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In Star Trek: Discovery S02E14 ("Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2"), an undetonated photon torpedo becomes lodged in the Enterprise, and the only way to protect the ship is to close the blast door between the room in which it resides and the rest of the ship before it explodes.

The automated door-close mechanism also seems to be damaged, so Admiral Cornwell is forced to stay on the torpedo side of the door to use the manual door-close handle to close the door, sacrificing herself to save the rest of the ship.

But why was this sacrifice necessary? (Leaving aside other possible solutions) Why did they not simply beam the Admiral back to safety as soon as she had closed the door?

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If you consider the answer provided in this question In Star Trek - What's the Point of the Transporter Room?, in the time frame of Star Trek: Discovery, site-to-site transporting (i.e. moving from one part of the inside of the ship to another) was not availble, or at the very least considered dangerous.

In the mid 2260s, beaming from a transporter pad to a location within the same vessel was a very risky proposition. The limitations of the technology at that time made it highly probable that any error would result in the subject rematerializing within a bulkhead, deck, or other structure.

The first episode of Star Trek: Discovery takes place in 2255, so this either doesn't exist yet, or is an emerging technology that is fraught with danger, both to the person and the vessel.

But maybe I'm wrong. Never forget Star Trek's motto: We hate continuity.

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  • "or at the very least considered dangerous" - more dangerous than standing next to exploding torpedo? Anyway, they beamed Spock out of a shuttle-craft in that very same episode!
    – komodosp
    Feb 25, 2021 at 8:21
  • @colmde A shuttlecraft that is outside of the starship? The issue is the ships have transporter beam emitters on the hull of the ship facing out. It won't be until later they that them also pointing in for site-to-site transport around the ship.
    – Jack B Nimble
    Feb 25, 2021 at 14:31

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