But when he does use it, very little has happened from the moment of his arrival. He just got taken from his beam in spot, into Picard's room for a private chat, & we never hear Picard called by name in his presense. It's possible he was, or he gleaned it elsewhere, but we never saw it.
It's just telling how he starts out
without applying the proper names when one would expect, that is, off the bat. One is very much tempted to think he doesn't know the name of the ship or he would use it - and that it's sheer serendipity that him quoting the easier-to-read registry actually makes in-universe sense, what with the -D carrying a special meaning and all.
Since there is a cut between his arrival and his addressing Picard by name (which probably is written on the Ready Room door in-universe)...
...it's also possible that the original ship itinerary had info on Picard's ship & crew, if it had info about what was going on there enough to merit a trip
Would "Rasmussen" (the fake one, that is) have such info? He jeopardizes his whole mission by spending a lot of time trying to discover what
would be worth his while in this time and location.
If not, did he just fail to read the itinenary attachments? Or was there no info to begin with? Rasmussen has fairly little control over the timeship: there's the return timer, but also that incident with the initial beam-in...
Which assumes he would have the knowledge of how/why it fails. It could very possibly be the exact reason they're there to observe/study it, knowing what happened, but not specifics. Why else be there, to be a tourist sightseer of carnage?
In the scenario where the rightful owner (possibly the real Rasmussen?) is there to clandestinely observe, with knowledge of the E-D, we have to explain why there is no "clandestine" there, and the timejump immediately attracts the attention of the very people at the focus of the incident. Did the fake Rasmussen fumble a setting? Did the real one make a mistake?
Or did the real one always intend to become the center of attention, for the purpose of gaining X (another confidence scam, an attempt to change history for selfish or atruist reasons, whatever)?
Or did the original and fake Rasmussen both lack knowledge of pretty much everything, and the timejump was basically at random? In that case, the thief could have chosen the destination, and there would be little or no information in the databanks regardless of whether the thief had trouble accessing those. Or the real Rasmussen or whatever his name could have chosen the destination either completely at random, or because it was the perfect test run: a visit to a place that did not matter because it would soon be gone? Better than observing the nothing of empty space, better than observing in sight of witnesses who would live to see the next sunrise. In that latter case, the fake Rasmussen actually saved the day, by apparently making Picard choose differently from the putative original...
Also, knowing that one choice results in a bad outcome wouldn't necessarily be an improverment if some other unknown outcome could be a worse one.
This doesn't result in any downside, or any excuse not to ask for that knowledge. If Picard has a reason to think there's a choice between two alternatives, he can already rule out one: cutting the red wire detonates the bomb, so it doesn't
matter if cutting the blue one detonates two.
But of course cutting the red wire might kill Adam but save Bertha and Chuck, while cutting blue could maim all three but leave them alive, and cutting both would kill all three but painlessly, etc. And Picard knowing the results of cutting red would
still be relevant to him making his choice, as he now has statistics, and is aware of where a dead Adam and safe Bertha and Charles stand on the continuum of possibilities. The knowledge never hurts, and it always helps.
It's still gambling, & certainly not cause enough to merit a legit future man sacrificing his own time line.
Why not? It's Picard's timeline, too, and he gets to make the choice: no hero has had qualms about that. Torturing the fake Rasmussen to gruesome death would be the path of least moral inconvenience, given that the man is a time traveler and him dying on his travels is just playacting of sorts - he's still alive back in his real life and all... And by all precedent, will still be born to that life one day.
Timo Saloniemi
