When Does "Star Trek: Short Treks: Runaway" (2018) Take Place?
"Short Treks: Runaway" is a science fiction short film written by Jenny Lumet with Alex Kurtzman that released October 4th, 2018. So when is "Runaway" set?
It takes place on the fictional Star Trek timeline in the year:
We know this because early on Ensign Sylvia Tilly’s Starfleet Medal of Honor can be seen in the background in her room. She and other members of the USS Discovery crew were awarded this honor at the end of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 1 episode 15 "Will You Take My Hand?" (2018), which most likely takes place in May of 2257 AD. Furthermore, it depicts Tilly's first meeting with Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po. So it must take place before "Star Trek: Discovery" season 2 episode 13 "Such Sweet Sorrow Part 1" (2019), which probably occurs in late 2257 AD, when Tilly refers to their new friendship.
2257 AD
We know this because early on Ensign Sylvia Tilly’s Starfleet Medal of Honor can be seen in the background in her room. She and other members of the USS Discovery crew were awarded this honor at the end of "Star Trek: Discovery" season 1 episode 15 "Will You Take My Hand?" (2018), which most likely takes place in May of 2257 AD. Furthermore, it depicts Tilly's first meeting with Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po. So it must take place before "Star Trek: Discovery" season 2 episode 13 "Such Sweet Sorrow Part 1" (2019), which probably occurs in late 2257 AD, when Tilly refers to their new friendship.
Although the famous "stardate XXXX.X" captain's records that open most episodes and some films were mistaken for years on the Gregorian calendar, there is no one-to-one relationship between them. As identified in the biography "Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek": "They marked off sections on a pictorial depiction of the known universe and extrapolated how much earth time would elapse when traveling between given points, taking into account that the Enterprise's warp engines would be violating Einstein's theory that nothing could exceed the speed of light. They concluded that the 'time continuum' would therefore vary from place to place, and that earth time may actually be lost in travel. 'So the stardate on Earth would be one thing, but the stardate on Alpha Centauri would be different,' Peeples says." so they are relative to long distance travel and not an absolute calendar. HOWEVER, actual years on the Gregorian calendar began to be used later.
It is an early chronological short film in the Star Trek universe and can be watched at its timeline point after the TV series "Star Trek: Discovery" season 1 (2017).
