Interchangeable Parts?

[Admiral_Sisko]

One of the more fascinating aspects of Star Trek is the role of the captain, or the lead character in each series. From Jonathan Archer to Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek writers have always placed strong emphasis on creating strong, intriguing characters to serve as captain, and the men and women who have been fortunate enough to occupy the "center seat" have become the faces of their respective crews and series. Think of James T. Kirk, and you immediately think of the USS Enterprise, of Spock, McCoy, and the history of the original crew. Think of Benjamin Sisko, and your thoughts are drawn to Deep Space 9, to Bajor, and the war with the Dominion, perhaps the most formidable foe the Federation has ever faced.

But suppose an entity- Q, or someone like him- decided to play a trick on Star Trek fans everywhere, remove the captains we know and love from their respective assignments, and have them switch places with one another. Imagine James T. Kirk taking on the Delta Quadrant, the Borg, and Species 8472. Or how about a "1-2 punch" of Sisko and Spock? Would Jonathan Archer be content as captain of Deep Space 9? Is even a Galaxy-class starship big enough to contain the friction that would inevitably arise between Pulaski and Janeway? How would Picard have handled the V'Ger incident?

Feel free to discuss these ideas, and more, in this thread. Looking forward to hearing what the rest of you think.

[teacake]

Admiral_Sisko wrote:

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Would Jonathan Archer be content as captain of Deep Space 9?

My god what a fuck up that would be. The man can barely cope with one Vulcan on his crew without choking on their differences. A space station where humans are the MINORITY?! That learning curve is so steep he'd flip over backwards.

[Count Zero]

He's from a different time and chances are he'd be a different man if he'd been born in the 24th century. On the other hand, his prejudices seemd to have been confined to Vulcans (motivated by personal history and later overcome) so he might also have gotten into that basball grudge match with the Vulcan captain like Sisko.