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The return of "You're The Admiral!"--Dorza Sector
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: [QB] ==Part 1== Answer any TWO of the scenarios postulated in part 5 of Question Two. You may NOT answer your own scenario. [QUOTE][b]Originally posted by Paladin:[/b] The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe was answered one night for an inventive Zemch youth who broadcasted a signal into the night sky and then several days later heard a response. A merchant ship had picked up the signal and mistaking it�s origin for a second merchant ship, responded back. This wouldn�t have been so bad had they only responded once, but thinking the other ship rude they called again and again. On Zemch the youth informed the authorities who have now heard the merchant ships crass communiqu�s and have now begun a government organization to find the source of the �Great Out There Messages�. How do you contain this and prevent future contamination?[/QUOTE]There's nothing that really could be done to "contain" this "contamination." In a roundabout way, it's ALMOST a natural development, in that someone on the Zemch developed the ability to send and receive subspace communications. They would've naturally been able to pick up all the subspace comms traffic flying about. However, this DOES mean we have to step up our plan for making official First Contact with the Zemch. By this I mean preparations and intelligence-gathering, not the actual deal yet. The [i]Dakota[/i] would be reassigned to a long-term observation mission in the Zemch system, to get more of a feel for their culture, and specifically, their reactions to this "Great Out There Message." To go into more detail, more info about their governmental structures (assuming there's not a unified global authority yet) would be needed, and some sort of contingency emergency contact plan should be developed in case some kind of unforeseen incident occurs and contact needs to be made before everything's ready. Barring that, it'll still be years, perhaps even decades, before any official contact takes place. Also, standing protocols should be developed to inform civilian ships traveling in the vicinity of the To break off on a philosophical tangent, I wonder if the Federation's policy (inherited from the Vulcans) concerning the development of warp drive as the definitive point where First Contact can be made is really the wisest course of action. Certainly in the case of Earth, the Vulcans didn't have any long-term surveillance established (aside from spotty short-term checkups), so they just popped over the instant they realized we could travel to other stars. Certainly, once warp drive is established, it's then inevitable that the newly-starfaring race will encounter other species. But the critical question for any First Contact is not whether they're capable of traveling to other stars, but instead whether their culture is ready to absorb the existence of other inhabited worlds. I would argue that the case could be made moot by the development of subspace communications before warp drive. With subspace communications � or even short-range (i.e. 5-20 light-year) RF transmissions � there's still the unequivocal knowledge that life Out There does in fact exist. Certainly, it remains to be seen how the Zemch will absorb this information, and this kind of development is probably best taken in small steps. (I refer readers to the late 20th century human scientist and author Carl Sagan's s strangely prescient fantasy novel, [i]Contact[/i], for more insight into this theory.) I guess what I'm saying is, perhaps the Prime Directive needs to broaden its criteria slightly. Make the whole event of "First Contact" into a little more of a gradual affair, focused more on a society's interest and awareness in the universe beyond their world (and their capacity to listen/explore/observe it, obviously) rather than the act of a successful warp drive test on its own. Dare I mention the Malcorians, for example? [QUOTE][b]Originally posted by Timo:[/b] A Kaelon science vessel docks at SB 403, with a delegation led by a Dr Rtsonaman insisting on seeing you. The Doctor's somewhat controversial research has indicated that one of the Zemch reservate stars is on the brink of destruction, and will provide the ideal testing grounds for a technique that could save the Kaelon home star from a similar fate. If Rtsonaman is allowed to proceed, the Zemch star will require several decades of careful husbandry lest it go wild and wreak havoc in that system, potentially in the neighboring ones as well. If not, he predicts the star will explode anyway within the next 300 years, and will be worthless for the Zemch. Rtsonaman may be a kook, but he has political backing - the Kaelon membership in the UFP (not to mention the survival of the Kaelon species) may depend on this experiment. Rtsonaman wants to start right now - and reveals that he has already sent a reconnaissance team to the system to prod the star.[/QUOTE]With all due respect to the good doctor, the star system may be uninhabited, but that doesn't mean it's ours to do with as we please. A Prime Directive Trusteeship means exactly that... it's held in trust for those to whom it actually belongs (whether they realize it or not). Besides, regardless of whether the star will explode or not, he's forgotten to consider the effects of the stellar explosion's shockwave... the one that would effectively irradiate and sterilize many planets within a radius of several dozen light-years. Some planets may be able to protect themselves with advanced technology (or so I presume, or supernovae would be considered a much more dire threat than they've been treated in most of Trek), but what about planets like Zemch or Semma? I refuse to sacrifice one potential (eventual) Federation member in favor of another. At this time, the possible threat to the Kaelons is still relatively low, and they have time to continue their research elsewhere. Therefore, I'd dispatch the [i]Proteus[/i] to intercept Doctor Whatshisname's ship for intruding on a Federation restricted area � specifically, the Zemch Trusteeship Zone, into which all civilian traffic is forbidden. (I haven't read [i]Prime Directive[/i], so I'm making this part up, but IMO it's perfectly reasonable, to avoid situations like emergency crash landings and the like.) == Part 2 == The new information does not change the situation a whole lot, unfortunately. I will conduct discreet inquiries to see what the attitudes of the Dorzan rebels are towards the Federation. If they're favorable, I can use the Federation's leverage as a mediator, plus our own moral and diplomatic support for their cause. However, I will remain in contact with the Dorzan government, and if it seems like the discussions with the rebels can proceed, I will at the very least inform them of the basic events, but also stress that we have no interest in supporting violence or bloodshed, and especially not any violent overthrow of their system. The Federation stands for progress and change, but not VIOLENT change, because that's not considered progress. I will make the same thing clear to the rebels, as well. All this will hopefully allow me to establish a dialogue towards ending the standoff and creating some kind of workable compromise, or at the least getting the ball rolling on gradual change. Should diplomacy fail, however, I will explore options for some kind of low-impact special operations mission, with the sole goal of extracting all Federation citizens. We can assume that the rebels have some kind of shielding capabilities, but our advanced sensors should at least be able to locate the various Federation citizens for some kind of quiet infiltration. Of course, rapid beamouts would be greatly preferred! However, this mission would be dependent on an absolute minimum � i.e. zero � impact on the rebels' defensive fortifications and a major condition would be zero casualties. This assumes that the Federation citizens are in harm's way, but are not being actively sought or already held hostage by the rebels. Should there be a direct threat to the rebels, however, most bets would be off. A special ops mission would be cleared with a minimum of necessary force, and one of the goals would be to avoid doing the Dorzan government's job for them (i.e. blowing up shield generators and destroying defenses for an incursion), but I will not allow innocent Federation civilians to be used as bargaining chips for any internal conflict. That immediately would make them de facto enemies of the Federation, regardless of any other issues. (I'd make it clear to the Dorzan government, though, that their repressive policies didn't help the matter, though, and I'd continue pressure on that front.) To effect all this, the [i]Proteus[/i] would be assigned to the operation, with [i]Runnymede[/i] in a support role. == Part 3 == Meh. I certainly have an interest in learning about the Semman ships, so I would be interested in making some sort of trade. However, I will certainly never agree to accept the information in exchange for some unknown favor to be returned in the future. Who knows what that could lead to? (Something like the mysterious disappearance of every copy of the ancient Earth television series [i]Robots in Disguise[/i] from every historical archive, I'd bet. No one's ever figured out why they were suddenly replaced by images of some armored guy yelling "BWAHAHAHAHAHA!") So, I'd be willing to make some sort of [i]reasonable[/i] exchange with immediate payment, and be done with it. The reasoning is simple... the Federation needs information about the Semmans, and given the apparent incompetence of this civilian crew, I'd be willing to bet that the Semmans knew they were being scanned, and just didn't care. They seem like a decent bunch, just not interested in much contact. And at the very least, what they don't know can't hurt them. It's not like we're going to use this information to launch a major planetary invasion anyway, right? == Part 4 == First, I'd want to know exactly how long the Zemch Trusteeship Zone (ZTZ) has been in effect. (Shik, can you tell us?) I'm guessing it's been around for about fifty to eighty years, based on the dates of First Contact with Dorza (80 years) and Semma (120 years). Therefore, the ZTZ is well established and will easily predate any supposed Gorn claims. If they do claim any previous right to the systems, those claims are quite obviously either unenforced or unenforceable, and in either case effectively abandoned. Furthermore, a trusteeship is legally an extension of Federation territory, held in express reserve to be freely released for use of the trustee culture � in this case the Zemch, and the Zemch only. In effect, it's a protectorate � with the key difference being that there is no governmental or bureaucratic interference; the Federation's sole role is as guardian to keep others away from those systems until the Zemch can claim the territory for themselves. Therefore, I will head out to the ZTZ with most of my fleet: the [i]Heracles[/i] ([i]Akira[/i]), the [i]Bayreuth[/i] ([i]Saber[/i]), the [i]Antietam[/i] ([i]Defiant[/i]), and the [i]Paladin[/i] ([i]Intrepid[/i]). The goal will be the protection and enforcement of the ZTZ against possible incursion, with the same vigilance as protecting any Federation home territory. (After all, how different would things have been if the planets that eventually became the thriving billion-person settlements of Alpha Centauri, Tau Ceti, Terra Nova, and Deneva were all occupied by the Vulcans, or the Klingons, centuries before we made it into space? Every race deserves some breathing room to expand on their own.) However, I will still be happy to recognize the Gorn claim to the star designated AJ-946, which is also perfectly habitable and not within the ZTZ. I will "politely" offer to escort them away from the ZTZ and offer any assistance necessary, as well as establish direct relations concerning activities in the sector. I certainly won't take an aggressive stance with the Gorn, but I will remain firm. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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