H.E. and I had never seen the last Star Trek movie, Nemesis, so when it played on TV today, we stuck around to watch part of it. Anyway, Jean-Luc Picard was gearing up for a battle and said something that confused me.

“The crew has responded with the dedication I’ve come to expect from them… And like a thousand other commanders on a thousand other battlefields, I wait for the [blank].” The blank, of course, was something I couldn’t quite hear, but it sounded like John.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“I wait for the [blank],” H.E. said, and I was certain then that the blank was John, which only confused me more. The line sounded great, almost Shakespearean, but it made absolutely no sense. I wait for the john? The John?

“Who’s the John?” I asked H.E. “Is that the name of the bad guy?”

H.E. buried his head in his hands. “The dawn,” he said, laughing. “The dawn! It’s based on a lot of great lines having to do with war.”

“Oh! Well I could have sworn you said John,” I said, and H.E. began naming book titles.

“Yeah, dear. The Red John. The John Patrol. I Die at John.”

“It’s always darkest before the john,” I added helpfully.

H.E. rolled his eyes. “Yes, dear.”

It’s a good thing I don’t plan on watching John of the Dead.

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