You Are The Captain #7

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

You are the captain of a Starfleet ship that is making supply runs to Earth colonies in your sector. One in particular has not been in regular contact with authorities for over a year and you've been asked to check out their situation.

When you arrive, there's no sign of the colonists. Instead, a small group of aliens have taken over the settlement and seem to be well established. Investigation of the colonists' whereabouts from orbit ultimately prove unfruitful, with no evidence to be found of their ultimate fate.

Further observation shows that the aliens are pre-warp, and have little to no understanding of the technology left behind by the colonists, using it incorrectly or ignoring it. A study of the reports that recommended the planet for colonization says nothing about an indigenous alien species.

You have come to the conclusion that the only way to solve the mystery may be to make first contact with the aliens. Do you make contact directly as yourselves, or adopt a cover story?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Knock them out "A Piece of the Action" style, beam down, take the tech back and beam up. Then begin a discrete investigation as to the whereabouts of the colonists.

 

[at Quark's]

I think I would try to find out undercover first.

Failing that (but presumably having learned more about the alien culture), I might still choose to reveal myself after consultation with Starfleet if possible. Of course a lot also depends on the aliens in question. Do they seem aggressive? Are they open to the possibility of alien life? Are they rational? What's their civilization level? Bronze age level is very different from early 21st century level, for example. (Though I'll assume from the statement they understand nothing of the tech left behind they're probably more primitive than that).

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

One of the dilemmas is that you don't know how aware the aliens are of the colonists who preceded them - whether they have firsthand knowledge of the colonists' fate (saw what happened, heard what happened, or made it happen), or whether it's as much of a mystery to them where these strange items left behind came from.

 

[Dr Helen Noel]

Another good situation to think about. You have so many great ideas OP.

Providing there are enough aliens that I can blend in, I would go undercover at first and try to find out if they have seen any strange people (the colonists). If I get confirmation that they have seen the colonists then I can pose as a colonist myself since that cultural contamination has already happened.

 

[Oddish]

Undercover at first. If circumstances justify revealing the truth, that can still be done later. But it's prudent to be cautious.

 

[Tenacity]

What Nerys Myk said, remove any material brought by the settlers. Also destroy/kill any food, seeds, crops growing, and animals from off-world.

 

[Oddish]

Also destroy/kill any food, seeds, crops growing, and animals from off-world.

Unless they've become dependent on them. If they have discarded their own inferior products in favor of said crops, they might not be able to replace the new stuff with the old before starvation wipes them out.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Might want to have a few words with the person who prepared the report, to see if there was anything they might have made notes on but left out of the final product.

 

[Roundabout]

This sounds a bit like a space version of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

First, do some quick observation into what the natives eat and the tools that they use in their daily lives. Secretly beam up a sample of the food and tools, replicate them with the ship's replicator if possible. Beam back down the original food and tools. I don't know if this would be a violation of the prime directive though.

Now you got something to offer them to show good will, or to use to bargain with them to get information.

Send in a search/investigation party. Disguise the landing party as natives. And go from there.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

That's a good idea - I never thought of trading goods with them. A little friendly bartering goes a long way.

 

[Frontis]

Well, when these aliens are technically pre warp but are able to take over a colony tells me that something is very wrong. So I will go undercover.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Yeah, you don't know whether they just found it abandoned or, to paraphrase Picard, made it so.

 

[FederationHistorian]

Go undercover and try to figure out what happened. As no one knows if the aliens are benign or hostile, if they are indigenous or from another planet/reality, or even are the missing colonists.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I was waiting for someone to suggest that last one.

 

[Tiran O'Saurus]

Haven't read anyone else's ideas, just writing my thoughts:

If this was an episode and I was watching it, I'd guess the aliens were the colonists who got mutated and decided to become Luddites. Anyway, as the captain, I'd create a replica of the colony on the holodeck and beam an alien onto it, Insurrection-style. I'd be able to observe them closer than using the real colony, and simulate events to see how they react. If I had the simulated colonists return, for example, would the alien try to attack them or act confused because it's himself and his friends from before the mutation.

...I'd probably end up promoted to Badmiral, wouldn't I?

 

[Artoo Atari]

Send in a search/investigation party. Disguise the landing party as natives. And go from there.

This is what I was thinking. Another one of those episodes in which the away team gets ordered to Sick Bay before beaming down in order to get fitted for their rubber foreheads.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Anyway, as the captain, I'd create a replica of the colony on the holodeck and beam an alien onto it, Insurrection-style. I'd be able to observe them closer than using the real colony, and simulate events to see how they react.

Interesting idea. How would you keep the others from missing him/her? Take their place? (It'd save money on an actor if the same one played both roles, the alien and his/her Starfleet replacement.)

 

[maneth]

Go undercover and try to figure out what happened. As no one knows if the aliens are benign or hostile, if they are indigenous or from another planet/reality, or even are the missing colonists.

ENT did that.

 

[Tenacity]

I'd create a replica of the colony on the holodeck and beam an alien onto it

Nothing wrong with out and out kidnapping.