conceptual post about it, and began work on a fan video trailer, using decontextualized clips of actual Trek actors, and modifying their roles in the universe. Years after its original conception, I can find plenty of limitations and problems worth critiquing within my own work and themes, which Iâd be happy to discuss further. Nonetheless, Iâve decided to post this as is, in time for Trekâs 50th anniversary. Though I ultimately dropped out of graduate school, my thesis project, this fan-made âtrailerâ for the Space Seedling universe, is finally complete.
Television: âSpace Seedâ (Star Trek, 1967)
Films: Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2008), Star Trek (2009), Colombiana (2011), Seance: The Summoning (2011), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Star Trek: Into Darkness deleted scenes (2014)
Found Footage Clips: âChildren and Clinical Studies,â âHuman Subjects Research Training,â âBig Pharma Human Testing,â âGenetic Engineering for Human Enhancement,â âCIA Super Soldierâ âMilitary Taking Drugs to Stay Awake for 90 Hours,â âGuinea Pig Nation,â âAvomeen Pharmaceutical Testingâ
Music: âMaternal Heartâ by Akira Yamaoka (from Silent Hill 3), âStar Trek Main Themeâ by Michael Giacchino (from Star Trek: Into Darkness)
Thank you so much to those who helped inspire this project or supported me during the process, including but not limited to @preciousfinnamon-roll, @boostergoldmansachs, @butterfly-effect, and many others. Finally, I welcome any comments, questions, or critiques anyone would like to share.
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