Hansen Al-Salah

Commander Hansen Al-Salah was a male Starfleet officer in the 23rd century. He was the commander of Earth Outpost 4, along the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Having been posted to the Romulan border since 2254, Al-Salah was particularly aware of the isolation and vulnerability of the Earth Outposts guarding the Neutral Zone. In 2259, he came aboard the USS Enterprise to meet with Captain Christopher Pike, who had brought state-of-the-art matter synthesizers to alleviate the outpost's supply chain issues, as well as fully-automated mining craft.

He was the father of Maat Al-Salah, who would go on to become a Starfleet cadet before dying in a training accident aboard an old class J starship in 2266. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy"; TOS: "The Menagerie, Part I")

That same year, the Neutral Zone outposts came under attack by a Romulan Bird-of-Prey – equipped with a new, advanced cloaking device, and powerful plasma-based weaponry – whose crew was on a mission to test the resolve of Earth force after a century of nonexistent contact with Humans. The attack resulted in massive damage and casualties, including the deaths of Al-Salah's weapons crew. Al-Salah was subsequently contacted by Captain Kirk aboard the USS Enterprise, who was attempting to intercept the enemy vessel before it could attack again. After giving a report on the attack to Kirk, Al-Salah was killed when Outpost 4 was destroyed in a final attack by the Romulans. (TOS: "Balance of Terror")

In an alternate 2266, created after Christopher Pike prevented the death of several Starfleet cadets (including Maat) and his own exposure to delta radiation, Al-Salah was still commander of Earth Outpost 4. He communicated with Captain Pike (whom in this timeline, was still captain of the Enterprise) after his outpost was attacked by the Romulans, before dying in much the same way as in the prime timeline. (SNW: "A Quality of Mercy")

Appendices[]

Appearances[]

• TOS: "Balance of Terror"
• SNW: "A Quality of Mercy"

Background information[]

Commander Hansen was played by Garry Walberg. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the character was reconceptualized as Hansen Al-Salah, played by Ali Hassan.

This character's name is spelled "Hansen" in on-screen credits, but was consistently spelled "Hanson" throughout the revised final draft script of "Balance of Terror" (dated 18 July 1966), wherein the stage directions indicated he was to have a "singed, bloodied look."

Though described as a "commander" in dialogue, Hansen's uniform bore no rank insignia.

In a deleted scene from the shooting script (Scene 46, p. 17), Hansen wanted the Enterprise to warn Earth that either traitors or Romulan spies had stolen starship designs and used them to build the Bird-of-Prey. [1] The scene had actually been shot, but was excised from the episode as aired. [2]

External links[]

• Hansen Al-Salah at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works