Object
Enterprise Tractor Beam Emitter (Bridge/Engineering Projector)
A compact, metallic tractor-beam emitter module integrated into the Enterprise's tactical/engineering arrays: small cylindrical housings, braided power conduits, cooling vents and flickering status LEDs. When pushed to extremes it hums and radiates heat while projecting a thin, shimmering gravitational tether. Crew crowd consoles—Geordi recalibrates, Data monitors readouts, Worf vectors—and warning lights and overload telemetry mark the emitter as a vulnerable, critical component at immediate risk of thermal failure during the salvage gambit.
35 appearances
Purpose
To generate a controlled tractor field that latches onto, stabilizes, manipulates, and tow external objects or small celestial bodies for retrieval, repositioning, or for applying directed force (as when attempting to nudge a ferrous moon).
Significance
Functions as the technical and dramatic fulcrum of the crisis: its strain and looming failure force desperate command choices, raise the stakes of the salvage gambit, and convert an engineering gamble into an ethical and procedural crisis with potential catastrophic consequences.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used