Red alert is a Starfleet alert state in the Star Trek fictional universe. It is the highest state of alert for a Starfleet vessel or installation, indicating an extremely dangerous situation such as entering combat.
When red alert is called on board a ship, the lights dim, audio alarms sound, the force field shields are activated, the ship's weapons are brought online, red alert lights are illuminated, the crew maintains a heightened state of readiness, and all holodecks must cease. A state of red alert may be called on starships, installations, regions, or the entire fleet. The red alert state in the fictional Star Trek universe is similar to a call to general quarters aboard United States Navy vessels.
In universe, the red alert is reverse-apocryphally named for Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, who suggested the system to replace the inefficient audio cues used by the earth starfleet at that time. It was jokingly named the "Reed Alert" by the Enterprise crew, following the suggestion of Trip Tucker, something that annoyed Reed.
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or alert:
“It was almost two years ago, while awaiting the imminent birth of my second child, that I decided to start working part-time. This would have been unthinkable to me when I was younger. At twenty-five I should have worn a big red A on my chest; it would have stood for ambition, an ambition so brazen and burning that it would have reduced Hester Prynne’s transgression to pale pink.”
—Anna Quindlen (20th century)
“Good guilt is a product of love and responsibility. It is a natural, positive instinct that parents and good child care providers have. If bad guilt is a monster, good guilt is a friendly fairy godmother, yakking away in your head to keep you alert to the needs of your baby.”
—Jean Marzollo (20th century)