Click here for Part II of our Day 3 (Sunday) report.

Sunday, August 3, in Las Vegas, Creation Entertainment's biggest Star Trek convention of the year continued with a wide range of celebrity appearances and opportunities for fans to interact with the stars, with such activities as a Charity Breakfast, a Klingon Feast and an Acting Workshop. On stage in the main ballroom, though, the day started with three of the most popular guest stars in Star Trek, who each have played a variety of roles in several shows including Enterprise, but are most associated with their pivotal Star Trek: Deep Space Nine personas: Jeffrey Combs ("Weyoun," "Brunt" and Enterprise's "Shran"), Robert O'Reilly ("Gowron") and J.G. Hertzler ("Martok").

Jeffrey Combs, J.G. Hertzler and Robert O'Reilly

As soon as they took the stage, the threesome immediately took on a Klingon vs. Vorta dynamic, with Combs asserting, "It's very strange to be sitting between Klingons, because we Vorta are peace-loving, and we only seek out understanding." O'Reilly growled, "We are a piece-loving people — I want a piece of you!" "Where the heck did the Vorta come from, that's what I would like to know," ventured Hertzler, to which Combs snakily replied: "From the bosom of the founders. Long live the Founders. Long may the Dominion reign!" (Cue laughter.)

Before you knew it, O'Reilly and Hertzler set up to do a rap about the current lack of Klingons on Enterprise and why they are the essential to Star Trek. The problem is easy to solve, according to these two. The verses speak for themselves, but to put it in the vernacular: "Well, there ain't no Klingons baby, Where are the Klingons?" with the refrain:

If there's a problem, yo
We'll resolve it
Kill 'em all first
That's the only way to solve it.

The song easily won over the crowd, along with their fellow actor. "Very nice gentlemen — you must have a lot of free time!" Combs cracked. Speaking about his own various characters, Weyoun was his favorite, because unlike his Ferengi role of Brunt, the Vorta had not been explored as much, so he found it rewarding to build this character almost from the ground up. As for his Enterprise character, the Andorian named Shran, he enjoyed bringing an aggressiveness to that role.

Speaking of that show, Combs (and that is "Combs," not "Coombs," he pointed out) was asked how working on Enterprise differed from the others. "I have to say, Scott Bakula really makes you feel welcome," he said. "He has a high regard for the work and he really cares about everybody's morale. He's truly a quarterback." However, his heart still belongs to DS9. "Nothing can compare, for me, to the range and scope of the shows that we did with Deep Space Nine. That's the barometer, that's the best that it can get." He added that show "was truly a once in a lifetime magical experience."

Hertzler concurred, crediting DS9 executive producer Ira Steven Behr with creating an organization with "an immense heart." "Ira was just a wonderful, lovely, terrific guy," he said, adding: "And if you're seeing this, Ira, I'm available on Monday!"

Hertzler left his best story for last, recounting the wonders of "Foul Mouth Friday," a tradition where only on Fridays are the crew allowed to use "foul" language on the set, and how, when he was on Enterprise for "Judgment," he may have ended the tradition by taking it too far. We'd print more, but modesty forbids.

George Takei

The "Sulu" actor began by briefing the audience on some of his upcoming projects, in particular the made-for-cable movie "DC 9/11: Time of Crisis," in which he plays Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, which will air next month. It will play on Showtime on the Sunday prior to the second anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, September 7. (Be sure to check you local listings for times!) Takei will also soon be seen with John de Lancie in a sci-fi thriller movie called "Patient 14," and he will be heard in the upcoming sequel of the animated "Mulan." He laughed, "Disney seems to think my voice is fab, because I play a huge, enormous character - the first Chinese, as a matter of fact. I'm the First Ancestor, so all Chinese are my issue!"

Takei then turned to a more serious subject. He paid tribute to Walter "Matt" Jefferies, who recently passed away and whose funeral took place the day before, August 2 (related story). "He was an important member of this whole Star Trek phenomenon, because the Enterprise — the design, its look, the details — is Matt's creativity. He kept long, long hours, especially that first season when everything was new. There was no precedent that he could follow. We did have the Rand Corporation as consultants on it, but ultimately it was Matt's imagination that created it. So he will be missed. We appreciate the enormous contribution he made to Star Trek, and it will be with us forever." Takei mentioned that in Jefferies memory, he made a donation to the Motion Picture and Television Hospital, a healthcare organization for entertainment professionals, where a wing is named after Jefferies and his wife. (Related story.)

Takei also spoke at length about someone else who will not be forgotten. "We lost Gene Roddenberry back in 1991, ironically the year of the 25th anniversary of Star Trek," he recalled. Calling him "an extraordinary human being," Takei expressed amazement at the extent Roddenberry's creation has brought together people from all corners of the world to share a common philosophy. "Gene's vision of Starship Earth is happening in reality today at these conventions. It's an extraordinary gift that he's given us." He added, "You know, it's kind of awe-inspiring to think that in a few more years we'll be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Star Trek. I mean, isn't that an incredible thought?"

On a more playful note during the Q&A, Takei spoke of his delight at playing an evil version of his character in "Mirror, Mirror," an acting opportunity unique to the sci-fi genre. "I really enjoyed going the opposite extreme from the trustworthy, wonderful, reliable, smart ... dashing ... swashbuckling Sulu that we know and love, to that evil, scarred, lecherous Sulu." He can't believe that Uhura rejected that version of his character. "Dumb twit!" he laughed heartily.

Guest Star Panel

A panel of guest stars brought us four players who have had either multiple or recurring roles in Star Trek. Brought on stage by Creation's Richard Arnold, they each introduced themselves and their involvement with Star Trek.

Patrick Kilpatrick has had various roles, from "The Siege of AR-558" on DS9, to "Initiations" and "Drive" on Voyager. He was even featured in Steven Spielberg's masterful sci-fi movie "Minority Report."

The good word about working on a Trek show has obviously spread around the acting community. "I knew Kate [Mulgrew] for a long time and my agent called and said you gotta be on Star Trek. Everybody loves going over there," Kilpatrick revealed. "So, I went over and I played a Kazon in an episode called 'Initiations.' A little piece of trivia: I'm the only person who's ever been with Aron Eisenberg in Deep Space Nine AND in Voyager. He played my son. I was two-and-a-half hours in the makeup."

Things didn't quite go according to plan. "For some reason, I thought the director Rick Kolbe hated me so I didn't want to go back for a long time. But eventually I came back and I was on a show called "The Seige of AR-558" with Deep Space Nine and I was a Starfleet officer. That was really wonderful to do, as opposed to an alien. Then I went back and played another alien in 'Drive.'"

With a career that must feature a lot of acting deaths, Kilpatrick is grateful: "I owe Star Trek: They are one of the few places that have actually let me do a job where I survived! I usually get a cheap funeral and I don't get the girl."

"Star Trek was my first job in Los Angeles after living in New York for seven years," said J. Paul Boehmer, another actor who seems to have found a comfortable home in the Trek world.

He has appeared in a couple of Voyager episodes, including "The Killing Game" and "Drone," and was recently featured in Enterprise as Mestral in the episode "Carbon Creek." Citing the intimacy that his characters have shared with some of the leading female characters, including B'Elanna Torres, Seven of Nine and T'Pol, he's obviously a proud man. "I've made the rounds of all the hot babes of Star Trek!"

But playing Mestral in "Carbon Creek" left one secret that he's not willing to give up. "I've been sworn to secrecy about whether Jolene was naked behind that sheet or not."

Voyager sixth and seventh season guest star Manu Intiraymi (Icheb) recalled how he was 17 when he first started acting professionally. His debut was inauspicious to say the least. He was so bad in this job — a job cast by long-time Star Trek casting agent Ron Surma — that he thought it unlikely that he would be given a second chance by Ron. The good news is that through his agent's persistence, he was seen once again by Surma and he was offered a part on Voyager.

"I was only supposed to be in one episode," but ended up in 11, he shared. The worst thing about working on Voyager, he joked, was that he had the bad luck to work with Jeri Ryan for two years. Poor guy!

Natalja Nogulich (Admiral Nechayev) was also on hand to joke about her authoritative demeanor and how she was always assigned to tell Picard what to do, which did not make her one of the most popular characters on the show.

Other Events

Sunday was full of activities outside the celebrity appearances in the main ballroom and the hubbub of the extensive dealers' room. That morning a charity breakfast was held where special-ticket-bearing fans could mingle with the stars, such as Robert Picardo, Jeffrey Combs, John Billingsley and many others, with proceeds going to a variety of causes. At lunchtime in Quark's Restaurant, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" stars Todd Bryant ("Captain Klaa") and Spice Williams ("Vixis") hosted a Klingon Feast replete with Bloodwine, Skull Stew and Flaming Ribs of Targ (merlot, a chunky clam chowder, and ribs), with a few lessons in the Klingon language for the participants.

Sunday afternoon an elite group of conventioneers had the opportunity to attend an acting workshop taught by Voyager stars Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips. It was an actual, serious scene study class that allowed a couple of dozen students to perform dialog and receive feedback from the seasoned pros. But the concentration was broken for a moment when Manu Intiraymi burst into the room and yelled, "Can someone here teach me how to act?" Phillips responded, "I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to leave," then reconsidered: "No, you can stay. God knows you need it!"

IN OUR FINAL REPORT: Nicole deBoer, William Shatner, John Billingsley, Ethan Phillips and Michael Dorn. Stay tuned!