THE PRIME DIRECTIVE

STORIES INVOLVING THE PRIME DIRECTIVE

[Season 3: #47 False Profits]

Episode Index - part of Ship's Logs which includes illustrated transcripts and synopses

SUMMARY: In 2373, the Voyager crew take measures to remedy interference by two Ferengi (Ferengi is an Alpha Quadrant species) who are exploiting a primitive race, even though the Ferengi are not members of the United Federation of Planets and thus are not bound by the Prime Directive.

The following forms Tuvok's and Kim's combined briefing of Chakotay: "According to Starfleet computer records, approximately seven years ago the Federation starship Enterprise hosted negotiations for ownership of the Barzan wormhole. Included among the bidding parties were two Ferengi, minor functionaries, known as Arridor and Kol." Voyager has come upon the Barzan wormhole's Delta Quadrant aperture, and discovered Arridor and Kol's location - they are masquerading as a primitive planet's Holy Sages in order to make themselves wealthy at the expense of the natives. "But we've confirmed what nobody knew at the time - the wormhole is fixed in the Alpha Quadrant but in the Delta Quadrant it jumps around. Turned out to be worthless." "But the Ferengi were not aware of that, and during a nefarious attempt to secure the wormhole for themselves they were pulled into it and deposited in the Delta Quadrant."

 
the wealthy "Holy Sages" hold court before a crowd of Takarians; among the crowd, observing, are Chakotay and Paris in native guise

Janeway: "Well, if we can get the wormhole here, we'll be taking two additional passengers with us. We'll turn them over to Ferengi authorities when we get there." Tuvok: "Captain, I must remind you that the Ferengi are not members of the Federation. They are not bound by the Prime Directive, nor would it seem that the Prime Directive would allow us to interfere in the internal affairs of this society, as much as we may disapprove of what the Ferengi are doing." Janeway: "The Federation did host the negotiations, and if it weren't for those negotiations the Ferengi wouldn't be here, so one could say, without being unreasonable I think, that the Federation is partially responsible for what's happened, and therefore duty-bound to correct the situation." Tuvok: "That is a most logical interpretation, Captain."   [Season 3: #47 False Profits]

In all, two attempts by Janeway to detain Kol and Arridor fail. The first involves simply beaming them out of their palatial temple. But Arridor, employing emotional rhetoric, convinces Janeway that simply removing them would damage the Takarian's religious beliefs. Reluctantly she returns them to their temple, where Arridor takes measures to prevent further unexpected beam-outs.

The Ferengi materialise on Voyager. They see three Starfleet officers waiting for them. Arridor: "Who are you?" Janeway: "Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager." Kol, worried: "The Federation!" Arridor: "Shut up, Kol. Let me handle this." To Janeway: "What may I ask is the Federation doing in the Delta Quadrant?" Janeway: "It's a long story but suffice it to say we've been stranded here for the past two years. We're on our way back to the Alpha Quadrant and we're taking you with us." Kol: "This is an outrage. We won't allow you to tr-" Arridor signals him to be quiet. To Janeway: "You're crazy. It would take decades to get back from here." Janeway: "Show them, Mr Tuvok." Tuvok, at the transporter controls, calls up a schematic diagram for Kol and Arridor to see. "We have been bombarding a local subspace instability with verteron particles. If all goes according to plan, the Barzan wormhole should re-open at our present location in a matter of hours." Arridor: "And if all doesn't go according to plan?" Janeway: "One way or another, you're coming with us." Kol: "We've been kidnapped, snatched from the embrace of bliss. It's all over. No more limitless profits, no more unquestioning adulation of the masses, no more quadruple lobe-rubs." Arridor: "If I'm not mistaken, Captain, the Federation has rules. And those rules forbid you to interfere with indigenous cultures." Janeway: "What about your interference? You've taken these people's religion and manipulated it for your own selfish purposes, pretended to be their Sages." Arridor: "Who's to say we aren't their Sages, Captain?" Janeway: "Don't be ridiculous." Arridor: "The Song is sung of Sages who can perform miracles which, thanks to our replicator, we do. The Song is sung of men coming from the sky on a burning flame, when we crashlanded our shuttle in their quaint little town square, trailing behind us a roaring of burning plasma." Kol, who is not that bright, asks Arridor: "Do you mean we really are the Sages?" Arridor to Janeway: "The point is, Captain, that these people have believed for centuries their gods, known as the Sages, would deliver them from their strife. To them," he gathers Kol to him, "we are those Sages. What happens to a people when they lose their gods? Despair. Fear. Confusion." Arridor: "And how can you, as a moral people, blithely tear down the spiritual structure that has supported a community since before their gods were flesh? What would you be leaving them with?" Kol: "Tell us, Arridor, tell us!" Arridor: "Darkness. Doubt. Hopelessness!" Kol: "That was beautiful." Janeway: "Mr Tuvok, transport them back to the surface." He nods. As the Ferengi take up position on the transporter pads, Kol whispers gleefully to Arridor: "We did it, Arridor. We won!" Tuvok beams the Ferengi back to their Divine Vault. Janeway watches them leave. [Season 3: #47 False Profits]

In the second attempt, Neelix, disguised as a Ferengi, visits Kol and Arridor and convinces them that he is the Grand Proxy, one down in rank from the Grand Nagus the head of the Ferengi Alliance. He tells Kol and Arridor their goods are confiscated, that they have been summoned back to the Alpha Quadrant. When he leaves them for an interval to compose their farewell speech to the Takarians, so that the natives should not be surprised by their sudden disappearance to come, Kol and Arridor decide to kill the Grand Proxy. They duly attack Neelix when he returns to see them, but Neelix reveals his true identity when cornered; his life is spared and he is ejected.

a disguised Neelix cows the Ferengi

the Ferengi corner Neelix and he confesses he is in disguise

When a Takarian mistakes Neelix as the Holy Pilgrim, a figure in Takarian religious mythology who appears in the epic poem 'Song of the Sages', the Voyager crew resort to having Neelix act up to the mistake. Pretending to be the Holy Pilgrim, Neelix recounts to the Takarians the prophecy that the Holy Pilgrim would come to lead the Great Sages back into the skies.

Neelix pretends to the Takarians that he is the Holy Pilgrim

He has Voyager fire photon torpedoes to "fulfil" the prophecy of three new stars appearing, and this convinces the Takarians that Neelix really is the Holy Pilgrim.

Voyager creates three new "stars" to support Neelix's claims

Eventually Neelix, plus Kol and Arridor are beamed up to Voyager. The Ferengi escape from custody in their shuttlepod and end up being accidentally drawn into the Barzan wormhole. Voyager is unable to follow before the wormhole closes. As Voyager leaves Takar, the natives witness the lights in the sky and the ascension of the holy ones. This leaves the Takarians' beliefs not too damaged. No doubt they now view the Holy Sages as avaricious but at least they are rid of them, and the Holy Sages' former servant, named Kafar, hand back the Holy Sages' material gains to the people.

the Takarians see the holy ones apparently going home, and Kafar distributes the Ferengi's accumulated wealth

Unlike Picard in [TNG: Who Watches The Watchers], the Voyager crew, specifically Neelix, has no problem with masquerading as one of the holy figures in the Takarians' belief system. In this case, the Takarians' beliefs still exist, whereas in the [TNG] story the primitive species had long before ceased to believe in magical holy figures and the issue is whether Picard should erroneously confirm the start of that belief's revival. But in this story, the Takarians are not harmed by and large by the departure of the Ferengi and "the Holy Pilgrim", and the 24th century technology (the replicator) is destroyed by Chakotay's phaser. There will be some changes, inevitably. For instance, the Takarians will continue to think of the Holy Sages and the Holy Pilgrim as having a particular appearance (which happens to be Ferengi) and they are left with the ear pendants (pendants displaying a model ear whose appearance is based on a Ferengi ear). It is a matter of speculation whether the Ferengi's philosophy will have a lasting effect. However, Janeway does stretch a point when she decides, based on the ethics of herself and her crew, to remove the Ferengi from Takar, for the Ferengi code of ethics differs. The Ferengi culture is centred around the acquisition of profit, as detailed in The Rules Of Acquisition which are mentioned in the story. Contrary to Janeway's ethics, Kol and Arridor are fully adhering to theirs. Would Janeway have declined to interfere if the two aliens masquerading as the Holy Sages were benevolent and generous, with quite the reverse of a profit-driven ethic? It depends on one's point of view: the Ferengi see themselves as utilising an interesting but effective marketing ploy (masquerading as the Holy Sages) in order to corner Takar's economy; whereas the Voyager crew view the Ferengi as unfairly exploiting an innocent indigenous species. The Voyager crew's views are probably subconsciously reinforced by Alpha Quadrant experiences, for in the Alpha Quadrant the profit-driven nature of Ferengi males has many examples. Kim himself experienced an attempt two years previously by one Ferengi, called Quark, to get him to overpay for some Lobi crystals, in [#1 and #2 Caretaker].

The Barzan wormhole negotiations (hosted by Captain Picard aboard the Enterprise-D) and how Kol and Arridor ended up in the Delta Quadrant are depicted in [TNG: The Price], making this episode a direct sequel to that story.

Takar loggerhead eggs is a breakfast dish that Neelix offers to serve to Janeway in early 2371 in [#6 The Cloud] but she declines, wanting only coffee. It is not stated in the series or canon sources whether this dish is native to the pre-warp planet Takar encountered by the Voyager crew in [#47 False Profits]. Of course, if it did, then Neelix or whomever he acquired the eggs from had been trading with (trading presumably, not stealing from) a pre-warp planet which for Starfleet personnel is contrary to the Prime Directive. At the time this food dish was mentioned on air, the script for [#47 False Profits] had not yet been conceived, but certainly it does suggest a lack of continuity checking as regards the later episode - certainly it should have been checked. That Neelix is a native of the Delta Quadrant might influence us in deciding, if we knew that the Takar loggerhead eggs are indeed native to the Delta Quadrant. There is a species called Takarans from the Alpha Quadrant. They feature in [TNG: Suspicions], therefore not, significantly, in [Voyager], so television viewers watching [Voyager] cannot be expected to know of them. The Takarans are a humanoid species whose members have vaguely reptilian features. Little was known about the Takarans until 2369, when Dr Beverly Crusher, the Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, was given an opportunity to autopsy a Takaran. She discovered that the Takarans did not have organs in the traditional sense; rather, Takaran internal physiology was homogeneous throughout the body. This made the Takarans extremely difficult to injure or kill, requiring that effective damage would have to be done on a cellular level. Crusher also discovered that Takarans were able to control the rate of their cellular physiology, allowing them to put themselves into a state resembling death. The loggerhead eggs could be a replicated dish based on the Takarans' dish, but there is no way a [Voyager] tv viewer can be expected to know this, but after [#47 False Profits] of course they know about the Takarians - in that [Voyager] story the planet is specifically called "Takar", in a part of the Song Of The Sages that is cited. Click for the Personal Log entry for this episode - continuity, observations, personal views, behind-the-scenes etc.

 

 

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