Star Trek Solutions To Other Sci-Fi Problems

[Roundabout]

I would love to see a crossover between the new Picard show, or even the old Picard show TNG, and Aliens.

How would Picard handle an attempt to rescue those human colonists from the clutches of those savage Alien xenomorphs? The xenomorphs are vicious and relentless. And they move at a very fast pace.

How would the cerebral, slow motion Picard deal with creatures that cannot be reasoned with? It would be unimaginable that Picard or his crew would go in with guns blazing, except for Worf. Worf is probably dumb enough to try to engage in hand to hand combat with those creatures. Of course, Worf is going to get impregnated with a xenomorph.

Unfortunately, I think Data and Geordi are probably going to come up with some lame technobabble solution that would take the fun and horror out of the story.

 

[Silvercrest]

Ok, here's another one. How would Trek deal with the Harlan Ellison classic "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"?

• Kirk would stride through the wrecked world with his shirt ripped and finally logic-bomb AM into self-destructing.
• Picard would lecture AM about the quality of life until AM got bored and turned itself off. Meanwhile, Riker would try to have sex with all the other characters.
• Sisko would rant furiously at AM until it gave in. Jadzia would get all thoughtful about some similar situation that Curzon encountered. Meanwhile, O'Brien's mouth would be erased.
• Janeway would order some combination of B'Elanna, Seven, or the Doctor's mobile emitter to hack into AM and turn it off. Meanwhile, Harry Kim's mouth would be erased.
• Archer would have no idea what to do, but either Trip or T'Pol would come up with a solution.

 

[Tracy Trek]

The only one I can think of is from my favorite sci fi book that is not related to Trek. It's Nightfall. Originally a short story by Isaac Asimov. Later adapted into a novel by Asimov and Robert Silverburg.

Since the disaster story is a naturally occurring event, I'm not writing this as a Starfleet crew helping them. That sounds like a big Prime Directive issue unless they were asked for help. But rather the inhabitants of the planet using a similar technique to solve a problem that was used in a Trek episode.

Spoilers for anyone who has not read the book.


The planet Kalgash has 6 suns. The people of the planet have no concept of darkness or even almost dark. They also cannot see the other stars in the galaxy. In the story, 3 different things happen that predict a coming disaster.

These 3 things are. Some physicists have detected a gravitational anomaly. They had already worked out how all of their suns and their planet affected each other in a gravitational way. They theorize that a sister planet in a very long and very irregular orbit will cross their sky at a certain time. They theorize that it will eclipse the dimmest of their 6 suns while it is alone in the sky in one hemisphere. This is a very rare occurrence that happens once every 2049 years.

Also an archaeologist has discovered a set of ruins. One layer after another destroyed by fire. She dates the destruction as happening once every 2049 years.

At the same time a fundamentalist/puritanical religious group is preaching the end of the world is near. That the gods will cause darkness to fall on the world and the stars will come out. This is supposed to happen every 2049 years. A remnant of the people will be saved to start over.

The scientists get together to talk about what will happen. It has already been proven that prolonged exposure to darkness causes insanity in some people. They think that when their power grids are overloaded for artificial light that people will start burning things to get light. The fires and the people's insanity will get out of hand. And this is the basis of the destruction of previous civilizations.

So I was thinking. The scientists should ask the government to let them develop and launch satellites that will produce some artificial light to stave off the crisis. Like Kirk's crew did to kill the parasitic creatures in the episode Operation Annihilate.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In "The Cold Equations," a space pilot has to boot a stowaway off the ship or it will crash...and a colony won't get some much-needed medical supplies (or something). How would an episode of any Star Trek show solve the problem without the stowaway dying?

Stick the stowaway in the transporter patter buffer.

 

[at Quark's]

I think a dialog between Data and the Terminators/skynet ('but why do you desire to emulate/become such an inferior human?') could have been interesting ...

 

[Henoch]

Bladerunner:
Earth is polluted and its people flee the planet for cleaner colonies on other planets. A few androids go crazy and want "more".
A. Picard re-terraforms Earth in a 30 second special effect with zero drama. Sends Data to offer full citizenship to the androids.
B. Kirk kicks a few android butts, tears his shirt, and eventually talks the androids into suicide. Kirk finishes the episode with a quip to Spock and McCoy. Laugher. Cue music; roll end credits. (Environmental problems are forgotten.)

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Stargate SG1

Infect the Goa'uld with a deadly disease and then dangle the cure in exchange for the Goa'uld's surrender.

Worked on DS9.

Wouldn't work with the goa'uld, as unlike the Founders, they are not constantly engaged with their entire race in closer direct bodily fluid exchange than unprotected sex.

 

[Henoch]

Wouldn't work with the goa'uld, as unlike the Founders, they are not constantly engaged with their entire race in closer direct bodily fluid exchange than unprotected sex.

The goa'uld are a parasite bug race, similar to that bug critter from TGN "Conspiracy". Done it.

 

[somebuddyX]

The Martian:
Actor Matt Damon is stranded on Mars. NASA sends a DY-100 with John Kelly and Shaun Geoffrey Christopher II to go pick him up.

 

[BlueStuff]

TNG - Simple. Change the gravitational constant of the universe.

 

[at Quark's]

Battlestar Galactica (TOS)- erm.... what problem? They are from earth, after all (and their tech seems far superior to Cylon tech, too).

 

[Timo]

Star Wars - all of it:

Choose your sides. Do a bit of time travel to see the future better than any Force user could. Scan for midichlorians. Develop an antidote. Recheck with more time travel. Meddle with the six or so key individuals who decide the fate of the galaxy, injecting the antidote (or midichlorians if you so prefer) with transporters from afar.

Now substitute your own meddling at your leisure. End of wars. Jedi Order / Empire forever! Yay.

Except since your interstellar drive is so much slower, you have to spend a few centuries doing this to cover everything. Endless adventures, endless fun! Yay.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tenacity]

I would love to see a crossover between the new Picard show, or even the old Picard show TNG, and Aliens.

Picard and his scruffy crew time travel back to the time of TOS, during The Trouble With Tribbles.

Not only would we see the original TOS officers, but in the background the gang from DS9 too.

 

[johnnybear]

I am not familiar with the the story "I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream" but as for the title, the Enterprise actually had one case of that when "Charlie X" defaced a woman. We never hear about the medical response.

Isn't that the original title for the film And now The Screaming Starts (1973) by any chance?
JB

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Battlestar Galactica (TOS)- erm.... what problem? They are from earth, after all

Um, no, Adama's people are not from Earth.

 

[at Quark's]

Um, no, Adama's people are not from Earth.

Who says I referred to Adama's people with 'they' ?

But "Star Trek" usually implies some contact with people from Starfleet, and those people usually would know where to find earth (so perhaps I should have said that: 'they know where earth is, after all').

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Who says I referred to Adama's people with 'they' ?

But "Star Trek" usually implies some contact with people from Starfleet, and those people usually would know where to find earth (so perhaps I should have said that: 'they know where earth is, after all').

Oh, you mean that, if the Enterprise met the Galactica, they could just point them to Earth....

Hmm.

Yeah, I guess one of the problems I had interpreting your intent is that it's canonically established that, according to this advanced Federation science you mention, humans did not arrive from outer space fully evolved, but rather they evolved on Earth. See "Return to Tomorrow."

If the Enterprise genuinely encountered the Galactica, it would mean that the Earth that Adama and his ragtag fleet were looking for was another Earth, and the Enterprise people wouldn't know where it was. Unless maybe it turned out to be Miri's planet, in which case.... oops?

 

[The Wormhole]

But "Star Trek" usually implies some contact with people from Starfleet, and those people usually would know where to find earth (so perhaps I should have said that: 'they know where earth is, after all').

If Galactica ran into Voyager, knowledge of where Earth is doesn't really help them much.

 

[Henoch]

If Galactica ran into Voyager, knowledge of where Earth is doesn't really help them much.

With Galactica's jump drive (versus warp drive) and knowing where Earth is located with Voyager's star charts, they would be able to jump to Earth taking the Voyager crew with her and abandoning the Voyager. Easy Peasy.

When the Cylons show up with their turbo lasers and nuclear tipped missiles, the Federation would be able to wipe them out (after laughing at their low battle technology of STL weapons and ship-to-ship battle tactics.)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

With Galactica's jump drive (versus warp drive) and knowing where Earth is located with Voyager's star charts, they would be able to jump to Earth taking the Voyager crew with her and abandoning the Voyager. Easy Peasy.

When the Cylons show up with their turbo lasers and nuclear tipped missiles, the Federation would be able to wipe them out (after laughing at their low battle technology of STL weapons and ship-to-ship battle tactics.)

nu-Galactia had a jump drive. old-Galactia, not so much. old-Galactia did travel in from another galaxy, though, in the span of less than one season, IIRC.*

* - After a little Googling, it looks like oldBSG fans are divided on whether the 12 Colonies are in the Milky Way. Good to know that Star Trek fans aren't the only ones with such debates!