The tantalus field was a device that allows users to monitor, transport to or eliminate a person from a location within its range by simply pressing a button. It is known to have existed in both to primary universe and the mirror universe. (TOS: "Mirror Mirror"; Star Trek: The Adventures of Argus: "Trial By Fire")
The Tantalus field was first encountered by Captain James T. Kirk in 2267, aboard the ISS Enterprise when he became trapped in the mirror universe. His counterpart owed his success to the tantalus field as it allowed it to seem that Kirk's enemies had a tendency to "simply disappear". The field was apparently a secret from everyone except Marlena Moreau, who revealed the the field to the primary universe version of Kirk after using it to save him, claiming that his counterpart had plundered it from the lab of an unknown alien scientist. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
In 2374, the tantalus field was discovered for the first time in the primary universe by Lieutenant Sara Parker in a Preserver temple on the surface of Tyra III. Parker used the device to eliminate a Jem'Hadar patrol that was threatening an group of archaeologists before also using it to transport them aboard the USS Argus in orbit and transport herself to rescue another group of captured survivors from the Seventh Fleet. A science and engineering team was later deployed from the Argus to the planets surface to study the device, when its power source started to fluctuate. The field was used one final time to evacuate the team before the power source went critical and Tantalus field was destroyed along with the rest of the temple. (Star Trek: The Adventures of Argus: "Trial By Fire")
External links[]
- Tantalus field article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Tantalus field article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.