Siskoid's Rolodex #110 ... Siskoid ... [3/ 7/99 09:06]

[Siskoid's Rolodex offers spot reviews of all the cards judging them by their less tangible qualities, searching for the elusive perfect card: their picture/graphics, lore, Trek sense and stockability. Each on 5 points (so on a total of 20). Mondays, I do Premiere. Tuesdays, AU. Wednesdays, Q-Continuum. Thursdays, First Contact. Fridays, DS9. And Saturdays, Premium cards. Sundays, I back-end the Premiere set from the Zs. It's so darn big, I do it twice! (At this rate, I should be done sometime in the next 4 years.) Comments always welcome.]

#110-Vekma, Personnel, Klingon, universal
"Klingon female trained in Klingon anatomy and medecine. Propositioned Commander William T. Riker on the IKC Pagh in 2365."
-MEDICAL, Honor, Staff icon
-INTEGRITY: 6, CUNNING: 5, STRENGTH: 6

PICTURE: Nice smile. Exactly taken when she "propositioned" Riker as stated in the lore. It's a standard head and shoulders shot, but has personality. A 3.3.

LORE: Well, it doesn't acknowlege Vekma's universality, but you can sort of almost smell it in the way the lore is phrased. The anecdote is the only memorable thing about her and not badly put. The first sentence, however, is ambiguous. If she's versed in Klingon anatomy and medicine, can she still heal somebody from another species? But let that go. A 2.7.

TREK SENSE: I always have a hard time thinking of Klingon warriors as doctors and scientists, especially if nothing to that effect is stated in the show. I admit, however, that Klingon ships MUST have this kind of personnel to function. Do I believe, given the onscreen evidence, that Vekma is the Pagh's medic? Not really. It seems like the Klingons needed a target for Anaphasic Organism when Premiere came out, and she was made to fit the bill. The second thing to consider is: can you do such a thing as specializing in Honor? What would that mean? I think it means being an expert in Klingon practices. The "quality" aspect of Honor cannot really be considered when talking about mission specialists. I won't argue Vekma's not honorable, but there's no real evidence either way. The attributes look ok, nothing surprising there. A thin 2.5.

STOCKABILITY: How useful is a Klingon mission specialist with Honor? Well, there are currently 10 Klingon missions with Honor as a requirement, half of those asking for it in multiple (from x2 to x5!), so I'd say, very useful in an Assign Mission Specialists strategy. Vekma is also one of the rare MEDICALs the Klingons have, and one of the rare females. Her universal nature makes her a natural for AMS and supplying your Empire with cheap female MEDICALs (ooh, that sounds wrong somehow). Five Vekmas at Wormhole Negotiations can score you some 60 points, so don't knock her. Of course, she's not the only Honor specialist, so mix her with some SECURITY in the form of Kle'eg or something to get more tahn one classification. Of couse, if you're not using AMS, she's pretty plain. A 4.

TOTAL: 12.5 (62.5%) As far as cheap universal personnel go, she makes for a pretty good card. It's a shame Riker never went on a date with her...

COMPARISON CHART

Adapt: Negate Obstruction - 18.4 (92%)
[...]
Albert Einstein - 12.7 (63.5%)
Anti-Matter Pod - 12.7 (63.5%)
Archer - 12.7 (63.5%)
Antique Machine Gun - 12.6 (63%)
Alien Groupie - 12.5 (62.5%)
Assimilate This! - 12.5 (62.5%)
Vekma - 12.5 (62.5%)
Admiral Riker - 12.4 (62%)
Avert Danger - 12.4 (62%)
Baryon Buildup - 12.3 (61.5%)
Black Hole - 12.3 (61.5%)
Amanda's Parents - 12.2 (61%)
Armus-Skin of Evil - 12.2 (61%)
[...]
Zibalian Transport - 7.1 (35.5%)

Siskoid (taken)