Tarrant
Dastor: They...they say you're afraid of Tarrant. Well, afraid to attack, that is.
Jarvik: Knew him. A few years ago. He served as lieutenant on the Kairopan escort shuttle. It was his first command.
Avon: I understand that this ship is the most powerful in the galaxy and that you are the most astute space warfare commander. Or so you tell us often enough.
Avon: What kept you? Tarrant, tell me, what the hell is THAT?
Tarrant: That is a proto-space-age landing module. Should be in a museum.
Tarrant: But Jarvik, I haven't seen you in years.
Deeta: I left Earth a long time ago.
Servalan: He left more recently. Following your example, perhaps.
Max: He's resting at the moment. How long is it since you've seen him?
Tarrant: Oh, seven, maybe eight years.
Deeta: I never should have left you. I missed you, little brother.
Tarrant: Yes, launch and flight simulator. I trained on one.
Tarrant: I did a course at the Space Institute not long after Egrorian disappeared.
(Much of what Tarrant says about himself is corroborated by outside sources and by his display of knowledge and his abilities. This persuades me to accept the uncorroborated information as also being truthful.)
Tarrant attended and graduated from the Federation Space Academy. This was a five-year course of study and included training on Flight and Launch Simulators. Dynamic flux mathematics was one of his best subjects. His first command was under Jarvik, at which time Tarrant held the rank of lieutenant. He eventually achieved the rank of captain (no information on whether there were other ranks in between). He deserted, taking a ship with him, and got involved in mercenary/smuggling activities. He battled against the Andromedans, lost his ship, and ended up on Liberator (where we first meet him). Evidence indicates that Tarrant was bright and extremely talented. Groff is awed to be in the presence of someone who attended FSA, suggesting that it is a prestigious institution. Tarrant is feared and respected by Jarvik and others in Harvest of Kairos. He's said to be a "starship captain who knows the lot." And while Avon may have been less than convinced about Tarrant's abilities in Harvest ("Or so you tell us...."), by Traitor he admits that Tarrant is "one of the best." Tarrant studied at the Space Research Institute not long after Egrorian left there (which was ten years before Orbit). While Tarrant claims not to be a math prodigy, one has to assume he was no slouch in academics to have studied at yet another apparently prestigious institution.
Tarrant appears to have a good background in space history. He identifies the ship in Harvest and provides information on Terminal. He also references Federation expeditions on a couple of occasions (I don't have all of those quoted).
Two people from Tarrant's past show up: Bayban (who doesn't remember Tarrant) and Deeta, his older brother. Tarrant hasn't seen Deeta in 7-8 years and left Earth after he did. Deeta expresses regret at having left Del.
The above is factual. There is a lot one can speculate based on that information and on other material from the series, but that's an entirely different subject.
"He deserted, taking a ship with him, and got involved in mercenary/smuggling activities."
I don't think there is sufficient evidence to say that he took a ship with him when he deserted. He just says "I had my own ship"--which could mean that he captured it (and we don't know from whom), that he stole it, he bought it or someone even gave it to him.
"Groff is awed to be in the presence of someone who attended FSA, suggesting that it is a prestigious institution. "
The strange thing is that although Servalan seems to be saying that good Space Captain are very hard to come by in Moloch (which agree with the FSA being prestigious and its graduates respected) she is very cavalier about losing pilots in some other episodes (Volcano, Harvest of Kairos).
Something else it can be fun working out an explanation for (g)
"Tarrant studied at the Space Research Institute not long after Egrorian left there (which was ten years before Orbit). While Tarrant claims not to be a math prodigy, one has to assume he was no slouch in academics to have studied at yet another apparently prestigious institution."
He's also aware of Dr Plaxton and her work. And knows enough about drive engineering to be able to help Avon fix Scorpio's drive.
Carol McCoy
The evidence that he took along a Federation ship is in "Ultraworld." verything the Ultras said about the crew had the ring of substantiated facts, stuff they had pulled from their vast data stores.
Maybe Servalan's pilots aren't very good? :) No, I think it's that one is so valuable that Servalan wouldn't consider him/her expendable. She's that kind of lady.
"He's also aware of Dr Plaxton and her work. And knows enough about drive engineering to be able to help Avon fix Scorpio's drive."
More probably it was Avon helping Tarrant. (g) I'm glad you brought this point up. Because while it's less for-sure canon, I picture Tarrant as the one with the most practical knowledge about what makes spaceships tick. He certainly exhibited working knowledge of spaceships beyond piloting them. He's the one who did maintenance on Scorpio in "Games." That appeared to be his responsibility, not Avon's.
My expanded canon has Tarrant getting an engineering degree as his academic major at FSA. And his engineering speciality would include spaceship drives and systems. Here's my reasoning behind that. Every officer serving on a US submarine (except for the supply officer) has to attend the prestigious Naval Nuclear Power School (and also Nuclear Prototype School and Submarine School). This is after he's (only men allowed in submarine service right now) already earned a bachelor's degree (in one of the accepted engineering disciplines that are prerequisites for nuke school). When you think about it, a submarine is a lot like a spaceship. They are self-contained vehicles operating in hostile environments. Even more than a submarine, the crew of a spaceship better know how to keep it running, how to diagnose problems and how to fix it if it breaks down in the middle of nowhere. That's why I'd presume that the FSA would require their future pilots to have an engineering (or other hard science) major that included a great deal of practical knowledge about spaceships. And it's interesting to note that the FSA (at least for pilots) is *five* years, a year longer than our traditional college programs. Maybe that fifth year provides the type of advanced schooling that submarine officers get at the extra schools they have to attend. (BTW, many surface officers also attend the nuke schools.)
Vickie McManus "When you think about it, a submarine is a lot like a spaceship."
This is an excellent analogy, and makes a lot of sense. Are you assuming Tarrant's age as Pacey's age, or older? If Pacey's actual age, maybe Tarrant being so young and having all of that experience isn't abnormal in the Federation. I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to put a young teenager into the Academy or engineering school or whatever for ultra-intensive schooling. Besides, they no doubt had some way of teaching kids by using machines like the ones used to mess with Blake's brain.
There's some angst for you. A cute 16 year old Tarrant having weird nightmares from his engineering tutorial, or dreaming of crashing his ship over and over. Kind of like "Ender's Game," near the end, when Ender is chewing his hands bloody in his sleep.
Alison C. J. Glover (acglover@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au)
In one of the lectures I attended recently we did one of those exercises in taking a series of seemingly reasonable statements about a story and proving that none of them were necessarily true, and I seem to be stuck in this mode with regard to this, despite the somewhat damning circumstantial evidence that Tarrant did steal the ship. Hmm.... Tarrant and pursuit ship are posted a missing - so they don't yet know he's deserted. Same ship is later used by Tarrant to run contraband. What could have happened between that isn't in any databases the Ultras have access to? There is a germ of an idea lurking in the back of my skull about this which hasn't quite gelled yet, so I wil ponder it a while longer......))
"I am certainly convinced that between Tarrant and Avon, there has to be considerable both theoretical and practical knowledge of spaceship drives."
They also had Orac. But that's a very good point: that the drive (and/or the ship) was likely to need adjustments.
Carol McCoy
My personal canonical version of B7 assumes that all Alphas with high IQs are placed in accelerated learning programs. I don't think it is unreasonable to assume that bright kids allowed to absorb material as fast as they possible can will be "college" bound at age 14 (12, 13, 15, 16, whenever the individual student is ready). While the machines (computer tutor programs) are no doubt part of the program, my main canon also has them in classrooms with gifted students who share their abilities, both because the Federation would recognize that some socialization is required and also because they use the classrooms to encourage competition. "I can advance more quickly than he/she can." The initial academic years have all bright kids mixed. As material for their speciality areas becomes more pronounced, they are segregated according to disciplines. You have your pre-med, your computer geeks, your military schools, etc.
I've long identified Tarrant with Ender. And the possibility of the temporary burn out that Ender suffered (when he floated about on a raft) is very appealing. I think the most driven of the brightest students might crash, temporarily or permanently. I can also see the possibility of Avon (someone who shares Tarrant's inclination to want to be the best of the best) having the possibility of temporary burn out during his school years.
One of my fringe canons has Tarrant (like Ender) as being even younger than the average for his speciality field, having advanced faster than even the average brightest pilot candidates.
And another fringe canon explores the possibility that only pilot candidates were pushed this hard and fast. There's a lot to be said for young pilots. Reflexes are quicker in the young. And I think a pilot would be best if he/she's not yet realized his/her mortality, which is something else that seems to come with maturity.
Vickie McManus
Very good insight. Students who are competing against each other are not going to expend energy on rebelling, presumably. Nor would they be likely to band together with their equally brilliant rivals and try to take over the government. Maybe that was Blake's real strength, and why the Freedom Party was so dangerous--he could get hyper-competitive Alphas to cooperate towards a common goal.
"There's a lot to be said for young pilots."
Excellent point. And with this version, Tarrant could have been kicking around as a mercenary for a longer period...getting caught in nasty situations because of his youth.
Carol McCoy
That's a wonderful follow through to my ideas. I hadn't taken them that far. But you point out advantages to competition that go beyond encouraging students to work hard. I like to think that the Federation was that devious, that master psychostrategists were developing all kinds of programs to keep the population in line and productive.
"Maybe that was Blake's real strength, and why the Freedom Party was so dangerous--he could get hyper-competitive Alphas to cooperate towards a common goal."
Good point. Also, possibly, that he could get groups of mixed classes to cooperate. Though he didn't seem to have much luck with getting anyone to cooperate on a consistent basis on Liberator. (g) Of course that was an exceptionally stubborn group.
Tarrant
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