A site-to-site transport is a special type of transport where the object or person being transported is transported from one site directly to another, neither site being a transporter platform. A site-to-site transport is accomplished by first transferring the transporter's target from the site of origin to the pattern buffer of the transporter, in the same manner as the usual "beam in" procedure; instead of being routed to a transporter platform, however, the matter stream is diverted to a second site, in a similar procedure to a conventional "beam out".
Site-to-site transportation is very resource intensive. It consumes twice the energy of a conventional transport (since it is effectively two consecutive transport maneuvers), and requires twice the time in the pattern buffer. It is very useful, however, when time is critical (for example, when a casualty needs immediate attention in sick bay, site-to-site transportation is almost invariably used) or other unusual circumstances. On the other hand, it is almost never used in emergency evacuations of large groups because it would effectively halve the capacity of the transporter system. (TNG: "Brothers")
Notable uses
- While on Earth in 1986, Montgomery Scott utilized site-to-site transport capabilities on board a Klingon Bird-of-Prey to transport an away team directly from the elevator of a hospital facility to just outside where the ship was parked. Technically, this is the chronological first known utilization of this technology. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
- In 2268, Montgomery Scott transported Tepo directly from his headquarters to those of Bela Okmyx. Not counting time travel, this is the first known use of this technology. (TOS: "A Piece of the Action")
- While on Angel I in 2364, Data, Deanna Troi, and Natasha Yar transported directly from their planetside accommodations to Ramsey's camp. (TNG: "Angel One")
- Miles O'Brien disabled the site-to-site transport function to stop Data from beaming off the bridge in 2367. The android was able to reactivate it. (TNG: "Brothers")
- Wesley Crusher created a site-to-site transport program in 2368 to avoid being captured by the crew. (TNG: "The Game")
- Captain Benjamin Sisko and Senator Vreenak used site-to-site transport in 2374 to avoid the Romulan from being seen by the populace of Deep Space 9. They transported from the wardroom to a holosuite. (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight")
- Captain Picard used site-to-site transport to beam over to the Scimitar from the bridge of the USS Enterprise-E in 2379. However, it caused such a strain on the already severely damaged ship that all transporter functions shorted out immediately afterwards. (Star Trek Nemesis)