Interchangable Parts

[Admiral_Sisko]

One of the more fascinating aspects of Star Trek is the role of the captain, or the lead character in each series. From Jonathan Archer to Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek writers have always placed strong emphasis on creating strong, intriguing characters to serve as captain, and the men and women who have been fortunate enough to occupy the "center seat" have become the faces of their respective crews and series. Think of James T. Kirk, and you immediately think of the USS Enterprise, of Spock, McCoy, and the history of the original crew. Think of Benjamin Sisko, and your thoughts are drawn to Deep Space 9, to Bajor, and the war with the Dominion, perhaps the most formidable foe the Federation has ever faced.

But suppose an entity- Q, perhaps, or someone like him- decided to play a trick on Star Trek fans everywhere, and remove the captains we know and love from their respective assignments, and have them switch places with one another. Imagine James T. Kirk taking on the Delta Quadrant, the Borg, and Species 8472. Or how about a "1-2 punch" of Sisko and Spock? Would Jonathan Archer be content as captain of Deep Space 9? Is even a galaxy-class starship big enough to contain the friction that would inevitably arise between Pulaski and Janeway? How would Picard have handled the V'Ger incident?

Feel free to discuss these ideas, and more, in this thread. Looking forward to hearing what the rest of you think.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

Let's see....

Enterprise: Honestly I'm not sure how any of them would have faired. I could see a pre-DS9 Sisko being paranoid about the Borg and accidentally starting the Empire after Regeneration.

TOS: I can't see Picard starting as many fights. The other two captains would have been at least as combatant as Kirk. Spock raising an eyebrow towards Archer or Janeway could have been amusing.

DS9--Picard probably would have sealed off the wormhole to protect the Prophets in the pilot. Janeway would have blown up the station to close the wormhole while she was on the other side--which is basically what she did with the Caretaker's Array anyway. And by basically, I mean exactly.

VOY--Sisko would have gotten the ship home in the pilot. If Picard didn't get them home in the pilot, he would have taken Q's offer.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

Kirk, taking a seat in the captain's chair on the Enterprise-D and looking at the other chairs on either side: "Kind of crowded up here, isn't it?"

 

[spockrocks]

Neat idea. I think I will have to ponder this a bit.

 

[The Wormhole]

If Picard didn't get them home in the pilot, he would have taken Q's offer.

You seriously think Picard would have had sex with Q?

 

[OmahaStar]

If Picard didn't get them home in the pilot, he would have taken Q's offer.

You seriously think Picard would have had sex with Q?

They already have, at least once. Did you watch "Tapestry"?

 

[tighr]

Enterprise:
-Kirk would have been nearly the exact same show, because Kirk is a cowboy.
-Picard would have had a field day with all the unexplored worlds, first contacts. Also, depends on how old Picard would be; young Picard or old Picard? Two different guys.
-Sisko would have been war-bent. Probably shoot some Klingons in the pilot.
-Janeway would have somehow gotten her crew stuck in the Delta Quadrant on her way to Kronos. But she would have loved all the time travel.

TOS:
-Archer would have benefited from Starfleet being 100 years older. TOS would have ended up like TNG was instead.
-Picard would have again loved all the first contact. TMP would have been half as long, because Picard is not as dumb as Kirk. He probably would have figured out the whales thing quicker, too.
-Sisko would have killed the Gorn.
-Janeway would have fallen into the same wormhole that V'ger fell into and ended up in the Delta Quadrant. Either that, or her ship would have BECOME V'Ger.

TNG:
-Archer would have fired torpedoes at the Farpoint creature.
-Kirk would have tried to sleep with the Farpoint creature.
-Sisko would have forced the Farpoint creature to stay on the planet as a starbase.
-Janeway would have pissed off the Farpoint creature's mate, and gotten her ship hurled to the Delta Quadrant. Either that, or she takes the Enterprise through the wormhole in "The Price", but doesn't get back in time and gets stuck with the Ferengi.

DS9:
-Archer wouldn't have moved the station to the wormhole, preferring to leave it in orbit of Bajor. The Cardassians take the wormhole but fail to take advantage of the resource.
-Kirk never leaves his office, preferring to sleep with a random alien every day.
-Picard never leaves the Gamma Quadrant, taking a Runabout in the pilot and never coming back. Too much exploring to do!
-Janeway orders the space station to fly through the wormhole, gets stuck on the other side when the warp field collapses.

Voyager:
-Archer uses time travel in the pilot, gets back before he left.
-Kirk prefers to stay, sleeping with all the alien chicks before Tom (or Harry) can get to them.
-Picard reprograms the Caretaker's Array to send them back to the Alpha Quadrant before activating the self-destruct sequence ala "Contagion". Refuses to destroy the Kazon ship, and refuses to make contact with the Ocampa believing them to be pre-warp. Arrests all the Maquis.
-Sisko orders the crew to take over the Caretaker's array and continue beaming food to the Ocampa. The Ocampa revere Sisko as a god. Sisko finds the female Caretaker's array and teleports it to the Alpha Quadrant in orbit of Earth, reprograms the arrays to be able to send ships back and forth at will. Opens trade agreements with the Alpha Quadrant. The Klingons come through the Array and wipe-out the Kazon in two weeks. The Dominon Jem'Hadar and the Hirogen realize they are long-lost brothers, and start hunting each other, leaving everyone else alone. They're happy.

 

[Trevacious]

But suppose an entity- Q, perhaps, or someone like him- decided to play a trick on Star Trek fans everywhere, and remove the captains we know and love from their respective assignments, and have them switch places with one another.

I recall a comic book story that did something along those lines, switching Kirk and Picard. It was a game between Q and Trelane, if I remember rightly.

 

[The Wormhole]

If Picard didn't get them home in the pilot, he would have taken Q's offer.

You seriously think Picard would have had sex with Q?

They already have, at least once. Did you watch "Tapestry"?

Allow me to re-word that then.

You seriously think Picard would agree to carry Q's child?