Was Spock wrong to abandon the Rigel colonies?

[Christopher]

^Yep. The arguments in favor of Decker's position are all predicated on the assumption that his plan had a nonzero chance of success, which is simply not true. Decker's plan wasn't sound strategy; it was merely an elaborate case of suicide-by-giant-doomsday-robot.

 

[BillJ]

Okay, now you're not being fair, because you're changing the parameters away from what you initially asked.

Let's be fair... the first damage came from the Enterprise's attempt to swing around and pick up Kirk. At that point Spock could've abandoned Kirk and headed away from the planet killer and contacted Starfleet. If his sole goal was to contact Starfleet he could've escaped the interference while he still had warp capability and then came back for Kirk and the landing party later. As the planet killer seemed to have no interest in the Constellation, Kirk and company were relatively safe.

 

[BillJ]

^Yep. The arguments in favor of Decker's position are all predicated on the assumption that his plan had a nonzero chance of success, which is simply not true. Decker's plan wasn't sound strategy; it was merely an elaborate case of suicide-by-giant-doomsday-robot.

Not necessarily in favor of Decker's tactics (he had none). This thread was more about Spock being very eager to abandon Rigel and the fact he never pursued any other options. He had his mind set on a single course of action and was unwilling to explore any other avenue.

 

[YARN]

There is a third possibility we are neglecting; Kirk may have approved of neither plan. Kirk states that the machine cannot be allowed to escape:

KIRK: Whatever it is, we can't let it go beyond us to the next solar system. We have to stop it.

This indicates that he would not be inclined to follow Spock's plan.

No, it doesn't. Spock wasn't proposing that they retreat and hide behind a rock while Rigel got ravaged..

Again,

KIRK: Whatever it is, we can't let it go beyond us to the next solar system. We have to stop it.

Kirk's words here indicate that he is asserting that the people there have an immediate duty to directly stop the Doomsday Machine.

He was proposing that they get out of jamming range and warn the fleet so that they could assemble a stronger force that was more capable of stopping it than one lone ship could be.

You are speculating wildly beyond the text here. We don't know that a force could be assembled in the time needed.

What we do know is that starships are spread out widely in space. It is almost always a surprise when the Enterprise encounters a sister ship. Odds are, that stronger force would not have enough time to get there.

We also know (implicitly) that Rigel is relatively defenesless all by itself. Otherwise there would be no worrying about Enterprise providing protection for the colony.

At most, Spock was proposing that they notify Starfleet of the situation. Whatever ships were in range or stationed on/around could ferry away a handful of colonists to save a few lives before the machine struck.

And let's not forget: Decker's plan couldn't stop it. Decker's plan would accomplish nothing except getting them all killed and preventing them from finding a way to stop it.

How am I forgetting this?!?!

I said Kirk might reject BOTH plans as faulty.

So Spock's plan gave them a far better chance of stopping it than Decker's did -- in fact, infinitely better, since Decker's plan had a zero-percent chance of success. So if Kirk believed that the priority was to stop it from reaching the next system, I'd call that agreeing with Spock.

Hey, moldy cheese sandwich might be preferrable to a sharp stick in the eye, but that does not mean that you would prefer either one, or that those are your only choices.

Kirk does not believe in the no-win scenario. He would neither sacrifice most of the colonists (merely warning Starfleet), nor would he commit suicide by wrecking his ship.

Kirk might've elected to stay close to the periphery of its automated attack range, occasionally hitting it with phasers to draw it off course and then running outside of range, harrassing the object to slow its course without destroying his own ship (or some other Jim Kirk solution)

I think Kirk would've had the good sense to realize that if there's a deadly threat heading toward an inhabited star system, it's a good idea to tell somebody about it. The first priority had to be to get out of jamming range and warn Starfleet and Rigel. Kirk would've done that and then done whatever he could to slow the thing down while defense and evacuation plans were put into effect. And there's no reason to believe that's not exactly what Spock was advocating.

This is the most well-reasonind thing you've said in this post.

Keep in mind, however, that I am advocating for a third possibility not an absolute certainty. I only need to establish the plausibility of this option, not the certainty of it.

Whether or not Kirk could do both (inform Starfleet and harrass the PK) is an open question.

The size of the subspace interference appears to have been very large indeed:

SCOTT: Ready with the duplicate log, sir.

KIRK: Go.

DECKER [OC]: Captain's log, stardate 4202.1. Exceptionally heavy subspace interference still prevents our contacting Starfleet to inform them of the destroyed solar systems we have encountered. We are now entering system L-374. Science Officer Masada reports the fourth planet seems to be breaking up. We are going to investigate.

Think about it. They have encountered more than one solar system that is blasted rubble. They have travelled from one star to the next, and during NONE of that time have they been able to contact starfleet. We are talking of a zone of intereference which is many light years across.

Also, remember that this is a device which has traveled galactic distances (which implies a rather high speed).

If Kirk travels 15 light years away from this thing to "phone home", he may not have the chance to catch back up with it in time.

If so, Kirk would have to make a choice, and he has already asserted that "We" have to stop the PK.

 

[blssdwlf]

If we follow Kirk's "We have to stop it" dialogue further it would seem that he was listening to Spock's analysis thus explaining Kirk's later shock at seeing the Enterprise attacking the DDM.

SPOCK [OC]: No evidence of life, subspace interference level incredibly high.
KIRK: Whatever it is, we can't let it go beyond us to the next solar system. We have to stop it. If it's a robot, what are the chances of deactivating it?
SPOCK: I would say none, Captain. The energy generated by our power nacelles seems to attracts it. I doubt we could manoeuver close enough without drawing a direct attack upon ourselves.
SPOCK [OC]: I also believe the nature of this machine precludes the possibility of easy access to its control mechanisms.
SULU: It's closing on us, Mister Spock.
SPOCK: Closing, Captain.
KIRK: All right. Lower your deflector screens Long enough to beam us aboard.
SPOCK [OC]: Acknowledged.

I think Kirk would've done the same thing and warped out to escape the subspace interference and help assemble a larger response to the DDM.

As to the "7 hour fuel supply" with the impulse engines I think that is because the ship is maxing out it's speed to stay ahead of the DDM. She could conserve fuel for a much longer travel if they weren't flooring it (remember the 59 day impulse trip in "The Paradise Syndrome").

SPOCK: We can maintain this speed for only seven hours before we exhaust our fuel, but it can refuel itself indefinitely.

Given that the DDM deactivates antimatter with its dampening field I don't think there were too many options available to Spock with using just the Enterprise.

Some questions though: Perhaps a phaser strike straight into the mouth of the DDM might have worked? Or perhaps not if there was some protective shielding? Did the shuttle and Constellation suicide run work because the DDM thought it was feeding on debris and allowed them into its internals to detonate? Or would the DDM block a nuclear missile/torpedo fired into its mouth? (Photons would have been out as the payload would've been deactivated.)

And back to the OP's question about Spock's choice.

It was really a question of Spock choosing to attempt to attack the DDM or pick up Kirk and then warn Starfleet. In other words, Kirk would have made the call as to what next action to take if Decker had not prevented Spock from retrieving Kirk.

SULU: It's veering off, back on course for the next solar system. The Rigel colony, sir.
SPOCK: Evidently programmed to ignore anything as small as a ship beyond a certain radius.
We'll maintain a discreet distance and circle back to pick up the Captain.
DECKER: You can't let that reach Rigel. Why, millions of innocent people would die.

 

[Wingsley]

Much is being made of Kirk's line:

"Whatever it is, we can't let it go beyond us to the next solar system. We have to stop it."

This statement, however, does not suggest a specific course of action regarding how they can accomplish Kirk's goal.

There is nothing explicit or implicit in Kirk's line that endorses Decker's attack strategy (or any other) over anything else.

Kirk recognizes the Planet Killer as a threat that has to be stopped. At that point, nobody has a credible idea of how to go about doing that.

It is not until Commodore Decker plunges his shuttlecraft into the behemoth that Kirk realizes he's got chocolate in his peanut butter, and a new plan is born. And keep in mind that Kirk's desperate sacrifice of the Starship Constellation is by no means a sure thing. Spock can't rule out the possibility that the explosion won't be powerful enough.

So before all the controversy starts, nobody has a serious idea of how to do anything to stop the thing.

Given that, the OP's supposition may not be valid. Had Spock been allowed to take the Enterprise for help, it would've been a risk but at least they could still escape at warp speed to make the attempt.

I just watched the "remastered" version of "The Doomsday Machine" (on the CBS web-site) for the first time. Having reviewed the entire ep, I noticed some things:

1: After the Planet Killer's first attack on the Enterprise, Spock does clearly report to Commodore Decker that both warp and impulse drives are fully operational at that point. So it is still reasonable to assume that the Enterprise could escape at this point, at maximum warp speed no less, to go for help.

2: It is not until the Enterprise has been battered and Kirk has to rescue the ship (using the Constellation's single working phaser) that we learn that the Enterprise is now crippled and operating on impulse power.

3: Note also that the ship never fires any photon torpedoes. Apparently, the terrible force that wiped out the Constellation's warp drive (leaving the ship's antimatter reserves somehow inert) was also having the same effect on the Enterprise. It's even conceivable that the ship's warp drive no longer has any antimatter reserves to draw on after the battle is over.


Spock seemed to pick up on all of this, including the antimatter issue, right from the start. He concluded that the best course of action was to escape and seek help from Starfleet. Setting aside the wild risk Kirk took with the Constellation, Spock's conduct was quite logical and the only rational option on the table.

(BTW: I was so-so on the revised CGI FX.)

 

[Gary7]

We can make a lot of suppositions on things not said or done. But when starting to use such references as the basis for argument, it's setting the stage for a debate that will never end.

Spock wasn't wrong. Outside of Kirk's decision to use the Constellation like a bomb, there wouldn't have been any other choice but to escape and warn Starfleet. I saw no evidence that he was "unwilling" to explore other options. I think he had thought it through... and surmised that escape was the best choice.

Decker wasn't trying to destroy the DDM by ramming a shuttle inside it. The puny little craft in comparison would do nothing. It was a suicide run. He was ashamed of having failed in his mission and losing his crew, with the final disgrace being relieved of command. Thankfully, the beneficial side effect of this was Kirk recognizing the idea, but just to use more firepower. I don't think it's evident that he or Spock would have come up with this idea in time on their own.

Anyway, I'm done debating.

 

[Christopher]

Again,

KIRK: Whatever it is, we can't let it go beyond us to the next solar system. We have to stop it.

Kirk's words here indicate that he is asserting that the people there have an immediate duty to directly stop the Doomsday Machine.

He didn't say "immediate." And you're interpreting "we" too narrowly. If the Enterprise races ahead toward Rigel, gets out of jamming range, warns Starfleet, rendezvouses with other Starfleet vessels, and joins with them in a fleet that engages the planet-killer, then that's still "we." Kirk is an officer of Starfleet, so why wouldn't he refer to Starfleet as a whole as "we?"

It is a false premise that the choice here was between stopping the planet-killer by themselves and letting Rigel be destroyed. That was Commodore Decker's premise, and Decker was not thinking clearly. The actual choice, as far as any rational observer could tell at the time, was between getting pointlessly destroyed by engaging the machine themselves and getting away to warn the fleet and assemble a more effective defense. If you're that heavily outgunned, you'd be an idiot not to call for reinforcements. Retreating wasn't about surrendering, it was about mounting a stronger defense.

You are speculating wildly beyond the text here. We don't know that a force could be assembled in the time needed.

And we don't know that it couldn't. Rigel is a heavily populated star system. Surely it has defenses of its own.

And it's simple mathematics. Some chance of success is infinitely better than zero chance of success. I don't have to prove that calling for help would've worked; all that's necessary is to establish that the odds of success were greater than zero, because Decker's plan could not possibly work.

We also know (implicitly) that Rigel is relatively defenesless all by itself. Otherwise there would be no worrying about Enterprise providing protection for the colony.

That doesn't follow at all. The issue here isn't just about fighting, it's about warning. If Rigel gets advance warning that the planet-killer's coming, then they would be better able to mount a defense than if they were left unalerted and taken by surprise.

Also, just because a system has defenses, that doesn't mean it couldn't benefit from more defenses. Heck, the whole idea of retreating was to get reinforcements. That works both ways. The Enterprise could be a reinforcement to the other defenders as well as vice-versa.

At most, Spock was proposing that they notify Starfleet of the situation. Whatever ships were in range or stationed on/around could ferry away a handful of colonists to save a few lives before the machine struck.

And by assuming it couldn't be interpreted any other way, you're speculating beyond the text. There is nowhere within the episode in which it is stated that they couldn't have defended Rigel. That's a conclusion you've reached by assuming that certain scenarios couldn't occur, and you have no evidentiary basis for ruling them out.

If Kirk travels 15 light years away from this thing to "phone home", he may not have the chance to catch back up with it in time.

Who said anything about "catching up?" The obvious strategic move, which has already been mentioned above, is to lead it, to proceed toward Rigel and get a headstart. In fact, I can see no reason why they'd go in any other direction. "Catching up" isn't even an issue.

 

[YARN]

He didn't say "immediate." And you're interpreting "we" too narrowly. If the Enterprise races ahead toward Rigel, gets out of jamming range, warns Starfleet, rendezvouses with other Starfleet vessels, and joins with them in a fleet that engages the planet-killer, then that's still "we." Kirk is an officer of Starfleet, so why wouldn't he refer to Starfleet as a whole as "we?"

Because that isn't how Kirk talks. When he says "We have to stop it" he is talking to his crew, he is not speaking of Starfleet as a whole. Every time Kirk speaks like that in a similar circumstance, he is talking about what his crew must do, not Starfleet.

Your interpretation requires too much speculation about racing here, warning there, and so on.

Even before the Enterprise took damage, the PK was still gaining on her.

It is a false premise that the choice here was between stopping the planet-killer by themselves and letting Rigel be destroyed. That was Commodore Decker's premise, and Decker was not thinking clearly. The actual choice, as far as any rational observer could tell at the time, was between getting pointlessly destroyed by engaging the machine themselves and getting away to warn the fleet and assemble a more effective defense.

If it were that simple Spock would have pointed it out to him.

SPOCK: Commodore, we can easily outrun the Planet Killer to Rigel, warn the Rigelians, form up with Christopher's phantom battle group, and be home in time to watch GLEE.

Why doesn't Spock get such a line? Because they are setting up a moral dilemma and establishing Decker's justification for pursuit.

Spock says absolutely nothing about getting to Rigel. His plan is to bug out, and call it in. It is a rational choice, but it is one which basically concedes defeat. Rigel is doomed, nothing we can do about it, let's contact HQ.

If you're that heavily outgunned, you'd be an idiot not to call for reinforcements. Retreating wasn't about surrendering, it was about mounting a stronger defense.

Never once does Spock say ANYTHING about mounting a defense of Rigel.

And we don't know that it couldn't. Rigel is a heavily populated star system. Surely it has defenses of its own.

Seriously? Well, I also don't know that the Enterprise is not carrying 80 crates filled with ceramic penises to be sold as trinkets at Starbase 13. I mean we don't know (can't prove) the ship is not carrying 80 crates of ceramic penises...

And Rigel, by fiat, has it's very own phantom battle group. The guys on the ship were just freaked out because they forgot all about her formidable defenses.

And it's simple mathematics. Some chance of success is infinitely better than zero chance of success. I don't have to prove that calling for help would've worked; all that's necessary is to establish that the odds of success were greater than zero, because Decker's plan could not possibly work.

All of you are missing the point. Decker's plan did work. Without Decker's persistence and forcing of the issue, Enterprise would have hung back at a safe distance and the Rigelians would have had to fend for themselves. Who knows how many would have died? Who knows if the warning from Starfleet would have come in time to be of any use.

What we do know is that Decker's absolute commitment to killing the thing (at sacrifice of himself) showed everyone else the crucial clue to destroying the Doomsday Machine.

Zero percent chance of success? Decker attacked the Planet Killer with the Enterprise and the Enterprise survived. He attacked it with a shuttle craft and lost his life, but in so doing revealed the clue which was 100% effective in killing the thing.

That doesn't follow at all. The issue here isn't just about fighting, it's about warning. If Rigel gets advance warning that the planet-killer's coming, then they would be better able to mount a defense than if they were left unalerted and taken by surprise.

Also, just because a system has defenses, that doesn't mean it couldn't benefit from more defenses. Heck, the whole idea of retreating was to get reinforcements. That works both ways. The Enterprise could be a reinforcement to the other defenders as well as vice-versa.

I don't believe in the Phantom Rigelian Battle Group.

At most, the warning could allow a handful of people to escape in the ships in their vicinity. There are MILLIONS of people on Rigel. Decker's "zero percent chance" plan saved ALL the Rigelians.

If I were a Rigelian I would build him the biggest freakin' statue imaginable and put in the town square.

And by assuming it couldn't be interpreted any other way, you're speculating beyond the text.

No, I am arriving at a reasonable and preferable interpretation given what we are shown on screen.

Spock never mentions the Phantom Rigealian Battle Group.

Here's what is said.

DECKER: You can't let that reach Rigel. Why, millions of innocent people would die.

SPOCK: I am aware of the Rigel system's population, Commodore, but we are only one ship. Our deflector shields are strained, our subspace transmitter is useless. Logically, our primary duty is to survive in order to warn Starfleet Command.

NOTICE - Spock does not contradict Decker's claims that millions will die. He merely states that he is aware of the situation and that there is nothing they can do to help. [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT]
Spock is not one to tolerate imprecision and unwarranted supposition. If you give figures that aren't precise to several decimal places, he will correct you. The fact that Spock does not biker with him on this point, but merely argues that they do not have the means to help is telling.

There is nowhere within the episode in which it is stated that they couldn't have defended Rigel. That's a conclusion you've reached by assuming that certain scenarios couldn't occur, and you have no evidentiary basis for ruling them out.

Ditto for those 80 crates of ceramic penises.

Who said anything about "catching up?" The obvious strategic move, which has already been mentioned above, is to lead it, to proceed toward Rigel and get a headstart. In fact, I can see no reason why they'd go in any other direction. "Catching up" isn't even an issue.

They can't outrun the PK, so catching up IS an issue. If they run parallel with the thing, they will still catch interference.

The PK was gaining on them even before they took their initial damage.

 

[blssdwlf]

Even before the Enterprise took damage, the PK was still gaining on her.

But after she took minor damage (no warp damage) but before Decker turns her around to engage, the Enterprise outran the DDM.

Why doesn't Spock get such a line? Because they are setting up a moral dilemma and establishing Decker's justification for pursuit.

Spock says absolutely nothing about getting to Rigel. His plan is to bug out, and call it in. It is a rational choice, but it is one which basically concedes defeat. Rigel is doomed, nothing we can do about it, let's contact HQ.

That is Spock's analysis of the situation. But his plan is really to get Kirk back aboard. Bugging out and calling it in is the assumed action Kirk would take and he'd probably be able to do it over Decker's screaming head

All of you are missing the point. Decker's plan did work. Without Decker's persistence and forcing of the issue, Enterprise would have hung back at a safe distance and the Rigelians would have had to fend for themselves. Who knows how many would have died? Who knows if the warning from Starfleet would have come in time to be of any use.

Actually Decker's plan failed. Remember, Decker's plan was to hit it at point-blank with phasers (which he did not do with the Constellation.) If it were not for Kirk's intervention (with phaser and "his personal authority") the Enterprise would have been lost.

What we do know is that Decker's absolute commitment to killing the thing (at sacrifice of himself) showed everyone else the crucial clue to destroying the Doomsday Machine.

This is true but it took a suicidal action to reveal the DDM's weakness - something that Spock and presumably Kirk did not have in mind.

 

[T'Girl]

Spock's conduct was quite logical and the only rational option on the table.

Which is why Spock wasn't the one to devise the actual method of destroying the DM, because the method was neither logical, nor rational. Even after the destruction of the shuttle caused the DM's power to drop, Spock could not advance that piece of data into a plan, Kirk did so within seconds.

Spock needed to call for help (from Starfleet) because he was intellectually incapable of devising a plan on his own for destroying the DM. Piloting a Starship into the DM wasn't logical, having someone do the piloting (realistically Kirk or Scott) wasn't rational.

The explosion might be too small. The DM could destroy the incoming Starship. The DM might veer off at the last second causing the Starship to miss the opening. The transporter might not beam the pilot off in time. Spock thinks about these things.

Kirk on the other hand realized that the Constellation was all but useless without warp drive. Despite Kirk's love affair with his own ship, Kirk knows that Starships are disposable assets, certainly in the face of the deaths of multiple millions of civilians. Kirk also did not want his friend's death to be in vain, devising a plan based upon Decker's actions would give Decker death meaning and purpose. Kirk also knew that if this plan didn't work that Spock's advice would remain as a possible plan B. If Spock's plan did not pan out, Kirk would exercise other options. That what Kirk does.

If Kirk travels 15 light years away from this thing to "phone home", he may not have the chance to catch back up with it in time.

Who said anything about "catching up?" The obvious strategic move, which has already been mentioned above, is to lead it, to proceed toward Rigel and get a headstart. In fact, I can see no reason why they'd go in any other direction. "Catching up" isn't even an issue.

This make the assumption that the Enterprise's top warp speed is faster than the DM's warp speed.

 

[BillJ]

Spock needed to call for help (from Starfleet) because he was intellectually incapable of devising a plan on his own for destroying the DM.

Would Spock have been as intellectually incapable of finding another avenue for attacking the planet killer if it had been Kirk who was in command as opposed to Decker? Would Spock have acted like a spoiled kid who didn't get his way if it was Kirk who was on the bridge wanting to pursue its' destruction?

This is where I think Spock was wrong... he was unwilling to explore any other avenue than the one he had chosen.

 

[Nero's Shadow]

Can someone explain to me that the conny was heavily damaged when the enterprise find her, decker must of thought that he could have stopped the DDM himself is that why it was so damaged.? Also Matt decker was commadore and had a lot of experience so why didn't he warp away from the DDM and inform starfleet surely they would have observed the DDM and project the course and relise it would be heading for the Rigel system.?

In my opinion decker actions were un called fall Spock,s actions were not. Let us not forget that Spock was the best 1st officer and science officer in starfleet his Vulcan logic is always right .?

 

[Nero's Shadow]

Can someone explain to me that the conny was heavily damaged when the enterprise find her, decker must of thought that he could have stopped the DDM himself is that why it was so damaged.? Also Matt decker was commadore and had a lot of experience so why didn't he warp away from the DDM and inform starfleet surely they would have observed the DDM and project the course and relise it would be heading for the Rigel system.?

In my opinion decker actions were un called fall Spock,s actions were not. Let us not forget that Spock was the best 1st officer and science officer in starfleet his Vulcan logic is always right .?

 

[Wingsley]

I'd say the bottom line is that, using weapons that TOS-era Starfleet command-grade officers would consider "conventional", Spock concluded that "a single ship cannot combat it" ("it" being the Planet Killer). In this sense, ordinary military thinking was clearly ineffective. Phasers, photon torpedoes and just about any shielding would ultimately prove ineffective. Witness what happened to the Constellation. If the Enterprise took on the Planet Killer alone, using by-the-book military tactics (Spock is a by-the-book officer, after all) the Enterprise would've surely wound up either destroyed or as hopelessly crippled as the Constellation.

The only way they found an unconventional weapon to destroy the alien machine was through Decker's suicide. Without Decker committing suicide, it was clear that Spock was correct in his desire to escape.

In the end, Kirk ordered Spock to relieve Decker, calling the commodore a "lunatic... for almost destroying my ship". This should lay to rest the notion that Kirk endorsed risking the Enterprise in combat against the alien.

 

[Timo]

To be sure, we seem to be neglecting one obvious response to the DDM threat here: fleeing from it.

Getting off a warning might not help Rigel defend against the DDM; quite possibly no defense whatsoever against the DDM would exist. But the warning would allow Rigel to start evacuating, especially if a means was devised to make the DDM eat the uninhabited planets in that system first.

Even if the planet was likely doomed, it still represents a better choice than immediate death aboard a crippled starship which is being savaged.

I completely disagree. The crew of a crippled starship would not exchange certain death aboard her for certain death on some godforbidden planet. They are the crew of a starship. They have sworn to die aboard her if need be. If "abandon ship" were ordered, they'd do it the way that order is supposed to be obeyed in deep space, far away from planets (even if the field manual says the correct response there is to breathe vacuum and think pleasant last thoughts, and certainly if the field manual indicates that one should use shuttles and lifepods).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[T'Girl]

so why didn't he warp away from the DDM and inform starfleet

PALMER: The distress call definitely came from one of the solar systems in this sector.
KIRK: Can you pinpoint it any closer, Lieutenant?
PALMER: Negative. It was so badly garbled all we got was the name Constellation, then we lost it

-------

DECKER: Captain's log, stardate 4202.1. Exceptionally heavy subspace interference still prevents our contacting Starfleet to inform them of the destroyed solar systems we have encountered.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

his Vulcan logic is always right .?

No, no it is not. Case in point "The Galileo Seven".

 

[YARN]

But after she took minor damage (no warp damage) but before Decker turns her around to engage, the Enterprise outran the DDM.

True.

But that she had to labor to out run her before her warp engines were damaged is evidence that the PK is also warp -capable.

At first, the machine is gaining. The machine attacks. We get an intervening scene on board the Constellation. Then when we get back to the Enterprise, it is only just then that they have managed to create a wide enough gap that they are outside of its defensive perimeter.

The idea that they could race ahead to Rigel and warn people in plenty of time is less plausible given that the machine does a pretty good job of keeping pace with the Enterprise.

And to contact Starfleet the Enterprise would have to basically cede the optimal (direct - straight-line) path to Rigel so that they could travel however many light years away from the machine's interference so that they could contact Starfleet command.

In short, the notion that they had to choose between some form of attack/harassment or bugging out, is supported by the evidence we see on-screen.

Actually Decker's plan failed. Remember, Decker's plan was to hit it at point-blank with phasers (which he did not do with the Constellation.) If it were not for Kirk's intervention (with phaser and "his personal authority") the Enterprise would have been lost.

Semantics. His preferred tactics failed (hit it with phasers - use the shuttle craft), but his strategy (attack rather then retreat) was a success.

 

[YARN]

To be sure, we seem to be neglecting one obvious response to the DDM threat here: fleeing from it.

Getting off a warning might not help Rigel defend against the DDM; quite possibly no defense whatsoever against the DDM would exist. But the warning would allow Rigel to start evacuating, especially if a means was devised to make the DDM eat the uninhabited planets in that system first.

Well, this is certainly more plausible than the Phantom Rigelian Battle Group, but consider the situation.

Before the Enterprise's warp system was damaged, she had to labor to outrun the thing.

There are millions of people on Rigel. You would need a hell of a lot of ships to truck them away in time.

How many people do you really think are going to be evacuated?

Decker claims that millions will die if the simply retreat and Spock does not contradict this assessment (and Spock will correct the smallest factual error or supposition). These people actually live in this fictional universe, so they know better than us what is likely or possible.

Finally, it ain't a moral dilemma unless you have to make a tough choice. If you want to blame the writers for failing to create an adequate moral dilemma (i.e., you believe there is an obvious both/and solution to the problem), that's fine, but don't blame Decker for bad writing. In his universe, millions of people will die unless they find a way to stop it.

The crew of a crippled starship would not exchange certain death aboard her for certain death on some godforbidden planet.

Yes they would. If a terrorist takes hostages and gives them the choice of certain death RIGHT NOW or certain death LATER ON (if they cooperate), the hostages will cooperate.

This is not a conjecture but an empirically established fact. Jews in Nazi death camps knew that certain death was waiting for them, and yet they still cooperated with their captors simply to avoid dying RIGHT NOW.

Even if it is only a few minutes or few hours more of life, people will opt for more life (just ask Roy Batty).

And how knows, maybe in those extra few minutes or hours something will happen?

They are the crew of a starship. They have sworn to die aboard her if need be.

So what? They're human beings first and ships are just a means for human ends. Even Kirk destroyed his beloved starship when he ran out of options.

If you can live for a few more hours on the planet, then you don't need to die RIGHT NOW on the ship.