I'm both surprised and disappointed that such a sophisticated science fiction fan as Starhawk has so badly misunderstood the Star Trek ficverse.
Take this "windows" stuff, for example. No, the Enterprise DOES NOT HAVE windows. What it has are inside and outside scene projectors. The inside projector simulates the outside view; the outside projector either simulates the inside view, or just emits light so the audience and the Federation public get the warm fuzzy illusion of a ship with lit portholes/windows. The outside projector's simulation capability is especially useful when unwelcome visitors drop by; even if you have a wild party going on inside, they just see an empty cabin and go bother someone else.
If Starhawk still isn't convinced, tnen perhaps he'd care to explain THOSE STUPID MOVING DOTS we see through the "windows" when the ship is in warp drive. Stars? HAHAHAHA! Gimme a break! Obviously they're just a graphic construct added to the simulated scene to give the compartment occupants the illusion of motion.
As for the supposed "terawatt" paradox, it's so excruciatingly obvious that it pains me to explain it. You see, just as a "star date" has nothing in common with a 21st Century Terran date, a "star terawatt" is completely different from a Terran terawatt. I suppose the scripts should have explicitly included the "star" part of the term for the intellectually impaired, but I can't blame the writers for assuming at least a minuscule level of intelligence in their viewers.
I could go on, but I think I've made my point. No need to embarrass Starhawk any more.
Oh, and for the humor-impaired:
Re: Semi-OT: The Icaran Empire Preview (the book o
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