Zefram Cochrane
Zefram Cochrane is a male television character who features in Star Trek.
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Biography
Zefram Cochrane
He lived when Earth had been devastated by World War III where one of the aggressors was a faction known as ECON. (Movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
During the 2060s, Cochrane and his team of engineers began developing the warp drive. (Movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
Cochrane's primary motivation at the time for commencing warp technology was financial gain in the devastated, poverty-stricken America that existed in the wake of the Third World War. He finally built Earth's first warp ship, the Phoenix, in the hope its success would prove profitable and allow him to retire to a tropical island filled with naked women. A historical irony was that, contrary to the fact he went on to use the Phoenix to inaugurate an era of peace, Cochrane incorporated a weapon of mass destruction into its design; he constructed the Phoenix in a silo on a missile complex and used a Titan II missile as his launch vehicle. (Movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
By 4 April 2063, Doctor Cochrane had made plans to pilot the Phoenix on a test warp flight that was scheduled to launch the next morning. That night, he was witness to an attack from a Borg sphere that fired on the missile complex from above; Borg photon torpedoes exploded extremely close to him, as he desperately struggled to escape. Cochrane was thereafter sought by the crew of the Federation starship USS Enterprise-E, who had recently come back in time from the year 2373 to stop the Borg sphere from preventing first contact. He was temporarily considered by the Enterprise crew to have been killed in the Borg attack. By the time Dr. Cochrane was located by the Enterprise crew, he had abandoned hope for the continuation of the Phoenix, wishing that the prototype craft would "rest in peace." Cochrane was convinced to half-heartedly persist in his endeavors by the Enterprise-E crew, who treated him like a historical figure, which he was to them. When they confronted him with some particulars of his future image as herald of a better world, Cochrane refused to accept this new role. He initially attempted to literally flee from his destiny, pretending that his departure was merely temporary so he could urinate. He was subsequently pursued by a squad of officers and shot down with a phaser – which he thought of as a laser – set to a minimal power output and wielded by an impatient Commander Will Riker. (Movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
Cochrane then became more cooperative; by 10:00 a.m. on 5 April, he had mentally prepared himself to make history despite a distinctly uncomfortable hangover and had begun readying the Phoenix for liftoff, even though he still disputed the notion of being idolized. An hour later he was aboard the Phoenix as it launched, with Commander Riker and Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge accompanying him. Cochrane was not only instrumental in the flight of the Phoenix – at one point giving the instruction to activate warp drive with the command, 'Engage' – but was also amazed to view the Earth and the Enterprise-E from space and was shocked to experience the sensation of traveling at warp. He broke the warp barrier just after 11:00 a.m., enough to draw the attention of the T'Plana-Hath, a type of Vulcan survey ship which was passing near Earth. That evening, Cochrane was among many Human spectators who watched the Vulcan ship land in Bozeman, Montana, thereby making first contact with Humans and opening a new era for the whole of mankind. Finding difficulty in returning a Vulcan salute, he welcomed the arrival of the ship's Vulcan captain by engaging him in a handshake, for which Cochrane was thankful. (Movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
Cochrane ended up on an asteroid in the Gamma Canaris region. He was brought there, while in a disabled spaceship and virtually dead from old age, by a cloud-like entity which he called the Companion. Cochrane was rejuvenated by this entity, which went on to keep him young and alive for 150 years. At one point he cannibalized his ship, using left-over tools and supplies to construct a building where he could live. Necessities including food and water were provided for him by the Companion, with whom he could telepathically communicate. However, Cochrane eventually wished to be released from the entity's supervision, finding immortality boring. In an attempt to obtain freedom from the Companion he explained that he was lonely, so it decided to bring him other Humans for company. In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk, Commander Spock, and Dr. Leonard McCoy of the USS Enterprise were ferrying Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford, who was terminally ill, aboard the shuttlecraft Galileo when they were mysteriously brought to the asteroid by the Companion. Cochrane was delighted to meet the newcomers there, exchanging handshakes with each of the other men, and was impressed by the configuration of their shuttlecraft. Nevertheless, he originally kept the truth from the visitors, saying he had crashed on the asteroid an indeterminate time ago and feigning ignorance of the Companion. Under duress from Kirk, he conceded the facts, such as confessing the actual specifics of his arrival. Cochrane repeatedly talked with the Starfleet officers about the differences in the galaxy since his disappearance, remaining tempted to leave the asteroid. The Federation and universal translator were both new concepts to Cochrane. His knowledge of modern propulsion was also updated thanks to Spock and Kirk, the latter of whom observed that Cochrane did not 'look a day over thirty-five'. Faced with the quandary of either escaping the Companion and helping Commissioner Hedford to a hospital or risking the death of the Companion, Cochrane reluctantly opted to endanger the entity, despite being exceedingly grateful for its guardianship; this choice led to his being struck down and momentarily rendered unconscious. In a conversation that Kirk had with the entity, the Companion repeatedly called Cochrane "the man". Once it was discovered that the Companion was actually feminine with romantic feelings toward Cochrane and the female entity entered the body of Hedford, Cochrane was finally allowed to leave with his guests, though the merged entity was unable to accompany him. Feeling greatly indebted to the Companion for having rescued and cared for him, Cochrane began a new life on the asteroid with the newly integrated being, both of them now with a typical Human life span. Cochrane had Kirk swear never to reveal his fate to the authorities. (TOS: Metamorphosis)
Overview
Personality and attributes
One of Cochrane's good friends was Lily Sloane, whom he had known since the Third World War who gave him the nickname "Z". (Movie: Star Trek: First Contact)
During their time working together, Cochrane would gift Henry Archer a special bottle of whiskey the day they broke ground at the Warp Five Complex. Archer would later give that bottle to his son Jonathan Archer. (ENT: These Are the Voyages...)
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Zefram Cochrane was created by writer Gene L. Coon where he made his first appearance in Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Metamorphosis" (1967) where he was portrayed by actor Glenn Corbett.
- The character was portrayed by actor James Cromwell in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and he made a brief appearance in Star Trek: Enterprise pilot episode "Broken Bow" (2001).
In other media
Other
Appearances
- Star Trek: The Original Series:
- Star Trek: First Contact:
External Links
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