Fridays Child and the Prime Directive

[Timo]

I think it's more a case that technically, when making first contact with a new world, The Prime Directive temporarily always applies until a survey can be conducted to see if enforcement of it for the new planet in question should be maintained.

The above said it's kind of interesting in that to do the planet survey, The Federation representative in question has to break the Prime Directive to arrange for the planet survey. Remember that Tyree knew all about Kirk, and the Federation; but promised silence after Kirk left.

We can interpret all the cases in the terms of the relevant TNG episode, though: yes, there is always a survey to determine how much sheltering from truth the natives need , but it's a covert survey.

Kirk visited a planet inhabited by near-humans. He could have done so pretending to be one of them. Tracey, likewise, no facial reconstruction surgery required. SImilarly, Sulu conducts a preliminary survey on Beta III in native clothing. All we have to assume is that the type of clothing appropriate for Omega IV would allow Tracey to wear his full uniform underneath. Or perhaps even invite him to do so - perhaps he scanned for native garb and saw Yang furs, and decided that those would not only conceal his gold shirt, but would itch like hell without it?

The time for revelations would come late in that particular game. In some cases, perhaps never. We don't know for sure when and why Kirk revealed the truth about himself to Tyree, say, but we can postulate he wouldn't have yet something forced him to.

If that's the Federation's SOP in the 23rd century, what happens if the person or persons who are aware of the Federation representative's true origin decide (for whatever reason), to break their promise and reveal that their Planet was visited and surveyed by a being or beings from another world?

Kirk goes to a penal colony.

Except he never does*, so presumably it's not that big a deal: most surveys might conclude in a verdict of "We'll protect them for now, but since we found them, others will as well, and soon, so we'll keep the champagne cool and the dress uniforms well ironed".

Timo Saloniemi

* Actually, Kirk is awfully familiar with penal colonies. Perhaps he's a regular customer, due to his relaxed attitude towards the rules of pre-contact surveys?

 

[johnnybear]

Sulu and the other crewman, O'Neill, were saying that they stood out in the population of Beta III because they're clothes were wrong! Obviously the Enterprise computers made an error in selecting seventeenth century clobber instead of the seemingly nineteenth century garb they actually wore!
JB

 

[Timo]

Or then fashion changes real fast on that planet. Say, just ahead of every Red Hour?

Landru clothing its children in Earth styles would best be explained if he borrowed those styles from the Archons - that is, sucked them out of the Archon databanks and stored them for future use. Landru appears frustrated by a failure to find an ideal form of existence, so it would probably engage in a lot of experimentation, and going through fashions might be part of that.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[drt]

If that's the Federation's SOP in the 23rd century, what happens if the person or persons who are aware of the Federation representative's true origin decide (for whatever reason), to break their promise and reveal that their Planet was visited and surveyed by a being or beings from another world?

Probably the same thing that currently happens on our planet, they get labeled a loon.

 

[BK613]

From TNG First Contact:

PICARD: How will you keep us a secret when so many have seen and heard so much?
DURKEN: The stories will be told for many years, I have no doubt. Of the ship that made contact, of an alien who was held prisoner in the medical facility. There'll be charges of a government conspiracy. Some of the witnesses will tell their tales and most people will laugh at them, and go back and watch more interesting fiction of the daily broadcasts. It will pass.​

 

[Maurice]

From TNG First Contact:

PICARD: How will you keep us a secret when so many have seen and heard so much?
DURKEN: The stories will be told for many years, I have no doubt. Of the ship that made contact, of an alien who was held prisoner in the medical facility. There'll be charges of a government conspiracy. Some of the witnesses will tell their tales and most people will laugh at them, and go back and watch more interesting fiction of the daily broadcasts. It will pass.​

Pass? Not if they're anything like us!

 

[valkyrie013]

I liked the book explanation.
Of how the boomer earth cargo service didn't have a prime directive, so they stopped everywhere they could. Was how the Book was left on the planet.
So maybe some of these planets are near earth, and are trade partners because they already know of space men.

 

[Christopher]

Of how the boomer earth cargo service didn't have a prime directive, so they stopped everywhere they could. Was how the Book was left on the planet.

Well, the Directive didn't exist yet at the time of the ECS/Boomers anyway. One thread I developed in my Enterprise: Rise of the Federation novels set in the early years of the UFP was Admiral Archer's early efforts to push for Starfleet to adopt a non-interference policy, after a tragedy that happened because of a Starfleet captain's well-intentioned intervention going horribly awry. (In the series, the Vulcans had such a policy that Archer generally tried to follow, but it wasn't official Starfleet practice.)

 

[valkyrie013]

I believe it was kobayashi maru book of how Mayweathers horizon left The Book on Sigma Iotia 2. And in Enterprise Archer talked of the non interference directive. Haven't read the Rise of the Federation set yet (sorry!)

But it's just guessing on why some Tos episodes involved non warp capable planets. Some of which have been mentioned.

 

[BK613]

Pass? Not if they're anything like us!

Sure, we have a constant stream of ufologists but the people who laugh at the ufologists are more concerned with whose been voted off the island, or the dance stage, or whose singing under that mask. So they sound exactly like us.

 

[Christopher]

And in Enterprise Archer talked of the non interference directive.

He talked about how Starfleet might need to institute such a directive someday.

 

[Maurice]

Sure, we have a constant stream of ufologists but the people who laugh at the ufologists are more concerned with whose been voted off the island, or the dance stage, or whose singing under that mask. So they sound exactly like us.

9/11 truthers. Anti-vaxxers. etc. Moon landing hoaxers. It's not just about yoU-FOs and aliens.

 

[BK613]

9/11 truthers. Anti-vaxxers. etc. Moon landing hoaxers. It's not just about yoU-FOs and aliens.

In context of the thread discussion, it is just about the aliens and them contacting us Earthlings...

 

[Timo]

X drowning out in the sea of entertainment and disinformation is a thing, for any value of X. I doubt Chancellor Durken would have any difficulty suppressing the incident. Unless, of course, he went about it by trying to suppress it; this could only backfire. Just let it be. And soon it won't.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Maurice]

Way to miss the point...