5.3 Page 124

THE STAR TREK ENCYCLOPEDIA: A REFERENCE GUIDE TO THE FUTURE DIRECT RETICULAR STIMULATION 117

were able to detect the presence of the Yangtzee Kiang's hull on tions, it was necessary to increase warp speed slowly so the a moon. (“Battle Lines” [DS9)) realignment progression could be maintained. (“Brothers™ [TNG]). dikironium cloud creature. dilithium. Crystalline substance used in warp propulsion sysGaseous entity that could tems aboard starships. Dilithium regulates the matter/antimatter change its molecular form, was reactions that provide the energy necessary to warp space and capable of traveling across travel faster than light. Naturally occurring dilithium is extremely interstellar space, and could be rare and is mined on only a few planets. Until the advent of recognized by a characteristic recrystallization techniques that permitted the production of synsickly-sweet smell. The cloud thetic dilithium, the crystals were among the most valuable subcreature fed on the red blood stances in the galaxy. This breakthrough occurred in 2286 when cells of humanoid life-forms Spock (who had traveled back in time to 1986), devised a means and was able to camouflage whereby dilithium crystals could be recrystallized by exposure to itself by momentarily throwing itself out of time sync, permittingit gamma radiation (high-energy photons) that were by-products of to be two places at once. This creature attacked the U.S.S. nuclear fission reactions. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). In later Farragut in 2257, killing the ship's captain and 200 of the crew. years, theta-matrix compositing techniques permitted even more Lieutenant James T. Kirk, a crew member aboard the Farragut at efficient recrystallization. (“Family” [TNG]). By the late 2360s the time, fired on the creature, with no effect. Years later, in 2268, recrystallization techniques had advanced to the point that crysthe Starship Enterprise, with Captain James Kirk in command, tals could be recomposited while still inside the articulation frame encountered the same entity. Kirk followed the creature to planet of the dilithium chamber, extending the useful life of the crystals Tycho IV, where he destroyed it with an antimatter blast even further. (“Relics” [TNG]). Dilithium was abundant on planet ("Obsession [TOS]). SEE: noncorporeal life. Coridan, admitted to the Federation in 2267. (“Journey to Babel” [TOS]). The planet Troyius is also a rich source of naturallydikironium. Rare gaseous substance, formerly thought to be occurring dilithium crystals. (“Elaan of Troyius” [TOS)). The Breen merely a laboratory curiosity. It was found to be a component in employed forced labor at their dilithium mines on Dozaria the dikironium cloud creature that killed 200 U.S.S. Farragut (“Indiscretion” [DS9)) as did the Klingons at Rura Penthe (Star personnel at planet Tycho IV in 2257. (“Obsession” [TOS]). Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). In 2372, U.S.S. Voyager personnel discovered a new form of dilithium that remained stable at Dikon alpha. Class 9 pulsar. Geordi La Forge studied Dikon a much higher warp frequency. The new form of dilithium, alpha as a possible source for vertion particles that the emer- installed aboard the Shuttlecraft Cochrane, made possible the gent life-form needed to survive in 2370. (“Emergence” [TNG]) first human flight at transwarp velocities. (“Threshold" [VGR]) SEE: lithium crystals. dilithium chamber hatch. Outer door of the matter/antimatter reaction chamber in a starship's warp engine. The hatch permit- dill weed. Earth seasoning made from the ground leaves of an ted access to the dilithium crystal articulation frame for servic- aromatic herb Anethum graveolens native to Eurasia. When ing and crystal replacement. The dilithium chamber hatch onthe Neelix prepared Porakan eggs as a breakfast food on the Enterprise-D failed in early 2367, resulting in a massive explosion Voyager, he added a little dill weed and a touch of rengazo in the ship's engine room. Although sabotage was initially sus- (“Flashback” [VGRY]) pected, it was later found that undetectable submicron fractures had existed in a defective hatch installed on the ship at Earth dim. Early 21st-century Earth slang, referring to a Sanctuary Station McKinley earlier that year. (“The Drumhead” [TNG]) District resident who was mentally ill. (‘Past Tense, Parts | and II" [DS9)). SEE: gimme. IZ! dilithium crystal articulation [8] frame. Part of a starship’s warp DiMaggio, Joe. Twentieth-century baseball player (1914-), also Te drive system, a device that held known as Joltin’ Joe and the Yankee Clipper. Arguably baseball's dilithium crystals in the matter/ greatest center fielder, DiMaggio scored hits in 56 consecutive antimatter stream so that the crys- games, a record that stood until 2026, when it was broken by tals could control the reaction inthe Buck Bokai, a shortstop from the London Kings. (“The Big chamber. Collapse of the articula- Goodbye" [TNG], “If Wishes Were Horses” [DS9)]) tion frame was thought to be the cause of a dilithium chamber explo- Dimorus. Planet. James Kirk and Gary Mitchell once visited sion aboard the Enterprise-D in Dimorus prior to their service aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. While 2367. It was believed that sabotage there, Mitchell saved Kirk's life by blocking a poison dart thrown was responsible for the explosion, a by a native rodent creature. Mitchell almost died as a result. supposition supported by the dis- ("Where No Man Has Gone Before” [TOS]). covery that plans for the articulation frame had been transmitted to the Romulans. The explosion was ~~ Dinasian. Ancient language, along with Dewan and lccobar, nevertheless later found to be accidental, the result of a materials believed to have historic roots in the Iconian language. This simdefect in the dilithium chamber hatch. (“The Drumhead” [TNG]). ilarity is viewed by some as evidence that at least some of the SEE: J'Dan; neutron fatigue. ancient Ilconians escaped the destruction of their home planet, settling elsewhere in the galaxy. (“Contagion” [TNG]). dilithium crystal chamber. Component of a starship's warp propulsion system. Located in the matter/antimatter reaction Diomedian scarlet moss. Bright red, featherlike plant. Dr. chamber, the dilithium crystal chamber controlled the reactions Crusher cultivated Diomedian scarlet moss as part of her study of and routed the power flow to the warp nacelles. Within the cham- ethnobotany in 2367. She had collected spores from several difber. the dilithium crystal was mounted within a device called an ferent sources in the Diomedian system. (“Clues” [TNG]). articulation frame. A prototype of Enterprise-D's chamber was developed at Seran T-One on stardate 40052. An improved ver- dirak. Monetary unit used by the Karemma. (“The Search, Part |” sion of the chamber, one which would permit adjustment of the [DS9)) crystal lattice direction, was under development for incorporation into the next class of starship. (“Booby Trap” [TNG]) direct reticular stimulation. Medical procedure in which electrical energy is applied directly to the nervous system of a dilithium vector calibrations. Routine maintenance performed humanoid patient in an attempt to revive neural activity. A device on a starship’s warp engines. Following dilithium vector calibra- called a neural stimulator is used in this procedure. Direct retic-