Prime Directive

[UncleRogi]

Just finished the titular novel (for about the eighteenth time), and the thing that always stays with me is the relationship between "Sam" and his Telarite boss.

I dont wanna spoil--But DARN!!! That there is some chili-cooking plotting!

Again to those of you that get paid for this--Hat's off!!

Do the Reeve-Stephens lurk here at all?

To the point: Exactly how does the Prime Directive get applied? And why is it different in "special" circumstances?

I guess what I wanna know is how the writers view this issue.

 

[JD]

Chili-cooking plotting?

 

[UncleRogi]

Hot, heavy, and full of spice!

 

[Starbreaker]

I can't afford that channel...

 

[F. King Daniel]

I gotta say the ending was fruit-loops (aliens evolved to create nuclear wars on planets? ), but otherwise I loved Prime Directive.

I've also loved reading stories of irate fans who never got past the first chapter, and in one case sent J+G R-S the book back, with the characters' eyes on the cover cut out, serial killer style .

 

[UncleRogi]

^^^
( I think I hit a nerve....)

 

[Endgame]

Greetings, this note is just to say that I received my October 2010 ANALOG recently and the editorial mentions the "Prime Directive" with respect to colonization and terraforming. I do not know if the stories follow the editor's opinions much.
llap, Endgame, :-)

 

[HOoftheKinshaya]

This was one of my favorites. I loved the various ways the crew members worked their way back together. When the Enterprise episodes Borderland and Bound came out, I wondered if the screenwriters had read this book and used it, to create the template for Orion males. We had never seem them on screen before but I always imagined them as described in this book, hulking green, super strong behemoths. When I saw the WWE star Big Show on screen as an Orion, I was thinking back to this book.

 

[Destructor]

To the point: Exactly how does the Prime Directive get applied? And why is it different in "special" circumstances?

The show has been inconsistent on this, but, as Memory Alpha states:

The Directive states that members of Starfleet are not to interfere in the internal affairs of another species, especially the natural development of pre-warp civilizations, either by direct intervention, or technological revelation. When studying a planet's civilization, particularly during a planetary survey, the Prime Directive makes it clear that there is to be "No identification of self or mission. No interference with the social development of said planet. No references to space, other worlds, or advanced civilizations." Starfleet personnel are required to understand that allowing cultures to develop on their own is an important right and therefore must make any sacrifice to protect cultures from contamination, even at the cost of their own lives.

In theory there are no 'exceptions' to this, yet we repeatedly see Captains breaking the rule all the time. The most common use of the PD is as a shelter to primitive worlds, but there seem to be corollaries that pertain to not directly influencing the internal politics of other worlds and powers. Presumably the temporal prime directive (don't fuck up the timeline) is another corollary.

 

[Christopher]

When the Enterprise episodes Borderland and Bound came out, I wondered if the screenwriters had read this book and used it, to create the template for Orion males. We had never seem them on screen before but I always imagined them as described in this book, hulking green, super strong behemoths.

By the time those episodes were written, the authors of Prime Directive were on Enterprise's staff as co-producers. So it's quite possible there was a connection.

 

[kkozoriz1]

The FASA role-playing game had a two book supplement called "The Orions". A very well done look at a seldom seen race. Included the greens but also what they called the Ruddies and the unknown Greys. One book for the Federation types called The Book of Common Knowledge. The other volume, "The Book of Deep Knowledge" tells you the real story. A fair bit of role-playing rules but mostly a look into Orion culture.

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/The_Orions%3A_Book_of_Common_Knowledge

 

[HOoftheKinshaya]

When the Enterprise episodes Borderland and Bound came out, I wondered if the screenwriters had read this book and used it, to create the template for Orion males. We had never seem them on screen before but I always imagined them as described in this book, hulking green, super strong behemoths.

By the time those episodes were written, the authors of Prime Directive were on Enterprise's staff as co-producers. So it's quite possible there was a connection.

That's funny. I remember the scene when the "Big Show" had picked T'Pol up and was holding her and shaking her like a rag doll and thinking back to the Orions in this book.

 

[Crewman Wunline]

Hi, Uncle Rogi-- I'm new here, but the instant I saw your username I thought that there's somebody who likes the same stuff I do. It is a reference to Oncle Rogatien Remillard, n'est pas?