Klingon

Arika Okrent was studying languages at the University of Chicago. The languages people use and how they work. The rules, the changes, the charts. She was in the library, poking around. "And then," says Okrent, relaxing in her Germantown home recently, "I drifted down to the shelves with all the books on invented languages. It was a sad little collection. I felt sorry for it. " But something called to her. Tales of made-up languages and their makers. Esperanto, the most widely spoken of all; Volapük, once the most popular; Klingon, the bark of space invaders.

The most expensive syndicated television series of all time - and probably the most eagerly awaited - is Star Trek: The Next Generation, the latest version of a long-running story that began 21 years ago. Boldly going where it has never gone before, Paramount Pictures Corp. has chosen to resurrect Star Trek without any of the characters who have made the show a science-fiction classic. Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley)

Not even the latest in loose-fitting, Sans-a-Belt Federation spacewear can hide the fact that the crew of the Enterprise would be more at home on a cruise ship rather than a starship. Nonetheless, the cast of the original "Star Trek" television series sucks it up - or maybe, in - one more time for what Paramount assures us is the last adventure - "Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country. " By the looks of Kirk and company, this undiscovered country can't be far from Miami Beach.

1. In which "Next Gen" episode did Riker (Jonathan Frakes) learn that, as a Klingon first officer, it was his duty to assassinate his captain should the captain become unable to perform his duties? 2. Which "Trek" actor appeared on the cover of the Oct. 8-14, 1994, issue of TV Guide? 3. Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Clift and this "Trek" actor made up the cast of the 1961 best-picture nominee "Judgment at Nuremberg.

Here's more Star Trek trivia to delight and amuse. (Answers at are at the end.) 1. "Trek"-classic premiered in 1966. Who was the last regular cast member signed to star on the series' first season? 2. When Kirk returned to the captain's chair of the Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979), which character did he displace? 3. In "The Wrath of Khan" (1982), where had Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and his followers been abandoned by Kirk? 4. Name the last "Next Generation" episodes in which Wil Wheaton appeared as a regular and a guest star.

1. How are the "Next Gen" episodes "The Child" and "Devil's Due" related to the "Star Trek II" television series? 2. Who wrote "Transformations," the new direct-to-audio story chronicling the adventures of Captain Sulu? 3. He was Lance Henriksen's son in "The Horror Show" (1989), appeared with Christina Applegate in "Streets" (1990) and was one of the four kids who killed mortician John Glover in the "Undertaking Pallor" episode of HBO's "Tales from the Crypt" series. Who is he?

Call it Trekker heaven. There were 30-plus "Trek" guests and more than 200 dealers selling every kind of "Trek" merchandise imaginable. There were Klingon babies in carriages. There was even a Vulcan-Bajoran wedding. For three event-packed days last month, nearly 15,000 Trekkers from all over America and the world converged at the Civic Center in Pasadena, Calif., for Creation Entertainment's Grand Slam III, perhaps the largest "Trek" con ever. Day One found Avery Brooks, smiling and playful, emerging through space dock-like doors onto a stage to face 3,500 eager fans.

Roxann Biggs-Dawson says she loves playing B'Elanna Torres, the half- Klingon, half-human character on "Voyager. " But her feelings about "Trek" haven't always been so warm. As it happens, the 30-year-old California native grew up behind William Shatner's house and played basketball with the actor's daughters, Melanie and Leslie. She became angry whenever the girls ended their basketball games early to watch their father's TV voyages. "I grew to despise the show because it interfered with my play time," Biggs-Dawson said with a self-deprecating laugh.

In this time of summer heat and summer reruns, here's a cool Star Trek quiz. (Answers at bottom.) 1. In 1964, Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner worked together on "The Man From U.N.C.L.E. " Name the episode. 2. What real-life political climate did "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991) parallel? 3. William Shatner understudied for fellow Canadian and future "Trek VI" co-star Christopher Plummer in what stage play? 4. What was Worf (Michael Dorn) drinking in the opening scene of the "Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise"?

1. What is Keiko O'Brien's (Rosalind Chao) maiden name? 2. In the "Next Gen" episode "The Big Goodbye," what office number does the intrepid Dixon Hill (Patrick Stewart) occupy? 3. What did Spock (Leonard Nimoy) do for the first time in the dramatic Trek-classic episode "The Devil in the Dark"? 4. Can you recall what happened on Oct. 12, 1974? 5. "It has been said that social occasions are only warfare concealed. " Who made that rather militaristic comment? 6. On which starship did Ensign Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes)

William Campbell, 87, a veteran actor who had memorable roles in the television series Star Trek, was in Elvis Presley's first film and in the 1950s was married to President John F. Kennedy paramour Judith Campbell Exner, died Friday of natural causes at a hospital in the San Fernando Valley. He was a busy film and television actor in the 1950s and '60s, making his film debut in 1950's The Breaking Point and singing with Presley in 1956's Love Me Tender. His other film roles included The Naked and the Dead in 1958, Dementia 13 with director Francis Ford Coppola in 1963, and Hush . . . Hush, Sweet Charlotte in 1964.

- Mr. Spock, preventing Capt. James T. Kirk from hugging him, in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" Why would somebody attend a Klingon conference? Specifically, the 17th annual Klingon Language Institute conference ( qep'a' wa'maH SochDich in Klingon)? There are no real Klingons, of course. They are a fictional empire of warrior aliens in Star Trek . But there is a real Klingon language, tlhIngan Hol . It sounds like a recording played backward of a German shepherd gargling yogurt.

Arika Okrent was studying languages at the University of Chicago. The languages people use and how they work. The rules, the changes, the charts. She was in the library, poking around. "And then," says Okrent, relaxing in her Germantown home recently, "I drifted down to the shelves with all the books on invented languages. It was a sad little collection. I felt sorry for it. " But something called to her. Tales of made-up languages and their makers. Esperanto, the most widely spoken of all; Volapük, once the most popular; Klingon, the bark of space invaders.

"Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man," goes the old Klingon proverb. And 88 throats - not to mention an assortment of other body parts - can be cut in 20 minutes by an agile actress in a spiffy yellow motorcycle suit. That would be Uma Thurman, the statuesque raison d'etre for Kill Bill, Vol. 1, the bloody conflation of '70s chopsocky, spaghetti western and exploitation flicks that, simply and immodestly, introduces itself as "the 4th film by Quentin Tarantino.

It's a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon in summer - a perfect day for swimming and playing ball outside and riding bikes. Or for sitting in a dank and dimly lit basement watching Godzilla movies. Given the choice, there are actually those who would go outside. These people are called normal. The rest of them are Godzilla Geeks, and this week they get the monster of all gifts - the G-Man himself, back on the big screen terrorizing Tokyo, bad dubbing and all. Look out!

Hab SoSlI' Quch! Translation: Your mother has a smooth forehead! (A vicious Klingon insult) Robyn Stewart, known as Qov by those gathered in the lobby of this suburban hotel, spits when she talks. "nuqneH," she says, her dark eyes wide, the word rising from a tough, guttural place. Her translators, both less proficient in conversational Klingon, scramble through their electronic dictionaries for the meaning: Roughly, "What do you want?" Qov is one of the few people on Earth who is approaching fluency in Klingon, the language spoken by the Star Trek warrior race with the same name.

The towering man looked ready for war, with a knife and blade tucked into his black leather belt and a pock-marked face that might part crowds and draw whimpers from those unfortunate enough to pass by. Instead of fleeing, however, people clamored to stand near the convention-goer, George Oberg, and pose for a picture as his wife, Jennifer, stepped aside. As though beamed onto another planet, thousands of otherwise terrestrial people converged on the Valley Forge Convention and Exhibit Center, clipped on their communicators and phasers, and spent Sunday celebrating all things Star Trek, hoping for a glimpse of William Shatner.

Historians tell us they do not know for certain who Shakespeare was. A member of royalty or a commoner? One writer or many writers? Human or Klingon? The latest theory - that the English playwright was really a member of the passionate Star Trek tribe with ridged foreheads - is being promoted by a local club devoted to promoting Klingon culture and language. Based in Flourtown, the Klingon Language Institute boasts membership in more than 30 countries and has just finished a "translation" of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

"Deep Space Nine" begins its fourth season the week of Oct. 2 with "The Way of the Warrior," a two-hour outing that welcomes Worf (Michael Dorn), from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," to the space station. "It amazes me that we've been at it this long. I see how far we've come," says Nana Visitor, who plays Major Kira Nerys, in a telephone interview from her home in Hollywood. "This year we're going in new directions, which, although subtle and true to our focus on interpersonal relationships, have the excitement people expect from 'Trek,' too," she adds.

1. In which "Next Gen" episode did Riker (Jonathan Frakes) learn that, as a Klingon first officer, it was his duty to assassinate his captain should the captain become unable to perform his duties? 2. Which "Trek" actor appeared on the cover of the Oct. 8-14, 1994, issue of TV Guide? 3. Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Maximilian Schell, Montgomery Clift and this "Trek" actor made up the cast of the 1961 best-picture nominee "Judgment at Nuremberg.