The monastery of P'Jem (2151)
P'Jem was a Vulcan monastery on a planet near Andoria. The site was destroyed in 2152.
History
At the time of its destruction, the structure was almost 3,000 years old, with Master Haadok having been one of the monastery's founders. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")
At one point in the 2130s, T'Pol visited the sanctuary of P'Jem and had the fullara ceremony performed on her. (ENT: "The Seventh")
The sensor array beneath P'Jem (2151)
In the 22nd century, the monastery was ransacked three times by the Andorians looking for a suspected sensor array. On the last of these occasions, in 2151, the Earth starship Enterprise NX-01 visited P'Jem, only to find it taken over by a group of Andorian commandos led by Shran. After some initial misunderstanding and a firefight, the commandos and the Enterprise landing party discovered a highly sophisticated surveillance installation in the catacombs beneath the monastery. Captain Archer gave scans of the facility conducted by his science officer, T'Pol, to Shran as evidence of the Vulcans' spying. (ENT: "The Andorian Incident")
Though the Andorians gave the monks and surveillance personnel ample warning before an eventual orbital bombardment, the Vulcan High Command blamed T'Pol, who was by then a sub-commander, for allowing Archer to expose the facility and recalled her from Enterprise. They rescinded this decision at the request of Captain Sopek, after T'Pol saved his life on Coridan. (ENT: "Shadows of P'Jem")
The repercussions back on Vulcan were longer lasting. The First Minister was dismissed, and the High Command forced the resignation of T'Les, T'Pol's mother, from the Vulcan Science Academy. The evidence of treason they used had been fabricated; even so, T'Pol had no way to restore her mother's position except by marrying into Koss' influential family. (ENT: "Home")
Arev identified Archer as the man who was responsible for the destruction of the monastery on P'Jem, after Arev learned that T'Pol was the daughter of T'Les. Archer assumed this would be held against him. However, Arev remarked that the captain's actions exposed the Vulcan High Council's "hypocrisy." (ENT: "The Forge")
Appendices
Background information
In the script of "The Andorian Incident", this monastery was referred to as "an eerie rust-colored temple [which] clings to a high mountain precipice" and "the majestic mountaintop retreat." The area was also scripted to include "a stone landing platform" and the script went on to say, "A bridge connects the platform to the sanctuary beyond."
The large double doors that served as P'Jem's entrance were a reuse of the doors to the Klingon High Council chamber in ENT: "Broken Bow".
In the final draft script of ENT: "Desert Crossing", Charles "Trip" Tucker referenced this monastery, saying it was about as uncomfortable to be on the Torothan homeworld as it had been at the monastery.
It is unknown whether the planet on which P'Jem was situated is also called P'Jem. The script of "The Andorian Incident" referred to the monastery as the "Sanctuary at P'Jem," implying that the name P'Jem was also intended to be used for either the planet or the area of it where the monastery is located. Also unclear is the function of the destroyed buildings during the twelve centuries they stood prior to the availability of Surak's ideas for contemplation and practice.
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (p. 45), P'Jem (Luyten's Star) was a star system in the Beta Quadrant. The primary was an M-class star. In the 22nd century, this system was a stop on the Vulcan trade routes.
Apocrypha
In the backstory of Star Trek Online, P'Jem was rebuilt by a coalition of Humans, Andorians and Vulcans in 2170, and access is restricted to protect the sanctity of the monastery. One of the early Federation missions, "Diplomatic Orders", partially takes place there, as the player character hunts down an infiltrator from Species 8472 ("Undine") disguised as a Vulcan ambassador.
External link
- P'Jem at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works